A Magnificent Temple

Today's Through the Bible Reading: 1 Kings 5:13-7:12; 2 Chron. 3:1-17; Psalm 127

Abbreviated Reading: 1 Kings 5:13-7:12; Psalm 127

“So Solomon built the temple and finished it.” 1 Kings 6:14 NKJV

Consider the vastness of Solomon’s building project for the temple: thirty thousand men were sent to Lebanon to gather building materials consisting of the great cedars and exquisite stone found there. It took eighty thousand stonecutters to cut and prepare the massive stones in the quarry which were to be used throughout the temple. With the absence of modern transportation, seventy thousand men were tasked to carry those enormous materials from the harvest site to the job site. All in all, it was an unimaginably huge undertaking.

Still, every detail was distinctly designed and every element carefully considered. And the result was spectacular – man’s best effort to provide the Creator of all the universe a dwelling place here on earth.

God is oh so gracious to inhabit a dwelling made of trees and stone. Here He created the universe, yet He looks on our endeavors and delights in them. God filled that temple with His presence – but that was Old Testament times. But consider this! God would later become a man and dwell among His people, even walking along those very stones.

Jesus loved God’s house. His heart was there as a child (Luke 2:46-49). The Bible tells us that zeal for His Father’s house consumed Him and He despised compromise in it as can be seen when He cleansed it from the defilement of merchandising (John 2:16-17). In the temple, Jesus healed the broken, restored the hurting (Matt. 21:14), and spoke truth to whoever would listen (John 2:18-23). On the temple mount Jesus stood and offered salvation!

“…Jesus stood and cried, saying…He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.” John 7:37-38

We are now the temple of the living God (1 Cor. 3:16). Just as Solomon built the temple and finished it – God promises to finish the work He has begun in you (Phil. 1:6). Just as God delighted in Solomon’s temple – He delights in you! And just as Jesus loved the temple – He loves you! He is zealous for you. He healed the broken and hurting then and He brings wholeness and healing to your life now.