Solomon, the son of King David, was given wisdom, knowledge, wealth and honour, from God. Such as no other king had previously or shall any after him. When God had blessed him with wealth, he was determined to build a royal house for Him.
The temple Solomon had built was a type and shadow of what was to come. Blood sacrifices to cleanse from sin and an inner court, the Holy of Holies. When Jesus the only Begotten Son of God, sacrificed Himself on the cross, He became the fulfilment of the greatest sacrifice ever.
When He rose from the dead, He made a new and better covenant for all mankind, doing away with a temple made of stone. The moment He died on the cross, the veil to the inner court, was torn in two. Making the throne room of God accessible to man, and changing God’s dwelling place from a temple made by man’s hands, to one made by His hands, in us.
2 Chronicles 6:7-9. Now it was in the heart of my father David to build a temple for the name of the Lord God of Israel. But the Lord said to my father David, ‘Whereas it was in your heart to build a temple for My name, you did well in that it was in your heart. Nevertheless you shall not build the temple, but your son who will come from your body, he shall build the temple for My name.’
The son shall build the temple. Jesus is the one who builds our temples, He is the corner stone on which we are rebuilt. He is also the author and finisher of our faith. And He is the way maker at the cross.
The inner sanctuary is where our inner man is, and the ark is our heart. What is in the ark? His commandments written on our hearts.
2 Chronicles 5:7. Then the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the Lord to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the temple, to the Most Holy Place, under the wings of the cherubim.
2 Chronicles 5:10. Nothing was in the ark except the two tablets which Moses put there at Horeb, when the Lord made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they had come out of Egypt.
After the temple was finished and everything put in place, as the Lord designed, then there was a celebration, and God entered His house.
2 Chronicles 7:1-3. When Solomon had finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the Lord filled the temple. And the priests could not enter the house of the Lord, because the glory of the Lord had filled the Lord’s house.
When all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of the Lord on the temple, they bowed their faces to the ground on the pavement, and worshiped and praised the Lord, saying:
“For He is good,
For His mercy endures forever.”
The fire is the Holy Spirit entering us when we enter that new covenant through the sacrifice of Jesus at the cross. The presence of God indwelling us. His fire consumes the sacrifices of sin we give up, the darkness in our heart and soul, renewing them day by day, making brand new. He purifies by lining His home with the purity of gold, and engraving His wisdom of words on the fabric of our hearts. Our inner man meditating on His beauty day and night.
1 corinthians 6:19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?
Solomon prayed for the Lord to have mercy upon the people of Israel, and commanded them to pray to the temple to repent when they sinned. Then God would have mercy upon them and forgive them their sins. When we pray we speak from the heart to God, who is very near.
2 Chronicles 7:14-16. if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
2 Chronicles 6:36-42. “When they sin against You (for there is no one who does not sin), and You become angry with them and deliver them to the enemy, and they take them captive to a land far or near; yet when they come to themselves in the land where they were carried captive, and repent, and make supplication to You in the land of their captivity, saying,
‘We have sinned, we have done wrong, and have committed wickedness’; and when they return to You with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, where they have been carried captive, and pray toward their land which You gave to their fathers, the city which You have chosen, and toward the temple which I have built for Your name: then hear from heaven Your dwelling place their prayer and their supplications, and maintain their cause, and forgive Your people who have sinned against You.
Now, my God, I pray, let Your eyes be open and let Your ears be attentive to the prayer made in this place.
“Now therefore, Arise, O Lord God, to Your resting place,
You and the ark of Your strength.
Let Your priests, O Lord God, be clothed with salvation,
And let Your saints rejoice in goodness.
“O Lord God, do not turn away the face of Your Anointed;
Remember the mercies of Your servant David.”
This shows Gods mercy, yes we are sinners, but He has always been merciful and faithful to forgive our sins, if we turn to Him, repent and ask for help. We see this all through scripture with all people, not just the people of Isreal.
1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
God also warns us of what will happen if we turn away from Him.
2 Chronicles 7:19-20. “But if you turn away and forsake My statutes and My commandments which I have set before you, and go and serve other gods, and worship them, then I will uproot them from My land which I have given them; and this house which I have sanctified for My name I will cast out of My sight, and will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples.
1 Corinthians 3:16-17. Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.
Proverbs 28:13. He who covers his sins will not prosper,
But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.
So friends and family, we see how the old testament mirrors the new. Jesus is The Word and The Word was with God, and The Word was God. His words are written in His Ark, on our hearts, and His Holy Spirit fire dwelling in our inner sanctuary with the inner man on fire for God. His mercy seat on the ark, covered by the blood of Jesus, our atonement of grace.
As you can see, God in His absolute love and faithfulness to us, has given us everything, in the most perfect gift of all, Lord Jesus Christ.
In light of this revelation, how could we possibly think that we did anything good, when we know that all good things come from the Father of lights, who dwells within us. Amen.
Praise You and glorify You Jesus, that we may all glorify our Father through You, for ever and ever. Amen.
With love from your brother in Christ,
Paul
