Empty Temples

They brought up the ark, the tent of meeting, and the holy utensils that were in the tent. The priests and the Levites brought them up. - 2 Chronicles 5:5

Have you ever wondered what happened to the tent of meeting after the Temple in Jerusalem was completed? Beyond the text above, according to the biblical record, the physical tent is never mentioned again. Not one word.

Why?

Once the Temple was built, the Israelites no longer needed a tent. They had "upgraded." You might even say that there had been an improvement over the previous, outdated model. I am sure that many even thought the new Temple complex would usher in a revival of spiritual fervor and faithfulness. It certainly represented permanence, power, and prosperity for Israel and her God. For a while, anyway. Unfortunately, the "new and shiny" eventually lost its lustre and the Israelites lost the significance of the necessary presence of God.

To borrow an illustration from Christ in the New Testament, new wine definitely needs new wineskins, but an empty wineskin (old or new) is good for nothing! While God may be at work in the midst of your ministry, new structures, vessels, and temples are worthless unless they also contain new wine. If the "structure" is not preceded by a genuine movement of God, it will simply stand forever as a testimony of what might have been.

We don't need any more empty temples.

All change is not growth, as all movement is not forward. - Ellen Glasgow