Creation, Temple, and the Beatific Vision

00:00 - Dr. James Spencer (Host)
We're going to see God, and then the seeing God transforms the redeemed. We are fully conformed to His image and we participate in this sort of life with Him and in perfect harmony. So this aligns with passages like 1 John, 3, 2, which says we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as he is.

00:20 - Speaker 2 (Host)
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00:54 - Dr. James Spencer (Host)
Hey everyone and welcome to this episode of Prepped, the podcast where we explore biblical, theological and ministry topics to prepare you for life and ministry grounded in God's word. I'm your host, james Spencer, and today we're tackling one of the most profound and, I think, interesting ideas in scripture the creation as a temple designed for God's presence and ultimately, for the beatific vision. From the Garden of Eden in Genesis to the New Jerusalem in Revelation, the Bible presents this narrative of creation as a sacred space where God's presence dwells, and this temple-like symbolism is not just about structures or rituals. It's about a relational reality. It's about our longing to dwell with God and see him face to face. That's what theologians tend to call the beatific vision. It's this direct and perfect communion with God and is ultimately the goal of creation and redemption. So today we're going to explore just a brief discussion of sacred space. Then we're going to move to how creation and Edom reflect God's temple design. We're going to talk about how the temple system in Israel points to the restoration of God's presence with humanity, as well as some of the New Testament references related to this, and we're going to talk about how all of this culminates in Revelation, where God's people experienced the beatific vision in its fullness. I think from an application perspective, we're also going to get into an interesting potential allusion to the Great Commission in the Old Testament and how that might relate to this idea of expanding God's presence around the world. So let's jump in and uncover the deep connections between creation, temple and our ultimate hope in Christ. So we first need to understand a little bit about the concept of sacred space. So a sacred space in the Old Testament isn't merely about geography, it's really about divine presence. A sacred space is where God chooses to dwell. He's revealing his holiness and inviting his people into relationship, and this is why these spaces are often marked by rituals, boundaries and a lot of reverence.

02:52
The Bible opens up with one of the most iconic sacred spaces, the Garden of Eden, and Eden is described as this lush, abundant place where God walks with Adam and Eve. It's a prototype of sacred space, a place of intimate communion with God. But when Adam and Eve rebel, they're expelled from the garden and the intimate access they enjoyed is severed, and we're going to talk about the fall of Genesis 3, 1 through 7 and following in an upcoming episode. So, after Eden, god does continue to establish these sacred spaces for his people. We see them run into a number of these holy places. You think of Moses at the burning bush, you can think of Jacob has this dream about a ladder where the angels are going up and down on it, and so these places are identified in some sense as sacred.

03:39
The presence of God was there. There's been this experience of God in this place, but really the tabernacle and the temple are the biggest examples. And so the tabernacle comes first, and it's in Exodus 25 through 40. And then, obviously, in the following narratives we see the tabernacle feature pretty prominently in early Israelite life, and God is going to provide, in Exodus 25 through 40, these really detailed instructions for constructing a tabernacle. It's a portable sanctuary that accompanies the Israelites through the wilderness, and what's striking is the emphasis on holiness and the precision required in building the tabernacle, from the materials used to the layout. Everything about the tabernacle communicates God's transcendence and glory. Now the tabernacle eventually gives way to the temple, and that's built by Solomon in Jerusalem, and the temple is a permanent structure. Yet its purpose mirrors the tabernacle. It's a place where God's presence dwells among his people. The inner sanctum, the Holy of Holies, is so sacred that only the high priest can enter there, and only once a year, on the day of atonement.

04:40
So let's just take a minute and think. Why would God's presence be confined to specific spaces? God is everywhere. He's omnipotent I'm sorry, omnipresent. And because he's omnipresent, you know he's everywhere all at the same time, and yet his special presence sits in these sanctuary structures. Well, I think the answer lies in God's desire to teach his people about his holiness. You know, sacred spaces aren't about just recognizing that God is always presence. They're about coming into a closer proximity with God, worshiping him, serving him, tending to this space of intimate presence. And so these spaces aren't about limiting God. They're about shaping our understanding and the way that we go about approaching God, helping us to understand what's necessary now for us to be in the presence of a holy God. And so the boundaries and rituals around these spaces remind us that God's presence is a gift, not something we can take lightly.

