Bible Question:
Beja, I am not criticizing your view. I agree that Christ is the Temple as Revelation says. I am just trying to understand how all the parts fit together. It seems to me that a correct understanding should include all the elements, no matter what view one takes. Certainly, according to the view you have expressed, the sacrifices on the tables in Ezekiel 40:43 would signify Christ's sacrifice for us. So the whole thing could represent what was for Ezekiel a work to be accomplished and what is for us a work finished already on the cross. Is that what you mean? Then the problem among the various interpreters would have more to do with a perspective in time than whether or not there is a stone building? |
Bible Answer: Loavesnfishes, I wouldn't reduce the vision to a picture of the attonement if that's what you mean. I think it is pointing to a future temple. I just believe that temple is fulfilled in Christ and His Church. Keep in mind, the key to understanding what I'm saying is to remember that the temple always has been centrally about the presence of God with His people. Therefore God in our midst as Christ, then as the Spirit in the Church, and ultimately the fulness of God in our midst unmediated is a very logical and greater fulfillment of what the temple was always about. As far as helping you understand the minor details of Ezekiel's temple, I can't do that. I don't believe they are all meant to be individual nuggets of truth. As I was saying, I don't believe in prophecies that every detail is meant to be analized. For example in Zechariah's scroll when we are told it measured 20 cubits (if I recall correctly) to ask what the 20 cubits meant would be to totally focus on the wrong point, missing what he is trying to say. What I centrally what to know is how did Jesus and his apostles handle the old testament text in question. In the New Testament, we have a divinely inspired and authoritative interpretation of the Old Testament. That's how I approach the issue. P.S. Its best to use "note" when replying. I will still be alerted via e-mail that you have responded. In Chrst, Beja |