MY PERSPECTIVE, Gary Damron
It’s a little early for Advent, but I’ve been thinking about the idea of the Promised One coming to deliver Israel. We’ll first survey some religious facts, then their historical background, and finally look at scripture surrounding Jesus the King.
In the world today, three of the four largest religions are Christianity, with 2.2 billion people; Islam with 1.6 billion; and Buddhism with .5 billion. All of these are universal or global, which seek to increase their membership through conversion. The other large religion, Hinduism with 1 billion people, is ethnic, closely tied to family and region. Hinduism was founded in the populous region of South Asia, and from it Buddhism originated and spread throughout East and Southeast Asia.
Judaism is another significant ethnic religion, with about 15 million adherents. More than half live in Israel, while the rest are found in what is called a diaspora, a dispersed community made up of tight-knit groups scattered worldwide. Christianity and Islam, along with Judaism, claim Abraham as an early patriarch of their faith, and all are monotheistic. All three hold Jerusalem as a sacred site, which brings difficulty to today’s world.
To be honest, I’ve always wondered about the draw that Jerusalem has on all three groups, especially since we visited there in 2019. A clue is in its historical contribution to the development and spread of religion in that region and the western world. From the time of King David, Jerusalem served as the center of Israel’s existence. Other people carried with them or found their gods in other temples, but Jews were bound to one tabernacle. Later the first temple was built by David’s son Solomon in Jerusalem. Only there could the appointed priesthood offer accepted sacrifices for sin and maintain daily fellowship with God.
The temple on the Hill of Zion contained the Ark of the Covenant, which had led them into the Promised Land. The menorah represented God’s perfect light - the table with shewbread served as a reminder of God’s sustenance - daily blood offerings on the altar and festive burnt offerings united Jews around the world. Memories of the past and hopes for the future revolved around Jerusalem and the temple; history and religion intertwined to establish national identity and unity.
The history of Judaism contained many examples of exclusive worship and life, which protected their relationship with the one true living God who set them free from bondage in Egypt. Moses’ successor Joshua challenged the people, “’Now, therefore, fear the Lord and serve Him in sincerity and truth; and put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. ...choose for yourselves today whom you will serve; ... but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord’” (Joshua 24:14-15).
Over the next 1400 years, from Joshua to Jesus, the existence of Israel was often challenged. A pattern of invasions, destruction, and deliverance was repeated numerous times, and the temple on Mt Zion was destroyed. Yet prophets and other leaders regularly stepped forth, calling for loyalty to God. In the generation before Jesus’ birth, Herod the Great spent 46 years building a second temple in Jerusalem. Though under Roman domination by then, the hearts of Jews carried a longing and expectation that a Messiah would come to bring deliverance.
In Bethlehem of Judea, in the fulness of time, Jesus, a Jew, was born in Bethlehem. Reminds me of lyrics to an old song, “Hallelujah! I have found Him Whom my soul so long has craved! Jesus satisfies my longings; through His life I now am saved.” The suffering and alienation faced for centuries, separation from the true experience of home, at last found relief. Jesus lived and died as the sacrifice that atoned for all sins once and for all. Through His miraculous resurrection, Abraham and all through the ages who walk by faith benefite from the shed blood of Christ.
During Jesus’ lifetime, He proclaimed, “’Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.’ The Jews therefore said, ‘It took forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?’ But He was speaking of the temple of His body” (John 2:19-21). A few years after his death, the second temple in Jerusalem was destroyed, but Jesus lives forever.
The two temples were only preparatory for a New Jerusalem: “I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it” (Revelation 21:22-24).
In addition to Christ being the temple, when Jesus enters into the heart and soul of a believer, we each become a dwelling for God. “For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, ‘I will dwell in them and walk among them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people’” (2 Corinthians 6:16, quoting Jeremiah 32:38). The relationship that God promised, that Israel longed for, that was foreshadowed in the Temple, has been made available for everyone through Jesus the Christ, the Messiah.
