House of God

Contents INTRODUCTION 1 God Walks with Man Paradise: Outside the Paradise Noah and the Flood God Coming Down The Experience of the Patriarchs God of Abraham El-roi Bethel Peniel 2 Ark of the Covenant – Tent of meeting God Experience of Moses: Ark of the Covenant Tent of Meeting God Who Shows the Way Miraculous Presence Making an Idol out of a Holy Object Do not forget the True Goal 3 Jerusalem Temple The Ark to Jerusalem From the Tent to the Temple Pilgrimages Missing the Goal 4 Temple In the Eyes of the Prophets Amos Hosea Micah Isaiah Jeremiah: Ezekiel 5 In The Exile 6 Post Exilic Period Reconstruction of the Temple Hopes not fulfilled Trito Isaiah – The Temple and Justice Religious Renewal based on rituals Purity of Faith Ritualistic Religiosity Absence of Prophets Persecution - Renewal The Hasmonean Rule The Roman Period Herod the Great and temple reconstruction 7 Jesus and the House of God House of my Father – House of Prayer Cleansing of the Temple Market Place or Den of Thieves Prophecy about the Destruction of the Temple Jesus is the Temple 8 House of God Today A New Approach to the Temple Heavenly Temple Where is Heaven Ascension – Presence The Mystical Body of Christ, the Church The Church – House; Christ – Corner Stone The Christian Faithful – The Houses of God It Was I God is the “House of God” Conclusion ABOUT THE BOOK “I saw the LORD standing beside the altar, and he said: “Smite the capitals until the thresholds shake, and shatter them on the heads of all the people; and what are left of them I will slay with the sword; not one of them shall flee away, not one of them shall escape.” (Am 9,1). Why does God ask to destroy the temple and kill all those who came for worship? This prophecy of Amos comes as the conclusion of his critic against cult without compassion and devotion without justice. The House of God or rather God’s presence among the people is the main theme of this book. The Bible starts with the Paradise where man walked with God in the Garden of Eden (Gen 3, 6) and ends with the New Heaven and New Earth where God would make His tent among the people (Rev. 21, 3). “ I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb” (Rev 21, 22). Thus there was no temple in the beginning and there will be none at the end either. In between, the bible tells about various temples or modes of God’s presence among the people, such as the Ark of the Covenant, the Tent of Meeting, the Jerusalem Temple, the Body of Christ, The Community of the faithful etc. In this book an attempt is made to go through this long evolution in the view of the places of worship and encountering God’s presence.