And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them,

and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. (Revelation 21:3 ESV)

The Significance of the Temple, pt. 2

Eden, tabernacle, temple were shadows of the real thing

• Jer. leveled, temple, throne, nation gone

…and they shall be my people, and I will be their God. “My servant David shall be king over them, and they shall all have

one shepherd. They shall walk in my rules and be careful to obey my statutes. They shall dwell in the land that I gave to my servant Jacob, where your fathers lived. They and their

children and their children's children shall dwell there forever, and David my servant shall be their prince forever. I

will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will set them in their

land and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in their midst forevermore. My dwelling place shall be with them, and

I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD who sanctifies Israel, when my sanctuary is in their midst forevermore.”

(Ezekiel 37:23-28 ESV)

Eden, tabernacle, temple were shadows of the real thing

• Jer. leveled, temple, throne, nation gone• 536 BC Cyrus liberated the Jews

– Built temple foundation, let it sit for 16 years– 520 BC, prophets encouraged a new start– 516 BC, temple completed

‘Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? How do you see it now? Is it not as

nothing in your eyes? (Haggai 2:3 ESV)

And I will shake all nations, so that the treasures of all nations shall come in, and I will fill this house with

glory, says the LORD of hosts. The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, declares the LORD of hosts. The

latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the LORD of hosts. And in this place I will give peace, declares the LORD of hosts.’”

(Haggai 2:7-9 ESV)

“Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will

suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is

coming, says the LORD of hosts. (Malachi 3:1 ESV)

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from

the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14 ESV)

Way into the true tabernacle is clear

Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that

he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, (Hebrews 10:19-20 ESV)

…built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole

structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a

dwelling place for God by the Spirit. (Ephesians 2:20-22 ESV)The church is a holy temple, God’s dwelling place

Way into the true tabernacle is clear

Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's 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. (1 Corinthians 3:16-17)

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You

are not your own, (1 Corinthians 6:19 ESV)

How do you enter this temple?

1. By the altar

– Sacrifice

2. By the laver

– washing

The significance of the temple?

• To honor God, show Him and His glory to the world

• To show God dwelling among men once more

They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.

(Revelation 22:4 ESV)

Don’t you want to go to that place?