Abandoned Temple

Ancient Near Eastern texts often refer to a god abandoning his house, the temple, sometimes in outrage over the evils of the people, sometimes because the people’s time has come to an end. Whenever the god leaves, the house and the city where it’s housed is left unprotected. Enemies come in to plunder and destroy. In some cases, individuals are also abandoned, with similarly disastrous results.

As Jeffrey Niehaus notes (Ancient Near Eastern Themes in Biblical Theology125-35), the Bible tells the same story. Ezekiel sees the glory abandon Solomon’s temple, the “den of robbers” ironically left for enemies to rob. Niehaus rightly sees this in Matthew 23-24, as Jesus announces “your house is left to you desolate” just before he walks out. Incarnate glory forsakes the temple. 

One of the important differences has to do with the disposal of images. When the Philistines capture the ark, they add it to Dagon’s temple. When David captures idols, he burns them, as Joshua had done before him. There is no spoliation of idols, only destruction.

The Bible also tells stories of individuals being abandoned by the Glory-Spirit. Saul became a new man when the Spirit came on him, but because of his sin “God’s Spirit abandoned Saul” just as “God’s Glory Spirit later abandoned his temple and holy city” (132).

When the Spirit leaves the temple, though, He finds a new and better temple. He leaves Saul but finds David. He leaves Jerusalem to stay with the exiles. Finally, He abandons Herod’s temple so that He can fall in Pentecostal fire on the church.

Niehaus sees all this culminating Christologically: “The consummate example . . . of temple abandonment is Jesus Christ himself, whose body/temple was forsaken and then destroyed as a divine punishment for sin but restored ultimately to an eternal glory when that punishment had been accomplished” (134).

This biblical trajectory “naturally” raises the question of whether the Spirit abandons polluted temples and unrepentant individuals today. Many flinch at this point. To his credit, Niehaus does not flinch. Citing Hebrews 6, he argues that the passage describes apostates who are abandoned by the Spirit and are “unable to be renewed.” He rejects the common notion that the apostates in Hebrews 6 only “taste” the Spirit and therefore never fully experienced the Spirit’s work. He points to Hebrew 2:9, where Jesus is said to taste death. The apostates of Hebrews 6 tastes the Spirit as fully as Jesus tasted death – they enjoyed “a full experience of the Holy Spirit” and were later abandoned (135, fn. 36).

A controversial conclusion, that. But an incontrovertible one.