Tabernacle

Review: That I May Dwell Among Them

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Cover image of "That I May Dwell Among Them" by Gary A. Anderson

That I May Dwell Among Them, Gary A. Anderson. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. (ISBN: 9780802883063), 2023.

Summary: A study of the tabernacle and sacrifice connections drawing out the idea of the incarnational presence of God in the physical structure of the tabernacle and the significance of the daily sacrifices for our understanding of atonement.

The passages detailing the construction of the tabernacle and the institution of sacrifices for many of us are a “flyover zone” in our reading. After all, the tabernacle instructions are repeated twice in almost identical detail. Yet Gary A. Anderson proposes that these passages are rich with detail for the development of the Old Testament theology of both incarnation and atonement that will become important in our understanding of the person and work of Christ.

Regarding the tabernacle explores how in the construction, layout, and furnishings of the tabernacle, God indeed dwells among Israel in physical form. The tabernacle in some sense participates in the deity of God. Anderson shows evidence for this in the language used to describe the proper handling of the physical articles that furnish this “house.” While Anderson would certainly not confine God to this structure, he would suggest that in it God is in some way “embodied” in the midst of his people.

He then explores the sacrifice instructions arguing that the central sacrifice is not that of atonement but rather the daily offerings each morning and evening that began on the eighth day of the inauguration the tabernacle and the Aaronic priesthood. In his discussions he explores the intricacies of the procedures, the problem of the “strange fire” of Nadab and Abihu, the golden calf, and the connections in language between the tamid instructions and the Aqedah of Genesis 22. Ultimately, Anderson argues that what is central in sacrifice is the self-giving of Israel rather than the substitution of the death of an animal for sins.

While there was much in Anderson’s study of the tabernacle and in the connections he draws to Abraham, his de-centering of atonement in favor of tamid seems to me driven by his idea that penal substitution must be cruel and we can’t have that. Certainly it is true that there is a self-giving, indeed self emptying aspect to the work of Christ. Might this suggest ways that all the sacrifices from tamid to atonement point to him? But why does Jesus self-empty but to die for sin, acting both in love for the father and humanity through the instrument of the genuinely cruel human actions of whipping and crucifixion that brought about his death? Penal substitution actually makes sense of the cruel death Jesus died, that he could have evaded. Anything else to me appears masochistic on the part of Jesus and truly cruel of God.

What Anderson does offer is an invitation to closely study these “flyover” passages, pointing to their central importance in the life of Israel and in the theology of the church. In particular, he shows how there is no divorce of matter and spirit, no distant deity of the deists in scripture. He insists that we ask what the meaning of Israel’s sacrifices are and that their relevance hasn’t ceased even though they have.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.

Review: The Temple and the Tabernacle

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temple-and-tabernacle

The Temple and the Tabernacle, J. Daniel Hays. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2016.

Summary: An exploration of God’s dwelling places as described throughout the Bible from Eden to tabernacle, to the first and second temples, the question of Ezekiel’s temple, and the temple in John’s Revelation.

For many of us, reading the details of the layout and construction of the tabernacle, or the descriptions of the building of Solomon’s temple was “fly over” country. In addition, it all seems from another time, foreign to our own experiences of worship. This book was a refreshing beam of light on material I’ve neglected, that in fact is quite important to the story of not only Jewish, but Christian faith. It brought alive the significance of ‘tabernacle’ and ‘temple’ as dwelling places where God encounters and relates to his people and also the physical construction, and layout of the successive structures in Israel’s history where they hoped to encounter the living God. Not only that, the clear verbal description is accompanied by lavish illustrations printed on high quality paper, making this book a delight to handle, to look at, and to read.

Hays begins with an overview, looking at the Hebrew and Greek words used for tabernacle and temple, and noting how these all have in common the idea of a dwelling place, whether a movable tent or a royal palace. He surveys the successive places that served this role in scripture beginning with the garden temple of Genesis, following John Walton and others, noting the themes of the tree of life, a river flowing from the garden and gold and precious stones, that will turn up in later accounts. He then turns to the ark and tabernacle of the exodus, considering each object and its significance, and the overall layout of the tabernacle, emphasizing as it does the holiness of God.

Hays brings out as well as any I’ve read the ambivalence of the accounts of the temple of Solomon. He contrasts this with the tabernacle construction, noting that the tabernacle, in all its detail was built according to God’s command. Neither the temple itself, nor its construction details were commanded. Instead of voluntary and enthusiastic work by Jewish craftsmen, foreigners and conscript labor build Solomon’s temple. And while God initially shows favor upon Solomon, as Solomon disobeys God in multiplying wives, chariots, and gods, God turns from him. A sorry story indeed, for it ends in the sacking and destruction of this temple and the loss of the ark.

He then considers the post-exilic temple, and particularly Herod’s reconstruction of that temple. Great attention is focused on the latter, and Hays helped us see not only that this was indeed an incredible sight for the disciples of Jesus, but also for anyone in the Roman empire, as the greatest of the four temples Herod built, and one of the greatest construction feats of the Roman empire. He includes diagrams showing the locations where various incidents in the gospels and Acts occur. Yet in 70 AD, this structure was razed, with only portions of the foundations, notably the Western (Wailing) Wall remaining.

Yet the truth was that God never visibly showed his presence in this temple. God’s dwelling among his people was fulfilled in Christ, whose death opens the way to relationship with the Holy God, symbolized in the rent curtain in the temple. In the heavenly city of Revelation 22, there is no temple, for God and the Lamb are the temple. And the truth is the church, the people of God are a temple, a dwelling place for the Spirit of God upon earth. Thus, Hays does not think in terms of a literal fulfillment of Ezekiel’s temple, but rather sees this fulfilled in the New Jerusalem.

I thought this book was a great example of biblical theology written in service of the people of God. It is rooted in careful scholarship, yet in writing and illustration helps any thoughtful lay person grasp the wonderful truth of how it can be that a holy God dwells with his people, and how Christ fulfills what the tabernacle foreshadowed nearly a millenium and a half earlier. The careful reader will be rewarded with an enriched understanding of one of the great themes that literally runs from Genesis 1 to Revelation 22, and taking it to heart will find themselves worshiping the Holy God, who incredibly has chosen to dwell with such as us!

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.