WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.280 Well, in our evening services over the past five weeks, we've been looking at what we've 00:00:07.280 --> 00:00:15.519 called epic images from the prophecy of Ezekiel. Ezekiel's a vast book, 48 chapters long, it's 00:00:15.519 --> 00:00:20.879 one of the longest books in the Bible, and we've just, in so many ways, just dipped into 00:00:20.879 --> 00:00:31.039 it to look at some of the powerful and vivid imagery that is set before us in this Old Testament 00:00:31.039 --> 00:00:38.879 prophecy. We've gone through various images. In chapter one, we looked at that astonishing 00:00:38.879 --> 00:00:47.039 image of God, which is full of motion and power, wheels and wings and all sorts of astonishing 00:00:47.039 --> 00:00:58.000 imagery before us. Then we looked at the quite shocking image of an abandoned baby in chapter 16. 00:00:58.000 --> 00:01:07.759 We then looked at the watchman speaking of the responsibility of the prophet and also the need 00:01:07.760 --> 00:01:17.439 to listen to God's warnings. Then we came to the shepherd and chapter 34, that remarkable chapter 00:01:17.439 --> 00:01:28.640 that rebukes the leadership of Israel and in response, God says, I myself will be the shepherd. 00:01:29.360 --> 00:01:37.200 Then last week, I was away, but you were looking at the valley of dry bones, that remarkable chapter 00:01:37.200 --> 00:01:43.840 speaking of God, breathing new life into deadness through word and spirit. 00:01:44.560 --> 00:01:51.359 Tonight, we come to the final image, the new temple. I'm just going to read a couple of 00:01:51.359 --> 00:01:58.719 verses again from chapter 43. Then he led me to the gate, the gate facing east, and behold, the glory 00:01:58.719 --> 00:02:03.280 of the God of Israel was coming from the east, and the sound of his coming was like the sound of 00:02:03.280 --> 00:02:08.560 many waters, and the earth shone with his glory, and the vision I saw was just like the vision 00:02:08.560 --> 00:02:13.120 I'd seen when he came to destroy the city, and just like the vision that I'd seen at the Hebar 00:02:13.120 --> 00:02:21.199 Canal, and I fell on my face, and the glory of the Lord entered the temple by the gate facing east. 00:02:21.199 --> 00:02:28.000 The spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court, and behold, the glory of the Lord 00:02:28.000 --> 00:02:37.680 filled the temple. The first five images that we looked at are in many ways very vivid and powerful. 00:02:37.680 --> 00:02:47.280 This last one is maybe a wee bit different because it's perhaps a wee bit less exciting. 00:02:48.479 --> 00:02:53.840 If you read through Ezekiel, particularly if you read through the 30s, the chapters 30 onwards, 00:02:53.840 --> 00:03:03.759 it's dramatic, it's stunning, it's vivid. Then you come to the 40s, and it's maybe not quite so 00:03:04.560 --> 00:03:11.599 fast-paced. It can almost seem a little dry. Reading through chapters 40 through to 48, 00:03:11.599 --> 00:03:19.680 there's lots of measurements, and there's lots of descriptions of walls and rooms, there's lots of 00:03:19.680 --> 00:03:29.439 duties explained, and in chapter 48 there's one of these big long lists of names and tribes and 00:03:30.000 --> 00:03:38.080 all sorts of stuff like that. It can almost seem a wee bit dry, but what I hope that we'll see 00:03:38.080 --> 00:03:46.240 together tonight is that the new temple is possibly the most epic image of them all. 00:03:46.240 --> 00:03:56.800 We're going to look at this in many ways in terms of the big picture of the whole imagery that the 00:03:56.800 --> 00:04:03.920 Bible gives us of the temple. While there's loads of detail in chapters 40 through to 48 00:04:03.920 --> 00:04:11.040 in Ezekiel and the passages that I've read picked out some of these details, in many ways we're 00:04:11.039 --> 00:04:17.199 taking a wee bit of a step back from that, and we're looking at the bigger picture. I want us 00:04:17.199 --> 00:04:22.879 to start by just thinking about the story of the temple in the Old Testament, because that's a 00:04:22.879 --> 00:04:29.360 fascinating theme that runs through scripture. The key point that we