Posted on by LittlePrincess

The Temple

“5 And the temple which I build will be great, for our God is greater than all gods. 6 But who is able to build Him a temple, since heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain Him? Who am I then, that I should build Him a temple, except to burn sacrifice before Him?” 2 Chronicles 2:5-6 NKJV

Today’s reading is about the building of the temple. Glorious occasion! How does this apply to us today? We don’t have a physical temple to even look at to understand what this was all about. We can study and learn about Solomon’s temple but honestly we have to take a lot by learning and in faith accepting.  Kind of like we live by faith in other areas of our life.

Dear Heavenly Father – As always, please open eye to see and our ears to hear what you are saying! Lord – open our understanding that we may know you. Please do not let us miss out on what you want and need from us today. And please keep us and bless us and shine your face upon us and pour out grace over us and give us peace! Thank you! – In Jesus name we pray, Amen

Today’s reading is from the book of First Kings, chapters 5-6 and Second Chronicles chapters 2 and 3 (embedded below the image below for your convenience).

The building of The Temple. What a glorious time period! Amazing move of God to complete His work.  How little did we as humans understand (and so we yet fully understand?)

Our God is greater – and Solomon went to great lengths to get the best of the best to glorify God; a God that cannot be contained by all of the heavens and earth. A physical temple which was torn down and rebuild and torn down and, and, and…  Parts of it are rebuilt and in warehouses ready to be reassembled (possibly all of it).

The truth of the matter is that if you “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” Jesus said so in John 2:19.

Because the temple isn’t a building as man, and even wise old Solomon, understood. Our Bodies are the temple according to 1 Corinthians 16:19 – we are designed to contain God while God is not contained in us. We are designed to have Him fill us to overflowing as His presence is larger than all of the universe and the heavens.

With all of His wisdom – God his this from Solomon so that Solomon would teach Israel to build the temple and to give a place to reverencing Him.  Now we should do the same, giving a place inside ourselves for His presence, for worship, for sacrifice and for all the functions of the temple. And as Solomon prepared for the Lord to come to the temple, we should prepare ourselves – ask for forgiveness – repent – change our ways – so that we can be full of God.

God gave us this very literal example of how he fills the temple, how to treat the temple, what the functions of the temple are –  we should pay close attention and be the temple we were created to be.

RELATIONSHIP:
Do you already have a relationship with a powerful God who cares about your every need because He loves you? Did you know my God can communicate with you and protect you – He has a plan for you to prosper if you just submit to His will and let His plan play out in your life!!! God wants a relationship with you and has already made a plan for your life. He loves you so much He sent His son to this world, to die as a sacrifice for your sins and rise from death with victory over sin and the ability to have a personal relationship with you.
“9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.” Romans 10:9-10 NIV
Here is a prayer for you to pray:
Jesus, I believe you are the way, the truth, the life, and the only way to the Father. I believe you are the son of God, you came to Earth and lived. That you died on the cross as a sacrifice for my sins, and rose again so that I may be saved from my sins and be able to get to know you. I declare: Jesus, you are Lord!
Therefore, I confess that I am a sinner and I ask that you forgive me of my sins and come into my life. Help me to turn away from my sins and transform me into what you have lovingly created me to be. Help me through a real personal relationship grow and accept your will for my life – that I may live in your blessings. Please walk with me, and talk with me – I accept a relationship with you and with our Father God, through you. In the name of Jesus I pray ~ Amen

MEMORY WORK: Mark 16:17-18 – This month is month two of the two for one special!!!
NKJV – “And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
NAS – “These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not harm them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
ESV – “And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
NLT – “These miraculous signs will accompany those who believe: They will cast out demons in my name, and they will speak in new languages. They will be able to handle snakes with safety, and if they drink anything poisonous, it won’t hurt them. They will be able to place their hands on the sick, and they will be healed.”
NIV – “And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”

Thank you for reading.
May the God of peace keep you and bless you. May you stay focused on Christ and covered in grace.
Maranatha ~ Come Lord Jesus!

BIBLE READING: 1 Kings 5-6 & 2 Chronicles 2-3  NKJV

Solomon Prepares to Build the Temple

5 Now Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon, because he heard that they had anointed him king in place of his father, for Hiram had always loved David. 2 Then Solomon sent to Hiram, saying:

3 You know how my father David could not build a house for the name of the Lord his God because of the wars which were fought against him on every side, until the Lord put [a]his foes under the soles of his feet.

4 But now the Lord my God has given me rest[b] on every side; there is neither adversary nor [c]evil occurrence.

5 And behold, [d]I propose to build a house for the name of the Lord my God, as the Lord spoke to my father David, saying, “Your son, whom I will set on your throne in your place, he shall build the house for My name.”

