The Image in God's Temple

Apart from the seven-day structure of Genesis 1, there is another compelling reason to read the creation account as a temple narrative. In pagan temples, the climax of the inauguration ceremony was the addition of the idol into the temple. Remember, the essential characteristic of a temple is that a god dwells there. In the pagan cultures surrounding ancient Israel, an idol set within a temple was more than a physical symbol of a god. It represented the god’s real presence. The Hebrew word for “idol” is tselem. It can also be translated as “image.”