The Temple Pattern

Shabbat Shalom, beloved.

I intended to be brief today. We are in a period of time called Bayn ha-Metzarim — Between the Straits. Three weeks between the fast of the fourth month and the fast of the fifth month. It marks a dark stretch in history: death, destruction, exile, persecution. Spiritually and emotionally it is a draining time, and I certainly feel that.

During these weeks, even Torah study can feel heavier. The joy is still there, but it comes through grief. That is why Shabbat feels so precious in Bayn ha-Metzarim. It is a taste of comfort while we are still sitting among the ruins.

I'll be honest. I didn't know if I had anything to share today. I had notes prepared to speak about the Phineas Torah portion. But as I looked over them this past week they fell flat. I do hope you spent time studying it on your own. There are profound lessons there — chiefly that one moment, one action, one desire can change reality entirely. Phineas did one act. One violent, bloody moment changed everything. He and his descendants were given an eternal priesthood and a covenant of peace. Guard each moment. You never know which one will change your life.

As I spent time with the Father last night, praying and trying to discern what was in His heart to share, He led me to someone else whose desire also changed the Torah.

Between the Straits

These three weeks carry the weight of what was lost. The fasts mark what happened — but they also remind us that these things are remembered. They are not forgotten.

Soon after the Temple was destroyed, the house of Judah began fasting, mourning, and repenting. They established these remembrances so we would never forget. I am so thankful for the men of Judah who set an example for all of us:

Ezra. Nehemiah. Haggai. Malachi. Zerubbabel. Joshua the High Priest. Daniel. And many others. Without them we would all be completely lost.

David's Desire

And it came to pass, when the king sat in his house, and the L-rd had given him rest round about from all his enemies, that the king said unto Nathan the prophet, See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of G-d dwells within curtains.

2 Samuel 7:1–2

This is David's desire. G-d says: not you. But then:

When thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever. I will be his father, and he shall be my son… My mercy shall not depart away from him… And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever.

2 Samuel 7:12–16

At the dedication of the first Temple, Solomon says:

It was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of the L-rd G-d of Israel. And the L-rd said unto David my father, Whereas it was in thine heart to build a house unto my name, thou didst well that it was in thine heart. Nevertheless thou shalt not build the house; but thy son that shall come forth out of thy loins, he shall build the house unto my name. And the L-rd hath performed his word that he spake.

1 Kings 8:17–20

It was in David's heart. G-d saw it. G-d honored it. And then G-d gave David something remarkable.

The Pattern

Exodus 25:8 — the actual command:

And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them. According to all that I shew thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it.

Exodus 25:8–9

G-d commands a sanctuary and gives a pattern for a tent. Now turn to 1 Chronicles 28:

Take heed now; for the L-rd hath chosen thee to build a house for the sanctuary: be strong, and do it. Then David gave to Solomon his son the pattern of the porch, and of the houses thereof, and of the treasuries thereof, and of the upper chambers thereof, and of the inner parlours thereof, and of the place of the mercy seat, and the pattern of all that he had by the spirit, of the courts of the house of the L-rd…

1 Chronicles 28:10–12

And verse 19, in a literal translation: "All in writing, from the hand of Adonai upon me — He gave understanding for all the works of the pattern."

If David was already extraordinary, this makes him legendary. G-d commands a sanctuary and gives a pattern for a tent. David's heart is to upgrade G-d's sanctuary. Because of that, G-d gives him a pattern — and commands Solomon to build it. The heart of one man expanded the dwelling place of G-d.

Through the people's shortcomings, that Temple is destroyed. The people are exiled. At that point G-d could have said: enough. Let's go back to a tent. But He doesn't. Instead, through Haggai:

Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your paneled houses, and this house lie waste? Now therefore thus saith the L-rd of hosts: Consider your ways… Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the L-rd.

Haggai 1:4–8

That is the command to build the second Temple. And now Ezekiel 43 — the third:

And, behold, the glory of the G-d of Israel came from the way of the east: and his voice was like a noise of many waters: and the earth shined with his glory… And the glory of the L-rd came into the house by the way of the gate whose prospect is toward the east. So the spirit took me up, and brought me into the inner court; and, behold, the glory of the L-rd filled the house.

