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Sunday, May 6
Pastor Oliver R. Blosser, M.Div., Ph.D.
Faith Community Church
Pipestone, MN
The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much, James 5:16b.
A House Of prayer
The Tabernacle/Temple Concept of Scripture
Luke 19:46b It is written, My house is the house of prayer: but ye have made it a den of thieves.
Isaiah 56:7 Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people.
All that you really need is God, and prayer brings you to God! God is only a prayer away. He promises to give you your daily bread and to meet your every need. Prayer creates fellowship and communion with the Lord. In the Bible, the common place of prayer is called the Tabernacle or Temple.
A study of the Tabernacle/Temple concept in the Bible reveals that this concept continues to change throughout Scripture. But one aspect is consistent; the Tabernacle or Temple is a place where God dwells and meets with people. Thus, it becomes a House of Prayer.
I. The House of
Prayer in the Old Testament
A. The Garden of
Eden was a Temple and a House of Prayer.
The Garden of Eden was paradise! Here the Lord placed Adam and Eve to have fellowship, communion and communication with Him. The Lord would walk with Adam and Eve in the garden in the cool of the day, Genesis 3:8. It was a place of perfect fellowship between God and man until man’s fall into sin. The Lord has always longed to dwell among His people who love Him. The Garden of Eden became a House of Prayer.
B. The family
altar was a Temple and a House of Prayer.
After the fall into sin, the Lord revealed to man the need to build an altar and offer a blood sacrifice. In Hebrew thought, the altar is a place of death. So the sinner must learn to die to sin and to call upon the Name of the Lord for salvation. Then began men to call upon the name of the Lord, Genesis 4:26c. This is a clear Biblical reference to prayer, Psalm 116:13 and Romans 10:13.
As Abraham traveled the Holy Land, he built altars and called upon the Name of the Lord, Genesis 12:7-8; 13:4, 18; 22:9. The family altar became a House of Prayer; a place where people met with God.
C. The Mosaic
Tabernacle was a Temple and a House of Prayer.
The Covenant Family went to Egypt to escape the famine and came out from Egypt as a great nation after a timeframe of slavery. Under the leadership of Moses, the Lord gave to the nation of Israel through Moses a Tent Tabernacle blueprint at Mount Sinai, cf., Act 7:44.
The Tabernacle was a place of sacrifice and a place of prayer. The Lord told Moses;And there I will meet with the children of Israel, and the tabernacle shall be sanctified by my glory, Exodus 29:43. The altar of incense in the Tabernacle represented prayer. The Mosaic Tabernacle was the blueprint of the Heavenly Temple, Hebrews 8:5. It became a House of Prayer for the people of Israel.
D. The Tabernacle
of David was a Temple and a House of Prayer.
When King David captured Jerusalem, he wanted the city to become the religious capital for the nation of Israel. That is why he erected the Tent Tabernacle and brought up the Ark of the Covenant from Kirjath-jearim to Jerusalem, II Samuel 6:17. This Tabernacle of David was especially a place for praise and prayer; for the Psalms of Israel were composed for this purpose. The Tabernacle became a House of Prayer in Jerusalem.
E. The Jerusalem Temple was a House of Prayer.
It was David’s desire to make the Tent Tabernacle a permanent dwelling place for the Lord in the form of the Temple. Through the Lord’s will, King Solomon would build the Temple in the place where the Lord had placed His Name, Psalm 76:1-2. The Lord’s promise to David was that his descendants would rule and build a Temple, I Chronicles 17:11-12. According to the Bible, the Jews were to have four Temples;
1. The Solomonic Temple; build by King Solomon and destroyed by the Babylonians in 588 B.C.
2. The Second Temple ; built by Zerubbabel and renovated by King Herod the Great. It was visited by Jesus and destroyed by the Romans in A.D. 70.
3. The Temple of the Anti-Christ; permission to build this will be granted by the Jewish false messiah during the end time of the Great Tribulation, cf., II Thessalonians 2:3-12.
4. The Messianic Temple; to be built by the Messiah, our Lord Jesus Christ, at the beginning of His 1,000 year reign, Isaiah 16:5; Ezekiel 37:21-28; Amos 9:11; Acts 15:16. According to Ezekiel chapters 40-48, the nations of the world will someday come to this Temple to worship the Lord, cf., Isaiah 2:2. As a Priest-King, Christ will rule from this Temple, where prayer also shall be made for him continually; and daily shall he be praised, Psalm 72:15b.
We are reminded of the great prayers prayed on this site throughout the centuries, beginning with Solomon’s prayer in I Kings 8:22-61. Our Lord cleansed the Temple in Jerusalem on two occasions because the merchants had taken over the Count of the Gentiles and the Jews had failed to reach out to non-Jews, changing the prayer plaza into a business mall. The Temple was intended to be a place where all people and God would be brought together in fellowship.
II. The House of
Prayer in the New Testament
A. The Body of
Christ was a Temple and a House of Prayer.
At the Incarnation of Jesus Christ, God dwelt in a human body. Our Lord’s body became the Tabernacle or Temple for the divine dwelling. The Greek text of John 1:14 literally reads; And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt [tabernacled] among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. It became necessary for the Lord to have a body in order to redeem fallen mankind; God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, II Corinthians 5:19a. Jesus is the Great High Priest of this Temple, Hebrews 9:11-12. Our Lord’s Resurrected, glorified body continues to be a House of Prayer as He continues His mission as our Great High Priest. In the body of Christ, man and God were brought together.
B. The Believer’s
Body is a Temple and a House of Prayer.
At the time in which the believer is born again, spiritually, the Spirit of Christ comes to dwell in the believer’s body. During this time of grace, the Lord has no Temple in Jerusalem. There is even no command for Christians to build churches in the New Testament. You see, the church is people; not buildings! And the believer’s body is the Lord’s dwelling-place in this church age of grace.
Listen to what Scripture declares concerning this manner in which God and men are brought together;
I Corinthians 3:16-17 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.
I Corinthians 6:19-20 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.
Since your body is the Temple of the Holy Spirit, you make the choice whether it be a House of Prayer or not! Did not God call you to be a priest in His Temple? But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light: Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy, I Peter 2:9-10. The Apostle Paul makes it quite clear that the Lord does not dwell in temples made with human hands today; God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things, Acts 17:24-25.
III. The House of Prayer in Heaven
Heaven, itself, is a Tabernacle where God and men come together in perfect fellowship and communion;
Revelation 15:5 And after that I looked, and, behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened.
Revelation 21:3-4 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
Our Lord, as He reigns throughout eternity, is the Temple of the New Jerusalem, the home of Christ’s Bride, Revelation 21:22-23.
Life Application
As you can see, the Temple concept changes throughout God’s Plan for the Ages. But the Lord is always reaching out to people, wanting to come into fellowship with them, and He always meets with people in a House of Prayer. The Lord does not dwell in Temples or church buildings, made with human hands. But, rather in His grace, He has chosen to dwell in the body of the believer and to make people His Body, the Body of Christ, which is His Bride.
You chose if you will make your body a Temple for Christ, a House of Prayer where God fellowships with you. Or you may rob God of His glory by refusing to meet with Him in prayer. May your Temple; your body; be filled with the presence of the Lord, the Blessed Holy Spirit, and the sweet incense of prayer. May your body be a Temple that truly honors the Lord. God wants to fill you and your life with His presence. He will meet with you at any time and in any place in His House of Prayer!