The temple in the Bible is
the designated place where
God chose to make His presence
dwell among His people.
In the Old Testament
it was a physical building in Jerusalem.
In the New Testament
the temple theme is fulfilled
in Jesus Christ,
in the church,
and ultimately in the new creation
where God Himself is the temple.
The temple was preceded by the tabernacle, the portable sanctuary built in the wilderness according to the pattern God gave Moses (Exodus 25–40). Later, Solomon built the permanent temple in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah (1 Kings 6–8).
Key features of the temple included:
The temple was the center of Israel’s worship, the place of sacrifice, prayer, and the annual festivals. God’s glory filled the temple at its dedication (1 Kings 8:10-11).
The temple was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BC, rebuilt under Zerubbabel, and later expanded by Herod the Great. It was finally destroyed by the Romans in AD 70.
Jesus related to the temple in several important ways:
In Jesus, the presence of God fully and finally dwelt among His people. He is the true meeting place between God and humanity.
In the New Testament, the temple theme is applied to the people of God:
God no longer dwells in a building made with hands but in His people through the Holy Spirit.
In the new creation there is no physical temple:
“And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb.” (Revelation 21:22)
The ultimate fulfillment of the temple is the immediate, unmediated presence of God with His people forever.
The temple theme traces the movement of God’s presence from a physical building to the person of Jesus Christ, then to His people by the Spirit, and finally to the unbroken presence of God in the new creation. The physical temple was always a shadow pointing forward to a greater reality. In Christ and by the Spirit, believers already experience the true temple reality, while still looking forward to its full and final expression when God dwells with His people forever.
Entry compiled for the JESUSaves.com Bible Glossary. Optimized for wiki.js Visual Editor.