Davar Kingdom of God - The Foundation of Your Temple

As you come to him, the living Stone--rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him—you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ (1 Pet 2:4-5).

Christ, as a stone rejected by men, became a cornerstone for God’s kingdom—the church. Then, we also, by following his example, are to be rejected by men and this world, and give ourselves to God as living stones. The above words are found in Peter’s letter, and in fact, Peter himself, whose name Jesus gave (petros means “rock”), learned this truth through some bitter experiences. One time Jesus went to the region of Caesarea Philippi, which was outside of the Jewish territory. John the Baptist was already dead, and being aware that the time for him to go up to Jerusalem to die was approaching near (less than a year), he wanted to spend some time quietly with his disciples discussing some important matters. It was at this time that he acknowledged himself as the Messiah before them. Peter said, “Your are the Christ, the Son of the living God,” and Jesus said:

And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it (Mat 16:18).

Feeling good at these words, he had boldness to say to Jesus who had just prophesied how he was going to die in Jerusalem, “Never, Lord! This shall never happen to you!” Then, to his surprise, Jesus turned and said:

Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men (v. 23).

The rock upon which Jesus said he would build his church became a stumbling block to him!

If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it (vv. 24-25).

“To deny himself” means to “to be rejected by men,” and “to take up his cross” means to give yourself to God by following his example. This is the rock upon which the church is built. Peter completely misunderstood Jesus’ words, and was ignorant about this truth. It is interesting to know that about a week later, Jesus and three of his disciples including Peter went up to a high mountain. As Jesus was praying, his face began to shine and his clothes became so white, and Moses and Elijah appeared before them, and talked to him concerning “his departure” that he was going to accomplish in Jerusalem (Luke 9:31). “His departure” refers to his death, resurrection, and ascension. Interestingly, it was not an angel, but Moses and Elijah who appeared to speak about it. This was because these two had a similar experience at the same mountain, Horeb (also called Mount Sinai), and departed from this world in a strange way in the same Transjordan region (east of River Jordan). Compare the following passage in the story of Elijah with the one in Exod 34:

The Lord said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by." Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, … After the earthquake came a fire, … And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah (1 Kgs 19:11-13)?"

Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone (Eph 2:19-20).

Christ was rejected by men, and it led him to death. And through his death, the foundation was laid for the church to be built. He was the chief cornerstone to which the foundation of the apostles and prophets was later added, and now we Christians, as living stones, are also being built into the same spiritual house, which is the church.

As you come to him, the living Stone--rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him—you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ (1 Pet 2:4-5).

The Bible contains some stories in which someone becomes a sacrifice in order to build a nation or a city that was once built but destroyed. In a sense, these stories all point to Jesus Christ through whom God’s redemptive work for humanity was done and continues to be done. One of such stories is that of Moses. In Exodus 19, God came done on Mount Sinai with the strong sound of trumpet and fire, and the people witnessed the awesome presence of God in a very special way. It was the beginning of God’s people, a holy nation, a kingdom of priests, Israel. This mountain corresponds to Mount Eden in Genesis, and Mount Zion on which the temple was built. It signifies the axis connecting heaven and earth, the center or the foundation of the world. The following chapters of the book go on to tell how the Law was given as a part of the establishment of the covenant, which would serve as the foundation of the life of God’s people. But in the midst of this process, in chapter 32, they made a golden calf, an image for their God, and began to celebrate a festival for themselves. God became so angry, and decided to destroy them all and start over with the family of Moses. Then, Moses said:

Oh, what a great sin these people have committed! They have made themselves gods of gold. But now, please forgive their sin--but if not, then blot me out of the book you have written (Exod 32:31-32).

It did not happen right away, but as Moses continued to beseech God to forgive them and that his presence would go with them, he finally said, “I will do the very thing you have asked.” And Moses’ last request was: “Now show me your glory.” This glory was the greatest glory that could be given to men. It was the complete forgiveness of the sins of the world and the resurrection of the dead. Jesus, one time, requested the Father in the same way:

“… Father, glorify your name!" Then a voice came from heaven, "I have glorified it, and will glorify it again (John 12:28)."

By “… will glorify it again,” the Father meant the resurrection of Jesus. God finally said to Moses:

There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen (Exod 33:21-23).

“This “rock” was the foundation of Israel, and the cleft was the tomb in which he was to be buried. It is interesting to note that Moses had the two tablets of stone in his hands. It is worth meditating upon this because a great truth is hidden in it.

Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes (Rom 10:4).

This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor. In your hearts do not think evil of each other (Zech 7:09-11).”

Due to their failure to keep this command, the destruction came to the people of Israel. The foundation of their nation was the Law: to love their god with all their heart and might, and to love their neighbors as themselves. The laying of the foundation of the destroyed temple by those who had returned from the captivity symbolized the willingness to keep the Law as the renewal of the covenant they had with God. And having received their willingness together with the symbolic event of the laying of the foundation of the temple, God told them that he was going to bless them and they would be a blessing from then on. He also revealed his strong determination to do good to Jerusalem and Judah. Then, he said:

These are the things you are to do: Speak the truth to each other, and render true and sound judgment in your courts; do not plot evil against your neighbor, and do not love to swear falsely. I hate all this," declares the Lord (8:16-17).

It is important to note that these words are similar to what Jesus said after he washed his disciples’ feet. John’s gospel says that having realized that the time to leave this world had come, he showed them the full extent of his love (John 13:1). He said:

A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another (John 13:34).

This is the way every Christian is required to live. The New Testament says that the command to love our God with all our heart and strength has been fulfilled in us through Christ, and the only command that is left for us to keep is to love one another as God loves us. Note how these commands have come to be expressed differently under the new covenant. You see the trace of the first command to love God in the following words of Jesus:

As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love (15:9).

The mentality of the old covenant is to try to love God as much as you can so that he can love you more. But the history proved that it did not work. So Christ came, and God first loved us. And it was by accepting his love that we became Christians. Therefore, all Christians know that God loves them, and already have his love in their hearts as Jesus lives in them. In other words, the love relationship with God has been already established in the heart of every Christian, and there is no question about it.

And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God (Eph 3:17-19).

“To be rooted and established in love” means to have the foundation of love—the love of Christ, the love God has for you, which is being demonstrated through Christ. And Paul is praying that you will come to “know” it. He is not asking God to love you more, nor telling you to love God more, but praying that you only come to know more how much he loves you through Christ. This love is the foundation of your life and my life. Let us not lie to ourselves by not loving one another.

We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen (1 John 4:19-20).

The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone (lit. chief cornerstone); the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it (Ps 118:22-24).

The cornerstone of the temple is the foundation of the earth, upon which the world is built. When the foundation is shaken, the world tumbles down. In fact, when man sinned, the foundation of this world was shaken, and as a result, the world was brought under curses, and disasters began to happen. Yet, as the above scripture says, the stone rejected by men became the cornerstone—the new foundation, and a new world is being created and built upon it. So, let us rejoice and be glad in it!

We have already seen how God spoke through the prophet Haggai to those who had returned from the exile but had a hard time building the temple. There was another prophet, Zechariah, who was contemporary with Haggai. It was two years after the foundation of the temple was laid for the second time that the community of Bethel came to the priests and the prophets in Jerusalem and asked:

Should I mourn and fast in the fifth month, as I have done for so many years (Zech 7:3)?

This fast in the fifth month had been observed by the community of the exiles to remember the destruction of the temple. Beside this one, there were actually three more annual fasts that they observed—in the fourth month to remember the destruction of Jerusalem, in the seventh month to remember the death of the governor Gedaliah, and in the tenth month to remember the siege of Jerusalem. But since the temple was now being built, it seemed reasonable to ask the above question.

In response to that, God first pointed out the reason why such destructions had come upon them as follows:

This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor. In your hearts do not think evil of each other (vv. 9-11).”

Because of this, the foundation of Israel was shaken, and the nation was destroyed, and the temple was burnt. But God now says:

Let your hands be strong. You who now hear these words spoken by the prophets who were there when the foundation was laid for the house of the Lord Almighty so that the temple might be built. … As you have been an object of cursing among the nations, O Judah and Israel, so will I save you, and you will be a blessing. Do not be afraid, but let your hands be strong (8:9-13).

And to the question they asked at the beginning, he answered:

The fasts of the fourth, fifth, seventh and tenth months will become joyful and glad occasions and happy festivals for Judah. Therefore love truth and peace (v. 19).

In order to live in a new age, it is essential that you do not let the former things linger in your life. God spoke the following words to the same Jewish community of the time:

Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland (Isa 43:18-19).

