I was in elementary school when the people of our church met on a section of ground just outside Oklahoma City.  At that time, I didn’t fully realize what was going on but I certainly felt the excitement of the grownups who gathered there in a tight, holy circle.  The pastor and elders were in the center of the circle with shovels.  As I kid, I didn’t know what was going to happen next on that cold, wintery day; but I was glad I was there.  The smiles on the faces of men and women declared their expectant hope in what God was doing and would do next. 

After the reading of scripture, the men prayed for God’s blessing on this dedicated ground.  They prayed for God’s timing, power, and wisdom in building a place where people would be welcomed and taught to know, love, believe and follow Jesus. The people were taught to be God’s light to this community. They prayed fervently and passionately for God’s will to be done in every detail of the building process.  Then, beginning with the pastor followed by the elders, they ceremoniously, one by one, put the shovel in the ground to turn over the dirt to symbolize the beginning of the process to build.  God led His people to this place.  God led this small group through all the preparations and finances to build a church (people) built within us on the foundation of faith with the Cornerstone declared to be Jesus Christ.  Jesus the One who redeemed us and gave us purpose.  Yes, I will never forget that moment in time.  It is etched in my memory.  When we follow God and His timing; God does great things that are beyond our wildest dreams and imaginations.  May God’s Kingdom come; His will be done.

THE HOUSE THAT DAVID’S SON BUILT

King Solomon has been given the go ahead from God to begin the building of the Temple, a place of worship of God. How exciting for the King to begin the gathering of materials!  As a wise leader, following the directions of David, his father; King Soloman began with securing resources, to add to what David had saved for this moment.  King Solomon turned to he knew had the best for God’s Temple.

God’s timing is perfect.  King Solomon is “at rest” from battles and wars.  He can fully focus on the Temple that David wanted to build but God told him, no, not now.  Your son will build it.  According to Scripture, God’s will and design for His Temple is that it be a House of Prayer for all who seek Him.  To meet with God, listen to Him, talk with Him with humble honest is what God seeks.  No other purpose is greater.

It is important to note that God told David, “I don’t need a house;” it is God’s people who need a sacred place, away from ordinary to be with our God. While humans want bigger, better, and best in what it looks like; God’s prophet Isaiah proclaims and describes God’s real purposes for His Temple, His House;

“And foreigners who bind themselves to the Lord to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord, and to be his servants, all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it and who hold fast to my covenant—these I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer.  Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.” Isaiah 56:6-7

Will God’s plan and purpose for His Temple prevail? Stay tuned from building to completion to entering…we have only just begun the story of God and His Temple through Solomon.

1 Kings 5

Preparations for Building the Temple

When Hiram king of Tyre heard that Solomon had been anointed king to succeed his father David, he sent his envoys to Solomon, because he had always been on friendly terms with David. ² Solomon sent back this message to Hiram:

³ “You know that because of the wars waged against my father David from all sides, he could not build a temple for the Name of the Lord his God until the Lord put his enemies under his feet. ⁴ But now the Lord my God has given me rest on every side, and there is no adversary or disaster. ⁵ I intend, therefore, to build a temple for the Name of the Lord my God, as the Lord told my father David, when he said, ‘Your son whom I will put on the throne in your place will build the temple for my Name.’

⁶ “So give orders that cedars of Lebanon be cut for me. My men will work with yours, and I will pay you for your men whatever wages you set. You know that we have no one so skilled in felling timber as the Sidonians.”

⁷ When Hiram heard Solomon’s message, he was greatly pleased and said, “Praise be to the Lord today, for he has given David a wise son to rule over this great nation.”

⁸ So Hiram sent word to Solomon:

“I have received the message you sent me and will do all you want in providing the cedar and juniper logs. ⁹ My men will haul them down from Lebanon to the Mediterranean Sea, and I will float them as rafts by sea to the place you specify. There I will separate them and you can take them away. And you are to grant my wish by providing food for my royal household.”

¹⁰ In this way Hiram kept Solomon supplied with all the cedar and juniper logs he wanted, ¹¹ and Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand cors of wheat as food for his household, in addition to twenty thousand baths of pressed olive oil. Solomon continued to do this for Hiram year after year. ¹² The Lord gave Solomon wisdom, just as he had promised him. There were peaceful relations between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a treaty.

