Ordained by God

https://www.seetheholyland.net/tag/solomon/

In Jerusalem: One City, Three Faiths, Armstrong writes about the Temple built by Solomon in the chapter titled “City of David.” The very first sentence of the passage goes, “The temple built by Solomon on Mount Zion gave pilgrims and worshippers an experience of God,” which I found very interesting (Armstrong 52). The wording used by Armstrong gives a specific connotation to the reader, specifically the word “experience”. The way experience was used in this sentence shows the reader that the temple not only was a religious symbol but also gave people a way to interact with God. Like we discussed in class, the temple didn’t represent the peoples’ faith at this point, but an actual way to be with God and spend time with him.

Later in the passage, Armstrong writes, “Instead of being cast adrift in the world, like the builders of Babel, many of [the pilgrims] felt that they had come home when they entered Yahweh’s Temple,” (Armstrong 52). This quote adds to the point stated in the first paragraph. The pilgrims who came to the temple found an anchor they could use to keep themselves attached to God and the land. They actually are able to connect and experience God in this Temple because it wasn’t made out of vain and humanness. This is due to God establishing this temple through Solomon.

The reference to “builders of Babel” depicts the holiness of the Temple built by Solomon. Earlier in the chapter, Armstrong writes “this attempt to scale the heavens in an act of pride and self-aggrandizement: the man concerned want to ‘build a name a name for themselves’,” showing that the Tower of Babel was not erected by God himself (Armstrong 52). God must ordain a space as a place of worship for him, people can’t just build a place of worship. God must choose the spot, it can’t be chosen for him. The people building the Tower of Babel are not able to feel the anchor of the Tower on Mount Zion because of their actions. They are adrift in the world in need of worship.

These two passages, to me, perfectly represent the concept that God must decide where worship places will be built. A man can not build without the guidance of God, or else there will be consequences, as seen by the people building the Tower of Babel.