6 Now therefore, command that they cut down cedars for me from Lebanon; and my servants will be with your servants, and I will pay you wages for your servants according to whatever you say. For you know there is none among us who has skill to cut timber like the Sidonians.

7 So it was, when Hiram heard the words of Solomon, that he rejoiced greatly and said,

Blessed be the Lord this day, for He has given David a wise son over this great people!

8 Then Hiram sent to Solomon, saying:

I have considered the message which you sent me, and I will do all you desire concerning the cedar and cypress logs.

9 My servants shall bring them down from Lebanon to the sea; I will float them in rafts by sea to the place you indicate to me, and will have them broken apart there; then you can take them away. And you shall fulfill my desire by giving food for my household.

10 Then Hiram gave Solomon cedar and cypress logs according to all his desire. 11 And Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand [e]kors of wheat as food for his household, and [f]twenty kors of pressed oil. Thus Solomon gave to Hiram year by year.

12 So the Lord gave Solomon wisdom, as He had promised him; and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a treaty together.

13 Then King Solomon raised up a labor force out of all Israel; and the labor force was thirty thousand men. 14 And he sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month in shifts: they were one month in Lebanon and two months at home; Adoniram was in charge of the labor force. 15 Solomon had seventy thousand who carried burdens, and eighty thousand who quarried stone in the mountains, 16 besides three thousand [g]three hundred from the chiefs of Solomon’s deputies, who supervised the people who labored in the work. 17 And the king commanded them to quarry large stones, costly stones, and hewn stones, to lay the foundation of the [h]temple. 18 So Solomon’s builders, Hiram’s builders, and the Gebalites quarried them; and they prepared timber and stones to build the [i]temple.

Solomon Builds the Temple

6 And it came to pass in the four hundred and [j]eightieth year after the children of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of [k]Ziv, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of the Lord. 2 Now the house which King Solomon built for the Lord, its length was sixty cubits, its width twenty, and its height thirty cubits. 3 The vestibule in front of the [l]sanctuary of the house was [m]twenty cubits long across the width of the house, and the width of [n]the vestibule extended [o]ten cubits from the front of the house. 4 And he made for the house windows with beveled frames.

5 Against the wall of the [p]temple he built chambers all around, against the walls of the temple, all around the sanctuary and the [q]inner sanctuary. Thus he made side chambers all around it. 6 The lowest chamber was five cubits wide, the middle was six cubits wide, and the third was seven cubits wide; for he made narrow ledges around the outside of the temple, so that the support beams would not be fastened into the walls of the [r]temple. 7 And the temple, when it was being built, was built with stone finished at the quarry, so that no hammer or chisel or any iron tool was heard in the temple while it was being built. 8 The doorway for the [s]middle story was on the right side of the temple. They went up by stairs to the middle story, and from the middle to the third.

9 So he built the [t]temple and finished it, and he paneled the temple with beams and boards of cedar. 10 And he built side chambers against the entire temple, each five cubits high; they were attached to the temple with cedar beams.

11 Then the word of the Lord came to Solomon, saying: 12 “Concerning this [u]temple which you are building, if you walk in My statutes, execute My judgments, keep all My commandments, and walk in them, then I will perform My [v]word with you, which I spoke to your father David. 13 And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will not forsake My people Israel.”

14 So Solomon built the temple and finished it. 15 And he built the inside walls of the temple with cedar boards; from the floor of the temple to the ceiling he paneled the inside with wood; and he covered the floor of the temple with planks of cypress. 16 Then he built the twenty-cubit room at the rear of the temple, from floor to ceiling, with cedar boards; he built it inside as the inner sanctuary, as the Most Holy Place. 17 And in front of it the temple sanctuary was forty cubits long. 18 The inside of the temple was cedar, carved with ornamental buds and open flowers. All was cedar; there was no stone to be seen.

19 And he prepared the [w]inner sanctuary inside the temple, to set the ark of the covenant of the Lord there. 20 The inner sanctuary was twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and twenty cubits high. He overlaid it with pure gold, and overlaid the altar of cedar. 21 So Solomon overlaid the inside of the temple with pure gold. He stretched gold chains across the front of the inner sanctuary, and overlaid it with gold. 22 The whole temple he overlaid with gold, until he had finished all the temple; also he overlaid with gold the entire altar that was by the inner sanctuary.

23 Inside the inner sanctuary he made two cherubim of olive wood, each ten cubits high. 24 One wing of the cherub was five cubits, and the other wing of the cherub five cubits: ten cubits from the tip of one wing to the tip of the other. 25 And the other cherub was ten cubits; both cherubim were of the same size and shape. 26 The height of one cherub was ten cubits, and so was the other cherub. 27 Then he set the cherubim inside the inner [x]room; and they stretched out the wings of the cherubim so that the wing of the one touched one wall, and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall. And their wings touched each other in the middle of the room. 28 Also he overlaid the cherubim with gold.

