Today’s Scripture Reading (June 16,
2014): Zechariah 1
On Saturday,
September 4, 2010 a magnitude 7.1 earthquake rocked New Zealand’s third largest
populated urban area – Christchurch. Little did the inhabitants of the city
realize that it was merely the beginning of what would end up being a cluster
of earthquakes in the region. In a two year period beginning on September 4, 2010,
Christchurch was hit with 4,423 earthquakes above the 3.0 magnitude level. The
result of the earthquake cluster was a city that had been destroyed. Now, two
years later, there are still a number of questions that need to be answered
with regard to the rebuilding of the city. And maybe the first question is what
kind of a city is it that needs to be rebuilt. With the extensive damage in the
city as a result of the movement of the earth, the city could be simply rebuilt
reflecting the character of the old city, or it could be completely and
radically redesigned, or a multitude of choices in between the two extremes.
This is the most likely reason why the decision to destroy and rebuild or
attempt to repair the existing buildings has yet to be made with regard to a
number of buildings inside the city. Because of the earthquake cluster, choices
abound for the designers of the new city.
Jerusalem,
the spiritual and emotional center of Israel, had been totally destroyed be the
Babylonians. Zechariah begins his prophecy with a significant promise from God
that his house would be rebuilt. But scholars have argued over what that “rebuilding”
really meant. For some, the meaning is obvious and the construction of Zerubbabel’s
Temple was the fulfilment of the promise. God’s house meant the physical temple
in Jerusalem. For some, the meaning is a
rebuilding of a physical temple, but the promise is not fulfilled by the
building of Zerubbabel’s Temple. And the argument is that God never seems to
fully accept the inferior temple that was built by the returning exiles. The
fulfilment of the promise must, therefore, lie in the building of the
mysterious third temple of Ezekiel’s dreams. While Zerubbabel’s Temple was a
step back for the people of Jerusalem, Ezekiel’s Temple would have been a
significant step forward. While Ezekiel reflected many of the design elements
that existed in the temple that Solomon had built, Ezekiel’s dream temple was bigger
with added features and improvements over that of the previous building. So the
question is - if God was going to build his house, at least from our
perspective is it not more likely that God would build a house more in keeping
with the one Ezekiel dreamed of than the one built during the reign of
Zerubbabel?
But for the
Christian, there is a third option. And it is more in keeping with the complete
and radical redesign model. God is not limited to a building that is filled
with altars and places of sacrifice along with tools to carry out that
sacrifice. It is possible that God could dream beyond a temple that contained a
closed off section at one end called the Holy of holies – the place where God lived
and sat on his throne. The radical redesign model simply argues that what God
was speaking of as the rebuilding of his house was the same temple that Jesus
would later tell the leaders in Jerusalem that they could destroy, but that God
would restore in three days. The only temple that really fulfills the prophecy
of Zechariah was the temple was Jesus. And because God’s Temple was Jesus, even
when the Romans pulled down Zerubbabel’s temple it was not that big a deal –
because God’s temple still remained.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading:
Zechariah 2
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