Scripture Reading: 1 Kings 5:1-5

1 Kings 5-8

In Our Scripture Reading, We Read that…

Solomon is Now Planning on Building the Temple

The Rest of Chapter 5 Looks at the Preparation…

For Getting the Building Materials and the Labor that will Be Involved

1 Kings 6:1 (NASB95)

1 Now it came about in the four hundred and eightieth year after the sons of Israel came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv which is the second month, that he began to build the house of the Lord.

The Building of the Temple has Officially Begun

Throughout the Rest of the Chapter…

We’re Given Descriptions of All the Design Details of the Temple

Based Upon the Given Information, Here’s How the Temple Looked:

The Entire Complex was Over Half the Size of a Football Field

(3 Pictures - Each Zooms in Closer Than the Last)

This Next Picture is Just a Neat One to See

The Temple of Solomon was Immaculate…

But it was Tiny Compared to the Temple Jesus would have Entered, Herod’s Temple

We Read Something Interesting in the Middle of Chapter 6

1 Kings 6:11–13 (NASB95)

11 Now the word of the Lord came to Solomon saying, 12 “Concerning this house which you are building, if you will walk in My statutes and execute My ordinances and keep all My commandments by walking in them, then I will carry out My word with you which I spoke to David your father. 13 “I will dwell among the sons of Israel, and will not forsake My people Israel.”

God Promises Solomon that He will...

Dwell with the People of Israel and Not Forsake Them on One Condition

King Solomon Must Obey God’s Statutes, Ordinances, and Commandments

The People’s Connection to God Relies Upon the King’s Faithfulness

We’ll See that Be the Case Throughout the Rest of Kings

Good Kings will Lead the People to Righteousness and Salvation

Bad Kings will Lead the People to Sin and Destruction

1 Kings 7:1-12 is About Solomon’s Palace that Took 13 Years to Build

Then the Rest of Chapter 7 is About the Articles that would Be in/Around the Temple

Then We Come to Chapter 8

The Temple is Finished

Now it’s Time for the Grand Opening

1 Kings 8:1–6 (NASB95)

1 Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the fathers’ households of the sons of Israel, to King Solomon in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord from the city of David, which is Zion. 2 All the men of Israel assembled themselves to King Solomon at the feast, in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month. 3 Then all the elders of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark.

4 They brought up the ark of the Lord and the tent of meeting and all the holy utensils, which were in the tent, and the priests and the Levites brought them up. 5 And King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, who were assembled to him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing so many sheep and oxen they could not be counted or numbered. 6 Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the house, to the most holy place, under the wings of the cherubim.

There’s a Huge Feast

The Ark is Brought into the Most Holy Place of the Temple

And Innumerable Sacrifices are Being Made

This is a Huge and Spectacular Event

1 Kings 8:10–11 (NASB95)

10 It happened that when the priests came from the holy place, the cloud filled the house of the Lord, 11 so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord.

Just Like with the Tabernacle in Exodus 40…

God’s Glorious Presence Entered the Temple in the From of a Thick Cloud

This Proved to the People that God was Officially Dwelling with Them in His Temple

Solomon Then Speaks to the Entire Assembly…

And Praises God for Keeping His Promises Concerning Solomon and the Temple

Then He Begins to Pray to God

Again, He Praises Him and Asks Him to Continue to Keep His Promises

Then Solomon Prays:

1 Kings 8:27–52 (NASB95)

27 “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain You, how much less this house which I have built! 28 “Yet have regard to the prayer of Your servant and to his supplication, O Lord my God, to listen to the cry and to the prayer which Your servant prays before You today; 29 that Your eyes may be open toward this house night and day, toward the place of which You have said, ‘My name shall be there,’ to listen to the prayer which Your servant shall pray toward this place. 30 “Listen to the supplication of Your servant and of Your people Israel, when they pray toward this place; hear in heaven Your dwelling place; hear and forgive.

Solomon Reveals an Interesting Point

“Can a God, Who the Universe itself Can’t Contain…”

“Fit Inside this Little House I’ve Built?”

Well, in a Sense, Yes

But in Another Sense, No

Did God Dwell in the Most Holy Place of the Temple?

Yes and No

God is Omnipresent

He is Everywhere at All Times

No Place is Outside of His Presence

That is Especially True When it Came to the Most Holy Place of the Temple

That was the Place He Chose to Make His Presence Known

It was the Place Where Heaven and Earth Meet

The Place Where Humanity has Access to…

And can Come into Direct Contact with God

The Purpose of the Temple was Not Because God Needed a House to Live in

The Purpose was So He could Dwell in the Midst of His People…

And So They could have Access to Him

As Solomon Presented it:

This is the Place Where God Hears His People’s Prayers

This is Why the Temple would Be Known as a “House of Prayer”

Solomon Goes on to Give Several Examples of What He’s Talking About:

31 “If a man sins against his neighbor and is made to take an oath, and he comes and takes an oath before Your altar in this house, 32 then hear in heaven and act and judge Your servants, condemning the wicked by bringing his way on his own head and justifying the righteous by giving him according to his righteousness.

33 “When Your people Israel are defeated before an enemy, because they have sinned against You, if they turn to You again and confess Your name and pray and make supplication to You in this house, 34 then hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of Your people Israel, and bring them back to the land which You gave to their fathers.

35 “When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain, because they have sinned against You, and they pray toward this place and confess Your name and turn from their sin when You afflict them, 36 then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of Your servants and of Your people Israel, indeed, teach them the good way in which they should walk. And send rain on Your land, which You have given Your people for an inheritance.