must recognize is that the 00:04:29.360 --> 00:04:39.039 story of the temple begins at the very beginning, because the first temple is the Garden of Eden. 00:04:39.040 --> 00:04:45.120 Now that's not explicitly stated when you read the descriptions of Eden, you won't see the word 00:04:45.120 --> 00:04:50.720 temple, but when you look a bit more closely it becomes very clear that Eden was in fact a temple, 00:04:50.720 --> 00:04:56.640 because if you ask the question what is a temple, the answer is that a temple is a place where God 00:04:56.640 --> 00:05:05.840 dwells and where we can meet with Him and worship Him, and that is exactly what the Garden of Eden 00:05:05.839 --> 00:05:11.839 was. It was a place where God and humanity dwelt together. It's really fascinating that if you 00:05:11.839 --> 00:05:18.799 look back into Genesis chapter 3 you'll see that it says that the Lord God walked in the Garden, 00:05:18.799 --> 00:05:25.919 and then if you jump forward to Ezekiel, in other words to Leviticus 26, when God is talking about 00:05:25.919 --> 00:05:31.279 making His sanctuary, His tabernacle, He says, I'll make my dwelling among you, my soul shall not 00:05:31.279 --> 00:05:39.439 abhor you, and I will walk among you and will be your God. The same word, same idea, this idea of 00:05:39.439 --> 00:05:46.559 God and humanity being together. And it's actually a fascinating study to explore the similarities 00:05:46.559 --> 00:05:53.599 that exist between the Garden of Eden and the later tabernacle and temple in the Old Testament. 00:05:54.239 --> 00:06:00.399 A good place to go is Exodus chapter 25. There God describes what his tabernacle is supposed 00:06:00.399 --> 00:06:06.319 to be like, and there's many similarities. There's cherubim, there's gold and precious stones, 00:06:06.319 --> 00:06:12.399 there's this lampstand that's shaped like a tree with branches and flowers. The same thing again 00:06:12.399 --> 00:06:18.639 is seen in Solomon's temple. I'm going to read a few verses from 1 Kings and listen for the kind 00:06:18.639 --> 00:06:26.239 of garden language that is throughout this. Around all the walls of the house he carved engraved 00:06:26.240 --> 00:06:33.439 figures of cherubim and palm trees and open flowers in the inner and outer rooms. The floor of the 00:06:33.439 --> 00:06:38.639 house he overlaid with gold in the inner and outer rooms. For the entrance to the inner sanctuary he 00:06:38.639 --> 00:06:43.600 made doors of olive wood, the lintel and the doorposts were five-sided. He covered the two doors 00:06:43.600 --> 00:06:51.199 of olive wood with carvings of cherubim, palm trees and open flowers. He overlaid them with gold 00:06:51.199 --> 00:06:56.160 and spread gold on the cherubim and on the palm trees. If you'd been able to walk into the temple 00:06:56.160 --> 00:07:06.400 it would have been full of echoes of Eden with the garden imagery, with the gold, with the cherubim. 00:07:06.400 --> 00:07:17.120 And there are many, many more fascinating connections. Eden was a temple. God was dwelling with humanity. 00:07:17.840 --> 00:07:25.760 So if you like, that's the kind of starting point of the story of the temple in the Old Testament. 00:07:25.759 --> 00:07:37.199 God and man dwelling together in a temple, in a garden. So what happens in the rest of the Old 00:07:37.199 --> 00:07:42.639 Testament? Well there's various stages that we can go through. As I'm sure you know, 00:07:44.399 --> 00:07:51.360 in Genesis chapter 3 Adam sins and the result of that is that he is driven out of the garden, 00:07:51.360 --> 00:07:59.280 driven out of God's presence, driven out of the temple. Genesis 3 24, he drove out the man and at 00:07:59.280 --> 00:08:04.560 the east of the Garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword. In fact there's another 00:08:05.759 --> 00:08:15.040 similarity again. When Ivor read, where was the gate? Which direction was it? It was east 00:08:16.240 --> 00:08:19.920 and of course the entrance to Eden was in the east as well. Another connection. 