David built an altar to the Lord there and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. He called on the Lord, and the Lord answered him with fire from heaven on the altar of burnt offering. Then the Lord spoke to the angel, and he put his sword back into its sheath (vv. 26-27).

Then, the plague that was killing thousands of people stopped. Sickness came as a result of sin, and is a curse.

It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field (Gen 3:18).

When “thorns and thistles” are eaten as “the plants of the field,” they hurt our body internally, and destroy it. If it is interpreted spiritually, it means idolatry that corrupts Israel from within, rather than the external attack from their enemies.

Instead, they will become snares and traps for you, whips on your backs and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land, which the Lord your God has given you (Josh 23:13).

Sickness comes because of the drawn sward in the stretched hand of the angel who stands between heaven and earth. But we know that when the altar was built, and a sacrifice was given, the sickness ceased. It was, in fact, as this sacrifice that Jesus Christ gave himself.

Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe (John 19:1-2) …

Both the flogging of whips and the crown of thorns he received symbolize the sickness and the pain that he took up on him.

Surely he took up our infirmities (lit. sickness) and carried our sorrows (lit. pain), yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted (Isa 53:4).

Jesus did not get sick, but eliminated the very source of the sickness and diseases that had come to humanity as curses.

Another thing that needs to be paid attention to in the aforementioned story of David is the fact that the atonement for the plague took place on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. A threshing floor is a flat place where a farmer threshes the grain harvest and then winnows it separating the grain from the straw and the chaff. It is easy to see how such a place came to be used symbolically to mean a place where God’s judgment is decided and announced. For instance, when David tried to bring the ark of God to his town in Jerusalem, it was on a threshing floor that Uzza who guided the cart that carried the ark was instantly killed. It was God’s judgment against David who did not do it in a proper manner. Gideon placed a fleece on the threshing floor and asked God to bring dew on it and let all the ground stay dry. For him the small fleece represented his army, and the wide ground the vast army of the Midianites. He wanted to know if God was able to bring victory (dew) to his small army and destruction (dryness) to the enemy while both armies were close to each other in the same place. It was also on the threshing floor that Boaz made a decision to redeem Ruth the Moabitess together with Naomi’s land. Boaz is the type of Christ, and Ruth is the type of the church, his bride. A threshing floor is figuratively the sacred place between heaven and earth, and it was on the threshing floor of Jerusalem where David built an altar and later, the temple came to be built on the same spot.

You as a living stone are built upon Christ who is the foundation. The angel who stands between heaven and earth is now for you, and you are completely free from all curses, and have only blessings from God.

David looked up and saw the angel of the Lord standing between heaven and earth, with a drawn sword in his hand extended over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell facedown (1 Chr 21:16).

A disaster was brought upon the people of Israel when David took a census in Israel. Then, he saw “the angel of the Lord standing between heaven and earth, with a drawn sword in his hand extended over Jerusalem.” Obviously, this angel was against Jerusalem that time, and was destroying it. Thousands of people died, and more were dying. David wanted to do something to stop it, but was there anything he could do to change the consequence of his sin?

Then the angel of the Lord ordered Gad to tell David to go up and build an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite (v. 18).

David built an altar to the Lord there and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. He called on the Lord, and the Lord answered him with fire from heaven on the altar of burnt offering. Then the Lord spoke to the angel, and he put his sword back into its sheath (vv. 26-27).

The same thing happened spiritually on a universal level through Christ, in whom we have now redemption, the forgiveness of sins, and the whole humanity have been set free from curses. Three choices of disasters were given to David, and he was to choose one (v. 12). It is important to know that all of them match with the words of the verdict given after the Fall of Man in Genesis.

: Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life (Gen 3:17). … By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground (v. 19) …

: And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel (v. 15).

: It will produce thorns and thistles for you (v. 18), …

While David was to choose only one of these disasters, Christ took all of them on himself for us. He carried the wood, and gave himself on the altar, while the Father carried the knife and set fire. Then, the angel with a flaming sword, who had been standing at the eastern gate of the Garden of Eden, put his sword back into his sheath.

Abraham was the first individual whom God came to bless after the Fall of Man, and he was without a curse. Out of him came the people of Israel, whom God also blessed. Those whom God blesses cannot be cursed. Balak king of Moab hired Balaam to curse the people of Israel who were traveling close to his land. But God spoke through the mouth of Balaam:

How can I curse those whom God has not cursed? How can I denounce those whom the Lord has not denounced (Num 23:8)?

