Meeting Face to Face with God

While many world religions worship gods in temples, Israel’s claim was unique. Theirs wasn’t simply a consecrated center for worship; it was a meeting place where the Lord of the creation actually met face-to-face with humans. G. K. Beale points out that much of the language that describes the temple echoes descriptions of life in the garden.

The continuity is no accident: these two places serve the same purpose. The garden was meant to be the hub of worship, a meeting place wherein the goodness of creation was gathered up and offered to God in the perfect lives of Adam and Eve.…