00:08:19.920 --> 00:08:29.199 Anyway, I'm getting distracted. Man was driven out and it's clear that now it's impossible for God 00:08:29.199 --> 00:08:37.200 and humanity to dwell together. So the relationship is severed and the temple access is completely 00:08:37.759 --> 00:08:45.120 restricted and that's where humanity is left as a result of the fall. The next major 00:08:45.120 --> 00:08:54.720 temple moment in the Old Testament comes at Mount Sinai just after the Israelites have come out of 00:08:54.720 --> 00:09:00.639 Egypt. You'll remember that under Moses' leadership the people came out of Egypt, they were led through 00:09:00.639 --> 00:09:10.000 the wilderness and came to Mount Sinai and there in Exodus chapter 19 we read that God's presence 00:09:10.000 --> 00:09:19.440 returned to earth again. I'm going to read some verses, I want you just to let the description 00:09:21.519 --> 00:09:27.120 paint an image in your mind. Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God and they 00:09:27.120 --> 00:09:32.159 took their stand at the foot of the mountain. Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the 00:09:32.159 --> 00:09:37.279 Lord had descended on it in fire. The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln. The whole 00:09:37.279 --> 00:09:42.720 mountain trembled greatly and as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder Moses spoke 00:09:42.720 --> 00:09:48.959 and God answered him in thunder. The Lord came down on Mount Sinai to the top of the mountain 00:09:48.959 --> 00:09:53.439 and the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain and Moses went up and the Lord said to 00:09:53.439 --> 00:09:59.519 Moses go down and warn the people lest they break through to the Lord to look and many of them perish. 00:09:59.519 --> 00:10:04.240 Also let the priests who come near to the Lord consecrate themselves lest the Lord break out 00:10:04.240 --> 00:10:10.000 against them and Moses said to the Lord the people cannot come up to Mount Sinai for you yourself 00:10:10.000 --> 00:10:16.000 warned us saying set limits around the mountain and consecrated and the Lord said to him go down 00:10:16.000 --> 00:10:22.159 and come up bringing Aaron with you but do not let the people the priests and the people 00:10:22.159 --> 00:10:29.120 break through to come up to the Lord lest he break out against them. Now there is a temple moment 00:10:29.120 --> 00:10:38.000 because God himself came down to the top of that mountain and the whole emphasis is keep back 00:10:39.840 --> 00:10:44.639 and so instead of walking with God like you have in the Garden of Eden here you have this 00:10:45.360 --> 00:10:52.399 immensely strong emphasis on inaccessibility the one thing you did not do before that smoking 00:10:52.399 --> 00:11:02.959 shaking mountain you did not go near it and so you can see the problem and dilemma that exists 00:11:03.759 --> 00:11:09.759 God wants to dwell among his people but as a sinful people that cannot happen 00:11:10.639 --> 00:11:17.279 and there's this incompatibility between the holiness of God and the fallenness of humanity 00:11:17.279 --> 00:11:23.839 but God's desire is still that he would be among his people and so that brings us to the next stage 00:11:23.839 --> 00:11:32.159 of the temple story God gives instructions to Moses to build a tabernacle and he gives very 00:11:32.159 --> 00:11:37.199 specific instructions as to how that's to be built that's really what the whole of the second half 00:11:37.199 --> 00:11:43.839 of Exodus is all about chapter 25 right through to 40 that describes how it should be built 00:11:43.840 --> 00:11:49.920 and then in the book of Leviticus God gives very specific instructions regarding how he 00:11:49.920 --> 00:11:57.040 is to be approached and the holiness of God the seriousness of sin means that that an elaborate 00:11:57.040 --> 00:12:03.680 and complex sacrificial system is necessary if the people are going to be able to approach God 00:12:03.680 --> 00:12:08.879 so instead of God being at the top of a mountain like Sinai God is now going to come right into 00:12:08.879 --> 00:12:21.439 the midst of the camp but the restrictions are still very, very high and the instructions have 00:12:21.439 --> 00:12:30.960 to be followed with absolute precision and when that tabernacle was made God's