The hope of heaven … on earth

Biblical Theology Bulletin, Fall, 1999 by Walter Brueggemann

Finally I want to comment on 1 Kings 8, a sustained reflection on temple theology. This is the great liturgy of Solomon's temple dedication. In vv 2-13, there is a simple, one-dimensional statement of YHWH's presence in the temple, a rather unreflective statement. Then in v 27, there is a reflective acknowledgment that the temple cannot contain the holiness of God. Finally, in vv 28-30, there is a subtle recognition that YHWH is in heaven and not in the temple, but YHWH's name dwells there, and YHWH's eyes are incessantly attentive to the temple. These theologians are worried, in good Protestant fashion, about reducing God to a liturgical automaton, and so they introduce a mediating strategy.

What interests us, however, is that the temple is said to be, not a place of presence, but a place of forgiveness granted by the God who dwell, not in the temple, but in heaven:

   Hear the plea of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray
   toward this place; O hear in heaven your dwelling place; heed and forgive
   [1 Kgs 8:30; see vv 32, 33-34, 39].

Thus the tradition moves away from the more concrete notions of presence to the liturgical, juridical task of forgiveness. In a certain way, that is lesser. But because our theme is hope, we need to consider the cruciality of temple forgiveness for hope. By temple forgiveness I mean liturgically accomplished pardon, relief from the past, an unburdening. This text suggests that the forgiveness of the past is precisely what makes entry into the future possible. That strange moment of reconciliation cannot be accomplished amorphously but belongs to the offer of concrete, disciplined, stylized immediacy. It is the unburdened who may travel light into God's future. The temple apparatus, so these texts attest, is the occasion for such "lightness of being."

The Great Lived Fissure of the First Testament

Finally concerning the resources that Israel brings to the practice of hope, I want to comment on the great lived fissure of the First Testament. I refer to the destruction of Jerusalem, the loss of centered presence and the deportation of leading members of the community into the hostile environment of the Babylonian Empire (see Klein; Smith). It is impossible to overstate the psychological, emotional, theological emergency of the exile for the community. With the loss of city, king, temple, and ark, Israel was now bereft of any visible support for faith. The problem was political with the loss of a state identity and the leverage that comes with a state. More than that, the loss was theological, for the loss meant YHWH's abandonment of this people and the nullification of all old promises of presence. The first question asked, our question, was, "How did this happen?" But the second, more urgent question is, "Is there now any future? Is there any serious, reliable ground for hope?"

There was every reason to give up, Israel could say with the grieving poet of Lamentations:

   Gone is my glory,
   and all that I had hoped for from the Lord [Lam 3:18].