Topical Bible: Heathen: Excluded from the Temple

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In biblical terminology, the term "heathen" is often used to refer to nations or individuals who are not part of the covenant community of Israel. These are typically Gentiles, or non-Jews, who do not worship the God of Israel and are often associated with idolatry and pagan practices. The exclusion of heathens from the sacred spaces of Israel, particularly the Temple, underscores the distinctiveness and holiness required of God's chosen people.

The Temple in Jerusalem was the central place of worship for the Israelites, symbolizing God's presence among His people. It was a place of sacrifice, prayer, and divine encounter. The holiness of the Temple was of utmost importance, and strict regulations were in place to maintain its sanctity. According to the Mosaic Law, only those who were ceremonially clean and part of the covenant community could enter the inner courts of the Temple.

The exclusion of heathens from the Temple is rooted in the biblical mandate for Israel to remain separate from the surrounding nations. In Deuteronomy 7:1-6, God commands the Israelites to avoid intermarriage and alliances with the heathen nations, warning that such associations would lead them away from Him. The Israelites were to be a "holy people" to the Lord, set apart for His purposes.

The Temple itself had distinct areas that restricted access based on one's status within the covenant community. The outermost court, known as the Court of the Gentiles, was the only area where non-Jews were permitted. This court was separated from the inner courts by a barrier, beyond which Gentiles were forbidden to pass. The Apostle Paul references this dividing wall in Ephesians 2:14, highlighting the separation between Jews and Gentiles that Christ ultimately came to abolish.

The exclusion of heathens from the Temple was not merely a matter of ethnic distinction but was deeply theological. It emphasized the purity and holiness required to approach God. In 2 Chronicles 6:32-33, Solomon acknowledges the presence of foreigners who would come to pray toward the Temple, indicating that while they were excluded from the inner courts, they were not beyond the reach of God's mercy and grace.

The prophetic literature of the Old Testament also envisions a future where the nations would come to worship the God of Israel. Isaiah 56:6-7 speaks of foreigners who join themselves to the Lord, promising that their offerings and sacrifices would be accepted on God's altar, for His house would be called a "house of prayer for all nations."

In the New Testament, the work of Christ expands the understanding of access to God. Through His sacrificial death and resurrection, Jesus breaks down the barriers that separate Jew and Gentile. As Paul writes in Galatians 3:28, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus" . The exclusion of heathens from the Temple serves as a backdrop to the inclusive message of the Gospel, where all who believe in Christ are granted access to the Father.

The exclusion of heathens from the Temple in the Old Testament underscores the holiness and separateness of God's people, while the New Testament reveals the fulfillment of God's plan to bring all nations into His covenant through Jesus Christ.

Nave's Topical Index

Lamentations 1:10
The adversary has spread out his hand on all her pleasant things: for she has seen that the heathen entered into her sanctuary, whom you did command that they should not enter into your congregation.
Nave's Topical Index

Library

The Christians are not the Only Contemners of the Gods Contempt of ...
... Contempt of Them Often Displayed by Heathen Official Persons. ... no general should dedicate
a temple, which he ... and Arpocrates, and Anubis, were excluded from the ...
/.../christianbookshelf.org/tertullian/ad nationes/chapter x name christians are.htm

The Historical Situation
... from all the defilements and snares of the heathen life round ... sacrifices, and, although
they sent gifts to the temple, were apparently excluded from its ...
/.../rhees/the life of jesus of nazareth/i the historical situation.htm

In Galilee at the Time of Our Lord
... issued from what was originally a heathen city, built ... that the Pharisees would fain
have excluded them, not ... Sanhedrim in Jerusalem (see The Temple), and with ...
/.../edersheim/sketches of jewish social life/chapter 3 in galilee at.htm

The Lord's Day --The Worship of the Apostolic Church --Its ...
... [221:5] The Paschal lamb could be sacrificed nowhere except in the temple of Jerusalem,
and the ... To be "unto them as an heathen" was to be excluded from the ...
/.../christianbookshelf.org/killen/the ancient church/chapter i the lords daythe.htm

The Education of the World.
... forgotten; nor is all natural judgment in morals excluded. ... temple and the sacrifices
of the temple, that the ... good men had lived among the heathen; there were ...
/.../essays and reviews the education of the world/the education of the world.htm

Seances Historiques De Geneve --The National Church.
... was to have sway in doing more perfectly that which the heathen religions were ...
historical questions not even hinted at in the Articles be excluded from free ...
/.../seances historiques de genevethe national.htm

Tendencies of Religious Thought in England, 1688-1750.
... But it is excluded, not from a conviction of its barrenness, but from a fear that ...
On the one hand, the moral state of the heathen world prior to the preaching ...
/.../tendencies of religious thought in.htm

On the Interpretation of Scripture
... popular explanations of prophecy as in heathen (Thucyd. ... why imperfect narratives
should be excluded from Scripture ... in the chamber of an Egyptian temple of the ...
/.../on the interpretation of scripture.htm

In Jud??a and through Samaria - a Sketch of Samaritan History and ...
... [1916] We also read that they tried to desecrate the Temple on the ... and privileges
are conceded to them, from which a heathen would have been excluded. ...
/.../edersheim/the life and times of jesus the messiah/chapter vii in judaea and.htm

Epistle xviii. Reply of St. Ambrose to the Memorial of Symmachus.. ...
... If the heathen suffered this how would they urge ... one shamelessly immodest, the clergy
alone are excluded from the ... bequeathed to the priests of a temple is valid ...
/.../ambrose/works and letters of st ambrose/epistle xviii reply of st.htm