Jesus in the Old Testament is a series of posts that will offer my readers a chance to consider pictures or shadows of Jesus in the Old Testament. As mentioned in the introduction to this series, some may be obvious, some may be not so obvious, and some may simply be a facet of the Lord those reading may not have considered previously.
I hope as we venture through this series, we will see the Lord in many wonderful pictures throughout the Old Testament.
| SEEING JESUS IN |
| Cyrus |
| Temple Builder |
| Ezra 6:3 In the first year of Cyrus the king, Cyrus the king issued a decree: Concerning the house of God at Jerusalem, let the house be rebuilt, the place where sacrifices were offered, and let its foundations be retained. Its height shall be sixty cubits and its breadth sixty cubits, |
| John 2:19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” |
Unexpected, to say the least, for a Gentile King to be involved in the development and construction of the temple of the God of Israel. Consider the passage provided, for it appears this Gentile foreign king is directing even the dimensions of the temple!
Unexpected to say the least, but note that Cyrus is actually be restricted from access to the temple, even as he is the principle human force directing the Jews back to the land to build the temple.
I am reminded of the injunctions of a prophet giving restrictions for foreigners entering the second temple. Ezekiel, when describing the temple to be built after the captivity, which Cyrus had been called by God to complete, spoke of the exclusion of foreigners from the temple.
Ezekiel 44:9 ESV – “Thus says the Lord GOD: No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and flesh, of all the foreigners who are among the people of Israel, shall enter my sanctuary.
But Carl, this restriction is for worship, and we know that Cyrus didn’t even know the Lord, little less seek to enter the temple for worhip
Isaiah 45:4 … I call you by your name, I name you, though you do not know me. 5 …I equip you, though you do not know me,
I get it. These might be two completely different topics, one the restriction of foreigners from the temple in relation to worship, and the other being the use of foreigners for the construction of the temple.
There is precedent for foreigners working on the Temple of God. David prepares for the construction of the Temple by requesting (not simply allowing) foreigners to prepare stones for the Temple.
1 Chronicles 22:2 ESV – David commanded to gather together the resident aliens who were in the land of Israel, and he set stonecutters to prepare dressed stones for building the house of God.
Ok, so foreigners were not allowed to worship unless under God provided restrictions as Ezekiel describes – foreigners were to be circumcised in heart and flesh. Yet foreigners were used in the construction of the temple, as David did and as is evident in God using Cyrus for the second temple.
Two topics, but both support the imagery provided by Cyrus in showing us a picture of the True Temple Builder, Jesus Christ. First, let’s consider Jesus as a foreigner to Israel, an unexpected Temple Builder
John 1:11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.
Jesus, viewed as a foreigner by the nation, for they did not accept Him, is also the Temple Builder of the True House of God.
Cyrus, as the Temple Builder provides us a picture of the true Temple Builder being from outside of Jewish expectations.
Now before some may ask about Jesus declaration that Salvation is of the Jews, as Jesus affirmed in John 4, this typology takes nothing away from the fact of Jesus being of the bloodline of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The temple records, now destroyed, gave ample proof that Jesus was “of the blood” to be Monarch over Israel, with the New Testament gospels recording His lineage. He, that is Salvation Himself is of the Jews!
As a short aside, note that no Messiah could claim kingly lineage after 70 AD due to the destruction of the records with the Temple falling! There can be no legitimate claim to Messiahship in our day.
Jesus is our Temple Builder, a foreigner to many in Israel, even to this day. Until each heart has the veil taken away, as discussed by Paul in 1 Corinthians 3, Jesus is considered less than the truth, less than the True Temple Builder, less than the Master of the House of God by all of Israel.
But praise God, Jesus has also chosen foreigners to cut stones for His true temple. No that is not correct, for He has gone one step further, and invited foreigners to join in the construction of His Temple by becoming stones, living stones.
1 Peter 2:5 you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house…
Yes Jesus is the Temple Builder, and so much more!
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