05:37
Sacred spaces were central to Israel's worship, and so the sacrifices, the festivals, the prayers offered in the tabernacle and temple weren't just religious routines. These are acts of drawing near to a holy God. So if we think about something like Psalm 84, we're seeing the psalmist cry out and talk about the beauty of God's dwelling place, and he longs to sing these songs in the courts of the Lord and he wants to be in God's presence. This is what these represent Now. Sacred spaces were also, in addition to being a place of worship, they were also places of remembrance. There's the altar, for instance, built by Joshua after crossing the Jordan River, and it commemorates God's faithfulness in bringing his people into the promised land. But we also see these different things happening at the temple and the tabernacle that gesture back to these different times when God was acting on Israel's behalf. You think particularly of the budding of Aaron's staff, which is put into the Ark of the Covenant, the Ten Commandments that were put in the Ark of the Covenant, the various rituals that were to remind Israel of the Exodus, and different things like that. And so we have this sort of notion of remembrance there as well.

06:50
And I think the story of sacred space really doesn't end in the Old Testament, although it is pretty prominent there, but it tends to reach its climax in the New Testament with Jesus Christ, and in John 1.14, we read that the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and it's pretty well known that the Greek word there for dwelt really has this sort of notion of tabernacling. It's just a little awkward to say, but Jesus now embodies the sacred space. He is the meeting point of heaven and earth. If we want to be in God's presence, we need to be in proximity to, in relationship with, in union with Jesus, and so Jesus's ministry often challenges traditional notions of sacred space. When he speaks to the Samaritan woman at the well, he declares that worship is no longer confined to a specific mountain or temple, but is now about spirit and truth. And so, through his death and resurrection, the veil in the temple, the barrier to the Holy of Holies, is torn in two, and that's symbolizing this sort of direct access now to God for all who believe. So what does sacred space mean for us today? As Christians, we don't need a physical tabernacle or temple, because God's spirit dwells within us.

07:59
Paul is going to talk about the body of the individual believer, but also the body of Christ as the church, the collection of the individual believer, but also the body of Christ as the church, the collection of believers as a temple, and the Holy Spirit dwells there, this deposit that we have, the deposit of the Holy Spirit, the first fruits of the divine presence that we're going to experience. We have that now internal to us. It's inside, he is inside of us and as we think about this, you know the church is a temple. The church is a sacred space. That implies various things for the New Testament community and for the church community as a whole.

08:38
Yet there's still value in sort of creating, I think, some of these and thinking about how we go about intentionally monitoring these sacred spaces that God has established. And so, just as the temple and the tabernacle had these specific rituals and a high degree of reverence that we're doing as we are approaching the temple and we can see those operations happening and described within the various aspects of the Old Testament, I think we need to take care that we're exercising appropriate reverence, that we're living holy lives, that we are approaching the body of Christ and our membership in the body of Christ with an appropriate degree of reverence. These are sacred spaces. The Holy Spirit dwells within us and within the body of Christ, and so we have to sort of think through and look back at those rituals and say, given the steps that these people were taking, the reverence that they're showing in coming into the presence of a holy God. What should we do now, given that the Holy Spirit dwells in us? There's still a sense in which understanding how to maintain that sacred space, what we need to do to cultivate that sacred space and allow the Holy Spirit to really thrive within us, is very important. And I think sacred space in the Old Testament teaches us about God's holiness, his desire for this relationship, his plan to dwell among his people, from the Garden of Eden to the tabernacle, the temple and, ultimately, jesus Christ. The story of sacred space is a story of God drawing near. And as we reflect on this theme, let's just ask ourselves how are we creating and I wouldn't say creating the sacred spaces are already created. How are we cultivating sacred space in our own life? How are we keeping, guarding, tending to the sacred spaces that God has now created? How are we cultivating an awareness of God's presence and responding to his holiness, given that his Holy Spirit lives within us, both individually and collectively? And I think those are questions that can not only shape our personal faith but also our witness to the world.