Ezekiel 43:2–5

Son of man, the place of my throne, and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel for ever… Now let them put away their whoredom, and the carcases of their kings, far from me, and I will dwell in the midst of them for ever. Shew the house to the house of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities: and let them measure the pattern.

Ezekiel 43:7–10

Is the House of Israel Ashamed Yet?

I do not ask that as an accusation from a distance. I ask it as one standing inside the wound. I am ashamed. I am ashamed that the house still lies broken. I am ashamed that so many of us speak of restoration while resisting the very place G-d chose for His name. I am ashamed that Judah has mourned, fasted, preserved, prayed, and carried the memory of the House — while so many of Ephraim's children still stand with their backs turned toward Jerusalem.

Those who have grafted themselves to Israel. Those who think they might be Israel. No matter what path you choose to the G-d of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, it comes through Israel. Even those trying to stay at arm's length — strangers outside the camp.

It is time to stand up and be accountable. To repent and return.

It is time for the house of Israel to pray the Daniel prayer. We have the pattern. All that is missing is Israel.

Don't live in guilt and shame. Repent. Fix what you can. Walk forward humbly with G-d.

I'll tell you: I am ashamed. The house of Judah is ashamed. Even during the Babylonian exile the house of Judah was ashamed. Soon after the Temple was destroyed they began fasting and mourning and repenting. And because of that, they came back.

2,800 years ago the northern kingdom — the house of Israel — turned their back on the Temple while G-d's glory still dwelled there. Jeroboam set up two golden calves: "You have gone up to Jerusalem long enough. Behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt." The prophet Hosea speaks to this. G-d's response is Lo-ammi — you are not my people, and I will not be your G-d.

But G-d makes a promise. One day Israel will repent, and G-d says: "I will say to them which were not my people: You are my people. And they will say: You are my Elohim."

Sadly, to this day many from the house of Israel still have their backs turned against the house of G-d — and would curse their brothers from Judah who are working to restore the sanctuary so that G-d's presence will dwell among us again as promised.

The idea of a spiritual temple from heaven, with no physical house, is to have a temple on one's own terms. But G-d says: return, and I will return. Circumcise your heart, and I will circumcise your heart. If we do our part, He is faithful to do His.

I am not asking you to understand everything today. I am not asking you to solve every question about the Temple, the priesthood, or the timing of restoration. But I am asking this: do not come against Jerusalem with the nations. Do not curse Judah for longing to see the House restored. Do not mock the promise G-d Himself gave. Stand close enough to mourn. Stand close enough to repent. Stand close enough to hope.

Zechariah 8 — What Is Coming

It is Shabbat. So let us end on the promise.

Thus saith the L-rd of hosts: I am zealous over Zion with great jealousy, and I was jealous for her with great fury. Thus saith the L-rd: I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth; and the mountain of the L-rd of hosts the holy mountain. There shall yet old men and old women dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, and every man with his staff in his hand because of age. And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof… Behold, I will save my people from the east country, and from the west country; and I will bring them, and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and they shall be my people, and I will be their G-d, in truth and in righteousness.

Zechariah 8:2–8

Let your hands be strong, ye that hear in these days these words by the mouth of the prophets… For the seed shall be prosperous; the vine shall give her fruit, and the ground shall give her increase, and the heavens shall give their dew; and I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these things. And it shall come to pass, that as ye were a curse among the heathen, O house of Judah, and house of Israel; so will I save you, and ye shall be a blessing: fear not, but let your hands be strong.

Zechariah 8:9–13

These are the things that ye shall do: Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour; execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates; and let none of you imagine evil in your hearts against his neighbour… The fast of the fourth month, and the fast of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth, shall be to the house of Judah joy and gladness, and cheerful feasts; therefore love the truth and peace.

Zechariah 8:16–19

The fasts will become feasts. The mourning will become joy. That is the promise.

So I invite you: join us in this mourning. Join us in feeling the loss. Join us in being ashamed. Join us in repentance. Join us in the fast of the fifth month, the ninth of Av.

Not because grief is the destination. But because whoever mourns for Jerusalem will merit to see its joy.

Whoever mourns for Jerusalem will merit to see its joy.