Anyone who is interested in this subject should read the works of Margaret Barker, a Methodist Preacher and Old Testament scholar. She has developed a theory she calls "Temple Theology". She describes her central thesis on her website:
In her 2003 essay "Text and Context" (found in chapter 12/p. 294 of this online book) she lays out a compelling (though circumstantial) case that the Jews removed many references to the temple and covenants from their canon in the early days of Christianity (after the book "proceeded forth").Temple theology traces the roots of Christian theology back into the first Temple, destroyed by the cultural revolution in the time of King Josiah at the end of the seventh century BCE. Refugees from the purges settled in Egypt and Arabia. From widely scattered surviving fragments, it is possible to reconstruct the world view of the first Christians, and to restore to their original setting such key concepts as the Messiah, divine Sonship, covenant, atonement, resurrection, incarnation, the Second Coming and the Kingdom of God.
