HF117 - YHWH has left the Temple
To: Hebraic-Foundations@yahoogroups.com
From: "Pastor Buddy Martin" <Bro.Buddy@ChristianChallenge.org>
Date: Fri May 7, 2004
Subject: Bible Study HF117 - YHWH has left the Temple
Hebraics,
Many things that Jesus taught and did made much better sense in the world of the Hebrews. In this study we want to take a closer look at how Jesus fulfilled the redemption promises given to the Israel, and thus to the whole world. The cross has a greater story to tell than many folk realize.
This is Bible Study HF117 - YHWH has left the Temple.
First let me deal with a technical issue. The letters YHWH speak of God's covenant name as it was written in Old Testament Hebrew. YHWH is our English equivalent of the Hebrew letters Yohd He Waw He. No one knows for certain just how YHWH was to be pronounced. A close guess is Yahweh. But even that is not an absolute certainty. The divine name YHWH is referred to as the 'tetragrammaton', which in Greek means 'the four letters.'
Note: Nowhere in the Bible is it forbidden to pronounce the divine name. The prophets pronounced it. It was in second temple Judaism that a superstition began to surface concerning never to pronounce or even write the name YHWH. But this is certainly not from God, though this superstition was deeply rooted in a sense of the holiness of God's name.
In reading a number of English translations, such as the New American Standard, the King James, or the New Revised Standard, the divine name YHWH will be written as 'LORD', that is, in uppercase letters. This lets the reader know that the name being referenced in this instance is YHWH.
A case in view is Genesis 2:4 which reads, "The LORD [YHWH] God [Elohim] made the earth and heaven." Another case is Psalm 110:1, which says, "The LORD [YHWH] says to my Lord [Adonay]: Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for your feet."
But then we also have this oddity in Genesis 19:24; "Then the LORD [YHWH] rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD [YHWH] out of heaven." Here we have YHWH in heaven responding to YHWH on earth.
Having some knowledge on the background of the divine name YHWH is useful in the study of our redemption in Christ. The issue centers largely on who Jesus Christ really was, or on whom He fully represented. The story of redemption as it unfolds in the cross takes in the story of YHWH and Israel. But it is really a story for the whole of mankind.
There is a sense in which Jesus Christ is both YHWH, but can also be called 'the Israel of God.' As YHWH Jesus gathered to Himself all true believers. Thus the Old Testament believer's faith was completed in the coming of Jesus.
We hear this in Hebrews 11:39,40; "And all these (Old Testament saints), having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promises, because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they would not be made perfect." And so the work of the cross reaches back across history to gather in all who believed, that is, from the time of Adam to Christ Himself. But it also reaches forward to all who will believe, that is, from the cross to the second coming of Jesus.
The wonder of this is how Jesus perfectly fulfilled the role of being 'the Israel of God' Himself. And this is where the Scriptures come alive. When we read the story of Jesus we are seeing picture- points in the history of Israel. Here are some Scriptures of note:
(1) "He remained there [in Egypt] until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the prophet: 'Out of Egypt I called My Son." (Matt2:15) --- In this case Jesus represents Israel itself being called out of Egypt.
(2) "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29) --- In His baptism at Jordan, Jesus represents Israel crossing the Red Sea. But He also enters into the waters of repentance with Israel, as the God of Israel.
(3) "Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led around by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days (here a day represents each year of Israel's wanders), being tempted by the devil..." (Luke 4:1) --- In His wilderness temptations, we can see Israel's wanderings in the wilderness.
But we have to keep in mind that the things Jesus did were trans- history. This means that He spoke not simply to Israel's journey out of Egypt, but He spoke to the Israel of His own time. For example, over the temple gate there was the emblem of the vine with its branches. The vine was a common symbol for Israel.
Thus when Jesus said, "I am the true Vine, and My Father is the vinedresser," He was saying that He alone is the true Israel of God. Of course this generates a question: If Jesus is the true Israel of God, why then is not the Church called Israel. The reason is because the church involves a much greater picture than Israel. The Church is an entirely new creation.
But there is a second reason --- According to prophetic history there has to be an actual physical nation called Israel at the second coming of Jesus Christ. And so there is a sense in that the Church can be reckoned as spiritual Israel, though we are not given that name for common usage. We were given the name Christian.
Note: For further study on the name Christian, review HF032 - The New Adam Race with its four parts. Also see HF034 - The Christian's Identity. Go to:
http://www.christianchallenge.org/hebraic-foundations/index.html
Now we need to come to the issue of 'YHWH has left the Temple'. Understanding 'who' Jesus really is, is crucial to understanding what is happening in the gospel stories. Here we must lay aside our ideas of deity. Simply let the Scriptures speak for themselves.
Many things Jesus did had to do with acting out prophecy. For example, when He came into the temple and began overturning the tables of the moneychangers and used a scourge to drive them out, this was a picture of the destruction that would take place when the temple would be destroyed in 70 a.d.
This also connects with cursing the fig tree. Jesus and the apostles were on their way to the temple, when He cursed the unfruitful tree. From there He goes to the temple and uses the scourge. It is upon passing back by the fig tree that the disciples noticed it had withered. The fig tree itself was also another symbol of Israel.
Then we have this as Jesus is carrying His cross and the women are lamenting; "Daughters of Jerusalem, stop weeping for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children ... for if they do these things when the tree is green [this speaks of Jesus in the midst of Israel], what will happen when it is dry?" (Cf. Luke 23:27-31)
What did He mean? Some forty years later many of the children of Israel will be hanging on crosses surrounding Jerusalem when General Titus overtakes the city. (Again we see the tree as an emblem of Israel.)
Jesus speaks over Jerusalem as YHWH; "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling." (Matt23:37)
Then He says, "Behold, your house is being left to you desolate!" This phrase 'your house' has a special view to the temple. It was often spoken of as simply 'the house.' The house in Jerusalem was the temple.
Then again we hear the Lord say, "If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes ... they will level you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation." (Cf. Luke 19:44-45)
You may find it strange how these very events were recorded in Jewish history. Talmudic writers spoke of all the strange things that began to take place in the temple beginning forty years before its destruction. [You may want to review HF041 - When the Temple Shuddered.]
And so YHWH had left the temple. When the Lord expired on the cross, it says the curtain in the temple was rent, and an earthquake took place. The temple actually shifted on its foundation. Why? It was because the builders had rejected the chief cornerstone.
A note - I read recently in a news report from Israel how that a geological survey shows the heart of Jerusalem's old city is sitting on top of a fault, and that the old city would suffer the greatest damage because it rests on layers of debris and not solid rock. (Pretty interesting. Certainly speaks of a removal of the dome.)
Let me leave off on the study for now. Feel free to provide insights or ask questions.
Blessings,
Buddy
Lawrence E. (Buddy) Martin, HF Host
email: Bro.Buddy@ChristianChallenge.org
Web: http://www.christianchallenge.org/
"See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled." (Heb12:15)