A New Temple
All the people gave a great shout of praise to the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid. But many of the older priests and Levites and family heads, who had seen the former temple, wept aloud…. – Ezra 3:11-12
It was a great and glorious day in Jerusalem. They had come back to their land from Babylon, and the foundation of the Temple was now laid. Surely, the promises of the prophets were about to come true. The glory was being restored!
However, the older people wept – but not for joy. They wept because this temple was nothing at all like the one built by Solomon when Israel was in its prime. Where was the glorious Temple promised by the prophets?
That Temple of Glory, the ideal Temple of God, was not to come for several hundred more years. The glorious Temple is the one of which Paul wrote:
In Him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. – Ephesians 2:21
We are built into that glorious Temple where we share the glory of God Himself. In this Table, we remember our glorious Head from whom all of our fullness and glory comes.
I need to examine myself to see if I am allowing His glory to shine in me so that people do not need to weep when they see me!
Filed under: Communion Meditations, Exile & Return | Tagged: Communion Meditation, Temple of God |
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