Tag: temple

Posted in Through the Bible Devotions

The house where you grew up

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Scott Webb on Unsplash

Some “through the bible” thoughts from Luke 2.

To his parents, who had been searching for him for three days, Jesus said, “Why were you searching for me? Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” (Luke 2:49).

Something has changed. After Passover, the family was on their way home from Jerusalem to Nazareth. But now as a young man, Jesus refers to the temple as his father’s house. He has begun to understand his unique relationship with God the Father.

All the fullness of God may have been in Christ, but he also had to grow up. Just like you and I, he learned language, customs, and a trade from his parents. On this trip to Jerusalem he began to understand that he was here for something more than carpentry.

As we grow, we continually learn what it means to be a child of God. Our perspective changes when we become parents and grandparents. Seeing the next generations helps us understand our relationship with a heavenly Father. Just like us in every way, Jesus learned what it meant to be the Son of God.

I love hearing people talk about the house where they grew up. That location occupies a treasured spot in our hearts. Jesus had two of those, a home in Nazareth and the temple in Jerusalem.

Posted in Through the Bible Devotions

Imagining the temple

Posted on by William Douthwaite

Some “through the bible” thoughts from Ezekiel 40-42.

To be honest, I don’t find chapters 40-42 of Ezekiel inspiring. There’s little devotional material here.

Twenty-one years ago, as my church made plans to build a new sanctuary, the architect included a thick volume of specifications for the construction along with the blueprints. It was not inspiring either. But we had one man, retired from construction, who took them home and digested them!

However, the architect also supplied us with artist renderings of the finished building, along with a scale model to display in the entryway of the church. That was inspiring! That got everyone excited. That fueled the fund-raising which made the new building possible. Not only could we see the finished structure, but we could picture ourselves worshiping there.

So I figure that these chapters from Ezekiel helped his audience picture the restored temple when God brought them back to Jerusalem to rebuild what the Babylonians had destroyed. It was intended to inspire and excite those who would undertake that effort. They would once again be worshiping there.

A few years after, our church attempted a capital campaign to pay down debt and reduce our mortgage payment. It was a flop. No one gets excited about debt reduction.

But a building program? Everyone loves that! Maybe Ezekiel’s description encouraged the hearts and minds of the exiles waiting to go home.

Posted in Through the Bible Devotions

Right at home, just like the birds

Posted on by William Douthwaite

A “through the bible” devotion from Psalm 84.

Whenever I go to a big box home improvement store, I’m delighted to hear the birds singing and watch them fly around the upper reaches of the store. No one ever tries to get rid of them. I’m sure the rafters are filled with nests, too.

And why not? There is shelter from any kind of weather. There’s always a little bit of seed on the floor, so plenty of food. Bugs on some of the plants if you want them, I suppose. What a great place to live.

It’s not a new idea. There’s nothing new under the son. It sounds like birds lived in Old Testament worship spaces.

Even the sparrow finds a home,
    and the swallow a nest for herself,
    where she may lay her young,
at your altars, O Lord of hosts,
    my King and my God. (Psalm 84:3)

At 45 feet, the ceiling of Solomon’s temple was higher than the stores. The tabernacle stretched up fifteen feet, plenty high for birds to find safe nesting places. I find it fascinating to think that birds were flying around in the uppermost corners of the temple as priests prayed and burned incense. It must not have bothered them, and it made for a good song lyric, too.

Sparrows are a dime a dozen. But there’s a place for them in God’s house. Swallows are restless birds, darting here and there. But they calm down and rest in God’s presence.

Feeling insignificant? Restless? Relax. You matter. There’s a place for you, too.

I love how animals teach us a lot about God!

Posted in Through the Bible Devotions

Severe consequences

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Gene Gallin on Unsplash

A “through the bible” devotion from Ezra 6.

In anger, a parent might threaten their child, “If you do that again, you’ll be grounded for life!” Everyone knows that’s not going to happen. Young people might lament, “My parents are going to kill me!” But that never happened to any of my friends, even the ones who were always getting into trouble.

The bible includes examples of extreme justice. Like the decrees in Daniel to throw offenders into a fiery furnace or a den of lions. Those monarchs were serious. They really did it.

In the book of Ezra, when the Jews who have returned from exile are trying to rebuild the temple, the locals do their best to shut down the project. The matter ends up in front of King Darius, who searches the royal archives for a solution to the conflict. He discovers that Cyrus had decreed the house of God to be rebuilt in Jerusalem. All costs would be paid from the royal treasury.

