Immanuel in our Place: Seeing Christ in Israel’s Worship
Tremper Longman III
Paperback: 228 pages
Publisher: P & R Publishing (August 2001)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0875526519
ISBN-13: 978-0875526515
Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
amazon.com

After Jesus had risen from the dead, he met two of his disciples as they were walking on the Emmaus Road. He told them that all of the Scriptures, the Old Testament, pointed to Him as their fulfillment. Since then, Christians have debated exactly to what extent the Old Testament points to Jesus- is it every word? Every part? Certain parts? And in what way? In the book, “Immanuel in our Place: Seeing Christ in Israel’s Worship,” Tremper Longman III seeks to give us an answer to that question– at least in regards to the Israelites’ practices of worship.

The book is part of the “The Gospel According to the Old Testament” series, and is an excellent addition, both to the series and to the Christian’s library. Longman’s writing is theologically penetrating, yet very clear and accessible, and often doxological. He handles the text with great insight, all while keeping a broad audience in view. The book is broken into four units:
Part One: Sacred Space
Part Two: Sacred Acts
Part Three: Sacred People
Part Four: Sacred Time
This review will look at the book according to these units, and not necessarily by chapter.

I. Sacred Space
This first section is the longest, with six chapters, and looks at the movement of “Sacred Space” in Israel’s worship. Longman begins his look with the Garden of Eden, where all space was considered sacred (pgs. 7, 12). It is here that we see life as it was meant to be lived. It is also here where that life came to a crashing halt in the Fall- where Adam and Eve decided to trust the lies of the serpent and their own autonomy over God. In this act, the sacred space was shattered, and the narrative moves toward a return to the Edenic state (pgs. 12-13).

Longman then traces this movement to the construction of altars, which marked the places where men and women met with God. At these sites, God made his presence known to his people, a theme which fills out the rest of the unit. We see this in the next site of sacred space- the tabernacle. The tabernacle was constructed as a reminder of God’s presence in the middle of the the Israelites as they moved through the wilderness. It was the site where sacrifices (part 2) were offered by the priests (part 3). From the tabernacle, we move to the temple, which functioned in the same way as its predecessor though in a permanent place in Jerusalem. Chapter 5 focuses on the “furniture” which was found in the sanctuary of both the tabernacle and the temple- the ark of the covenant, the menorah or lampstand, the incense altar, the table of the bread of the presence, and the sacrificial altar. In this tour, Longman takes us from the Holy of Holies out into the courtyard. Finally, Longman takes to Christ who was himself the very presence of God in the midst of his people. As John reports, Jesus “tabernacled” among us (John 1:14). After Jesus is taken up into heaven, the Holy Spirit was sent to dwell in all believers, which “means that we are constantly in the presence of God” (pg 69). This is possible because Christ’s death and resurrection tore the veil that separated us from God’s presence, and gives us access to him at any time, at any place. Finally, Christ will come back and renew the cosmos, once again allowing God to dwell among his people. When this happens, “Eden [will be] restored, and as a matter of fact something greater than Eden” (pg 73).

II. Sacred Acts
The act of sacrifice and offerings played a central part in the worship of Israel, and forms the backbone of the second unit. When Adam and Eve were cast out of the garden, their (and our) sin shattered our relationship with God. The problem is, “to worship God, people must be in his presence” (pg 75). God instituted sacrifice to cover the sins of his people so that they can enter into his holy presence. These sacrifices and offerings had three main functions: atonement, gift, and fellowship or communion. The various sacrifices, while sharing these functions, served to highlight some specifically. In the following chapters, Longman seeks to explain the five main sacrifices found in Leviticus 1-7: The ‘Olah sacrifice (burnt offering), the Minhah and Shelamim offerings (grain and fellowship/peace offering, and the Hattat and Asham offerings (sin and guilt offerings). For each of these, Longman offers an explanation of the procedures and functions or purpose. He then looks to various New Testament passages to show that “Jesus has fulfilled the sacrificial ritual by his own death and resurrection” (pg 103). He shows how Jesus’ once-and-for-all sacrifice fulfills the Old Testament sacrifices both generally and specifically (in regards to the hattat and passover sacrifices). Jesus is the spotless lamb, the sacrifice that satisfies God’s wrath against sin and removes our sin from us.

III. Sacred People
Because of our sinfulness, the people of God needed mediators who presented them to God, and presented God to the people. They were a specific people, chosen and ordained by God to carry out the tasks of guarding and teaching the Law, protecting the sacred space, and to offer the sacrifices. They were called to a lifestyle that pointed to the holiness of God. Longman begins this section by giving an overview of the rise to the formation of the priesthood, then he discusses their lifestyle, and finally writes about their services. All of this, he shows in the fourth and final chapter of this section, points to Jesus as the ultimate priest. He is a priest “in the order of Melchizedek” (which Longman explains), sinless and eternal, and the One who is our mediator before God the Father. Where the priests of the past would fail or pass away, Christ will never do either.

IV. Sacred Time
Longman finishes out his look at Christ in Israel’s worship by looking at Israel’s liturgical calendar. Throughout the year, God commanded Israel to celebrate and remember, to rest and worship. He commands them to do this by setting apart certain days and weeks to rest and have feasts and festivals. The root of these times, and the first day Longman treats, is the Sabbath. Sabbath occurred every week, and called for a day of complete rest and worship. From the Sabbath, Longman moves towards discussing the Haggim festivals. These festivals required that all Israelite males make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem in order to celebrate God’s acts of redemption in the past, as well as also focus on rest and worship. Following these, Longman discusses the Festival of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and Purim. This unit is a little different than the others in how it discusses Christ. In the first three units, the last chapter was dedicated to showing how the Israelite worship points forward to Jesus, but in this unit the New Testament relationship is discussed within the chapters themselves. Christ is the passover lamb, as well as the one who rescues us from our own bondage in an Exodus from sin. He is our atonement, and the one who gives us grace in providing for our needs. And ultimately, it is in Him that we find our true rest.

Conclusion
As I stated before, Longman’s writing is clear, concise, and an excellent entrance into the biblical theology of how Christ fulfills a very specific part of the Old Testament. It is an easy read, but don’t let that lead to assumptions that it is a book that you should overlook. Longman’s insights and arguments bring the Old Testament to life, and makes something that seems distant and primitive relevant to us today- even thousands of years removed from the events and practices themselves. I highly recommend this book, and leave with a quote that serves to beautifully summarize the book itself:

“We have seen how Christ’s coming has brought an end to the existence of a holy place. Now every place is holy, imbued with the presence of God. We may have fellowship with him anywhere in the cosmos. We have seen how there is no longer a special caste of people, like the priests, who are holier than anyone else. Everyone is a priest, set apart in intimate relationship to God. We have seen how there are no longer particular acts that are more sacred than others. Christ is the once-for-all sacrifice. We do not perform these holy acts any longer. These facts lead to a strong presumptive argument that there is no longer only a limited time that is considered holy; rather all time is fraught with the possibility of being in God’s presence. This is good news! Because of Christ’s fulfillment of sacred space, acts, persons, and time, we all have full access to him any place and all the time.” (pg. 178)

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You can purchase the book here: amazon.com