Sacred Space in the Bible
Tuesday, March 17th, 2009Sacred Space in the Bible
The most striking use of sacred space in the Old Testament appears to be employed to reflect the relationship that exists between God фотоаппарат кенон and Israel, His chosen people. The same understanding of sacred space is also apparent in the New Testament where the relationship is between God and ’spiritual Israel’, through the person of Jesus Christ (Galatians 3:29).Both Israel and the Christian Church are ideally God-centred communities which have been chosen by God and set apart (made holy) from the rest of the world (Leviticus 29:2; Exodus 19:56; 1Peter 1:15-16; 2:9). If it is the relationship Between God and his chosen people which constutes sacred space, then the rest of mankind who live outside a relationship with God also live beyond the boundary of sacred space and are therefore in profane space. Think of the relationship between God and his people as a circle (God) within a circle (God’s people). Outside of the circle of God’s people (sacred space) are the rest of mankind (profane space). This conception serves as a template for the various examples of this type of sacred space found in the Jewish and Christian scriptures.
In both the Old and New testaments this relationship between God and his people is founded on a covenant, which is basically a contract, or mutual agreement, between two parties. According to Genesis, the Hebrew book of beginnings, Adam and Eve, our primordial parents, lived within a specially created garden east of Eden (2:8). The garden of Eden can be seen to correspond with the above model of sacred space, with both Man and Woman living within its boundaries, in a harmonious relationship with their Creator. However, this arrangement was maintained on the basis of a divine command, that man “must not eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil” (2:17). When Adam and Eve disobeyed the command, the arrangement was nulified and they were both driven outside the garden into profane space, into a world of death (3:17) that was never meant to be, and no longer in a perfect relationship with God (Genesis 3).Both the Old and New testaments present a way back for mankind into sacred space (or globway g230b relationship) with God.
In the Jewish scriptures, the call of Abr(ah)am illustrates the transition from sacred to profane space. The Lord instructs Abraham to leave behind the pagan influences of his fathers household and country, and travel to Canaan where he is promised Дмитрий Медведев Новости to become a ‘great nation’ (Genesis 12:1-2; Joshua 24:2-3). According
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