Temple Themes

After David slew Goliath, “the women came out of all cities of Israel, singing and dancing with tabrets, with joy, and with instruments of music” and chanting, “Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands.” Saul became jealous, and the scripture says, “Saul eyed David from that day and forward” (1 Samuel 18:6-9). […]

As David prepares to battle Goliath, Saul comes to his aid by providing “armor,” a helmet of brass, and a “coat of mail.” The translation is deceptive. It would seem to partially match the armor of Goliath, but it doesn’t. In the original Hebrew, Goliath is wearing the brass helmet and fish scales, which is

The Lord chose Saul to be king over a united Israel. “Samuel took a vial of oil, and poured it upon his head” (1 Samuel 10:1) and anointed him. In the Old Testament, there is a close relationship between kingship (and queenship) and the Messiah. The king was actually referred to as a “messiah.” The

Sometimes when the Israelites fought an enemy, they would take the Ark of the Covenant into battle. After the Philistines killed 4,000 Israelite soldiers, the elders of Israel said, “Wherefore hath the Lord smitten us to day before the Philistines? Let us fetch the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of Shiloh unto

Previous posts have dealt with gestures of approach as we progress through the temple in a symbolic journey to enter God’s presence. These were used in ancient times to discern a friend from a foe, and thus, certain gestures could be seen from far away. The main steps of covenant making were followed anciently in

In the story of Ruth, we have some interesting temple imagery relating to covenants. Boaz seems to take an interest in Ruth as she gleans the barley fields. He commands his servants to let her glean in the sheaves and to let some of the barley fall to the ground so she can easily gather

There are several examples and symbols of temple theology in the Book of Judges. I want to write about two occurrences of this.   First, we have the story of Gideon. His name literally means “hewer.” In the Old Testament, there are many references to trees. My last post explains how sacred trees can be

I have quoted from Deuteronomy in recent posts. The Book of Deuteronomy has many great teachings. We know of their validity since some of them were quoted by Jesus, such as the Shema, which was an ancient prayer recited twice daily and written on parchments fastened on the forehead or left arm. These were called

Today’s post will be from Numbers chapter 7 and various chapters from Joshua. It will be centered on covenant making, then I will circle back to Deuteronomy for the next post.   At the dedication of the Tabernacle, each tribe of Israel brought offerings of lambs, rams, bullocks, and goats for the various sacrifices. Each

There were three required annual feasts in ancient Israel when the people gathered to the “place which the Lord thy God shall choose to place his name in” (Deuteronomy 16:6). That sacred place where His name is, and was, is the tabernacle or temple. The three feasts were Feast of Unleavened Bread, beginning the day