What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's. (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).
King David sat in his own home, at rest from his enemies, when he had a thought. Picture it in your mind, the heart of such a King who would say, “See now, I dwell in an house of cedar, but the ark of God dwelleth within curtains.” (2 Samuel 7:2). Scripture tells us that it was David’s heart that interested God, and that He honored him with an answer to his concern.
Moreover I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own, and move no more; neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more, as beforetime, And as since the time that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel, and have caused thee to rest from all thine enemies. Also the Lord telleth thee that he will make thee an house. And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever. (2 Samuel 7: 10-13). Our lesson today is about the dedication of the Temple that David’s son Solomon finished. But most importantly, it’s about the coming of a forerunner and a descendant from the house of David who set up an eternal kingdom and built a house - a family dedicated to God.
And Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven: And he said, Lord God of Israel, there is no God like thee, in heaven above, or on earth beneath, who keepest covenant and mercy with thy servants that walk before thee with all their heart: Who hast kept with thy servant David my father that thou promised him: thou spakest also with thy mouth, and hast fulfilled it with thine hand, as it is this day.
David was not allowed to build the house for God personally because he had been a man of war. God allowed David’s son, a man of peace, to build it. However, David had a vision and a passion for it. He created plans and gathered supplies of riches to prepare for its building. Solomon (David’s son by Bathsheba) took his father’s vision and put God’s plan into motion with magnificent skill and artistry. It is believed that this Temple took seven years to build. It has been estimated that the cost today would be close to 300 Billion dollars. Hiram, King of Tyre was paid 20 cities for his skills during the build. David’s heart resulted in the most elaborate and meaningfully grand earthly building ever built. It has been rumored that when the sun hit the gold-covered temple, it could have been seen for miles. It was filled with grandeur; all the work, the preparation, this man building the best he possibly could, all to bring honor to the one true God. God does not dwell in temples made with hands, but the earthly temple represents a far greater heavenly reality. God would bless and continue to bless His people who sought Him at His temple. He honors the hearts of men and women today who seek after Christ, whose pattern the temple depicts. Those gathered in Solomon’s day only had an inkling of the true glory to come - a greater son of Peace, a greater King, a greater time.
There was a great sense of unity and pride in Israel as they placed the Ark of the Covenant and the Tablets of the Law in their new Temple. King Solomon now stood before the people of Israel to dedicate the building. He began by recognizing who God is and proclaiming that there is none else.
It is easy to picture him standing and kneeling in prayer with his arms and hands raised toward heaven. However, let the posture of his heart draw our attention. He is the King leading a nation in worship. This is one of the longest-recorded prayers in the Bible. Solomon sets the temple apart as the place of worship and reverence for God. This is where all believers must also start. We have to confess that He is God and, by faith, believe that He rewards those who seek diligently after His will. By this, we recognize He is the God of mercy and can be trusted to keep his promises.
But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. (Hebrews 11:6).
If there be in the land famine, if there be pestilence, blasting, mildew, locust, or if there be caterpiller; if their enemy besiege them in the land of their cities; whatsoever plague, whatsoever sickness there be; What prayer and supplication soever be made by any man, or by all thy people Israel, which shall know every man the plague of his own heart, and spread forth his hands toward this house: Then hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, and do, and give to every man according to his ways, whose heart thou knowest; (for thou, even thou only, knowest the hearts of all the children of men;)
The priests brought the Ark of the Covenant into the temple, bearing in on poles through golden rings, and then the Sacrifices began. They were made in thanksgiving to a God who forgives sin and cares about the prayers of His people. The treasures King David made in advance were put in their places for service in the Temple, a reminder that the man “after God’s own heart” had been useful to God. As with the Tabernacle, God gave the design and showed His acceptance of their obedience to complete the Temple. His presence was seen as a dense cloud that filled the building, so much so that the priests were unable to do their jobs.
All of Solomon’s prayer is not contained in these verses. But notice that individually or nationally, when God’s people were suffering, either by natural events or by their own poor decisions, Solomon petitioned God to hear and answer their prayers made in faith, and prayed toward this temple. God would honor their requests.
All of this foreshadowed Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the sacrifice for our sin, the one filled with the spirit without measure, the one who can be reached with “the feelings of our infirmity.” From every corner of the globe, in every language, and from every nation, men and women who call on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ are saved. Their humble repentance and petitions are heard and answered by a God who loved them enough to send His only begotten Son to die in their place. How pale in glory the man-made temple appears in light of the glory of the Son of God, whom the temple represents.
But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple. (Matthew 12:6).
If they sin against thee, (for there is no man that sinneth not,) and thou be angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captives unto the land of the enemy, far or near;
Hosanna! It means deliver us, as He entered Jerusalem the crowd called out Hosanna! They desired freedom from the oppression of Rome, but Jesus delivered us from the oppression of sin and the power of death. Solomon foresaw that Israel would suffer at the hands of their enemy, that because of their sinful rebellion, they would be separated from the protection and provision of God. But he prayed that when they were far from the temple, the God of Heaven would honor their repentance, their turning toward him in humble prayer, asking for Him to rescue them. This verse reminds us that we all fall short, whether under the law or under grace. All will fail, but deliverance comes through Christ. The intercessory work of God is not new. Today we say it like this:
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. ( 1John 1:8-10).
My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. ( 1 John 2: 1-2).
As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. (Romans 3: 10-12).
And so return unto thee with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their enemies, which led them away captive, and pray unto thee toward their land, which thou gavest unto their fathers, the city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name: Then hear thou their prayer and their supplication in heaven thy dwelling place, and maintain their cause, And forgive thy people that have sinned against thee, and all their transgressions wherein they have transgressed against thee, and give them compassion before them who carried them captive, that they may have compassion on them:
Solomon, interceding on behalf of his people, dedicated the temple as a place for God to hear and answer, to forgive and direct them in desperate times and at all times. It would be their refuge. The nation did go into captivity. The presence of the temple did not keep them from the consequences of their sins and lack of repentance. But it was a touchstone for calling them back to God in repentance. Solomon’s temple would be destroyed when the Babylonians captured Jerusalem nearly 400 years later. A second temple would be built at their return to Jerusalem 70 years after the destruction of the first. The second Temple would not be anywhere near as grand as Solomon’s temple. Those who remembered Solomon’s temple would weep at the dedication of the second.
But many of the priests and Levites and chief of the fathers, who were ancient men, that had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice; and many shouted aloud for joy: (Ezra 3:12).
Herod would modify and modernize the second temple prior to the arrival of Jesus, but it would also be destroyed in 70 AD. The nation of Israel has a plan for a future rebuilding of the temple. They have searched the scriptures for how to make authentic offerings, music, and temple utensils. The book of Revelation implies that a third temple will be built, and sacrifices will restart. God, however, did not leave us without access to Himself. The church is the temple of Jesus in the New Testament age, and I don’t mean any building, but the body of believers redeemed by His blood. We are the temple filled with the Holy Spirit. If you have accepted Jesus as Savior, your life is the place separated and dedicated for thanksgiving to and worship of God. He comunes within us to guide, instruct, reveal, and forgive. Everything about the temple represented Jesus. Everything in the life of a Christian should represent Him, as well. The house God promised to build for David, the plan of God from before the Earth was formed, the whole family of God bought and paid for at Calvary, is the kingdom that will stand throughout all eternity.
Thank you for studying with us! God bless!
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