In my last two posts, we looked at the first three chapters of Genesis, where God is depicted as creating a cosmic temple and then placing Adam and Eve in a miniature version of that temple. In the remaining 47 chapters of Genesis, we find Noah and the patriarchs engaged in altar building. These altars should be regarded as transitional structures connecting the earlier Edenic temple with the tabernacle and the Jewish temple that would come later. Ultimately, we find further connections with the New Testament.
When I say that this is a period of transition, that should not lead one to regard either the persons involved or the structures themselves as unimportant. Certainly, Noah's place at the head of a new creation emerging out of the waters of the flood must be regarded as critical, and the patriarchs are featured prominently two millenia later in the pages of the New Testament, with, among other references, Jesus making use of the popular designation of the Lord as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Nonetheless, Noah built an altar at a time and place where it was only him and his family, and the patriarchs lived at a point in time when God's covenant people consisted of an extended nomadic family. In that regard, it is perhaps suggestive of their priorities that they are described on occasion of living in tents while building more permanent sanctuary structures in what was then a pagan land inhabited by Canaanites.
So, what is it about these structures that would lead one to see them as transitional temples between Eden and the tabernacle and temple. Generally, it can be noted that these were places of worship and fellowship with God, which is consistent with activities at those other places. Sometimes, though not always, offerings to God are described as being presented.
More specifically and poignantly, the connection between the Edenic temple and these altars can be seen in that the commission delivered to Adam and Eve to fill the earth at the end of Genesis 1 is reaffirmed in connection with each depiction of altar construction. Thus, Noah's building of an altar at the end of Genesis 8 is connected with the command of God at the start of Genesis 9 repeating the command to Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth, thus expanding the boundaries in which God's people dwell and worship. This is followed by God's covenant with Noah that the world will not again be destroyed by water, with a self-declaratory curse (the bow is pointed heavenward) if that promise is broken.
Of interest, following Noah, the repetition of the commission as delivered to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob takes the form not of a command, but of a promise. Thus, Abraham is not commanded to multiply and fill the earth, but rather he is promised a great host of descendants and that through his seed all of the earth will be blessed, a promise ultimately fulfilled with the coming of Christ. In response, Abraham builds two altars in Genesis 12, and he and his son and grandson each build additional altars when God's covenant promise is reiterated at later points.
In this way, the altars look back to Edenic activity prior to the Fall, as well as forward to the building of the tabernacle and temple, as well as to New Testament depictions of the fulfillment of Old Testament temple typology.
In the next post, we will take a brief side trip to contrast this temple building to an example of sanctuary construction condemned by God. Between the time of Noah and Abraham, there was an attempt to build a temple on the plains of Shinar. It didn't go well.
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