Darius reissues the decree, prescribing severe consequences for any who fail to abide by it. “If anyone alters this edict, a beam shall be pulled out of his house, and he shall be impaled on it, and his house shall be made a dunghill” (Ezra 6:11). End of discussion.

There is no biblical record of anyone punished in this way. Maybe that’s because they knew from history that those kings were serious. These royal decrees insured everyone followed orders.

But would you turn in a neighbor who was interfering with the rebuilding of the temple if meant you’d end up with a dunghill in the lot next to yours. I know I wouldn’t.

Anyway, the project was completed on time. The Jews finished the reconstruction of the temple and worship was restored in post-exilic Jerusalem.

Posted in Through the Bible Devotions

Where’s my bible?

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

Josiah was a good king.

That’s saying a lot, since his grandfather Manasseh and father Amon were kings who did what was evil, worshiped idols, and brought on Judah the certainty of God’s judgment.

Josiah ascended to the throne at the age of eight. When he was twenty-five, he initiated repair of the temple.

Guess what they found?

Hilkiah the high priest said, “I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the Lord” (2 Kings 22:8).

I’ve always thought it amazing that they could lose their bible, which would have been the Pentetuech (the first five books of our bible). Clearly it hadn’t been read in a long, long time.

Imagine someone asking, “Where is your bible?” And you have to say, as you rummage through boxes of books, “I know it’s around here somewhere.”

In some churches I go to, most people have a bible with them. In others, hardly anyone does. I wonder why?

In some churches they project the bible passages on a screen. In others, they print out the readings in a handout. So I guess it’s not essential to have a bible with you at a worship service.

But it’s helpful. Here’s why:

You can easily read the context of a passage of scripture. Context is so important. The before and after of a verse makes a verse come to life!

  • You can underline, circle, highlight, and make a note in the margin to read later.
  • You can look at other notes, highlights, circles, or underlines you’ve made in the past.
  • You can quickly look at other verses that come to mind or are mentioned in a sermon or by a teacher. Yes, you can do this digitally, but I find it easier to do with paper pages and a thumb to keep my place.

I find it amusing to imagine a couple scrambling around, trying to find their bible so they can leave it out on the coffee table when the pastor comes to visit. Have to make a good impression, right?

Posted in Through the Bible Devotions

A box for God’s people

Posted on by William Douthwaite

A “through the Bible” devotion from 1 Kings 8.

“Will God indeed dwell on earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you, how much less this house which I have built” (1 Kings 8:27).

So why build a temple? Why build a church? Why make it look like your God lives in a box?

We naturally have places for things. Countries have capitals where the government is. Kitchens have cabinets where we stack the plates. Houses have shelves where we line up our books. Medicine cabinets hold all our pills.

So why wouldn’t you have a place for your God?

For many people, walking into church makes you feel closer to God. For some that’s a good feeling. For others, it’s ominous.

But some feel close to God walking down a trail through the woods. or looking up at a starry sky. Or holding an infant. Or reading a bible.

Bottom line: the box is for people, not God. The building is a place to gather and to be together. It’s a place to learn together, cry together, pray together, and celebrate together. If we could do it in our homes, we would, just like the early church. But when the Holy Spirit does his thing and the church grows, we just might need a bigger place to gather. It could be the beach. Or an amphitheater. Or a sanctuary.

No you can’t confine God to a box. But he’ll be there, wherever his people gather.

Posted in Through the Bible Devotions

How much is all this going to cost?

Posted on by William Douthwaite

“So Solomon built the house [of God] and finished it.” (1 Kings‬ ‭6‬:‭14‬).

When I asked a Bible study class how much they thought should be spent on a church building, most replied, “Less than we do.” I thought that was an interesting answer. People like beautiful, well-maintained spaces for worship. But many underestimate the cost and commitment involved.

The temple Solomon built in Jerusalem was beautiful. Huge rocks from a quarry. Cedar-paneled walls overlaid with gold. Carved angels, engraved Palm tree and flowers, and olive wood doors. The furnishings and fabrics were exquisite.

How much did this all cost? Scholars disagree. At the very least it’s tens of millions of dollars in today’s currency. It probably cost far more than that. Too much? Appropriate for the Almighty God?