presence came and 00:12:30.960 --> 00:12:39.280 filled that tabernacle. Exodus 40, 34 then the cloud covered the tent of the meeting the glory 00:12:39.280 --> 00:12:46.400 of the Lord filled the tabernacle so if you just think about it if you could be a time 00:12:46.400 --> 00:12:53.519 thavallar I know that's impossible but just imagine that back to the future was through and you could 00:12:53.519 --> 00:12:58.080 jump into the car and if you could go back to Eden and you would say where's God you'd say well 00:12:58.080 --> 00:13:02.800 he's in that garden if you came to Sinai and said where's God you'd say well he's at the top of that 00:13:02.800 --> 00:13:08.960 mountain if you could then come to the camp and say where's God you'd say he's in the middle of that 00:13:08.960 --> 00:13:15.280 tabernacle tent that's in the midst of our camp that tabernacle was designed for traveling because 00:13:15.280 --> 00:13:20.400 the people were on the move eventually when they had settled in the promised land the tabernacle 00:13:20.400 --> 00:13:26.879 was replaced with a permanent temple built in Jerusalem that was built by Solomon it served 00:13:26.879 --> 00:13:33.120 the same purpose and once again God's presence was there second chronicle seven as soon as Solomon 00:13:33.120 --> 00:13:38.720 finished his prayer fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices 00:13:38.720 --> 00:13:45.039 and the glory of the Lord filled the temple God dwelt there in the midst right in the middle of 00:13:45.039 --> 00:13:51.840 the temple in the holy of holies among his people but again again access was so restricted 00:13:51.840 --> 00:14:00.879 the temple curtain kept people out the sacrificial system made sure that that access was very very 00:14:00.879 --> 00:14:09.759 limited and so you can see in terms of this story of the temple there's an alienation between God 00:14:09.759 --> 00:14:16.960 and humanity created by sin but in the Old Testament the temple is functioning to go some way towards 00:14:16.960 --> 00:14:22.240 restoring that it's not the same as Eden it's not as good as it was there are so many more 00:14:22.240 --> 00:14:30.240 restrictions and difficulties but God's presence in his temple was a key part of the nation of 00:14:30.240 --> 00:14:38.240 Israel it was a key privilege that they had it was it was a step towards solving the problem 00:14:38.240 --> 00:14:46.160 that sin had created and that temple had a crucial function in the life of the people it was well it 00:14:46.159 --> 00:14:52.079 was many things I'm going to say that it was four things it was a place of worship their God was 00:14:52.079 --> 00:14:57.439 worshiped their offerings were poured out their thanksgiving was offered their fellowship was 00:14:57.439 --> 00:15:03.919 shared it was a place of worship it was also a place of purity and so whenever you read about 00:15:03.919 --> 00:15:09.679 the temple whether it's in Exodus or Leviticus or whatever it in for the tabernacle or later on 00:15:09.679 --> 00:15:18.319 for the temple there's this immensely strong emphasis on cleanliness and purity the temple 00:15:19.120 --> 00:15:29.359 was a holy place it was a place of purity there was no casualness everything was kept pure 00:15:31.599 --> 00:15:39.439 the temple was also a channel for mission and that's a very important point to emphasize 00:15:39.440 --> 00:15:46.000 when Israel had the privileged status of having God's temple in their capital at the center 00:15:46.000 --> 00:15:53.040 of their nation that wasn't just for their benefit it was to be a blessing and a light for all the 00:15:53.040 --> 00:15:59.520 nations of the world fulfilling the promise that God gave to Abraham Isaiah 56 speaks of that it 00:15:59.520 --> 00:16:03.440 says the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord to minister to them to love the name of the 00:16:03.440 --> 00:16:08.240 Lord and to be his servants everyone who keeps the Sabbath and not and does not profane it and 00:16:08.240 --> 00:16:14.240 holds fast my covenant these I will bring to my holy mountain and make them joyful in my house of 00:16:14.240 --> 00:16:19.919 prayer their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar