Page 223 - Through New Eyes

222 THROUGH NEW EYES

In terms of symbolic polity, we see the Tabernacle turning
into a Temple. The Hebrew word for temple also means Palace,
and God’s Temple was simply His earthly Palace. Such a Palace-
Temple is associated, however, with the time of Israel’s kings, for
they too dwelt in palaces. The Tent of God corresponded to
Israel’s dwelling in tents. Once Israel settled in the land, and
built houses, it was natural for the Tabernacle to become more
houselike, and less tentlike. Since the Tabernacle stayed in one
place for a long time, it was natural for other buildings to be
built around it for storage, to house Levitical assistants, to house
the increasingly extended family of Aaronic priests, and for
other purposes. Thus, the Tabernacle at Shiloh grew into a
temple complex, and the area was called “the temple of the
Lord” (1 Samuel 1:9; 3:3). Of course, the Tabernacle itself con-
tinued to be what it had always been: a tent of curtains and
boards set in sockets on the ground. The outlying buildings,
however, created a palace complex.
What was to come could not be envisioned, of course. Israel-
ite political philosophers doubtless meditated on the king to
come, but had no idea that he would sustain as close a relation-
ship with the Lord as came to pass. They may not have realized
that the king would have a small professional permanent army.3
Certainly they would not have guessed that the country would
be divided up into administrative tax districts that were different
from the tribal divisions (1 Kings 4:7-19). Just so, Israelite litur-
gists may have speculated on a fuller temple to come; but they
would have had no idea that the laver would turn into a huge
bronze ocean riding on the backs of twelve bulls, or that there
would be ten golden lamp stands in the Holy Place, with silver
lampstands in the courtyard, or that there would be ten water
“chariots” in the courtyard, or that there would be two huge
pillars on either side of the door (1 Kings 6-7; 1 Chronicles
28:11-19; 2 Chronicles 3-4). These new features were not simple
extrapolations of Tabernacle symbolism, but were radical trans-
formations of it.

The Breakdown of the Mosaic Cosmos
After the glory days of Joshua, the nation of Israel entered
into a long period of slow decline. There were times of apostasy
and times of revival, but basically the course was that of decline.