29 Then he carved all the walls of the temple all around, both the inner and outer sanctuaries, with carved figures of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers. 30 And the floor of the temple he overlaid with gold, both the inner and outer sanctuaries.

31 For the entrance of the inner sanctuary he made doors of olive wood; the lintel and doorposts were [y]one-fifth of the wall. 32 The two doors were of olive wood; and he carved on them figures of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, and overlaid them with gold; and he spread gold on the cherubim and on the palm trees. 33 So for the door of the [z]sanctuary he also made doorposts of olive wood, [aa]one-fourth of the wall. 34 And the two doors were of cypress wood; two panels comprised one folding door, and two panels comprised the other folding door. 35 Then he carved cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers on them, and overlaid them with gold applied evenly on the carved work.

36 And he built the inner court with three rows of hewn stone and a row of cedar beams.

37 In the fourth year the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid, in the month of [ab]Ziv. 38 And in the eleventh year, in the month of [ac]Bul, which is the eighth month, the house was finished in all its details and according to all its plans. So he was seven years in building it.

Footnotes

  1. 1 Kings 5:3 Lit. them
  2. 1 Kings 5:4 peace
  3. 1 Kings 5:4 misfortune
  4. 1 Kings 5:5 Lit. I am saying
  5. 1 Kings 5:11 Each about 5 bushels
  6. 1 Kings 5:11 So with MT, Tg., Vg.; LXX, Syr. twenty thousand kors
  7. 1 Kings 5:16 So with MT, Tg., Vg.; LXX six hundred
  8. 1 Kings 5:17 Lit. house
  9. 1 Kings 5:18 Lit. house
  10. 1 Kings 6:1 So with MT, Tg., Vg.; LXX fortieth
  11. 1 Kings 6:1 Or Ayyar, April or May
  12. 1 Kings 6:3 Heb. heykal; here the main room of the temple; elsewhere called the holy place, Ex. 26:33; Ezek. 41:1
  13. 1 Kings 6:3 About 30 feet
  14. 1 Kings 6:3 Lit. it
  15. 1 Kings 6:3 About 15 feet
  16. 1 Kings 6:5 Lit. house
  17. 1 Kings 6:5 Heb. debir; here the inner room of the temple; elsewhere called the Most Holy Place, v. 16
  18. 1 Kings 6:6 Lit. house
  19. 1 Kings 6:8 So with MT, Vg.; LXX upper story; Tg. ground story
  20. 1 Kings 6:9 Lit. house
  21. 1 Kings 6:12 Lit. house
  22. 1 Kings 6:12 promise
  23. 1 Kings 6:19 The Most Holy Place
  24. 1 Kings 6:27 Lit. house
  25. 1 Kings 6:31 Or five-sided
  26. 1 Kings 6:33 temple
  27. 1 Kings 6:33 Or four-sided
  28. 1 Kings 6:37 Or Ayyar, April or May
  29. 1 Kings 6:38 Or Heshvan, October or November

2 Chronicles 2-3

Solomon Prepares to Build the Temple

2 Then Solomon determined to build a temple for the name of the Lord, and a royal house for himself. 2 Solomon selected seventy thousand men to bear burdens, eighty thousand to quarry stone in the mountains, and three thousand six hundred to oversee them.

3 Then Solomon sent to [a]Hiram king of Tyre, saying:

As you have dealt with David my father, and sent him cedars to build himself a house to dwell in, so deal with me. 4 Behold, I am building a temple for the name of the Lord my God, to dedicate it to Him, to burn before Him [b]sweet incense, for the continual showbread, for the burnt offerings morning and evening, on the Sabbaths, on the New Moons, and on the [c]set feasts of the Lord our God. This is an ordinance forever to Israel.

5 And the temple which I build will be great, for our God is greater than all gods. 6 But who is able to build Him a temple, since heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain Him? Who am I then, that I should build Him a temple, except to burn sacrifice before Him?

7 Therefore send me at once a man skillful to work in gold and silver, in bronze and iron, in purple and crimson and blue, who has skill to engrave with the skillful men who are with me in Judah and Jerusalem, whom David my father provided. 8 Also send me cedar and cypress and algum logs from Lebanon, for I know that your servants have skill to cut timber in Lebanon; and indeed my servants will be with your servants, 9 to prepare timber for me in abundance, for the [d]temple which I am about to build shall be great and wonderful.

10 And indeed I will give to your servants, the woodsmen who cut timber, twenty thousand kors of ground wheat, twenty thousand kors of barley, twenty thousand baths of wine, and twenty thousand baths of oil.

11 Then Hiram king of Tyre answered in writing, which he sent to Solomon:

Because the Lord loves His people, He has made you king over them.

