II. Four Areas of Biblical Knowledge Used for Psychological Studies
1. Tabernacle, Temple, House of God in the OT
In developing an understanding of the “conceptual value of the tabernacle in psychology and counseling,” three images must be dealt with: (1) tabernacle, (2) temple, and (3) the house of God. Each image gives a different focus, yet it is the same concept that is being dealt with. The same concept is that each is God’s dwelling place. The focus of the tabernacle is a mobile dwelling place. The focus of the temple is of a permanent dwelling place. And the focus of the house is that a family lives there. A family lives in the mobile and the permanent dwellings also, but the focus in not on the family, but on the structure of the dwelling.
These descriptive terms “tabernacle, temple, house” are used in the OT to identify God’s dwelling place among His people. These terms are used by the NT writers to identify the purpose of the believer as God’s dwelling place upon the earth.
The tabernacle was the original designated dwelling place of God upon the earth among the Jewish people. It was a mobile and transportable structure patterned after the tabernacle in heaven. It was the place for giving offerings and making sacrifices which would place the one making them acceptable with the God of the Jews.
The temple was a permanent physical structure which was to serve the same purpose as the original tabernacle, but on a much more grander scale compared to the tabernacle.
The house of God is the term used by the writers of the LXX to refer to the rebuilding of the temple of God in Jerusalem when the Jews in exile returned to their home land to rebuild the house of God.
2. Trichotomous Foundation of the Individual in the Creation Account
In the creation account God said, “Let us make man in Our image according to Our likeness“ (Gen 1:26). The strongest image of God that is developed in the Bible is the trinitarian or triunity image of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. When the creation of man is established in the creation account, we see a trinitarian being of soul, physical body, and spirit. A corresponding likeness of the trinity of being of the man can be established from the biblical text to the biblical triune imagery of God.
As each person in the Godhead has a specific ministry to perform, so each entity of the being of the individual has a specific ministry to perform, which ministry is explained by the ministry in the threefold structure of the tabernacle. The use of the biblical terms “soul, physical body, and spirit” are used consistently and precisely throughout the Bible.
The trichotomous being can be established in the Bible in the three experiences of creation, death, and salvation. In creation there is a soul, physical body and spirit. In death there is death to the physical body, death to the soul in hell, and the spirit returns unto God who gave it. In salvation the spirit is stirred and comes alive unto God, the soul believes the gospel and is reoriented to the issues of life by the word of God, and the physical body is promised total redemption in a future time.
The dichotomous being is based upon “soul/spirit and physical body.” Another way to label this view of the individual would be “non-material and material,” or “spiritual and physical/earthly.”
The trichotomy/dichotomy views are not opposing views. They are not antagonistic to each other. It is simply that the trichotomous view separates the soul and spirit into separate entities. Whereas, the dichotomy view keeps them together. The trichotomous view attempts to separate the non-material into each component of its total composition.
Due to the lack of treatment of this biblical subject by commentators the two views have been left in a state of confusion. The ontology of being is “soul, physical body, and spirit.” The ontology of the personality of being, which is the soul or the inner person, or in the Hebrew text it is translated into English as “heart,” is “mind, conscience, heart, and will.” These two biblical ontologies have to be kept separate in order to develop a biblical psychology of the individual.
Some will reject the idea that the spiritual realm of the individual can be classified into such a systematic and precise structure with precise functional characteristics. That is probably part of the reason that the dichotomous view is easily supported because the psychological terms are understood to be synonymous in meaning and the meanings overlap.
However, in refuting that position it can be pointed out that when the Bible states that in the creation of the physical body that God shaped or form the physical body of man from the dust of the ground. We know that the physical body does in fact come from the elements in the ground. However, if we take just the statement of what God did in creating that physical body, we would know nothing about the various systems of organs within the physical body which give it structure and functionality. When these systems begin to malfunction, we go to the doctor for his expertise.
If God so formed the physical body with such precise order and functionality, does it not stand to reason that the inner person, the soul, the heart has also been formed with a precise order and functionality? God has placed in His word all the psychological terminology that is needed for developing an understanding of that biblical psychology.
The message in the Book of Proverbs is built upon that precision of order and functionality of the whole person (soul, body, spirit). It presents the functional aspects of this trichotomous being to show the breakdown of the person, which breakdown causes the individual to malfunction in dealing with life issues.
3. Trichotomous Structure of the Tabernacle
The trichotomous structure of the tabernacle is “outer court, inner court, and the holy of holies.” Each compartment had a specific ministry performed within it. The ministry in the tabernacle began with the bringing of a previously prescribed offering or sacrifice.
The outer court was set off by a curtain wall surrounding the inner court and the holy of holies. There was no covering over the outer court. The furnishings in the outer court yard were the altar of burnt sacrifice and the laver.
The inner court was the first room of a two room compartment. Both rooms were under one roof. This room contained the candlestick, the table of shewbread, and the golden altar of incense.
The holy of holies was the second room under the same roof as the inner court. This room contained the ark. Only the high priest ministered in this room due to its holiness and intimacy with the Lord God. All priests were forbidden to enter this room. They were not even allowed to look upon the ark when it was being taken down for transporting or setting it up. They had special instructions for this.
The priest was called and chosen by the Lord God. This was not a voluntary position. The ministry of the priest was confined to the outer court and the inner court.
The high priest was over the priesthood. His ministry within the tabernacle was fulfilled once a year on the day of atonement. This ministry is described in Leviticus 16. His ministry began in the outer court and ended in the holy of holies. He was there to atone for the sins of Israel for the past year and to hear the voice of God concerning Israel.
The accessories attached to the tabernacle are the sacrifices, offerings, law, incense, bread, oil, light, and water.
4. Tabernacle/Temple/House Imagery in the NT Writers
The context of the Bible is a divine/human ontology of being and personality of being. The tabernacle and its accessories are the physical models of this divine/human ontology. In the NT writings we see how the trichotomous structure of the tabernacle played a major role in helping the writers understand the theology and psychology of the individual. Jesus referred to His body as a temple (John 2:20-21). The Greek word (naos) referred to the inner most part of the temple. The writer of the Gospel referred to Jesus as “tabernacling” among men, using the same Greek word for tabernacle as used for the tabernacle in the OT. In the Revelation, John referred to believers as a kingdom of priests (Rev 1:6; 5:10; 20:6), and used the furnishings of the tabernacle to explain his revelation.
The Apostle Paul referred to his physical body as his tabernacle and his house (2 Cor 5:1). He used the temple in the OT to explain the life of the believer as God’s dwelling place (1 Cor 3:16-17; 6:19; 2 Cor 6:16; Eph 2:21). His teachings on the law, sacrifices, offerings, atonement fill his letters. All these subjects are related to the tabernacle, and take their spiritual meanings by their role in the tabernacle.
The Apostle Peter referred to the priesthood of the believer (1 Pet 2:5, 9).
The writer of the book of Hebrews referred to the believer as the house of God, the sanctuary, and the true tabernacle. His whole message is built upon a spiritual application of the tabernacle and its accessories in explaining the life of the believer as the divine dwelling place.
There is no spiritual application given to the tabernacle in the OT, except the passage in Jeremiah which states that in the new covenant God will write His word upon the heart and mind of Israel.