for my house my 00:16:19.919 --> 00:16:27.440 temple my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples ultimately it wasn't just for the 00:16:27.440 --> 00:16:36.399 Israelites it was it was pointing towards a mission to reach all nations so it was a place of worship 00:16:36.399 --> 00:16:43.199 purity mission and fourth it was a place of community when God said I want to make a sanctuary it 00:16:43.199 --> 00:16:50.480 was so that he might dwell in their midst at the heart of the temple was God's glorious presence 00:16:51.120 --> 00:17:00.319 among his united people and so if you can carry on in your your time traveling and you were to 00:17:00.320 --> 00:17:10.720 come into Jerusalem and say the year 930 ish it would have been BC that is and you said where's 00:17:10.720 --> 00:17:18.000 God they're appointed to the temple he's in there Israel enjoyed that extraordinary privileged 00:17:18.000 --> 00:17:27.759 status because they had the temple but as is the case with all of Israelite history in the 00:17:27.759 --> 00:17:36.079 Old Testament the story of the temple was one of failure the people repeatedly turned away from God 00:17:36.720 --> 00:17:43.200 and they continually rebelled against him and the eventual consequence of this 00:17:45.039 --> 00:17:52.160 was that they lost the temple and God withdrew his presence from among the people 00:17:52.160 --> 00:18:05.120 and Ezekiel is the prophet that describes this moment chapter 10 18 to 19 is Ezekiel is seeing a 00:18:05.120 --> 00:18:12.640 vision then the glory of the Lord went out from the threshold of the house and stood over the 00:18:12.640 --> 00:18:18.080 cherubim and the cherubim lifted up their wings and mounted up from the earth before my eyes as 00:18:18.079 --> 00:18:22.799 they went out with the wheels beside them they stood at the entrance of the east gate of the 00:18:22.799 --> 00:18:28.879 house of the Lord and the glory of the God of Israel was over them it's a description of the 00:18:28.879 --> 00:18:38.319 withdrawal of God's presence from the temple and in the years when Ezekiel was a prophet 00:18:38.319 --> 00:18:48.319 the Babylonians came laid siege to Jerusalem and eventually took the city destroyed it and 00:18:48.319 --> 00:18:59.039 destroyed the temple God's presence was no longer among the people and so we've got 00:18:59.039 --> 00:19:04.960 up just a wee summary there for you as to what I've said at Eden God and humanity were together 00:19:04.960 --> 00:19:11.200 the fall separated that at Sinai comes a wee bit closer together in the sanctuary a wee bit more 00:19:11.200 --> 00:19:16.160 closer together the temple a wee bit more because it's a permanent place where God dwells but the 00:19:16.160 --> 00:19:28.400 exile ends that and God's presence is withdrawn and the privileged status of Israel in terms of 00:19:28.400 --> 00:19:37.759 having the temple is shattered now after the days of Ezekiel when some people returned from exile 00:19:37.759 --> 00:19:44.560 to Jerusalem they began to rebuild the temple but it's interesting in the prophecy of Haggai we 00:19:44.560 --> 00:19:51.680 read a description of that and it talks about rebuilding the temple and yet it says who is 00:19:51.680 --> 00:20:01.840 left among you who saw this house in its former glory how do you see it now is it not as nothing 00:20:01.840 --> 00:20:12.080 in your eyes where did it all go wrong well we said that the the the temple was was four key 00:20:12.080 --> 00:20:18.640 things a place of worship purity mission and community Israel failed in all four of these 00:20:18.640 --> 00:20:25.120 areas in terms of worship they turned from the living God and they went after idols worshiping 00:20:25.120 --> 00:20:31.200 the gods of the nations around them in terms of purity they defiled themselves and one of the 00:20:31.200 --> 00:20:39.120 passages I think it was 43 spoke a little bit about that how the people defiled themselves 00:20:40.080 --> 00:20:47.520 by turning away from God's law and indulging in all sorts of immoral and sinful practices 00:20:47.519 --> 00:20:53.279 in terms of mission instead of being a light to the nations around them