10:48
Now, given that understanding of sacred space, let's kind of flip back and let's go back and look at the Garden of Eden as a temple. So the Bible describes Eden in ways that the later descriptions of the tabernacle and temple tend to resonate with. They gesture back to Eden even as they point forward to the creation of the new heavens and the new earth. So we have a few things like God's presence in Eden. Genesis 3.8 describes God walking in the garden and it's a phrase that's echoed really in the presence of God in the tabernacle. Leviticus 26.12 reads and I will walk among you and will be your God and you will be my people. And so Eden is sort of this first sacred space where humanity could encounter God directly. The tabernacle is this secondary, later sacred space where God's people can also have this experience of being in God's presence.

11:42
There's also priestly language. When I was talking a little bit earlier about cultivating, keeping, guarding that sacred space, this is what I'm referring to. So in Genesis 2.15, adam is placed in the garden and he's told to work the garden and keep it. And those terms really later are used to describe the duties of priests in the tabernacle. So for instance, in Numbers 3, 7 through 8, we read they shall keep guard over him and over the whole congregation before the tent of meeting as they minister at the tabernacle, they shall guard all the furnishings of the tent of meeting and keep guard over the people of Israel as the minister of the tabernacle. Now, it's not a keeping guard, as if you know, I have my spear, I have my weapon, I have my shield or whatever, and I'm going to keep the riffraff out of the temple. This is more of a let's. How do we maintain that sacred space? How do we make sure that as people come to the temple, they're coming with appropriate reverence, that they're coming with an appropriate posture to worship the Lord, and make sure that the temple area remains relatively clean?

12:45
We can also look at some of the sacred symbols. So there are a number of parallels between the garden and the tabernacle temple. So, for instance, we can look at the tree of life or all really the trees of the garden. The tree of life is in the center of the garden and it parallels these lampstands that are built for the tabernacle and these are shaped like trees. That's described in Exodus 25, 31 through 40. You know, the tabernacle and the temple are also constructed with gold and precious stones and they're richly adorned with these different materials, and that reflects God's majesty and the sacredness of the space. But it also parallels the description of the Garden of Eden in Genesis 2, 11 through 12, where we see that Eden has all of these different jewels and valuable metals within it. There's also rivers flowing out of Eden. We see that in Genesis 2, 10, and those sort of prefigure the waters that are going to flow out of the eschatological temple that we see in Ezekiel 47 and Revelation 22. Ezekiel's vision of that future temple and I would say Revelation's vision of that future new creation, has this river flowing from it.

13:48
Now, after the fall, god is going to place cherubim at the entrance of the garden to ensure that the fallen humans can re-enter the garden and eat from the tree of life. And when those instructions were given, what we see is those are mirrored in the tabernacle. God tells Israel to weave cherubim into the fabric of the tab, reminder that, hey, this is still a. Really. This is not quite what you were reentering, but let's just remember that this space was so important that God put a cherubim at the entrance to guard you from coming into it. And so probably the cherubim on the tabernacle and the cherubim on the Ark of the Covenant gesture back to that story in Genesis 3, where God is trying to underscore and reinforce the seriousness which the Israelites should take coming into the temple or the tabernacle. And so I think, in general, we can say that the tabernacle and temple are designed as symbolic representations of the cosmos. These are, you know, their furnishings reflect this.

15:06
The imagery links the sacred spaces of Eden and Israel's worship and ultimately, I think, the new creation in Christ, where God's people fill God's presence, fills the whole earth. Eden wasn't just a garden. It's this pristine sort of sacred space in which the tabernacle and temple are now looking back on and gesturing to. It was a place where humanity could dwell in God's presence, and God desires to live in the presence of his people. And that garden, the tabernacle and the temple, they all point us toward that beatific or blessed vision. So what is that beatific and blessed vision? Well, it's a terming.

