Do we see members of al Qaeda or Hamas as potential temples of the Holy Spirit?

Posted Dec 12, 10:09

I said, ‘I have been banished from your sight; yet I will look again toward your holy temple’” (Jonah 2:4).

“When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, Lord, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple” (Jonah 2:7).

Twice Jonah refers to the temple. I wonder if Jonah had ever seen it. Given that he lived in northern Israel, and that the temple resided to the south in Jerusalem, and that Israel and Judah were enemies, it’s possible that Jonah had never been to the temple. However, tradition insisted that when he prayed he face Jerusalem. That probably began with Solomon when during the dedication of the temple he prayed, “Hear the supplication of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray toward this place” (I Kings 8:30a). Daniel prayed three times daily on his knees at his window that faced toward Jerusalem.

Why was this so important? Because God was in the temple. So Jonah believed. When the kingdom of David was divided, people in the northern Kingdom could no longer make the annual trip to the temple. The best they could do was pray in that direction.

When Jesus met the Samaritan woman at the well in Sychar, she said, “Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.” Jesus responded that a time was coming when true worshipers would worship the Father in spirit and truth.

In the belly of the fish – Jonah couldn’t get on his knees, nor could he pray in the right direction. Still, God heard his prayer.

And God hears our prayers today, not because of the position of our body or the direction we face – Muslims believe God only hears their prayers if they are facing Mecca. “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is sacred, and you are that temple” (I Corinthians 3:16-17).

Jonah’s focus was on the temple in Jerusalem. He didn’t see the Ninevites as potential temples.

Do we see members of al Qaeda or Hamas as potential temples of the Holy Spirit?

They won’t be if we don’t pray for them, and if someone in whom Christ dwells doesn’t go to them.

It’s no easier for us than it was for Jonah.

source-Secret Believers

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