they had just become 00:20:53.279 --> 00:21:00.879 like the nations around them and they just wanted to conform to what other people were doing and as 00:21:00.879 --> 00:21:11.519 a community they were divided and broken the nation disintegrated the family of God made up of this 00:21:11.519 --> 00:21:18.799 great structure of 12 tribes ended up eventually at war with one another alienated as a family 00:21:19.599 --> 00:21:27.599 and separated from God and as we've been saying Ezekiel is kind of the the low the low point 00:21:27.599 --> 00:21:33.200 of all of that and we said maybe a couple of weeks ago that that the history of of the people of 00:21:33.200 --> 00:21:38.559 history in the Old Testament is a bit like the shape of a Nike tic if you've got a pair of Nike 00:21:38.559 --> 00:21:42.240 shoes you can look at them and see that it's kind of down down down down down to the lowest point 00:21:42.240 --> 00:21:47.440 and then it's a tiny wee upward bit at the end where people return from exile but at the lowest 00:21:47.440 --> 00:21:55.200 point you have the destruction of Jerusalem the destruction of the temple at the time of Ezekiel 00:21:56.159 --> 00:22:03.759 and Ezekiel comes with a message of judgment because the people had abandoned God and walked 00:22:03.759 --> 00:22:08.720 away from their covenant relationship with him but at the same time as bringing a message of 00:22:08.720 --> 00:22:14.480 judgment he comes with a message of salvation and hope because although the people had abandoned 00:22:14.480 --> 00:22:25.359 God he had not given up on them and here in Ezekiel chapter 40 through to 48 at the time when the 00:22:25.359 --> 00:22:34.799 temple lay as a pile of rubble we have this description of a glorious new temple set before us 00:22:35.519 --> 00:22:42.639 and as we read in chapter 43 once again God's presence will fill this temple that whole problem 00:22:42.639 --> 00:22:47.599 of the fact that God and humanity cannot dwell together is going to be solved although the 00:22:47.599 --> 00:22:56.240 physical temple in Jerusalem has fallen God's plan is not over and God and humanity are going to 00:22:56.240 --> 00:23:02.559 dwell together again now it's very important to recognize a very small word right at the very 00:23:02.559 --> 00:23:07.279 start of the passages that we read if you look at this passage on your bulletin you can see in 00:23:07.279 --> 00:23:14.879 verse two that Ezekiel saw a vision and he saw something like a city and the wee word like is 00:23:14.880 --> 00:23:20.720 so important because it's reminding us that what has been described before us here is not to be 00:23:20.720 --> 00:23:28.000 taken literally it's not saying that that the people should build a building according to the 00:23:28.000 --> 00:23:33.440 outline and the measurements that's been set before us here in Ezekiel in fact the emphasis is not 00:23:33.440 --> 00:23:38.720 that people build it the emphasis is the fact that God has already built it it's there and it's not 00:23:38.720 --> 00:23:45.120 instructions for building it's a description of something that has been divinely appointed it's 00:23:45.120 --> 00:23:53.680 not a literal building that's been described it's a symbol of something else and it's telling us that 00:23:53.680 --> 00:24:04.160 God's plans for the temple are bigger than just a spectacular building in the middle of Jerusalem 00:24:04.160 --> 00:24:10.160 and of course the fulfillment of that does not lie in the return from exile the fulfillment of that 00:24:10.160 --> 00:24:18.160 lies in the New Testament and when you come to the New Testament we see very quickly that at the 00:24:18.160 --> 00:24:26.480 heart of Jesus's role Jesus is many things but one of the things that Jesus is is a fulfillment 00:24:26.480 --> 00:24:36.000 of the temple prophecies in the Old Testament so you'll remember at the incarnation when we think 00:24:36.000 --> 00:24:43.519 of Jesus coming into the world in Matthew 1 23 it says behold the virgin shall conceive and 00:24:43.519 --> 00:24:53.839 beta son they shall call his name what was it? Immanuel which means God with us that's temple 00:24:53.839 --> 00:25:03.119 language God