I have received a command to bless; He has blessed, and I cannot change it (v. 20).

These words, which God spoke about the Israelites, exactly apply to those who are in Christ today. The altar was built, and the sacrifice was already given. The angel who stands between heaven and earth is now for us, not against us, and the drawn sword in his hand is now extended over the ones who curse us.

When the seventh month came and the Israelites had settled in their towns, the people assembled as one man in Jerusalem (Ezra 3:1).

This was about twenty years before the time of Haggai the prophet who encouraged Zerubbabel to build the temple. These “Israelites” mentioned above were the first returnees from the Babylonian captivity. Perhaps, they first went to their own towns to see their own houses and fields, but as the seventh month approached, they all came to gather in Jerusalem. According to the Law of Moses, they were to celebrate the feast of trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and the feast of tabernacles in the seventh month. While they were still in Babylon, to celebrate such festivals in Jerusalem was only a dream. You can imagine the kind of excitement and joy they had that time.

Despite their fear of the peoples around them, they built the altar on its foundation and sacrificed burnt offerings on it to the Lord, both the morning and evening sacrifices (v.3).

The phrase, “on its foundation,” means “on its appointed place”—the certain designated place. Where was it? There is an interesting story in the Bible as to how this place came to be designated for such a purpose. It was the place where the angel of the Lord stood with a drawn sword in his hand to destroy Jerusalem when David sinned by taking a census in Israel.

David looked up and saw the angel of the Lord standing between heaven and earth, with a drawn sword in his hand extended over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell facedown (1 Chr 21:16).

Note the expression “between heaven and earth.” This disaster was brought from this particular place. And this must be the place from which all kinds of other disasters are brought to humanity as well. What happened to Israel at the time of David’s sin can be applied to what had happened to our human world at the time of Adam’s sin. If so, we want to know if there is any solution to it: how can we stop the disasters? God told David to go up and build an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite (v. 18). He did so, and God accepted his sacrifice with fire from heaven. Then, the disaster stopped! Needless to say, this was the designated place where the Israelites built the altar after the Babylonian captivity.

There is another interesting story that is connected with this place—the story of Abraham sacrificing his own son Isaac.

Then God said, "Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about (Gen 22:2)."

Here, too, Abraham built an altar and gave a sacrifice to God so that the whole world would come to be blessed. Isaac in this tory is the type of Christ, the only Son, who died for the sins of the world.

Then Solomon began to build the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to his father David. It was on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite, the place provided by David (2 Chr 3:1).

Now we know that the mountain of Moriah was exactly the same place as the place where David built his altar. Then, what had happened as a result of the altar David built was the type of what happened to the whole world through Christ. Christ came and built an altar for us right between heaven and earth, and gave himself as a sacrifice. It was to stop all disasters that came as a result of sin. He became the foundation upon which the temple was built so that God’s teaching would flow from it to the whole world establishing his kingdom, a new world with full of blessings and no disasters.

"This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Ask the priests what the law says: If a person carries consecrated meat in the fold of his garment, and that fold touches some bread or stew, some wine, oil or other food, does it become consecrated?’” The priests answered, "No (Hag 2:11-12)."

God spoke on the 24th day of the 9th month by first asking the priests the above question. According to the Law, everything that touches the consecrated thing like an altar and the consecrated meat of a sacrificed animal that is offered to God becomes holy. Thus, the fold of the garment of a person who carries the consecrated meat becomes holy. Then, the question is: does the fold consecrate the other things that it touches? The answer is “No.” In other words, the second transmission of holiness by touching is not possible.

Then Haggai said, "If a person defiled by contact with a dead body touches one of these things, does it become defiled?" "Yes," the priests replied, "it becomes defiled (v. 13)."

But a person to whom defilement has been transmitted from a carcass defiles everything that he touches—even the consecrated fold of his garment or the consecrated food. In other words, holiness requires 100% purity, and anything less than that is unholy, and thus, things can be defiled through the second transmission. Defilement, therefore, advances far more easily in this world than consecration. This world with everything in it was once holy and perfect at the time of creation, but when death came in as a result of sin, defilement soon spread to the whole world and to every human being in it. What has been already defiled cannot be made holy unless it is consecrated through the offering of a sacrifice to God. Holiness only comes from God, and nothing can be consecrated without the direct contact with God. The people of Israel were chosen and were made holy in this way when they came out from Egypt. But they were defiled by contagious idols, and both the nation and the land they lived in were defiled. So, death and destruction came, and Jerusalem, the holy city, was filled with carcasses, and the temple, the only link between the heaven and the earth, the source of holiness, was defiled and destroyed.

