In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of
David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up
his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old: (Amos 9:11)
Amos 9:11,
which James quotes in Acts 15:16, makes reference to “the tabernacle [alt.
booth] of David.” That this was understood to be a temple, re-interpreted to be
the New Testament Church, in part, due to James’
midrashic interpretation of this text, can be seen in the following
commentary from Elena Butova:
Viewing εκκλησια as a new
temple was
probably familiar to members of the Jerusalem church (O’Neill, Theology of Acts, 76-77). The words of
Jesus, λυσατε τον ναον τουτον και εν τρισιν ημεραις εγερω αυτον in John 2:19 demonstrate the
prophetic claim, the meaning of which is clarified by John in the words, εκεινος δε
ελεγεν περι του ναου του σωματος αυτου, in John 2:21. This comparison refers not only to Jesus’ resurrection
in bodily form (O’Neill, Theology of Acts,
74). Paul himself, in 1 Cor 12:27, writes: “Now you are the body of Christ, and
each one of you is a part of it” (see similar comparisons of the church to the
body of Christ in 1 Cor 10:17; 12:12, 13, 20; Rom 12:5). In Eph 1:22, 23 he
states, “And God . . . appointed him to be head over everything for the church,
which is his body.” Comparing the church to the body of Christ, Paul at the
same time represents it as the temple of the Holy Spirit in 1 Cor 6:19, 20,
when he states το σωμα υμων ναος του εν υμιν αγιου πνευματος εστιν (it was stated that the church community “is
the physical presence of Christ in the world.” Murphy-O’Connor, Keys to First Corinthians, 104). These
references could mean that the “church” of those days was identified as the
body of believers who together constituted the living body of Jesus in this
world.
Moreover, the words of Peter to the council, “We believe it is through the
grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved” (Acts 15:11) were understood by the church. However, the Jews who upheld the temple
cult would not understand Peter. The issue appeared as a result of the wrong
understanding of the role of the temple cult, which the zealous Jews still
maintained. The difficulty consisted in the fact that those Jews had a
potential inclination to conversion, but they were injured by prejudices
growing out of the gossip. The leaders of the church knew that preaching the
cancellation of the ritual law to those who had not accepted Christ would end
with denial of the message. That is why the elders suggested Paul show respect
for the cultural issues of those who could potentially be saved from among the
Jews. (Elena Butova, The Four
Prohibitions of Acts 15 and Their Common Background in Genesis 1-3 [Eugene,
Oreg: Wipf and Stock, 2018], 130)
This is
important as it is further evidence Amos 9:11-12 and "the booth/tabernacle
of David" is a reference to the Temple and another nail in the coffin of
the charge that "Temple of Solomon" is anachronistic in the Book of
Mormon (on this, see Amos
9 and "the booth of David")
