Even Better Than Eden by Nancy Guthrie
Week 8: Chapter 7 — The Temple
Read Chapter 7 of Even Better than Eden. Primary passages: Genesis 1–2; Exodus 25–40; 1 Kings 6–8; John 1:14; 2:19–21; Ephesians 2:19–22; Revelation 21:22.
Previewing Week 8 of Even Better Than Eden
Read 3 of 8 discussion questions below. Unlock the complete 12-week guide when you’re ready.
The tabernacle and temple were not just buildings — they were a re-creation of Eden, a place where heaven and earth overlapped. Guthrie traces how that overlap grows wider until, in the new creation, there is no temple at all because God himself fills everything.
Discussion Questions
8 questions1.Guthrie draws detailed parallels between the garden of Eden and the later tabernacle and temple — the east-facing entrance, the cherubim, the gold and jewels, the lampstand as a tree of life, and so on. What does it mean that the tabernacle was designed to look like Eden? What was God saying to Israel about what worship is?
2.The temple in Jerusalem was the place where God's name dwelled — where heaven and earth met. Yet access was severely restricted: the general public in the outer courts, Israel further in, priests closer still, and only the high priest in the Most Holy Place, and only once a year. What does this layered restriction tell us about the problem that needed to be solved?
3.John 1:14 says the Word 'tabernacled' (dwelt, pitched his tent) among us. Jesus is the new and ultimate temple. How does the incarnation — God in human flesh — represent the fulfillment of everything the tabernacle and temple were pointing toward?
a.How does Jesus's claim in John 2 — 'destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up' — connect to his resurrection and what it means for our access to God?
b.How does it change your reading of the Gospels to see Jesus as walking around as a mobile temple?