The Jewish Temple: Did God Want One Built?

That is something of an assumption, which we have collectively made for centuries - nay, millennia! - Yet people today are questioning that assumption. And for good reason.

When I look at the record of David wanting to build a magnificent temple for God, e.g. in II Samuel 7, I am brought up short by God saying "I have been moving from place to place with a tent as my dwelling. ... when did I ever say to any of their leaders whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, 'Why have you not built me a house of cedar?'" This reeks of "No, I don't really want a magnificent temple!" God wanted always to be with and among the people, not stuck away in some separated place. Yet David prepared Solomon to build a temple.

Moreover, my experience has always been that, when I bring someone to Christ, they tend to do well spiritually - until they join a church! Then their spirituality tends to flatten out and it loses its edge. Churches - I have been perplexed to find - might not necessarily be God's best will, even though they are universally assumed to be so. One of the ideas that bolster arguments for having churches is the temple that Solomon built.

So I have investigated throughout the Scriptures, and found that it is more likely than not that it was not God's primary or best intention to have a temple built. I was going to write it down here, but instead I will give links to others who write better than I can.

• Did God Really Want a Temple? - a blog by Joshua Hopping (2011), which begins "Something strange struck me last week as I prepared to talk about King Solomon ... God Himself did not plan for nor tell anyone to build Himself a temple." It is helpful and easy to read, and has a dozen comments attached, most of which are also helpful, some agreeing and some disagreeing. This link was the one most helpful to me.

• Did God want King David to build a temple? - a blog by Dean Smith (2018), which argues similarly but with a different perspective. It adds a few extra points, spending a lot of text on David's Jerusalem tabernacle. Not quite so helpful.

• Was it God's desire for Israel to worship Him in a temple in Jerusalem? - author's name not given (2002-2021). This argues that it was indeed God's desire: "God desired a temple built for His name in Jerusalem." However, I find the arguments rather shallow, and do not face the issues covered in Joshua Hopping's blog.

• Did God ever really want a temple? - a blog by Cliftyman (2005). "It seems that God never really asked David to build him a temple." This has some useful extra points, along with quite a number of rather lengthy responses, so you can follow the argument. However, Cliftyman seems to make a wee mistake, which to me might undermine his authority, suggesting that it was after infuriating God by taking the census that David thought of building a temple, whereas it seems the temple idea might have come earlier.

• EVIDENCE THE TEMPLE WAS NOT GOD'S WILL - a whole paper by Shawn Nelson (2013). He concludes that the temple "was built in the flesh" - i.e. by human reasoning that was not in line with God's will. This paper has considerable research, presents evidence by which we can make up our own minds, and it also discusses implications for us that the temple was probably not God's main intention. Shawn seems to approach this as a genuine researcher rather than a polemicist: "Since it is a topic that is not widely discussed, I'm cautious with my conclusion."

My own belief is that it is more likely than not that the temple was not God's main intention, and yet God used it out of concession and love. My view is probably best summed up by Shawn's conclusion: "If correct, the implications are enormous. It makes me wonder how much of what we personally do in ministry is actually born out of the flesh - with God later blessing it as a concession anyway." So, please read the links above, especially that by Joshua Hopping.

This page, "http://abxn.org/temple.html" is part of Andrew Basden's abxn.org pages - pages that open up discussion and exploration from a Christian ('xn') perspective. Written on the Amiga with Protext, in the style of classic HTML.

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Created: 29 June 2021 Last updated: