The New Covenant Temple and Priesthood
The previous semesters have followed several major biblical themes into the New Covenant: God’s people, His promises, His Law, and the way each finds its fulfillment in Jesus Christ. This semester brings several of those themes together by asking two closely related questions: Where does God now dwell among His people, and who are His priests?
Throughout the Old Testament, the Tabernacle and later the Temple stood at the center of Israel’s worship. God dwelt among His covenant people, priests served before Him, sacrifices were offered, and access to His presence was carefully restricted. But all of these things pointed beyond themselves. When Jesus came, the shadows began giving way to the greater reality they had anticipated.
Jesus spoke of His own body as the Temple and said, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (John 2:19). After His resurrection, the New Testament repeatedly applies Temple language to those who are united to Him. Paul tells believers, “you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you” (1 Corinthians 3:16), while Peter describes Christians as “living stones” being built into “a spiritual house, a holy priesthood” (1 Peter 2:5). Paul likewise describes the people of God as a building joined together in Christ, “growing into a holy temple in the Lord” and becoming “a dwelling place of God in the Spirit” (Ephesians 2:21–22).
This dramatically changes the way we approach biblical promises concerning the Temple. The question is no longer simply whether another sanctuary will someday stand in Jerusalem. We must first ask what the New Testament tells us God has already built through the death, resurrection, and reign of Jesus Christ.
That question becomes especially important when we reach Ezekiel’s remarkable vision of the Temple in chapters 40–48. The vision contains priests, sacrifices, circumcision, land, water flowing from the sanctuary, and many other details. Some Christians therefore expect those Old Covenant institutions to return in a future millennial Temple. But Hebrews tells us that Christ offered Himself “once for all,” that the former priesthood and sacrificial system were shadows pointing toward Him, and that “there is no longer an offering for sin” where forgiveness has been accomplished (Hebrews 10:10, 18). The challenge is therefore to understand Ezekiel in a way that honors both the Old Testament vision and the greater revelation given to us in Christ. The studies in this semester will examine that question carefully.
The Temple question also leads directly to the question of priesthood. Jesus is our great High Priest, not according to the order of Levi, but according to the order of Melchizedek. Because believers belong to Him, the New Testament does something extraordinary: it calls the entire people of God “a royal priesthood” (1 Peter 2:9). We have direct access to God through Christ, offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable through Him, proclaim His excellencies, pray for others, and carry His message of reconciliation into the world. The priesthood of all believers is therefore not merely a Reformation slogan. It is part of our New Covenant identity and calling.
The goal of this semester is not simply to prove that another physical Temple is unnecessary. It is to help us appreciate what Jesus has already built and who He has already made us to be. The Temple has become greater, not lesser. The Priesthood has become greater, not lesser. The sacrifices have found their fulfillment in the once-for-all sacrifice of Christ, and God now dwells in His people by His Spirit.
Understanding these truths also prepares us for the final two semesters. When Daniel and Revelation speak in the language of Temple, priesthood, sacrifice, sanctuary, and holy people, we should not automatically step backward into the shadows without first asking how the New Testament has already interpreted those realities through Jesus Christ.
Before looking for another Temple, we should first recognize the one Christ is already building. Before looking for another priesthood, we should understand the royal priesthood He has already created.
Week 1- Has the final Temple already been built?
Week 2– How are we to understand Ezekiel’s vision of the Temple? (part 1)
Week 3– How are we to understand Ezekiel’s vision of the Temple? (part 2)
Week 4- The ultimate conclusion of how we’re to understand Ezekiel’s vision of the Temple
Week 5- Are there Priests in the New Covenant Temple?
Week 6- A review of the foundation of our Priesthood
Week 7- Do We Fully Appreciate the Significance of “The Priesthood of All Believers?”
