Lesson 22: A Temple Built By God

Getting Started: when God first told Moses that Israel was to make Him “a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst” He also demanded that it be constructed “exactly as I show you” (Exodus 25.8-9). To insure that His sanctuary was constructed exactly to His specifications, the Lord “called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah; and he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, with intelligence, with knowledge, and with all craftsmanship, to devise artistic designs, to work in gold and silver and bronze, in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, for work in every skilled craft” (Exodus 35.30-33). God’s dwelling place would be built by one led by the Holy Spirit.

No context is given for Psalm 118, but two things are clear: 1) the Psalmist turned to the Lord in a time of great distress (vss. 5-7) and 2) the Psalmist loves God’s house: his desire is to enter the gate of the righteous (vss. 19-20) and “from the house of the Lord” he blesses the one who “comes in the name of the Lord” (vs. 26). However, the most significant verse in the Psalm is a prophesy of what would happen when the Lord began to build His true temple: “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.” (Psalm 118:22, ESV)

The Cornerstone

The events of 586 BC were devastating in more than one way. Not only was Jerusalem destroyed and its inhabitants deported to Babylon, but the Jews’ last hope was shattered with the destruction of God’s temple (2Chronicles 36.17-20). God had already warned Israel to “not trust in these deceptive words: ‘This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD.’” (Jeremiah 7.4) As we’ve already noted, God’s presence had already departed the Jerusalem temple (Ezekiel 10.18-19; 11.22-23), but He also promised that there would be a new and more glorious temple in the future (Ezekiel 43.1-5).

While a second temple was built in Jerusalem, it was neither as grand as Solomon’s (Ezra 3.12) nor was it filled with the Lord’s glory (Ezra 6.15). However, God made a promise to those who were disappointed by this new temple: “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 2:9, ESV) While the Lord didn’t specify to Haggai exactly what He meant by the “latter glory”, this prophecy given to Malachi would certainly qualify as a greater glory: “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” (Malachi 3.1).

The gospels take note of numerous occasions when Jesus visited the Jerusalem temple, from His initial presentation in the temple (Luke 2.22-39) and His visit at the age of 12 (Luke 2.41ff), through various feast days (John 5; 7) until His final week. Matthew 21 records multiple visits of Jesus to the temple, the first being when He cleared God’s house of the animal sellers and money changers (vss. 12-13). Jesus returned to the temple on the next day (vs.23) and revealed to the chief priests and elders that their judgment was coming soon (vss. 33-41). Why? “‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?” (vs. 42; see Isaiah 28.16; Acts 4.11).

The Lord had appeared in the temple (Malachi 3.1); the temple had never witnessed such glory before (Haggai 2.9). But the Lord had been rejected, and by rejecting Jesus they had also rejected the cornerstone of the true temple (Psalm 118.22). However, nothing was going to prevent the construction of God’s temple, and construction of His temple continues to this day “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone” (Ephesians 2.19).

Building on the foundation.

Paul had the building of God’s temple in mind when he told the Corinthians, “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, ESV) We may be the temple, but the temple belongs to God and is built by Him. To understand the importance of Paul’s words, we need to look at his argument leading into chapter 3.

The first issue that Paul addressed in his correspondence to the Corinthian saints was their quarreling and divisive spirit (1.11-12). But why were they quarreling and dividing when this was not the will of God? It is plain that they had been following human wisdom, gravitating toward various teachers who had a different spin on the simplicity of the gospel. Thus, Paul has had much to say about wisdom in these opening chapters:

1. The wisdom of God seems like foolishness to the world (1.18-25).
2. They were not the wise of this world, which was why they had accepted the “foolish” message of the cross. Thus, their only boasting should be in the Lord (1.26-31).
3. Paul did not come with elegant speech and human wisdom, rather he presented the gospel to them. Their faith rested on the gospel, and not on human wisdom (2.1-5).
4. Those who were mature would listen to Paul and other inspired teachers, because they had the mind of God revealed to them by God’s Spirit (2.6-13).

Chapter 2 concluded with Paul contrasting the “natural man” and those who are “spiritual”. The natural man does not accept the things revealed by God’s Spirit, because they seem foolish to him. However, those who are spiritual know and accept the things revealed by God’s Spirit; they listen to Paul and other inspirited teachers because, “we have the mind of Christ.”

Chapter 3 opened with Paul rebuking the Corinthians for following the flesh rather than the Spirit (vss. 1-3) and urging them to think correctly about teachers because “neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth” (vs. 7). And growth, specifically of God’s building (vs. 9) is Paul’s focus in Vss. 10-17.

Building imagery takes center stage in this passage. But this isn’t just any building, it’s God’s building, His temple (vs. 16)! Paul’s role was in laying the foundation, and of course the only foundation that could be laid is Jesus Christ (vss. 10-11; cf. 1:23; 2:2). Now, others were building on that foundation, and they must be careful how they build! Some see this passage as applying to the type of converts being added to the building. However, it seems more likely that Paul is referring to the teachings and not the converts.

• The contrast in chapters 1&2 has been between the wisdom of the world (foolishness) and the foolishness of the cross (true wisdom cf. 1:21-25; 2:6-9, 12-13).
• Paul laid the one true foundation: Jesus Christ, i.e the message of the crucifixion (1:23).
• Now others must build (i.e. teach) what would truly build up the church.

If I am correct, it would seem that the best way to read the passage would be:

• Those who built with gold, silver & precious stones were the ones who continued teaching the true gospel of Christ. These materials (gospel teaching) belong in God’s Temple. These materials (gospel teaching) would last when the testing fire came and the teacher(s) would be rewarded.
• Those who built with wood, hay and straw were relying more on the wisdom of the world in their teaching. Must be careful here to emphasize that their teachings were not destructive to the church, i.e. not false, but by trying to bring worldly wisdom into the gospel they were not building anything that would last. Such materials (teaching) really don’t belong in a temple. Such work would perish, but the teachers would escape (but perhaps barely).
• However, there were some whose teaching was destructive to the building (God’s temple). Any who advocated the divisive doctrines mentioned in vs. 4 would fall into this category. The destructive nature of their work would be repaid in that they would be destroyed themselves!

The point: who we listen to is so very important. We should always evaluate teachers by what Jesus, Paul, Peter, James, etc. had to say, for they revealed the mind of God to us. Note again Paul’s words in 1Corinthians 3.10: “According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it.” The similarities with Bezalel (Exodus 35.30-33) are apparent, as both men were equipped by God to build His sanctuary. And now we must take care with how we build on God’s temple.