Recall from the previous snack that the book of Hebrews reveals that some of the prophecies concerning Solomon are also applicable to Christ. Of those that I examined, I’d now like to focus on 2 Samuel 7:13: “He is the one who will build a house for my Name.” Let’s notice first of all that Jesus referred to His own body as God’s temple when talking to the Pharisees:
John 2:19
Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”
These are the words that the Pharisees later twisted when trying to bring accusations against Christ, asserting that He had claimed that He would destroy the physical temple where they worshiped. Verse 21 clarifies for us that He was actually talking about His own body. The concept of a temple for God is primarily relevant because it is the place where God lives. God lives in men through the Holy Spirit, and Jesus was filled with the Spirit from birth, having even been conceived by the Spirit (Matthew 1:20). Therefore, Christ was the temple of God because God lived in Him.
The law demands that there be a dwelling place for God, which is why God first commanded Moses to build the Tabernacle in the desert. As I often remark, none of the law has ever been abolished, although some aspects are carried out differently under the New Covenant than they were in the Old Covenant. The temple is one such aspect: we, who have God’s Spirit in us, are now the body of Christ and, thereby, the temple of God. In addition to Christ being the temple of God, He is, in accordance with 2 Samuel 7:13, currently in the process of building a house for God’s Name:
Matthew 16:18
I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.
Hebrews 3:6
Christ is faithful as a son over God’s house. And we are His house, if we hold on to our courage and the hope of which we boast.
We are the temple of God. Not only that, but, just as Christ is building God’s house in us, so also we ought to be contributing to building God’s house:
1 Corinthians 3:10-13
For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building. By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.
Whether by refining ourselves through repentance or by edifying others to be a greater part of God’s house, we should be building on the foundation laid by Jesus Christ and the apostles. That foundation can be found throughout the New Testament, so that we may be sure that we lay no other foundation than that which has already been laid. Lastly, we must be diligent and careful in how we build:
1 Corinthians 3:12-17
If any man builds on this foundation… his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work… Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is sacred, and you are that temple.
“God’s temple is sacred, and you are that temple;” therefore, you must be sacred. God’s instruction manual for how to be holy hasn’t changed; therefore, it is our duty to learn what God’s law says and to follow it.
Related Articles (painstakingly generated by hand):
How would you explain the prophetic significance of "Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”?
ReplyDeleteObviousily Jesus rose from the dead as in Jonah's prophecy. However does Jn 2:19 have implications for the whole body?
That's a very interesting question to ask. Most of what ensues is just some thinking out loud, with my actual conclusions at the end.
ReplyDeleteAs to whether John 2:19 has prophetic implications for the whole body, it depends on exactly what kind of implications you are talking about. The Church of God is both the New Covenant temple of God and the very Body of Christ, so it would make sense for there to be some kind of connection.
We know that the grave will not prevail against the church (Matthew 16:18), and that Christ Himself is the head of the church. The church cannot "die" since Christ is part of the church and He lives. However, it is conceivable under this premise that every human being in the church could die and yet the church not be dead because Christ lives. Also note that the "3 day" period may be significant, since there are prophecies pointing to a time of a famine of the Word of God, and it is likely that these prophecies coincide with the time of tribulation which will last 3 1/2 years. Perhaps this would indicate, using the common prophetic tool of counting a day as a year, that there will be 3 years during this tribulation in which there will not be a single living human being in the church during that time, which would support the idea that the "place of safety" is actually death.
The problem with this line of reasoning is the Two Witnesses: they will be filled with God's Spirit, and thus part of the church, and they will be alive and prophesying for 3 1/2 years. It is relevant to this discussion that there is no mention of their connection to the rest of the church during that time and that they will lie dead in the streets for 3 days before being resurrected. It could be that the rest of the church is alive, but in hiding, and that the 2 witnesses, being the sole voices preaching the gospel, would be representative of the entire Church in this scenario, with their death symbolizing a sort of death of the message of God to the world for 3 days... But this would not make John 2:19 a prophecy about the whole body being destroyed.
Alright, now the conclusions (hopefully this part will be more coherent than the above ramblings.) In view of these points, it is conceivable that there could be a figurative or symbolic "destruction" of the church in the form of a greatly diminished influence of the church during which the ability of the church to spread the gospel will be rendered ineffective for a period of time. I don't think that the evidence is sufficient to state that this verse is prophetic for the whole body in regards to physical death, but this too may be possible contradicting scripture as I understand it.
Thanks for the thought-provoking question!