12 [e]Hiram also said:

Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who made heaven and earth, for He has given King David a wise son, endowed with prudence and understanding, who will build a temple for the Lord and a royal house for himself!

13 And now I have sent a skillful man, endowed with understanding, [f]Huram my [g]master craftsman 14 (the son of a woman of the daughters of Dan, and his father was a man of Tyre), skilled to work in gold and silver, bronze and iron, stone and wood, purple and blue, fine linen and crimson, and to make any engraving and to accomplish any plan which may be given to him, with your skillful men and with the skillful men of my lord David your father.

15 Now therefore, the wheat, the barley, the oil, and the wine which my lord has spoken of, let him send to his servants. 16 And we will cut wood from Lebanon, as much as you need; we will bring it to you in rafts by sea to [h]Joppa, and you will carry it up to Jerusalem.

17 Then Solomon numbered all the aliens who were in the land of Israel, after the census in which David his father had numbered them; and there were found to be one hundred and fifty-three thousand six hundred. 18 And he made seventy thousand of them bearers of burdens, eighty thousand stonecutters in the mountain, and three thousand six hundred overseers to make the people work.

Solomon Builds the Temple

3 Now Solomon began to build the house of the Lord at Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where [i]the Lord had appeared to his father David, at the place that David had prepared on the threshing floor of Ornan[j] the Jebusite. 2 And he began to build on the second day of the second month in the fourth year of his reign.

3 This is the foundation which Solomon laid for building the house of God: The length was sixty cubits (by cubits according to the former measure) and the width twenty cubits. 4 And the vestibule that was in front of [k]the sanctuary was twenty cubits long across the width of the house, and the height was [l]one hundred and twenty. He overlaid the inside with pure gold. 5 The larger [m]room he paneled with cypress which he overlaid with fine gold, and he carved palm trees and chainwork on it. 6 And he decorated the house with precious stones for beauty, and the gold was gold from Parvaim. 7 He also overlaid the house—the beams and doorposts, its walls and doors—with gold; and he carved cherubim on the walls.

8 And he made the Most Holy Place. Its length was according to the width of the house, twenty cubits, and its width twenty cubits. He overlaid it with six hundred talents of fine gold. 9 The weight of the nails was fifty shekels of gold; and he overlaid the upper area with gold. 10 In the Most Holy Place he made two cherubim, fashioned by carving, and overlaid them with gold. 11 The wings of the cherubim were twenty cubits in overall length: one wing of the one cherub was five cubits, touching the wall of the room, and the other wing was five cubits, touching the wing of the other cherub; 12 one wing of the other cherub was five cubits, touching the wall of the room, and the other wing also was five cubits, touching the wing of the other cherub. 13 The wings of these cherubim spanned twenty cubits overall. They stood on their feet, and they faced inward. 14 And he made the veil of blue, purple, crimson, and fine linen, and wove cherubim into it.

15 Also he made in front of the [n]temple two pillars [o]thirty-five cubits [p]high, and the capital that was on the top of each of them was five cubits. 16 He made wreaths of chainwork, as in the inner sanctuary, and put them on top of the pillars; and he made one hundred pomegranates, and put them on the wreaths of chainwork. 17 Then he set up the pillars before the temple, one on the right hand and the other on the left; he called the name of the one on the right hand [q]Jachin, and the name of the one on the left [r]Boaz.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Chronicles 2:3 Heb. Huram; cf. 1 Kin. 5:1
  2. 2 Chronicles 2:4 Lit. incense of spices
  3. 2 Chronicles 2:4 appointed
  4. 2 Chronicles 2:9 Lit. house
  5. 2 Chronicles 2:12 Heb. Huram; cf. 1 Kin. 5:1
  6. 2 Chronicles 2:13 Hiram, 1 Kin. 7:13
  7. 2 Chronicles 2:13 Lit. father, 1 Kin. 7:13, 14
  8. 2 Chronicles 2:16 Heb. Japho
  9. 2 Chronicles 3:1 Lit. He, following MT, Vg.; LXX the Lord; Tg. the Angel of the Lord
  10. 2 Chronicles 3:1 Araunah, 2 Sam. 24:16ff
  11. 2 Chronicles 3:4 The holy place, the main room of the temple, 1 Kin. 6:3
  12. 2 Chronicles 3:4 So with MT, LXX, Vg.; Arab., some LXX mss., Syr. twenty
  13. 2 Chronicles 3:5 Lit. house
  14. 2 Chronicles 3:15 Lit. house
  15. 2 Chronicles 3:15 eighteen, 1 Kin. 7:15; 2 Kin. 25:17; Jer. 52:21
  16. 2 Chronicles 3:15 Lit. long
  17. 2 Chronicles 3:17 Lit. He Shall Establish
  18. 2 Chronicles 3:17 Lit. In It Is Strength

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