15:43
The beatific vision is really a term in Christian theology that refers to this direct, face-to-face vision of God in his glory and essence, as experienced by the redeemed in heaven. It's considered the ultimate fulfillment of human longing and the highest form of happiness. And so, as it represents the full and unmediated communion with God, it's sort of our goal for all eternity. It's what the all eternity is going to look like, and we tend to see resonances of the beatific vision at various points in the Old and the New Testaments. For example, in Matthew 5.8, jesus says blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. And so there's this notion that those who are going to you know, those who have a particular posture in their heart, are now going to stand in the presence of the Lord and actually see him, be with him, experience his presence in a special way. And this promise implies this direct experience with God for those who are holy. 1 Corinthians 13, 12 also speaks of seeing God face to face, and that contrasts with the partial knowledge we have now, with the full knowledge we'll have in his presence. And then I would just point to Revelation 22, 4, which also describes the redeemed in the new Jerusalem, where they will see his face and his name will be on their foreheads. And so we're now fully under God's ownership. We have come back home, we are in his presence and we are his people and he is our God.

17:10
So the beatific vision is often described as this ultimate fulfillment of human longing for union with the creator. It isn't just seeing God, but standing in the presence of God, being in the presence of God and in his presence, all desires and the questions of the human heart are satisfied. And I don't think that means that we won't learn more when we're in heaven. I don't think that once we're in the presence of God we're going to become somehow omniscient. But I do think that that satisfaction speaks to this idea that we'll, even though we are still going to be dependent on God, we are going to recognize that our dependence on God is not a limitation, it's just who we are, it's a strength. And we'll be satisfied in our relationship with him that, even though we aren't still fully sort of complete, self-sustaining beings will always be dependent on God. That relationship is going to make so much more sense to us. We'll be satisfied with it, we'll be content with it and we'll be excited to delve into its depths more and more and more, without the tinge of rebellion and sin that we deal with now. And that end or ultimate purpose of humanity is really, you know, as we see in various confessions, to glorify God and enjoy him forever.

18:25
So various theologians have recognized the significance of the beatific vision. Augustine saw the beatific vision, as you know, the ultimate goal of Christian life, where the soul finds rest in the eternal presence of God. Thomas Aquinas describes in a very similar way. It's not this sort of direct intellectual apprehension of God. Thomas Aquinas describes in a very similar way. It's not this sort of direct intellectual apprehension of God's essence, but it can't be. In other words, we can't figure this out, we can't think our way to it. It's a possibility that's only made available to us by God's grace. And so Aquinas emphasized that the beatific vision is really a supernatural gift.

19:16
And so Aquinas emphasized that the beatific vision is this seeing God as he is in his essence. It involves this perfect union with God, and it doesn't mean that we become God. It isn't that we merge with God, it's that we have a perfect, you know deepening relationship with God. This idea that we are designed to be in a dependent relationship with God, that we are designed to worship and glorify God. That's what the beatific vision really speaks to.

19:46
It also obviously involves a freedom from sin and suffering. The beatific vision there is no more sin, there is no more ignorant rebellion, there's no more separation from God. The redeemed are going to experience unending joy and peace. There's no more separation from God. The redeemed are going to experience unending joy and peace. And then, finally, when we think about transformation, we're going to see God, and then the seeing God transforms the redeemed. We are fully conformed to his image and we participate in this sort of life with him and in perfect harmony. And so this aligns with passages like 1 John, 3, 2, which says we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. So the beatific vision really reveals God's essence, which is infinitely beyond human comprehension. However, by grace, humans are elevated to perceive him in a way that satisfies their intellectual and spiritual capacities. To perceive him in a way that satisfies their intellectual and spiritual capacities.

20:44
It's also considered the highest good. What's usually in Latin? It's the sumum bonum, fulfilling the deepest desires in the human heart. It surpasses all earthly pleasures and joys, and unlike those earthly pleasures and joys that we have in this life, the beatific vision is eternal and unchanging. The soul is forever enraptured by the infinite beauty, goodness and truth of God. So the beatific vision really anchors Christian hope. It reminds believers that our struggles and longings will find resolution in the presence of God. It helps orient our earthly lives toward eternity, reminding us that all we do is ultimately for the glory of God and our communion with him, and so the temple also cultivates in God's people a longing for something greater. This is sort of as we bring these two ideas together, the beatific vision and the temple.

