Today’s Scripture Reading (August 6,
2016): 2 Chronicles 3
The video
shows a familiar summer scene. Two kids are playing in the sand at a beach running
in and out of the water. The sunblock is carefully and appropriately applied. Then
they take their pails and begin to build a castle in the sand. You can see them
building the walls to the castle. They meticulously carve the top of the walls
into a familiar zig-zag shape. It is a scene that will be repeated many times
this summer by kids all over the world.
Finally,
they finish their creation and run to get Dad to show him their work. Dad is
reading a paper about all of the struggles in the Middle East. He is reluctant
to leave his leisure to go and look at the sand castle that his two young
children have built. But, eventually, he
gives in. He gets up, paper in hand and walks over to the sand castle. The
camera shows the legs of the participants, but not the castle. Then Dad’s paper
floats to the ground and the camera cuts to the castle built by the kids. But
it is not a Castle. It is the Jerusalem Temple. The video contains no spoken
words, but four written words appear at the very end – The Children are Ready.
Of course,
what the children are ready for is the building of The Jerusalem Temple, the
Third Temple, on Temple Mount. The organization that has produced the video
seems committed to seeing the Third
Temple built during this generation. Extensive education and preparation for
the building of the Temple are currently underway. Yet the actual building of
the Temple, on the top of a Mountain Holy to Islam, in the next generation, seems unlikely. But I have to admit
that during my young adult years I thought the removal of the Berlin Wall and
the reunification of Germany was also unlikely – and that has taken place.
Maybe the
most significant message in the declaration of when Solomon started to build
the Temple is a reminder of how long the nation went without a Temple. It seems
to have been over 400 years that Israel worshiped
with the Tent of Meeting, the Tabernacle, as their most holy place. The Tent
moved from place to place as Israel moved.
It should be noted that the Tabernacle lasted almost as long as the
First Temple. Also, the delay by Solomon in starting to build the Temple should
not be seen as Solomon believing that the task was unimportant or in the new king
having “better things to do.” He probably started the process in the first year
of his reign, and it probably took this long to gather the materials together
that were needed to begin to build. But when everything was ready, the building
began.
I personally
don’t think that the Third Temple will be built anytime
soon. In some ways, I hope I am wrong, even though I am not a Jew. But I also
sometimes wonder if maybe my Jewish counterparts are missing a step. Until the
time when the Temple can be rebuilt, why not painstakingly recreated the
Tabernacle – a movable tent where sacrifice to God could begin once more. And
the beauty of the Tabernacle is that it could be placed somewhere else other
than Temple Mount until Temple Mount was
ready to receive the third Temple. A rebuilding of a functional Tabernacle
would be a true reconnection with the roots of the nation, and with the
deliberate instructions that God gave to Moses.
It might be
a start.
For those
who might like to see the video, you can find it here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPmViwmJSJE
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 2
Chronicles 4
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