Behold the Glory: Christ, the Temple of God
Daniel M. Garland Jr.
Institute of Catholic Culture
12/13/16
Significance of 7 in the Creation Account of Genesis 1:1-2:3.
a. After the introductory verse of Genesis 1:1, there are seven paragraphs
pertaining to each of the seven days.
b. The expression it was good occurs seven times.
c. The first sentence has seven words in the Hebrew.1
d. The second sentence has fourteen words: twice seven.2
e. In the seventh paragraph (Gen 2:2-3), there are three sentences consisting of
seven words each, with the seventh day in the middle of each.
Parallel Between Creation and the Building of the Tabernacle
Genesis 1-2
Exodus 39-40
And God saw all that he had
made and behold it was very
Good. (1:31)
Moses saw all of the skilled work
and behold they had done it; as
God had commanded it they had
done it (39:43).
The heavens and earth and all
of their array were completed.
(2:1)
All the work of the Tabernacle of
the Tent meeting was completed.
(39:32)
And God completed all the
work that He had done. (2:2)
And Moses completed the work.
(40:33)
And God blessed… (2:3)
And Moses blessed… (39:43)
And sanctified it. (2:3)
And you shall sanctify it and all
its vessels. (40:9)
The Temple Building and Dedication under Solomon
-Took 7 years to complete (1 Kgs 6:35)
-Dedicated on the festival of Sukkot, a feast lasting 7 days, and takes place on the
7th month of the year (1 Kgs 8:2).
-Solomon’s dedication is composed of seven petitions (1 Kgs 8:12-53).
1
2
‫יִ֑ץשה א ְרו ץמ יָֽ מ ָּׁ שַ ה תֵ֥ א ְרו ץָֽ ָֽר ָאה‬
‫ראשו אָֽ ָֽ ָּאר ר ַ ֹל‬
ָּׁ ַ ‫אֵ֥ אא‬
‫ֱֹלהים ְמ ַר ֶ ֹ֖ח ֶפת עַל־פְ נָ֥י הַ ָ ָּֽמיִ ם‬
ִֹ֔ ‫וְ הָ ָ֗ ָא ֶרץ הָ יְ ָ ָ֥תה ֹ֙תהוּ֙ ו ָֹ֔בהו וְ ֹ֖חשֶ ְך עַל־פְ נֵ֣י ְת ֑הֹום וְ ֵ֣רוחַ א‬
“The world which the Temple incarnates in a tangible way is not the world of history but
the world of creation, the world not as it is but as it was meant to be and as it was on the
first Sabbath.”
-Jon D. Levenson, “The Temple and the World,” Journal of Religion 64.3 (1984):275298, here 297.
Parallel Between Genesis 1:1-2:1 and the Gospel of John
Genesis
John
En archē…ho theos (1:1)
In the beginning…God
En archē…ho logos (1:1)
In the beginning…the Word
God finishes his work (synetelesen)
and rests on the Sabbath (2:1) .
Jesus finishes his work (tetelestai) and rests
on the Sabbath (19:30-31).
Select Bibliography
Anderson, Gary A. “To See Where God Dwells: The Tabernacle, the Temple, and the
Origins of the Christian Mystical Tradition,” Letter & Spirit 4 (2008): 13-45.
Bauerschmidt, Frederick C. “‘That the Faithful Become the Temple of God’: The Church
Militant in Aquinas’s Commentary on John,” in eds. Michael Dauphinais and
Matthew Levering, Reading John With St. Thomas Aquinas: Theological Exegesis
and Speculative Theology. Washington, D.C.: CUA Press, 2005, 293-311.
Beale, G.K. The Temple and the Church’s Mission: A Biblical Theology of the Dwelling
Place of God. NSBT 17. Downer’s Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2004.
Bede (Venerable), On the Temple.
Congar, Yves. The Mystery of the Temple. Newman Press, 1962.
Hahn, Scott W. “Temple, Sign, and Sacrament: Towards a New Perspective on the
Gospel of John,” Letter & Spirit 4 (2008): 107-143.
Um, Stephen T. The Theme of Temple Christology in John’s Gospel. Library of New
Testament Studies 32. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic, 2006.
Wenham, Gordon J. “Sanctuary Symbolism in the Garden of Eden Story,” in eds. R.S.
Hess and D.T. Tsumura. I Studied Inscriptions From Before the Flood: Ancient
Near Eastern Literary and Linguistic Approaches to Genesis 1-11. Sources for
Biblical and Theological Study 4. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 1994.