Introduction
The children of the Lord, the people of Israel, built two temples: Solomon’s Temple and Zerubbabel’s Temple. Solomon’s Temple is detailed in 1 Kings 6:1-2 and 2 Chronicles 2 and 3, while Zerubbabel’s Temple is mentioned in Zechariah 4:9 and Ezra 3:11-13. According to the Bible, the glory of God filled both of these earthly temples; this is evident in Solomon’s Temple in 2 Chronicles 7:1-3 and 2 Chronicles 5:14, and in Zerubbabel’s Temple in Haggai 2:7. However, due to their rebellion, the glory of God eventually departed from the earthly temples (see Ezekiel 10:18-19; 1 Samuel 4:21; Jeremiah 7:12-14; Matthew 24:2; Mark 13:2; Luke 21:5-6). Consequently, Solomon’s temple was destroyed during the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem in 586 BCE or 587 BCE, during the siege under Nebuchadnezzar, and the second temple was destroyed during the Roman siege of Jerusalem in 70 CE.
In the book of Ezekiel, the prophet Ezekiel received an incredible vision from the Lord God Almighty of a future new temple (Ezekiel 40 to Ezekiel 48). The Ezekiel Temple vision will happen during the millennial era, when the glory of the God of Israel will return to the new temple (Ezekiel 43:1-5). The purpose of this vision was to provide hope to the Jewish exiled people in Babylonia, assuring them that the Lord God Almighty will restore His children to their rightful place and that His glory will dwell in this new temple. The Ezekiel temple vision describes the future temple that will be part of the millennial kingdom, as outlined in Ezekiel chapters 40-48. The main teaching presented in these chapters, in Ezekiel, is that God’s presence and glory will someday be forever restored to His people, and that Christ’s blessings and power will flow out like a rising river to refresh, revive, and renew His people (see Ezekiel 47:1-12). During that time, all His children will have one heart, and all their activity will be only to glorify the Trinity of God Most High (God the Father, God the Son, Jesus Christ, and God the Holy Spirit). We must understand that in the old times, people of God have worshiped the Lord God Almighty, and the Trinity is already there. The sacrificial offerings in the millennial era, described in the book of Ezekiel, will be offered with thanksgiving to the Trinity of God (see also the parable of the ten virgins: Matthew 25:1-13). And in the millennial era, the old law and the old way of worship will continue, as it has never been stopped, but salvation will still be by grace alone and by faith in the Trinity of God.
As Christians, we may wonder what happened to the earthly temples built by the people of Israel in the name of the Lord God Almighty. Answers regarding their destruction and the reasons for the departure of God’s glory can be found in the Word of God. However, as Christians living in the church era, we must consider what serves as the temple of the Lord for us. How can we ensure that the presence of the Lord God Almighty remains in this temple? Additionally, I encourage all readers to refer to Matthew 13:30 in the comments, where we discuss the distinction between the church era and the millennial era.
The Temple of the Lord in the Church Era
After the Lord Jesus came to Earth, was crucified for the sins of the world, rose from the dead, and ascended to the Father, the temple of the Lord is no longer a physical building; instead, it is the hearts of true believers in the Lord Jesus (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). We, as followers of the Lord Jesus, are the temples of the Living God, and we need to seek the glory of God to come and dwell inside of us. To better understand what the temple of the Lord represents in the church era and how the glory of God fills it, let us consider the Bible passage in John 14:23-24.
John 14:23 Jesus answered and said to him, If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him, and will make a home with him.
Comments John 14:23. “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word.” So, as the verse clearly tells, if you love the beloved Son of God, you will keep His teachings in your heart; but, when you keep His word, you must also read and meditate on the Holy Bible; the Holy Bible has all the teachings, and those teachings will make your heart ready to receive Him as well.
“... and My Father will love him.” Give attention to what the verse has said to all true believers. The beloved Son of God has told all that the Father Himself will love you because you love the beloved Son of God. And this is the way the Father shows love to anyone: when that person meditates on the Holy Word, that person will realize the peace in their heart, and during that time, within the heart, they will have great joy because the Father Himself also is happy with that soul. The root of all happiness for the soul is the Holy Word of God.
