The Temple in the Old and New Testaments
The Protection of the Theotokos [Mother of God]
Hebrews 9:1-7; Luke 10:38-42; 11:27-28
The Apostle Paul said:
“Then indeed, even the first covenant had ordinances of divine service and the earthly sanctuary.” (Hebrews 9:1)
The apostle reminds us that in the days of Moses God ordered the first temple to be built, the tabernacle, that was moved when the Jews (Israelites) traveled to the land of promise. In that first temple (tabernacle), which was intended for prayer and sacrifices for human sins, there was a division into the “Holy” and the “Holy of Holies.”
In the first part, the Holy of Holies, there was “the lampstand, the table, and the showbread, which is called the sanctuary”. The second part, the Holy of Holies, was separated from the first by a curtain, in which there was a golden censer, “and the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which were the golden pot that had the manna, Aaron's rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant”. (Hebrews 9:2-4)
Let us not forget that the apostle Paul reminds us of the arrangement of the first temple, the tabernacle, according to the regulations in the Second book of Moses. Therein, given to the prophet, is also a written instruction, from God, about how all is to be installed:
“You shall make a veil woven of blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine woven linen. It shall be woven with an artistic design of cherubim.” (Exodus 26:31)
Let us not forget that the lid of the Ark of the Covenant was also covered with cherubim of gold:
“And you shall make two cherubim of gold; of hammered work you shall make them at the two ends…” (Exodus 25:18).
The priests had the right to enter the Holy of Holies only during the service. Only the high priest had the right to enter the Holy of Holies, and only once a year to sprinkle the blood of the sacrifice for the remission of the sins of the Israelite people.
When the Israelites settled permanently in their land, King Solomon built a precious and majestic temple in Jerusalem, resembling the Tabernacle of the Covenant (only the Ark of the Covenant no longer contained the rod of Aaron and the manna, but just a tablet).
As soon as the priests placed the ark in the Holy of Holies, the glory of the Lord came down like a cloud and filled the temple. Solomon prayed to God:
“Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this temple which I have built! Yet ... that Your eyes may be open toward this temple night and day, toward the place of which You said, 'My name shall be there,' that You may hear the prayer which Your servant makes toward this place. And may You hear the supplication of Your servant... Hear in heaven Your dwelling place; and when You hear, forgive.” (First Kings 8:8-10; 27-28; 29-30)
That temple was costly and majestic. Many thousands of Jews from different countries came to it for the Jewish Passover and Pentecost. But we know that this temple was destroyed... Although it was rebuilt by King Herod, Christ foretold that the time would soon come when the Jerusalem temple would be completely destroyed:
“Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.” (Matthew 24:2)
For that temple of the Old Testament, with its services and holy things, was only a “shadow of good things to come”, a prototype of what was to come with the coming of Jesus Christ. (Heb. 10:1)
When Jesus Christ was born of the Virgin Mary and the Holy Spirit, when the true God appeared in the form of a man, the prototype had to disappear. And the temple of Jerusalem was finally destroyed by the Romans in 71 AD; it was given to ruin because of the hypocrisy and deceit of those who served there, who rejected the image of the true God, and who demanded the crucifixion of the Son of God on the cross.
The Tabernacle of Israel, Solomon's and Herod's temple, the Ark of the Covenant, the lampstand, the table of bread, and similar things were only hidden prototypes of the Most Holy Theotokos [Mother of God]. For the Most Holy Theotokos is the most holy tabernacle of the New Testament, which God chose as a place of abode for His Son Jesus Christ. From her, Jesus Christ took on a body to deify the human body, to sanctify it - all for the sake of our salvation. The Most Holy Theotokos is the temple in which the lamp, Christ, dwelt, for He Himself said:
“I am the light of the world.” (John 8:12)
The Most Holy Theotokos is the table at which the Bread of Life, Jesus Christ, was present. (Jhn. 6:48) The Most Holy Theotokos is the Holy of Holies of Christianity, the Ark of the New Testament.
The blood of goats or sheep, which was sprinkled in the Holy of Holies, could no longer provide cleansing from sins. Christ, the Son of God and Man, sacrificed Himself. Through His blood, people have received the forgiveness of sins. (Heb. 9:14) And the same apostle further states:
“And almost everything under the law is cleansed by blood, but without the shedding of blood there is no remission.” (Heb. 9:22)
The old tabernacle, the temple of Solomon (Herod), was destroyed because no rituals in it could offer salvation. The High Priest of the New Covenant, Jesus Christ, came and united the heavens for us. He made us all temples of the Holy Spirit. (1 Corinthians 3:16)
And it is testified that God “does not dwell in temples made with hands” (Acts 17:24), but we need a temple not for God's dwelling, but for a place of unity in prayer. This is where we are to express our understanding of our faith, offer a bloodless sacrifice, and unite with God and with each other in the brotherhood of Christ.
Especially on this day, we celebrate in the place where the true temple, the house of prayer, is dedicated to the glory of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Theotokos, as our Patroness and Protector. We ask her intercession before God, but we also remember: If we live among each other in love, then, according to the words of the apostle (1 John 4:12-13), we will be filled with the Holy Spirit; then in the man-made temple we will create a spiritual temple, and the Spirit of God will dwell in us, among us.
Amen.
Very Rev. Fr. Taras Slavchenko
Taras Slavchenko was born on March 8, 1918 in Nikopol, Dnipropetrovsk region in Ukraine. After graduating from school and the Pedagogical College, he entered the language and literature faculty of the Scientific Pedagogical Institute. Having successfully completed it in 1938, he served as a teacher in a secondary school.