21:34
What we have to understand is the temple, because it symbolized this space where we could interact with God and be in God's presence, even in some lesser way. This is where the beatific vision begins to take shape in our imaginations and in the imaginations of the people of Israel, and so we see Psalms express a deep yearning for God's presence. We see temple rituals, though limited, pointing forward to a time when humanity could once again experience the fullness of God's presence. These things are really important. They're gesturing not toward the rebuilding of a temple, it's not about a structure. It's about how do we get back to the place where we left. What does that look like for us? And as Christians, we know that that answer is Christ. And so, through the temple, god's people were reminded tabernacle in the temple and the various other sacred spaces that we find in scripture, we're reminded that the ultimate goal isn't just sacrifices or laws, but standing before God fully restored.

22:35
So in Edom, adam and Eve lived in unbroken communion with God, although they did not see God in his fullness, as it seems unlikely that what we're dealing with in Eden is the same as what we're dealing with in the fully redeemed context of the new heavens and the new earth. But this theological concept, what we're seeing there, is that it refers to this ultimate, perfect and direct encounter with God. So what makes Eden so significant is not merely its beauty, but the relationship it represents, a space where humanity's deepest longing to know and be known by God was fulfilled, or at least on the way to being fulfilled. And the fall disrupted that. But the longing remained, remained and it really does shape the rest of the biblical narrative.

23:26
So now let's turn and look at the tabernacle, the temple and the renewed Edens and their transformation, really in the New Testament. So if we're trying to get back into the presence of God, it stands to reason that. Number one we need to solve our sin problem. Humanity's desire to determine their own way rather than obeying God fractures the relationship with God, each other and creation, and this problem needed to be solved, and the tabernacle and temple offer an insight into how that problem could be solved. Number two I would just say that we need to remember that this involves not just us. It does involve a one-to-one relationship with God, but notice that in the fall, what we're seeing is a fracturing not only of the relationship with God but of everything else within God's order, and so we now have problems with each other. Man and woman are going to have trouble with each other as we see as we go forward in the Genesis narrative. You know everyone's going to have trouble. You know figuring out how to relate to one another. There's murder, there's death, there's vengeance, there's all these different things. But then we also see that there are problems with creation. And so, as we think about this, just to keep in mind, this is not just about an individual relationship with Jesus Christ, although we often talk about it in those terms. It's also about a collective problem that the whole world, all of creation and all of the creatures have.

24:51
So, after the fall, the tabernacle and the temple become the means through which God's presence dwelled among his people, because the fall had really severed and unmediated access to God. The temple and the tabernacle allowed God's presence to dwell among the people without consuming or harming them, and they could have access to a holy God within the limits and constraints that he set forth despite their sin. And so, just as Eden was something of a meeting place between earth and heaven, the tabernacle and temple function as the cosmic meeting places. We see glimpses of the sort of function at a number of different points, including, for instance, the ladder that Jacob sees in his dream at Bethel in Genesis 28, 12, which reads and he dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder set up on earth and it reached to the heavens. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. And that text is referenced in John 1 51, when Jesus says truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending on the son of man. So in the incarnation, jesus really becomes the link between earth and heaven.

25:53
Jesus is described as the temple or tabernacle at various points in the gospels. For example, we already referenced John 1 14, where he became flesh and tabernacled among us. But Jesus is his presence, is God's presence among the people. This language suggests that Jesus offered access to God. Rather than seeking God in a physical temple, he was to be sought through Jesus, and in John 2.19-21, jesus actually refers to his body as the temple, showing that he is the ultimate meeting place between God and humanity. And in John 2, 19 through 21, jesus actually refers to his body as the temple, showing that he is the ultimate meeting place between God and humanity. And again this language suggests that it is through Jesus that we have access to the triune God.

