So often as believers, we disconnect ourselves from the events of the Old Testament because we believe that nothing taken place or written that long ago could apply to us. We forget that the bible is a huge thread that all connects and intertwines. When we cut part of that thread off and disregard it as if it doesn’t exist or doesn’t matter, we will never see the whole picture, experience the fullness of God, or realize that our stories are all far deeper and far more relative than we ever would have expected.

Just as we a lot of times we can hear the word ‘temple’ and an estranged place, somewhere deep within biblical times, comes to mind. We forget that, we ourselves, are temples. And we never bother to look back at history to paint a picture of how important that is.

When we look to the Old Testament, we see the Spirit of God dwelling in a temple- a temple regarded as the Holy Place of the Tabernacle- that God commanded Moses to build. Within the Holy Place of the tabernacle, there was an inner room called the Holy of Holies, or the Most Holy Place. A most sacred room, a place no ordinary person could enter. It was God’s special dwelling place in the midst of His people. Between the Holy of Holies and the rest of the temple stood a large veil. Essentially, shielding a holy God from sinful man. The picture of the veil was that of a barrier between man and God, showing man that the holiness of God could not be trifled with. Whoever entered into the Holy of Holies was entering the very presence of God. In fact, anyone except the high priest who entered the Holy of Holies would die. Even the high priest, God’s chosen mediator with His people, could only pass through the veil and enter this sacred dwelling once a year, on a prescribed day called the Day of Atonement, after going through the correct. So the presence of God remained shielded from man behind a thick curtain during the history of Israel. However, Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross changed that. When He died, the curtain in the Jerusalem temple was torn in half, from the top to the bottom. Only God could have carried out such an incredible feat because the veil was too high for human hands to have reached it, and too thick to have torn it.

The tabernacle really was a prophetic projection of the Lord’s redemptive plan for His people. In the tearing of the veil, God’s spirit was poured out onto man. The glory which once shined in the tent/tabernacle/temple of old, veiled in the mysterious cloud, was simply a foreglow, a mere flicker, of that exceedingly excelling glory now embodied in Jesus. God no longer lives in a tent or tabernacle built by human hands, nor will he ever. God's glorious manifest presence is not to be found in an ornate temple of marble, gold, and precious stones, but rather in Jesus. And upon Jesus’ death, the spirit of God was released from the Holy of Holies and into the world, making us (believers), temples of God and the place in which His spirit dwells.

The same spirit that was one heavily guarded and highly valued, now lives in you. Think of how special it is that God’s dwelling place- once a perfect and flawless temple- is now your heart. A presence in which only the High Priest was able to occasionally witness is now with you always.

An exclusive gift once allotted for God’s few chosen people is now free to all the world- to you and to me, because of Him. What an honor it is for God’s very own spirit to dwell in us and guide us through the mountains and the valleys. A temple, God’s dwelling place, we now serve as vessels of light and love and goodness to the world around us.

 

Heavenly Father, thank you so much for allowing my heart to be a dwelling place for Your very own Spirit. It is of the utmost honor to be a Your vessel; salt of the earth, the light of the world, city on a hill. I pray that I shine for you wherever I go.