It’s true that the overhead of a building consumes a significant part of a congregation’s budget. But it’s also true that a church building is a visual that God is a part of a community. It provides a place for God’s people to gather and encourage one another to live out our faith. It is a place to go in the worst moments of life to find hope. It’s a place that reminds us we’re not alone in this. We rejoice, mourn, live, and die together as God’s people.

God didn’t need a temple. Neither did his people. They worshipped for a long time without one. They would still fall into sin with one.

When a woman anoints Jesus’s feet with costly perfume, he’s touched by the nice thing she did for him. Perhaps we should look at temples and church buildings in a similar way.

Posted in holy week

Thoughts on Monday of Holy Week: Can you believe he did that?

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

So what happens on Monday of Holy Week? Jesus returns to the temple in Jerusalem where he heals and teaches, overturns the tables of the moneychangers, and spends the night with Lazarus.

When Jesus was twelve years old, his parents found him in the temple. Back then the he impressed the teachers of the law with his questions, knowledge and understanding. I wonder if any of those teachers were present that day when Jesus drove everyone out, including the animals.

I often hear people describe Jesus as being angry that day, even though anger is not mentioned in the bible. With a whip of cords in his hand, chasing man and beast out, he may have been angry. He certainly was passionate.

I think of this scene when I walk into church buildings. On the way to worship, I pass offering kiosks, donation boxes for mission offerings, and youth selling tickets to a fund-raising event. Not much has changed.

What do you think happened after Jesus left the temple that day? Everyone gathered up the money, set up the tables, rounded up all the animals, and got back to work. After all, it’s the week of Passover. The city is packed with people from all over Israel. It’s similar to race week or bike week in Daytona Beach. This is when businesses make most of their money for the year.

So what’s going on here? I don’t think the temple was restored to a house of prayer for all the nations. At least not until Pentecost. Jesus’s actions and stories provoke the religious leaders to get serious about getting rid of him. It’s like lighting the fuse on a stick of dynamite.

And that’s exactly what Jesus intends. He is not caught up in a chain of events over which he has no control. He’s written the script. He’s playing the lead. He’s poking the bear. And everything is going according to plan.

Imagine a visitor to your church deliberately bumping the snack table hard enough to scatter donuts and coffee cups everywhere on a Sunday morning. That would stir things up, wouldn’t it?

Welcome to holy week.

Posted in 2022 Lent Devotions

Get out of here!

Posted on by William Douthwaite

“Mirror of the Passion” Lent devotion for April 11, 2022. Photo by Harry Gillen on Unsplash

And Jesus entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold, saying to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a den of robbers.” (Luke 19:45-46)

After Solomon built the first temple in Jerusalem, one of the highlights of the dedication was his prayer. He knew that God couldn’t be kept in a box, even one the size of the temple. But the temple reminded people that God would hear their prayers and respond with grace.

By the time of Jesus, the temple had been destroyed, rebuilt, and enhanced. Currency exchange and livestock sales drowned out the prayers of God’s people. What a zoo – literally!

It drove Jesus nuts. “Not in my house!” He tipped tables, threw chairs, and chased everyone out, both man and beast. “My house shall be a house of prayer.”

Just imagine you’ve finally gotten to Jerusalem. Just like last year, you lined up at the temple to buy a couple of pigeons to bring to the priest for your sacrifice. You’ve done this every year for as long as you can remember. Just before it’s your turn to make a purchase, a man cuts in line, starts pushing people around and throwing furniture. You say, “Hey, what’s your problem? I would have let you go first. Calm down. All you had to do was ask.”

Or, you’ve got your little table set up at the temple. You’ve only got a few goats to sell this year. They’ll go quickly. “How can I help you, sir? Hey, take it easy, you’re gonna hurt someone! Those are my goats!”

It’s crazy. Jesus must be out of his mind. But you know what? If you showed up at your house and saw a guy selling tacos from a truck in your driveway, you’d lose it too. “What’s the matter, mister? Don’t you like tacos?” That’s not the point. This is my house. Get out here! I’d be throwing chips and salsa around too!

For some reason, we allow religion to become transactional. We come to church with an offering in exchange for a rite or ceremony. It breaks my heart when someone asks, “How much would it cost to have my child baptized?”

I think that’s how Jesus felt. His heart was broken. He was in Jerusalem to pick up the tab for sin. And these folks were cutting into his business.

Not in my house.

I’m just here to pray, Lord.