Then Haggai said, “‘So it is with this people and this nation in my sight,’ declares the Lord. ‘Whatever they do and whatever they offer there is defiled (v. 14).’”

Holy God cannot accept unholy offerings. With defilement, it is no use worshiping him—no blessings. First, we need to be consecrated in order to be able to come and stand before him. However, since the temple is the place where we can be consecrated by offering sacrifices to God, how can we be consecrated without the temple? That was why God told the Jews of Haggai’s time to build the temple. He said, “Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build the house.”

From this day on, from this twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, give careful thought to the day when the foundation of the Lord's temple was laid. Give careful thought: Is there yet any seed left in the barn? Until now, the vine and the fig tree, the pomegranate and the olive tree have not borne fruit. "`From this day on I will bless you (vv. 18-19).

God accepts only consecrated people and consecrated offerings. You cannot stand before God with sin and defilement. And the temple is the place where you are consecrated. Do you have your temple built in you? If not, you will need to start with its foundation. Do you have the foundation of God’s word, the foundation of prayers, the foundation of giving, etc.? The bigger the foundation is, the bigger the house that can be built upon it will be. Spend more time on making the foundation because once you start building a house on it, it will be difficult to make the foundation bigger. Study God’s word with more eagerness to know him, and worship him in spirit and truth with more energy and love for him. Then, your foundation will become bigger and firmer, and God will use you for his work as the place of his feet.

“You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?" declares the Lord Almighty. "Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with his own house (v. 9).”

“Each of you is busy with his own house” means literally, “each of you was running to his own house.” If this was the case, then, it must have been a burden also for them to keep the Sabbath day holy by not working. Nehemiah who lived in the same post-exilic period records that they had this problem. In fact, it seemd that the same problem had existed throughout the whole history of Israel. God spoke, for instance, through Jeremiah as follows:

But if you are careful to obey me, declares the Lord, and bring no load through the gates of this city on the Sabbath, but keep the Sabbath day holy by not doing any work on it, then kings who sit on David's throne will come through the gates of this city with their officials. … and this city will be inhabited forever (Jer 17:24-25).

The whole establishment of the nation of Israel depended upon this command—to keep the Sabbath day holy. But they did not, and the nation was destroyed. Here, there is a very important truth to learn. This command is about holiness, and without holiness, the kingdom that God intends to establish cannot stand. Holiness is a type of nature that can be only produced by separating something for God from its ordinary use. The assumption is that the whole human world with everything in it was defiled spiritually after the Fall of Man, and we cannot have holiness without consecration by the blood of a sacrifice. And in order to consecrate ourselves together with what we have, we need to have the temple for the presence of God with an altar upon which sacrifices are offered to him. During the time of Haggai, however, while the temple remained a ruin, they were running and working for their own houses. They were defiled without keeping the Sabbath day, and continued to be defiled with no place to consecrate themselves.

Also I gave them my Sabbaths as a sign between us, so they would know that I the Lord made them holy (Ezek 20:12).

The people of Israel were chosen by God, and they are God’s people. Because God is holy, they need to be holy as well.

Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation (Exod 19:5-6).

The commandment to keep the Sabbath day holy is a sign for this covenant. Holiness is the most important nature of God’s people, and the essential qualification for priests. By not keeping the Sabbath day holy, they defile themselves, and thus become disqualified for serving as priests or God’s people. Their offerings will not be accepted because what they offer is unclean, and without the acceptance of their offerings, it would be impossible for them to be blessed. God did his best to bless them in the time of Haggai, but they did not receive as much as they wanted or expected. Thus, God said to them, “Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build the house.” They listened to him, repented, and feared God. They made a decision to build the temple.

Then Haggai, the Lord's messenger, gave this message of the Lord to the people: "I am with you," declares the Lord (Hag 1:13).

All of this has spiritual implications that can be applied to us Christians today. Do you have this temple in your life? Have you made a decision to build it? If you have, the first thing you need to do is to lay the foundation of it.