37 “If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence, if there is blight or mildew, locust or grasshopper, if their enemy besieges them in the land of their cities, whatever plague, whatever sickness there is, 38 whatever prayer or supplication is made by any man or by all Your people Israel, each knowing the affliction of his own heart, and spreading his hands toward this house; 39 then hear in heaven Your dwelling place, and forgive and act and render to each according to all his ways, whose heart You know, for You alone know the hearts of all the sons of men, 40 that they may fear You all the days that they live in the land which You have given to our fathers.

41 “Also concerning the foreigner who is not of Your people Israel, when he comes from a far country for Your name’s sake 42 (for they will hear of Your great name and Your mighty hand, and of Your outstretched arm); when he comes and prays toward this house, 43 hear in heaven Your dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to You, in order that all the peoples of the earth may know Your name, to fear You, as do Your people Israel, and that they may know that this house which I have built is called by Your name.

44 “When Your people go out to battle against their enemy, by whatever way You shall send them, and they pray to the Lord toward the city which You have chosen and the house which I have built for Your name, 45 then hear in heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause.

46 “When they sin against You (for there is no man who does not sin) and You are angry with them and deliver them to an enemy, so that they take them away captive to the land of the enemy, far off or near; 47 if they take thought in the land where they have been taken captive, and repent and make supplication to You in the land of those who have taken them captive, saying, ‘We have sinned and have committed iniquity, we have acted wickedly’; 48 if they return to You with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies who have taken them captive, and pray to You toward their land which You have given to their fathers, the city which You have chosen, and the house which I have built for Your name;

49 then hear their prayer and their supplication in heaven Your dwelling place, and maintain their cause, 50 and forgive Your people who have sinned against You and all their transgressions which they have transgressed against You, and make them objects of compassion before those who have taken them captive, that they may have compassion on them 51 (for they are Your people and Your inheritance which You have brought forth from Egypt, from the midst of the iron furnace), 52 that Your eyes may be open to the supplication of Your servant and to the supplication of Your people Israel, to listen to them whenever they call to You.”

As Solomon Continually Says:

God’s True Dwelling Place is in Heaven

So What’s the Point of the Temple?

It’s Where Heaven and Earth Meet

It’s Where God is Accessible to Humanity

It’s Where Prayers are Heard

It’s Where Repentance Takes Place

It’s Where Forgiveness is Found

After His Prayer, Solomon Spoke to the Assembly Again:

1 Kings 8:56–61 (NASB95)

56 “Blessed be the Lord, who has given rest to His people Israel, according to all that He promised; not one word has failed of all His good promise, which He promised through Moses His servant. 57 “May the Lord our God be with us, as He was with our fathers; may He not leave us or forsake us, 58 that He may incline our hearts to Himself, to walk in all His ways and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His ordinances, which He commanded our fathers. 59 “And may these words of mine, with which I have made supplication before the Lord, be near to the Lord our God day and night, that He may maintain the cause of His servant and the cause of His people Israel, as each day requires, 60 so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God; there is no one else. 61 “Let your heart therefore be wholly devoted to the Lord our God, to walk in His statutes and to keep His commandments, as at this day.”

Then He Offered Thousands Upon Thousands of Sacrifices Upon the Altar

After 8 Days, the People Went Home Joyful and Thankful for God’s Goodness

Application

In These Chapters, We See Lots of:

Foreshadowing

Typology

And Principles that Find Their Fullness Under the New Covenant

The Need for a Faithful, Righteous King

God Promised to Remain Faithful to His People…

So Long as the King Remained Faithful to Him

So Long as the King Obeys God…

God will Live with His People and Not Forsake Them

We, as Citizens of God’s Kingdom, have a Faithful, Righteous King

Our King Did Remain Faithful to and Obey God in Everything

And Because of that…

God Lives with Us and Doesn’t Forsake Us

God Promised that if the King Remained Faithful…

Then Those that Belong to that King would have Access to God

God Also Expects Us to Be Faithful

But if it wasn’t for the Faithfulness of Our King…

Our Faithfulness would Accomplish Nothing for Us

Because of Our Faithful King…

We have a Permanent and Intimate Relationship with God

Jesus is the Temple

The Temple is Where Sinners Turn to Repent

The Temple is Where Forgiveness is Found

The Temple is Where Prayers are Offered and Answered

The Temple is Where Heaven and Earth Meet

Where Both God and Man can Be Present at the Same Time

It was the Place Where God was With Us

Now Think About How Jesus is the Fulfillment of All These Things

Jesus is Where Sinners Turn to Repent

Jesus is Where Forgiveness is Found

Jesus is Where Prayers are Offered and Answered

We Almost Always End Our Prayers “In Jesus’ Name”

Why?

Because He Grants Us Access to God Through Prayer

Jesus is Where Heaven and Earth Meet

He is Both God and Man at the Same Time

He is Immanuel - God with Us

What the Temple Accomplished for Israel…

Jesus Accomplishes for Us

He is Our Temple that was Tore Down and Rebuilt in 3 Days

And He Lives Forever to Mediate Between Humanity and God

We are the Temple

Jesus is the Temple for His People

But His People are Meant to Be the Temple, as Well

Just as God’s Glorious Presence Filled the Temple…

His Holy Spirit Fills Us When We are Baptized into Christ

We are a Meeting Place Between Heaven and Earth

God’s Heavenly Spirit Lives Within Our Earthly Bodies

And Just as Jesus is Our Mediator and Grants Us Access to God…

We are Mediators Between the World and Jesus

It’s Our Mission to Tell the World How They can Access God Through Jesus

Whenever the World Comes into Contact with Us…

They Ought to Experience God’s Presence

The World should Come to Experience and Know God Through Us

As We Go Out into the World this Week, Let’s Remember:

We are Temples to the World

May Our Interactions with Others Influence Them Toward Jesus