An idea occurred to me this past weekend as I was reading over the galley for my forthcoming book on the legal sections of the Pentateuch. I wanted to share this with fellow biblical scholars to see if it sounded plausible or simply old hat. I could not find this idea discussed in any of the commentaries here, but my personal collection of books plus the college library hardly amounts to a research collection.
The candelabra in the tabernacle is described as a seven branched lamp stand. It has often been connected with the tree of life, a motif that is common in ancient Near Eastern iconography, especially in temples. The biblical text never calls it a tree of life, however. The only two places that the tree of life occurs in the Old Testament is in Proverbs, where wisdom is called the “tree of life,” and of course in the Garden of Eden in Genesis 3.
It occurred to me that there might be a connection between the Garden of Eden and the temple. There are several points of contact between them.
- Both contain the tree of life.
- Both are guarded by cherubim. Cherubim are placed at the Garden of Eden to guard the way to the tree of life (Gen.3:24) while the curtains in the tabernacle have cherubim woven into them (Exod.26:1).
- Both are places where people cannot go. No one may enter the Garden of Eden, while only priests are allowed in the tabernacle.
- The entrance to the Garden of Eden is on the east side (Gen.3:24). The entrance to the tabernacle and temple are on the east as well.
- The garden is the place where God dwelled, or at least came for a walk in the evening (Gen.3:8). God also lives in the temple, enthroned on the ark of the covenant.
If this idea is true, then the tabernacle and later the temple could have been envisioned as a recreation of the Garden of Eden. Humans were driven out of the original garden, but now through God’s grace the Israelites have been granted a limited access to the garden and the tree of life.
On April 18th, 2006 at 10:38 pm
Kevin,
I posted this comment on the old site, but am not sure you saw it before moving to Wordpress (a great move by the way!).
I suggest GK Beale’s book “The Temple and the Church’s Mission: A Biblical Theology of the Temple” in the NSBT series edited by Don Carson (Buy at Amazon.com
On April 18th, 2006 at 10:39 pm
Beale takes the same position as you do above (i.e. the Garden and the temple are connected).
Another connection is between the duties of the priests and that of Adam in the Garden! In Genesis 2:15, man is to cultivate/till (עבד) and serve (ש×מר), and the Levites are commanded to perform duties (ש×מר מש×מר) and to do serve (עבד עברת) in the tabernacle in Numbers 3:7! (If any readers do not know Hebrew, Kevin would point out that the verbs have the same root.)
It should not be a surprise that there are such connections because the tabernacle was modeled after the heavenly pattern (remember Exodus 25:40 “See that you make them after the pattern for them, which was shown to you on the mountain”). Is it not valid that the Garden planted by God also might have similar characteristics?
The new blog looks great!