¹³ King Solomon conscripted laborers from all Israel—thirty thousand men. ¹⁴ He sent them off to Lebanon in shifts of ten thousand a month, so that they spent one month in Lebanon and two months at home. Adoniram was in charge of the forced labor. ¹⁵ Solomon had seventy thousand carriers and eighty thousand stonecutters in the hills, ¹⁶ as well as thirty-three hundred foremen who supervised the project and directed the workers. ¹⁷ At the king’s command they removed from the quarry large blocks of high-grade stone to provide a foundation of dressed stone for the temple. ¹⁸ The craftsmen of Solomon and Hiram and workers from Byblos cut and prepared the timber and stone for the building of the temple.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

King Solomon was gifted first with wisdom (his request) with God’s wisdom came great wealth (God’s blessing). God’s purpose for David, with God’s leading, was to bring “all His enemies under his feet” and bring the twelve tribes of Israel back together as one.  In gratitude, David wanted to build a Temple for God that would be so much greater than the former Tent of Meeting set apart for God by God through Moses. God said no to David, but yes to his son, Solomon.  Now, in time of peace, by God’s will, David’s desire for a Temple to God will be fulfilled in Solomon, a temple glorious and magnificent.  “Only the best” will do is the King’s mantra. But what does the “best” mean to God?

During the temple construction, God reaffirmed to Solomon the promise he had previously made to David. It was predicated on Solomon obeying the Lord’s laws and commands.  It’s a wonderful day indeed when we stop working for God and begin working with God. (Go ahead, read the sentence again). David’s legacy to his son was to gather materials and artisans in preparation for the Temple project.  This prep work gave Solomon a starting point to begin God’s plan with His purpose given to David.

As any pastor and church board can attest, building programs are not easy, and they either bring out the best or the worst in God’s people. But like Moses who supervised the building of the tabernacle, Solomon had a great deal going for him. Both men knew that God had chosen them to direct the work and that He would enable them to finish successfully. Both leaders had an incredible amount of wealth and materials at their disposal before they started, and both received the construction plans from the Lord Himself. Both were blessed to have leaders who gave generously to support the project.

What should remain on our minds when God leads us to undertake a great building project is the “why” and “the cost.”  Jesus taught; “For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it?” (Luke 14:28). Jesus used a construction project to illustrate the decision to follow Him. Every life project should be undertaken by seeking God’s guidance, practicing good stewardship, and recruiting capable and trusted help along the way. These steps of wisdom won’t necessarily make the project easy, but they will make difficult challenges achievable.

Kings and kingdoms will all pass away, but there’s something about that Name—

In the history of God’s people, this very Temple will be destroyed and desecrated by the Babylonians, barbaric enemies of God. God will allow it because His people have turned their backs on God in disobedience to God.  The Temple became a beautiful site to see but lost its original purpose.  Another Temple, even greater than this one will be built later in Jerusalem by another king but for his glory and recognition. In fact, it will become a “den of thieves” by the Son of God, Jesus who will grieve heavily over the Temple leaders and those who come to the Temple for what is supposed to be the House of Prayer, a “meeting place” with God.

Yes, centuries later, Jesus and his disciples, will walk through the rebuilt Temple. The disciples of lowly heritage will be impressed at its beautiful structure but Jesus will not only warn them of putting too much stock in buildings as he grieves and become righteously angry over what God’s Temple has become. 

Jesus used this very moment to prophesy its destruction, shifting their focus from physical buildings to spiritual truth.  Matthew, one of those disciples, will write later of the incident at the Temple;

“Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves.  ^‘It is written, he said to them, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it ‘a den of robbers’”.

The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them. But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple courts, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David,’ they were indignant. ‘Do you hear what these children are saying?’ they asked him.

Yes, replied Jesus, ‘have you never read, ‘From the lips of children and infants you, Lord, have called forth your praise’?

And he left them and went out of the city to Bethany, where he spent the night.” Matthew 21:12-17

God’s Temple Built on the Foundation of Jesus Christ—

“Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.”—Paul to the church, 1 Corinthians 3:16-17

The statement “the temple of God is within you” is a core Christian believers’ concept which teaches that believers’ bodies are inhabited by God’s Holy Spirit and are, therefore, sacred. This means the presence of God is not limited to external structures but resides within individuals, emphasizing spiritual significance and the call to live a holy life that honors God’s presence. 

Paul further explains; “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.”—Paul to the church in Corinth who were fighting, committing sexual sins, and worshiping idols along with God. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 It would be eye-opening to read the whole chapter (maybe both letters to the Corinthians) to get the full picture of how together, we form the Body of Christ!

Paul brings this point home as he witnesses to the leaders in Athens;

“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. ‘For in him we live and move and have our being. As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’

Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill. In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.” Acts 17:24-31

Our response?

Believe, repent, be saved for eternity—this is the beginning place of building the Temple of God within us.  God’s Holy Spirit will guide our temple building with the wisdom we need to make our temple a place God desires to dwell within.  As we grow we will begin to bear the fruits of God’s character; “love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” Galatians 5:22-23.  Seek first God and all these traits will be added to lives who seek these treasures from God.  The Lord will answer when we come to Him.

Lord,

Thank you, thank you, thank you for the lessons we must learn from you to be more like you in every way. Thank you for cleansing our hearts, renewing our minds, refreshing our souls, and making us whole from brokenness. Thank you for restoring and sustaining the joy of Your Holy Presence living in us while molding and shaping us to be all you created us to be.

In Jesus Name, Amen