Temple and the Church's Mission: A biblical theology of the dwelling place of God, The

Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, Mar 2006 by McDaniel, Chip

The Temple and the Church's Mission: A biblical theology of the dwelling place of God. By G. K. Beale. New Studies in Biblical Theology 17. Leicester/Downers Grove: Apollos/ Intervarsity, 2004, 458 pp., $29.00 paper.

With his characteristic exegetical and bibliographical thoroughness, G. K. Beale traces a theology of the temple through Scripture, buttressing his observations with evidence from ANE texts and temple structures, Jewish writers, and the Church Fathers. The author's command of the subject is evidenced by his 55 pages of indexes for bibliographical, scriptural, and non-biblical texts.

Beale's most enduring point is that Christ himself (whose physical body is the temple and who is the cornerstone of the Church) and the NT Church begin the fulfillment of the OT prophecies concerning a future temple, a fulfillment that will continue throughout eternity as God dwells with his people. Beale sets this story of the anticipated and fulfilled temple within the larger framework of the presence of God theme begun at creation. For Beale the description of Eden and its environs, the creation and work of man, the blessing/commission of the patriarchs and Israel, the theophany at Sinai, and the structure of temples in the ANE and Israel all point to a theology of the expansion of the worship/praise of God throughout creation, a theology that employs temple terminology. Beale's argument is based on shared vocabulary and parallelisms between these accounts. For example, Eden, Sinai, and the tabernacle and temple all exhibit a tri-partite structure and manifest God's presence. The entrance to Eden and the entrance to Israel's worship sites are oriented eastward. Adam, Noah, and Abraham perform quasi-priestly functions. The tabernacle and temple are decorated with gardenlike iconography.

The OT relates the failure of man to extend the witness of God worldwide, thus establishing the need for a structure not made by human hands-Christ and then the Church as the spiritual dwelling place of God, witnessing to all the world of God's glory. The Church anticipates the new heaven and earth in which the entire cosmos will be God's dwelling.

Beale's strongest arguments are based on his extensive and detailed observations of the use of OT quotations and allusions in the NT. This is Beale at his best. He traces every use of the NT temple theme, showing not only that Christ and the Church are so described, but that the descriptions grow out of the temple and related kingdom promises of the OT (cf. Beale's extensive treatment of Isaiah 66, Ezekiel 40-48, and Daniel 2). Those who anticipate a renewed physical presence of a Jewish temple must interact with these intertextual arguments. It will not be enough to say that the OT is obviously looking to a physical, Jerusalem-based temple. One must explain why the NT seems so often to state or suggest that these OT restoration and temple passages are being fulfilled in the person of Christ and in the Church.

As with any thematic treatment that is both comprehensive and sequential, some parts are more demonstrable than others. Beale will not convince at every point, particularly in the earlier chapters. For example, is Adam styled as a priest in a templelike garden to the degree Beale suggests (pp. 66-70)? Did Noah receive the same commission as Adam when the call to subdue is not overtly repeated in a passage so intentionally parallel (p. 104)? Do the priest's garments serve as a representation of a tri-partite cosmic structure (pp. 39-40)? Is there really no furniture in heaven (p. 283)? But Beale is usually cautious when there is little direct lexical evidence to distinguish the less certain interpretations.

Exegetes will appreciate Beale's careful work as a paradigm for thematic study and as a prod to creative thinking. But his is a book for the theological student as well, aided by Beale's frequent summaries and clear, logical transitions. I have used this book in an OT themes course and it evokes (at times provokes) excellent discussions about the value of using ANE material in OT interpretation, the relationship between the testaments, the nature of parallelism and typology, the NT's use of OT quotations, and the hermeneutics of biblical study. Regarding this last point, Beale unfortunately scatters helpful observations (pp. 288-91,295-98,376-85); one might wish for an extended, systematic treatment. A subject index also might have made this and other topics easier to find. Beale probes the issue of whether a non-literal (i.e. non-structural) fulfillment of the OT temple promises can be regarded as an actual realization of the OT wording. This entire book is his answer in the affirmative.

Not content merely to describe the development of a theme, Beale shows how the Church's continued temple task is to spread the glory of God through worldwide missions and to enjoy the presence of God in our service to him. Such observations are sometimes lacking in our academic pursuits.

Most of us recall from our childhood days numbered dot puzzles on which we drew lines between dots until a picture emerged. Beale's book is like that. He methodically sets forth points until a comprehensive theology of God's expanding presence among his people emerges. A reader might dispute the placement or presence of a particular fact, but without question Beale's final picture connects a lot of dots. As a biblical-theological study it is a must read if not a must have.