If all things were good, when they were created by God, (Genesis 1:31), what went wrong. Oh, yes, mankind rebelled, didn’t they (Genesis 2:16-17; 3:6). But, isn’t God Almighty? If so, why did he permit things to get so wrong? Everything is broken: our lives, our bodies, our systems, even our countries. The whole thing is a mess and needs to be put right again. What happened and where do we begin to bring order out of all this chaos?
Well, it seems clear from scripture that man isn’t capable of putting things right. God, left man to his own way and he filled the earth with violence (Genesis 6:5-6, 11). So, God decided to give mankind another chance to get it right, and he destroyed every man, except for Noah, his wife, his three sons and their wives, or eight souls (1Peter 3:20). Nevertheless, even after beginning again with righteous Noah, mankind was unable to make things right, fix their lives, their bodies, their systems, or their tribal nations. Nevertheless, the Lord had promised mankind he would never destroy them again, like he did with the flood waters (Genesis 9:11). Instead, God intervened in the affairs of men and called Abraham out from among his people (Genesis 12:1). The Lord promised he’d make Abraham a great nation, he would bless him and cause him to be a blessing to others, so that all the families of the earth would be blessed through him (Genesis 12: 2-3).
Understanding this, the descendants of Abraham, Israel, always thought they would be part of the solution. God would set things right, and they’d be in the middle of all that, the mending process. Try to imagine, however, what all this looked like, while getting from Abraham to Jesus. Throughout Israel’s history, everything was still broken, their lives, their health, the systems they put into play to make things better, and the broken nation that they became. How was it possible that they would be part of the solution, when they found it impossible to get anything right themselves? Their whole nations was destroyed in war, and the elite families among them were taken captive and removed to foreign lands.
Only a small percentage of them ever returned to their original homeland to rebuild. Nevertheless, when they were finally permitted to rebuild, they still found themselves ruled by a foreign, pagan empires. The empires changed over the years, but with the coming of each one, the Jews still found themselves ruled by a foreign power. The problem seemed to be that, although they had rebuilt the Temple of God, he hadn’t returned to his former place, but he promised through the prophets that he would return one day (Malachi 3:1).
The Temple was a physical picture of Eden (Genesis 2 & 3). It was where heaven and earth met. Heaven was the place, where God dwelt, while the earth was man’s home. They met in the Most Holy Place (heaven) and the Holy Place (Earth). It was there, men could have fellowship and worship God, his Creator. Nevertheless, although God, evidently, made his Presence felt, when Solomon first built the Temple in Jerusalem (2Kings 8:10-11), after he left the Temple, shortly before the Babylonian captivity (Ezekiel 10:18-19), scripture never records the Lord’s return. So, all during the second Temple period, the Most Holy Place was empty.[1]
So, did the Lord fail to keep his promise (Malachi 3:1)? No, he did come to his Temple (Acts 2:1-4), but the Jews, as a nation, missed it. They recognized something had occurred (Acts 2:5-12), but they misinterpreted it (Acts 2:13). It had all the marks of the hand of God (Acts 2:11), but they couldn’t decide what it all meant (Acts 2:12-13).
Today, many Christians still misinterpret what was done on Pentecost, immediately following the crucifixion of Jesus. We’re still looking for the temple at Jerusalem to be rebuilt and, when it’s done, Christ must return to dwell in it. Nevertheless, the scripture clearly says that the Lord had returned to his Temple (Acts 2:1-4)! In other words, and we are that Temple of God (1Corinthians 3:16), vis-à-vis it is we, who are a part of that solution that God is working out in mankind, that eventually brings man back into fellowship with his Creator. Nevertheless, this will be done in accordance with the will of both man and God. In his patience and love, the Lord will help man to become willing to return to him.
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[1] Josephus records that there wasn’t anything at all in the Most Holy Place, just prior to its destruction by the Romans (JOSEPHUS; Wars of the Jews 5.5.5).
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