dwelling among his people and then there's another key version John 1 14 it says the 00:25:03.119 --> 00:25:09.439 word became flesh and dwelt among us we've seen his glory glorious of the only son from the Father 00:25:09.439 --> 00:25:16.159 full of grace and truth now remember glory that's a key temple concept God's glory dwelling among 00:25:16.160 --> 00:25:24.320 the people and hidden in that verse is another crucial clue when it says the word became flesh 00:25:24.320 --> 00:25:33.440 and dwelt among us the word dwelt literally means tabernacled among us again temple language later 00:25:33.440 --> 00:25:39.360 on Jesus himself says destroy this temple I will rebuild it in three days the Jews said it's taken 00:25:39.360 --> 00:25:43.920 46 years to build this temple and you'll raise it in three days but Jesus was speaking about the 00:25:43.920 --> 00:25:52.240 temple of his body Jesus is a fulfillment of these temple prophecies Jesus is the presence 00:25:52.240 --> 00:26:02.080 and the glory of God among people and so things are getting closer now Jesus comes and God walks 00:26:02.080 --> 00:26:12.240 among humanity again he speaks to humanity he's there right among the people but it doesn't stop 00:26:12.240 --> 00:26:20.559 there because not only does Jesus bring God's presence to us in his own body he also opens up 00:26:20.559 --> 00:26:26.480 full access to God remember when we said spoke about Sinai and about the tabernacle and about the 00:26:26.480 --> 00:26:32.559 temple on all of these things there's like a massive no entry sign from God access is absolutely 00:26:32.559 --> 00:26:41.759 restricted Jesus transforms that through the cross he opens up access to God what happened when Jesus 00:26:41.759 --> 00:26:48.720 died what happened to that big curtain that effectively said no entry at the temple it was 00:26:48.720 --> 00:26:58.720 torn into and access was opened up Hebrews chapter 10 emphasizes that very powerfully says 00:26:58.720 --> 00:27:04.559 therefore brother since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus now 00:27:04.559 --> 00:27:16.639 that to Old Testament years is unthinkable to just walk into the holy place where God dwells 00:27:16.639 --> 00:27:22.159 and yet we have confidence to do it by the blood of Jesus by the new and living way that he opened 00:27:22.159 --> 00:27:26.559 up for us through the curtain that is through his flesh since we have a great high priest over the 00:27:26.559 --> 00:27:33.119 house of God let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith with their heart sprinkled 00:27:33.119 --> 00:27:39.359 clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water so Jesus is coming into the world 00:27:40.399 --> 00:27:47.039 God is among us through Jesus's death access is being opened up through the cross we're being 00:27:47.039 --> 00:27:52.559 brought closer and closer but the question then arises if you think of the narrative of redemptive 00:27:52.559 --> 00:28:00.239 history at this point Jesus returns to heaven and so that key temple fulfillment where he's 00:28:00.240 --> 00:28:06.720 among us he's gone again and he's now back at the right hand of God he's no longer there so 00:28:06.720 --> 00:28:13.200 you ask where is God's presence now well here we come to the next key key temple moment in the 00:28:13.200 --> 00:28:20.960 history of the Bible the day of Pentecost what happened on the day of Pentecost? God's spirit 00:28:20.960 --> 00:28:32.160 God's presence was poured out on all believers and ever since then whenever someone comes to faith 00:28:32.160 --> 00:28:38.799 Jesus Christ comes to faith in Jesus Christ the Holy Spirit comes and dwells in your heart and do 00:28:38.799 --> 00:28:43.840 you see what that means it means that the presence of God is coming closer and closer and closer he's 00:28:43.839 --> 00:28:52.559 now as close as possible to you as a believer because he's in your heart God's presence God's 00:28:52.559 --> 00:29:07.919 glory is dwelling in you that's why Paul says do you not know that you are God's temple and God's 00:29:07.920 --> 00:29:18.880 spirit dwells in you what we lost at Eden has been restored through Jesus back in Eden