First Kings 5-7

God’s message to me: Honor God. The construction and decoration of the temple show a great deal of glory and honor being given to God. It should be understood that we are dealing with the King of kings when we decide how we will honor our Lord. We, as Christians, are given the honor of being granted an Audience with the Creator and Ruler of the universe any time we desire one through prayer. All to often we take this for granted and treat it far to lightly and casually. It isn’t necessary to dress up for church every time but how would you dress if you knew the President of the United States was going to be there? It isn’t required that we clean and polish everything to perfection but how would you like your church to look if Jesus Christ were going to preach this Sunday?

Promises: God doesn’t ask for things He doesn’t provide. David obtained the treasures used to decorate the temple during his conquest of the enemies that came against him and Israel. Solomon obtained the materials from allies who gladly sold them out of friendship with both David and Solomon.

Commands: Honor God as God wishes to be honored. The design of the Tabernacle and the Temple were both divinely inspired. Remember what happened to the sons of Aaron when they offered incense outside of the boundaries of the ceremonies commanded by God. God expects nothing less and nothing more than that we fulfill his commands. Doing less is wrong. Going beyond is wrong.

The most humble mission can be used more mightily than the most beautiful cathedral but each should reflect the best we are able to give to our God.

Timeless principles: Churches are all different and some have more resources than others. Taking into account the resources available to your congregation, who’s house is nicer, yours or Gods? The people of Israel built the Tabernacle of Meeting and the Temple of God out of the best and most costly materials available. They Layered everything they could in gold and decorated with gemstones. For those things that needed more durability they used bronze which is similar in color and easily polished to great beauty. How do you honor God’s house?

How can I apply what I’ve learned: God is the King of kings and Lord of lords. It makes no sense to give Him anything but the best. Not only was the temple layered in Gold and the furnishings made from the best woods and metals, the best artisans were brought in to create the items so that they would be artistically and architecturally the best.

more to learn for in-depth study: It’s been a while since I did an in depth study of end times prophecy so I can’t remember the verse reference to back this. Egypt and Lebanon will turn to God and join with Israel against the Anti-Christ in the Tribulation. These two nations were allies of Israel under Solomon as well. Lebanon had a mostly Christian population with a large Jewish component and a minority Muslim group which was not militant prior to the nations takeover by Hezbollah and Hamas. The Muslims who took over the country were Shiite Iranians and the large Muslim contingent in Lebanon today is Iranian and not Lebanese. Since the Peace treaty with Egypt Israel has had little or no state sponsored trouble from that nation. While they are hardly swayed to side with Israel at this time, they are becoming less of a threat. It isn’t difficult to see the work of prophecy in the news.

480 years after the Israelites left Egypt, Solomon has been on the throne 4 years, it is the second month of the year and The Temple of God, sometimes called the temple of Solomon begins to be built. As we have dated things before this we can see that the Temple began to be built about 3148 years after the creation of the earth. It took 7 years to build it so that it would have been finished in about the year 3155 after creation.

I can’t find my notes and book on the Tabernacle of meeting right now but I’ll try to give you a comparison later. The temple was 90 feet long 30 feet wide and 45 feet high. The vestibule extended another 15 feet in front. It is interesting to note the details but I will only comment on 3.

The stones used to build it were finished at the quarry so that there would be no sound of hammers in the temple while it was being built. They would have to be transported carefully to ensure no damage after finishing and they would have to be carefully measured and accurately constructed in order to fit perfectly together when they arrived. The interior walls were covered in wood so that no stone was visible from inside the temple. Like the Tabernacle, furnishings were made of wood and covered in gold. While fine wood was used to make the walls and decorations they did not show within the temple. Every surface including the floors, ceilings, walls, doors and door frames were covered in gold.

When people talk about the lost treasure of Israel it has to do with this temple. The Temple itself, along with all that was in it was worth a fortune. King David made certain that there was treasure set aside for the construction of this richly appointed building. In fact there was much more than enough. Solomon, in turn, built the temple and added to the treasure so that, if something were to happen, there would be enough to rebuild it. This treasure was hidden well and portions used several times in the history of Israel then replaced, sometimes quickly and other times not for many decades. This secure treasure has been maintained throughout history and is believed to still be stored where it always has been. The Ark of the Covenant is believed to also be there.

Raiders of the Lost Ark is one of several theories on where the Ark is now but the important thing to note is that no sacrifices were continued at the Temple or the Tabernacle unless the Ark was there. The blood of the sacrifice had to go to the mercy seat on the Ark of the Covenant and so the sacrifice at the temple would not make sense without it. The end times prophecies tell us that sacrifices will have returned before the tribulation begins. This tells us we can look for the return of the Ark of the Covenant as one of the last things to occur before the Rapture. On the other hand, it is not marked as a sign of the Rapture so it may happen after the Rapture. The bible is unclear on the time table but the Rapture occurs a short time before the tribulation begins. This could be hours, days, months or potentially years. Given the rapid timetable of those times I expect it would be less than a year and the resulting mayhem that will occur when every Born Again Christian suddenly disappears will be a great opening for the anti-Christ who is described as a powerful world leader. Political power and popularity is most easily gained in time of crises. Note how many politicians have said things like “never waste a crisis” since the recession began.

tomorrow: First Kings 8