26:34
Now, after Christ's ascension, paul and the author of Hebrews both deal with matters related to sacred space. In 1 Corinthians 3, 16 through 17, paul writes do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Holy Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, god will destroy him, for God's temple is holy and you are that temple. And here Paul shifts the understanding of the temple from a physical structure that maybe humans build to the gathered community of believers. The Spirit of God no longer resides in a building, but amongst his people. And in 1 Corinthians 6, 19 through 20, paul also says do you not know that your body, your individual body, is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you whom you have from God? You are not your own, you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. And this personal application reminds Christians that their bodies are also sacred spaces set apart for God's purposes. Now we also see in Ephesians 2, 19 through 22, paul described the church as a household built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, of which Christ is the cornerstone, and the church grows into a holy temple in the Lord, and this emphasizes the centrality of Christ in uniting believers as God's dwelling place. The unity of the church and its holiness reflect the presence of the Holy Spirit. And the gospel, which is safeguarded and proclaimed by the body of Christ, is the message that brings salvation through faith. Becoming part of the body of Christ brings one into the presence of God.

28:03
Now, beyond specific temple imagery, paul also uses sacrificial language to describe various aspects of Christ's work and the Christian life. So in Ephesians 5.2, paul notes you know, christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. So he's portraying Jesus as the fulfillment of the sacrificial system, echoing the imagery of sin offering and burnt offering from the Old Testament, of sin offering and burn offering from the Old Testament. In Romans 12.1, paul urges believers to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. That then redefines sacrifice from a ritual act performed in the temple to a way of life marked by surrender and obedience to God. Paul describes something very similar in Philippians. He describes the Philippians gift to him as a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God. That's Philippians 4.18. And here we see sort of a transformation of acts of generosity into sacrifices within the new covenant. So Paul's temple and sacrificial imagery transforms how we think about worship, holiness and community. The temple is no longer a distant building and sacrifices are no longer external rituals necessarily. Instead, god's presence dwells within us and our lives become these living sacrifices of worship.

29:27
In other New Testament books, hebrews presents Jesus as the culmination of Old Testament expectations. He surpasses the old structures that allowed humanity to seek atonement, access God and represent us before God. For example, jesus is a better priest of a different order. He's the order of Melchizedek who, as Hebrews 4.14 tells us, has passed through the heavens. Unlike the earthly priests who ministered in a man-made sanctuary, jesus serves in the true heavenly temple. So Jesus's priesthood is eternal and unchanging, unlike the Levitical priests who are mortal and whereas quote it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins, as we read in Hebrews 10.4, jesus's sacrifice is once for all. That's Hebrews 10.10.

30:08
The old covenant sacrifices were limited in scope and really in power. Only the high priest could enter the Holy of Holies, and only one day a year, on the day of atonement. But Jesus' sacrifice tore down that veil, both figuratively and literally, when we think back to his crucifixion, and it grants believers direct access to God. There's no more only entering once a year. There's no need for any other priest other than Jesus.

30:33
So Hebrews also considers the temple specifically, noting that earthly tabernacle and temple were shadows of the ultimate reality that Christ has revealed. And so in Hebrews 9, 1 through 10, we see also this description of the earthly tabernacles, rituals and organization and an emphasis on the tabernacle's symbolic nature. So in you know, for instance, if we look at 9, 8 through 10, we read by this the Holy Spirit indicates that the way into the holy places is not yet opened as long as the first section or this first precinct of the temple is still standing, which is symbolic for the present age. According to this arrangement, gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper but deal only with food and drink and various washing regulations for the body, imposed until the time of reformation, and so what Hebrews is really doing there is gesturing this idea that the older temple and tabernacle system are not bad, but they have become antiquated. They're no longer uh, they, they're only gesturing toward what is to come, and that's the sort of big, broader message of the book of hebrews.

