Articles
Word Of The Week: Temple
Buildings dedicated to the worship of gods are called temples. Even the true God, Jehovah, commanded the Israelites to build a structure as a central element of wor-ship to Him. The first portable structure was called a tabernacle, and the later fixed building in Jerusalem was known as the temple. Here sacrifices would be offered and other worship practices observed.
But Jesus changed this practice by constructing a different sort of building – a spiritual temple made of “living stones” (I Cor. 3:16; I Pet. 2:5). Each person who commits their life to God in obedient faith is a living stone added to the temple. As each one performs acts of godliness, grows in character and gives praise to God, God is present in the world and acting through His people, His spiritual temple.
Building ornate, expensive houses of worship that glorify the structure itself are misguided. God couldn’t care less about the facility. The true temple is His people.
