THE TEMPLE OF JERUSALÉM

In the context of Yahweh's appearances to Moses during the wilderness pilgrimage, He commanded that prophet to build a tabernacle: "Then have them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them" (Exodus 25: 8). In it was the ark and within it the tablets of the Law. "There, above the cover between the two cherubim that are over the ark of the covenant law, I will meet with you and give you all my commands for the Israelites" , God said to Moses (Exodus 25:22). At the time of David (1 Chronicles 22: 1-6), nearly five centuries later, the tabernacle was replaced by a sumptuous temple erected by his son Solomon (1 Kings6).

Over time, sin and distancing from God led the Jews to view the ark of the covenant and the temple as amulet species. Once, when they suffered heavy defeat against the Philistines, they sent for the ark of the covenant, because they believed that their mere presence would lead them to victory. However, this is not what happened: they were defeated again (1 Samuel 4:1-11). The narrative of the text shows that the Israelites were, in relation to God, with the same pagan view that the Philistines had about their gods. They believed that "the deity is identified with the symbol of his presence and that the favor of God can be automatically obtained by manipulating the symbol" [1]. 

Still in this regard, Jeremiah shows that, despite the life of sin, there was in his day the same sense of protection because of the temple's existence in Jerusalem. But the prophet warned them, "Reform your ways and your actions, and I will let you live in this place. Do not trust in deceptive words and say, “This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord!" (7: 1-15). Later, God, through this prophet, said, "I will make this house like Shiloh and this city a curse among all the nations of the earth.’" (26: 6). It was in Shiloh that the tabernacle lay after the conquest of Canaan, but was later destroyed. Likewise, in the year 586 BC, Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed by the king of Babylon.

At the time of Jesus, the same idolatrous attitude toward the temple was observed. Jesus condemned this behavior and the model of spirituality professed by those who administered it (Matthew 21:12, 13 and Matthew 23). He even prophesied his destruction (Matthew 24: 1-2). In one of his teachings, referring to himself, He said, "I tell you that here is what is greater than the temple." In another discourse He said, "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days… But the temple he had spoken of was his body” (John2:19-21). Only God is worthy of worship. The temple of Christ's time was not fully completed until AD 64 [2], six years before its complete destruction by the Roman armies.

Of course there is no problem with temples and other religious symbols. They even have a positive function when they awaken man, immersed in a concrete reality, to spiritual life. The problem is putting these icons on the same level as Godhead and worshiping them or having extreme reverence for them. This is dead religiosity, idolatry. Jesus' proposal is a spirituality that lives inwardly, inwardly, and projects itself outwardly by acts of righteousness. The Apostle Paul, speaking about the spiritual life, said: "Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?..." (1 Corinthians 6:19). The worship of God must take place, rather, within us, on the altar we have raised to him in our minds and hearts.

In conversation with a Samaritan woman, Jesus said that the place of worship is irrelevant. What counts is the form, which must be "in spirit and in truth ... God is spirit" (John 4: 19-24). From the time of the prophets one observes the nullity of the temple if the worship is not true. Also noteworthy is the fact that in the “new Jerusalem”, which descends from heaven in Revelation, there is no temple. See text: “I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.” (21:22). These reflections require us to evaluate our religious expression. Attention should be paid to what James the brother of Jesus said about true religion, the spirituality that pleases God: "to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world". He was just quoting the two greatest commandments differently: love your neighbor and love God.

Antônio Maia - M. Div.

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[1] Bíblia Nova Versão Internacional, Comentário, Ed Vida, pg.424

[2] Idem, p.1791