Still Significant

“But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.” (Re 11:2 AV)

This passage has always given me a pause.  My thoughts go back to the book of Hebrews that clearly teach the religious things of the Old Testament are done away in Christ.  My thoughts go back to our LORD’s comments as He approached the city of Jerusalem and reflected on the holy mount.  He told His disciples that a simple prayer of faith would cast it into the sea.  So, I was always puzzled why, given the history of the failure of temple worship, the LORD would care about it in the future.  Temple worship has become obsolete by the offering of Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary once and for all.  Continuing that same thought, why will it be such an abomination of desolation when the AntiChrist sits upon the mercy seat, declaring himself to be God?  People declare themselves to be gods all the time.  Sitting on the mercy sit while doing so seems to be the pinnacle of insult towards the God whom gave that Ark of the Covenant.  But the Ark has been replaced by the written word of God and Jesus Christ’s substitutionary offing on His cross.  So why is the temple and the Ark seen as something that demands respect, even though they are both obsolete?

 Just because something, or someone, has lost a major sense of purpose does not mean it has lost its significance.  Monuments or memorials come to mind.  Things of the past that can guide us to the future should be respected and protected.  They should be honored.  Our church had a significant clean up day about a month back.  The space behind the pulpit area and under the baptismal was cluttered.  It was full of decades of materials and things once used for ministry.  These things were not junk.  They still had value.  It wasn’t like spoiled food that could not be reused for another cause.  They had some value even if they were recycled for another use.  However, there was one item that had no other use but that for which it was once used.  It was a fund-raising plaque hand made for the time our church bought their first and only building.  On the top it might have said something like “Southside Baptist Building Fund”.  Underneath were brass plates with $1000 stamped on them.  There is nothing we can do with this plaque.  It cannot be re-purposed.  However, it has great significance.  It is a reminder of what God did in the past and can still do in the future.  The first inclination was to throw it in the dumpster.  Hardly anyone was left who remembered that long ago.  This doesn’t matter.  It is a part of who and what we are.

 So, we will dust it off.  We will hang it on a wall with other parts of our past.  In a generation which is too quick to throw away anything not deemed as immediately purposeful, we are losing a big chunk of who and what we were and are.  Older generations are seen as disposable.  We replace our cell phones every two years because someone has convinced us ours no longer serves a purpose.  A quick trip to some of our nation’s historical sites or markers only helps to reinforce this sad reality.  I am reminded of a such a special place at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers.  What was known as Camp Defiance and then Fort Defiance would be the launching spot of Lewis & Clark’s westward trek as they surveyed our country.  A significant place of American history lays abandoned, overgrown, and vandalized.  In our rush to modernize or improve, we lay to waste things that may not have a purpose, but they still have significance.  They still do matter.