31:46
Now let's say we just want to finally touch on Revelation 21 and 22. In these chapters that imagery of Eden and the temple converge in a vision of the new Jerusalem. So there is no physical temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord, god Almighty, and the Lamb. God is not contained within a temple. God's presence fills all of creation. And then there's the river that I've mentioned before that flows from God's throne, and the tree of life reappears, healing the nations, in Revelation 22. So we can see some of these things gesturing back to the original creation in Genesis 3, or, I'm sorry, genesis 1 through 3. These images tend to explode out of the shadows of the tabernacle and temple. They look forward to a time when all that God is doing will be completed, and this vision shows the complete fulfillment of God's original design. Creation is a sacred space where he dwells with his people, and all of this suggests that the tabernacle and the temple weren't just places for worship. They were symbols of God's desire to dwell with his people and a reminder of the separation caused by sin. All right, so what does all this mean for us today? I think one important thing that we need to recognize is that we can consider how all of this sort of helps us understand the Great Commission, and to do that we're going to need to recognize the connection between a couple of texts the Great Commission in Matthew 28 and the commission to go rebuild the temple in 2 Chronicles.

33:08
So in 2 Chronicles, 36, 22 through 23, cyrus the king of Persia. He issues a decree to have Jerusalem, the city of the temple, rebuilt. This follows the destruction of the temple by the Babylonians and the exile of Judah. So the Babylonians bring the Israelites into exile, they destroy the temple. Now the Persian empire has overcome the Babylonian empire and their paradigm is to send the Jews back. Let them be Jewish as long as they pay tribute to the centralized Persian government. And so the Jews get to go back and rebuild Jerusalem and rebuild the temple. And this rebuilding is central to reestablishing worship and restoring this relationship between God and his people the rebuilding of Jerusalem and his temple was about more than physical restoration. It was about re-entering and coming back into God's presence. It's really about drawing back Israel's identity and mission around God's covenant.

34:11
So let me just read 2 Chronicles, 36, 22 through 23. And it says this now, in the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled. The Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing. And so in this first section I'm just going to take a minute in this first section what we're seeing is just the setup. This is what's happening Now.

34:37
When Cyrus speaks, there's these resonances with the great commission. So Cyrus, king of Persia, says this the Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdom of the earth. Persia says this the Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdom of the earth. This probably resonates with Christ's claim to authority over all things in heaven and on earth, and he has charged me to build a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his people, may the Lord, his God, be with him, let him go up. So in these last couple of phrases, let the Lord, your God, be with him.

35:10
We see that also in the Great Commission. Jesus promises to be with his disciples until the end of the age. And then there is this let him go. There's a sense in which that may very well echo this go and make disciples in the Great Commission. Now, I'm not the only one who thinks this. In his book the Temple and the Church's Mission, biblical scholar Greg Beal notes this. He says, quote this passage has three things in common with Matthew 28, 18 through 20. Number one both Cyrus and Jesus assert authority over all the earth. Number two the commission to go. And number three, the assurance of the divine presence. End quote.

35:47
So when we read the Great Commission, we see some obvious differences. However, read in light of 2 Chronicles 36 and the preceding discussion about the temple imagery in the Old and New Testament, it does seem possible to understand the Great Commission as a call to build God's temple through discipleship, to extend the presence of God through discipleship. In other words, we are to expand the precincts of God's sanctuary, which now is the church, the body of Christ, by proclaiming the gospel and drawing others to commit to Christ while learning to live under his authority. So I find that to be a really interesting way of considering the Great Commission. I would also just end this and say that creation, temple and Christ all point to one thing God's desire to dwell with his people and our ultimate fulfillment in his presence. The beatific vision reminds us that life's greatest joy and purpose is to know and see God, and the temple imagery, particularly connected to the great commission, remind us that we are to call others to live as disciples who gain access to and learn to live in God's presence by observing all Christ has commanded. So these ideas invite us to cultivate a desire for God's presence here and now, through prayer, worship, meditating on his word, living holy lives, and as we do, we're going to anticipate the day when faith will become sight and we will dwell with him forever. Well, that's it for today.

37:09
That was a long episode and I hope you kind of caught everything. Go back and re-listen. If you didn't. Hopefully I'll be able to put some of the different Bible verses and maybe even a couple of resources in the show description. But thanks for listening to Prep and I would just say, if this episode has stirred your heart for God's presence. I encourage you to share it and keep the conversation going. I'm James Spencer and I'll see you on the next episode of Prepped.

37:33 - Speaker 2 (Host)
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