“And We will come to him.” Give attention to the word “We”: this refers to the Trinity of God, and at the same time, the Spirit of the beloved Son of God will also be there.
“… and will make a home with him.” When the heart of a true believer becomes home for the Lord, that heart of the blessed one will receive the greatest joy of life, which will also make the faith grow. The home is the place where God will dwell and also will make that home the proper place for receiving all praising of the soul; the request the soul will ask for the Lord to dwell in will receive the answer, and deep in the heart of true believers, it will acknowledge the answer they have received, which they can feel by the soul, not by the feeling of the head itself; that feeling will be deep down until the person cannot tell where that happiness comes from. Therefore, to decorate the heart to be the home of the Lord, all believers should put praises in their hearts that glorify the Trinity of God; the words used to glorify the Trinity of God will decorate the heart of the soul itself for the Lord.
24 The one that loves Me not, keeps not My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but of the Father who sent Me.
Comments John 14:24. “The one that loves Me not …” As the verse tells all readers, when you do not love the beloved Son of God, you will not keep what He has taught in the Holy Bible. The Holy Bible is not an ordinary book; the Holy Bible will give life to all who meditate and follow, because the root of the Holy Bible is the Trinity of God. No other book can give you life as the Holy Bible gives you. This saying in this verse is not repeating the verse before, but the Lord has shown the opposite; the verse before has told about you having faith and doing, but this verse has said the opposite that when you do not love the beloved Son of God, you will also not love His teachings; but His teachings are not from Himself, they are from the Father. The beloved Son of God wants to make sure that all readers pay attention to the difference between these two verses, and the verses will talk to you when you pay attention to the differences.
Here, the Lord Jesus wants to make it clear that the Father and the Holy Spirit will not come to those who do not love Him. The idea of the verse is that some might think that somehow the Father will come to them regardless of whether they love or not the beloved Son of God, but that is not true. When verse 23 says, “We will come to him, and make a home with him,” this applies only to those who love the beloved Son of God and keep His teachings.
“… but of the Father who sent Me.” The beloved Son of God has told all true believers the truth; the Word that He is teaching to all humans is not His own word but of the Father who sent Him to teach that Word; let all true believers think of that as well; if the Holy Bible has the words from the Father, then every word in the Holy Bible will give life to all that meditate and believe in that word.
Reflecting on these verses, one might wonder how the Lord lives in our hearts. To understand this concept, we must not think in physical terms, but in spiritual terms. The heart of the true believer is like a palace, which will have many rooms in it, and each room will be used for a different purpose as well, because that heart has become the home of God to dwell.
Furthermore, that is the will of the Father to live in our souls when we open our souls to receive Him; the Father uses the Holy Bible to be the path for humans to get in touch with the Holy Spirit; through the Holy Bible, the Holy Spirit will work in the heart of the reader, and when that heart has invited the Holy Spirit to be their guide, the Holy Spirit will use that invitation and put Himself to join with the soul itself.
The Holy Spirit and the Spirit of the beloved Son are in the Holy Word itself. Also, let all believers remember this: the Holy Bible is the Living Word. God has spoken every word in the Holy Bible; the word never dies, always is alive and has life; the word itself has life and gives life to all true believers; if you truly believe you can feel the word is alive; general people will not have that feeling, only the true believers will gain that feeling, which is a gift from the Father Himself when you have meditated on the Holy Word.
We can also say this another way: the Holy Bible is the path of connection between the Holy Spirit and the Spirit of Christ with the true believers when they meditate on the Word of God. When you meditate on the Word of God, you connect your soul to the path where you find the Lord guiding you. The Word that the Living God has spoken, that word has life in itself; the Holy Bible is the true Living Word of God, and every word in the Bible is alive. Therefore, you must first connect with the path before you can connect with the Lord.
