just as it had filled the tabernacle (Exod 40:34–38). P. W. Comfort correctly notes, “In pre-A.D. 70 Judaism, the Temple represented the one place God had chosen to be uniquely present among his elect people.”47 In the temple, Yahweh was present with His people. He had promised, “I will dwell among [bĕtôk] the sons of Israel” (1 Kgs 6:13). Just as God’s presence in the tabernacle had a sanctifying influence on the people, God’s presence in the temple would incline the people toward obedience.48
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