The Glory of Lord Fills His Earthly Temples
The question for every true follower of the Lord Jesus, the Son of God, is how the glory of God fills our human temples, and even whether that is possible. On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit descended from heaven with “a sound like the rushing of a mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting” (Acts 2:2). Similarly, Ezekiel describes the return of God’s glory: “And behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east, and his voice was like the sound of many waters; and the earth shone with his glory” (Ezekiel 43:2).
Let us examine a few verses from Acts 2:1-4 to understand how the miracle of experiencing God’s glory filling our human temple is revealed. We encourage all readers to reflect on the entire chapter along with our comments (see Acts 2).
Acts 2:1 And in the day of Pentecost being fulfilled, they were all together in one place.
2 And suddenly came from heaven a sound as of the rushing of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.
Comments Acts 2:1-2. “... they were all together in one place.” When believers join together in faith, the mighty work will happen.
“And suddenly came from heaven a sound as of the rushing of a mighty wind.” The Lord has created everything; as it is written, no one knows where the wind comes from and where it will go, and here in this place, the Lord comes with the mighty wind. See Comments John 3:8.
“And it filled all the house where they were sitting.” When the wind filled up the place, all those who were in it were covered with the wind; the Lord would use everyone to do the work.
3 And there appeared to them tongues parting asunder, as of fire, and it sat upon each one of them.
Comments Acts 2:3. “And there appeared to them tongues parting asunder, as of fire.” Let all readers pay attention to what the mighty work the Lord performed here. When the fire comes upon a person, that person has received a gift. A special gift from the Father has been revealed here.
“And it sat upon each one of them.” The blessing from the Lord is unlimited; as many people gather, the blessing is enough for all.
Note: The human eye could see the shape of fire leaping above each person; this miracle strengthened the person who received this gift.
4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.
Comments Acts 2:4. “And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit.” Give attention to what the word says: all, not part, but all were filled with the gift from the Father.
“And began to speak in other tongues.” Here, it confirms the sign of the gift: when you are baptized with the Holy Spirit, the gift of other tongues also will be there. And this also shows humans that the will of the Lord has been spoken out for all to know.
“As the Spirit was giving them utterance.” When the will of the Lord has been proclaimed, understanding will also come. When the word says, “giving them utterance,” that means they spoke in angelic languages and then translated into various human languages as the Spirit gave them utterance. Here, utterance means a spoken word about the work of God.
One might wonder what type of tongues were given as a sign of the baptism with the Holy Spirit. Human languages do not require interpretation, whereas angelic languages must be accompanied by interpretation. In this instance, the disciples spoke both angelic and human languages. The gift of speaking in an unknown tongue, or angelic tongue, is a miracle for the human soul and serves as evidence of a person’s baptism in the Holy Spirit. When we are baptized in the Holy Spirit, the glory of God fills our human temple, and we experience the miracle of our soul speaking in tongues.
Conclusions
In conclusion, all faithful followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, should be baptized in water for the remission of their sins and seek baptism in the Holy Spirit. Furthermore, we, as devoted followers of the Lord Jesus, should have a strong desire to see evidence of God’s glory manifested in our lives and in the church through the works of the Holy Spirit. The lack of this passionate desire may indicate a spiritual decline among God’s people. We must seek and knock, and the Father will send His Holy Spirit to baptize those who earnestly seek Him in the name of the Lord Jesus, His beloved Son. Furthermore, as faithful followers, we should actively pursue the fruits of the Holy Spirit and apply them in our lives and within the church (Galatians 5:22-23). The presence of the fruits of the Holy Spirit is a continual testimony to the presence of God’s glory both in our lives and in the church. To experience and maintain the glory of God in our earthly temples, we must first seek the baptism of the Holy Spirit, regularly read and meditate on the Word of God, pursue the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and live guided by the Holy Spirit, using our gifts for the benefit of our lives and the church.
Meditation Tasks
- We invite all readers to meditate on Acts chapter 2 and pray for the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Additionally, we encourage everyone to review our article titled “Holy Spirit Baptism for a Christian.”
- We serve a mighty God, and His Son, the Lord Jesus, will return to Earth to take His bride. Please take a moment to reflect on the second coming of the Lord Jesus and consider reading our article titled “The Second Coming of the Lord Jesus.”