Recently, late one night, I was reading the book of Chronicles. I had finished reading 1st Chronicles and was reading through 2nd Chronicles, chapters 1-5. These chapters talk about the ascension of Solomon to the throne of David as the king of Judah and Israel. As the new king, Solomon was given one of the greatest responsibility, the biggest task ever in his young life, the construction of the temple of God that David wanted to build for his LORD. David had wanted to construct a permanent home for the Ark of the Covenant, but God told David that he did not want David to build the temple, rather his son Solomon would build that temple for him. We read in 1 Chronicles, chapter 28, that David summoned all his officials to Jerusalem - the leaders of the tribes, the commanders of the twelve army divisions, the other generals and captains, the overseers of the royal property and livestock, the palace officials, the mighty men, and all the other warriors in the kingdom. David rose and stood before them and addressed them, "My brothers and my people! It was my desire to build a temple where the Ark of the LORD'S covenant, God's footstool, could rest permanently. I made the necessary preparations for building it, but God said to me , ' You must not build a temple to honor my name, for you are a warrior and have shed much blood.'"
"Yet the LORD, the God of Israel, has chosen me from among all my father's family to be king over Israel forever. For he has chosen the tribe of Judah to rule, and from among the families of Judah, he chose my father's family. And from among my father's sons, the LORD was pleased to make me king over all Israel. And from among my sons - for the LORD has give me many children - he chose Solomon to succeed me on the throne of his kingdom of Israel. He said to me, "Your son Solomon will build my Temple and its courtyards, for I have chosen him as my son, and I will be his father..."
David, the father, then continued to instruct and encourage his son, a young and inexperienced Solomon to take courage and trust in the God of Israel. He turned over to Solomon the complete detailed plans and specifications for the construction of the Temple, including details on every one of its room and the surrounding courtyards; he gave Solomon very detailed specification for the construction of the temple artifacts. David had received the details for the temple from God. "Every part of this plan," David told Solomon," was given to me in writing from the hand of the LORD." (1Chronicles 28:19)
David had accumulated vast amounts of treasure for the construction of the LORD's temple. In 1Chronicles 29, we read David saying "Using every resource at my [David's] command, I have gathered as much as I could for building the Temple of my God. Now there is enough gold, silver, bronze, iron, and wood, as well as great quantities of onyx, other precious stones, costly jewels, and all kinds of fine stone and marble." And he further gave all his private treasures of gold and silver to help in the construction. He donated more than 112 tons of gold from Ophir and over 263 tons of refined silver to be used for overlaying the walls of the buildings and for the other gold and silver work to be done by the craftsmen. He encouraged his officials and citizens gathered at that time to give an additional 188 tons of gold, 10,000 gold coins, about 375 tons of silver, about 675 tons of bronze, and about 3,750 tons of iron. They also contributed numerous precious stones, which were deposited in the treasury of the house of the LORD. The bible says, "The people rejoiced over the offerings, for they had given freely and wholeheartedly to the LORD, and King David was filled with joy."
In 2 Chronicles, chapters 1 through 5 we read that Solomon undertook the construction of the temple that his father wanted to construct. He put together a team, a group of workers for the monumental task; a huge undertaking. He hired a work force of 153,600 men: 70,000 common laborers, 80,000 stone cutters, and 3,600 foremen. He reached out to the neighboring king of Tyre, King Hiram, for the wood needed to construct the temple. This was his message to King Hiram, "Send me cedar logs like the ones that were supplied to my father, David, when he was building his palace. I am about to build a Temple to honor the name of the LORD my God. It will be a place set apart to burn incense and sweet spices before him, to display the special sacrificial bread, and to sacrifice burnt offerings each morning and evening, on the Sabbaths, at new moon celebrations, and at the other appointed festivals of the LORD our God. He has commanded Israel to do this forever. He wanted the temple to be a magnificent structure, "for our [Israel's] God is an awesome God, greater than any other." He also inquired about a master craftsman who can work with gold, silver, bronze, and iron; someone who was also an expert at dyeing purple, scarlet, and blue cloth; and a skilled engraver who can work with the craftsmen from his kingdom.
King Hiram sent a man by the name of Huram-abi, a master craftsman, a brilliant man, who was skillful at making things from gold, silver, bronze, and iron. He was also an expert stone worker, carpenter, and weaver. He was an expert in dyeing purple, blue and scarlet cloth and in working with linen; the colors of the royalty. He was also an engraver who could follow any design given to him. (2Chronicles 2:13-14).
We read of the magnificence of the temple in chapters 3 and 4 as it was being constructed of the finest woods of Lebanon, overlaid with unimaginable amounts of precious metals and jewels. The details of the temple construction, its artifacts and the worship dedicating the temple is literally mind boggling in today's wealth. As we reach chapter 5, we read that the Ark of the LORD's covenant was brought to the newly completed temple from the City of David, and placed in the inner sanctuary of the temple - the most Holy Place - for a permanent resting place for the Ark.
Do you know what was in this Ark? The two stone tablets that Moses had placed there at Mount Sinai when the LORD made a covenant with the people of Israel after they left Egypt. The covenant of the Ten Commandments. The Commandments of the LORD for his people to follow. And as the priests and musicians played their instruments and praised God, giving thanks to the LORD, the Bible says, "At that moment a cloud filled the Temple of the LORD. The priests could not continue their work because the glorious presence of the LORD filled the Temple of God."
In the wee hours of the morning as I was reading these scriptures, imagining the financing, construction, the magnificence of the temple, my mind wandered to Psalms 139, a Psalm of David, where he writes "You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother's womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous - and how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. How precious are your thoughts about me, O God! They are innumerable! I can't even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up in the morning, you are still with me!"
The main characters in these sections of the books of Chronicles: King David, his son Solomon, and the master craftsman, Huram-abi drifted back in to my thoughts. I saw my body as the temple of the LORD being constructed, for which Father God had accumulated all the treasure that will ever be needed for its construction - Jesus Christ his son. The sinner that I was, a non-entity, was financed by the most precious blood of my savior Jesus Christ, who continues as my advocate, my high priest overseeing the daily maintenance and construction of his temple - my body. And the Holy Spirit, the master craftsman who can work with any metal, stone, wood, and fabric, the one who can engrave any design, began the work in me on February 25, 2007, a construction that he will continue in me until the day the image of Christ is completed in me. In my heart, the inner sanctuary of this temple of my God, I will have to place his commandments, the Ark of the Covenant, and as I continue on the journey that is my life, worshiping and praising God with a thankful heart, the glorious presence of the LORD will fill me. His glorious presence will fill us! He will dwell in us.
When the glorious presence of the LORD comes into us, there will be no room for fear, sickness, addictions, bondage, depression, sadness, greed, lust, selfish pride. There will rise praise and worship to the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY and showers of blessings will be upon his people!
We don't have to go digging for the Ark of the Covenant, it's right here within our reach. Open the Bible, read his word. The specifications and plans for the construction of his magnificent temple lies there in. Call out to him and he will send his master craftsman, his Holy Spirit, to begin the work, for all the financing needed to begin the work has been paid for - on Calvary. He wants a permanent resting place in you and I. Will we welcome Him? He can work with anything, anyone! It does not matter where you were, what matters is where you are headed. The Bible says, heaven rejoices when a sinner is saved. May God begin the work in you to transform you in to that temple where his glorious presence resides. God bless you!
PS: I wanted to put some context to the magnificence of Solomon's temple that he built for his LORD. If we were to put a value to the 300 tons of gold that was used in the temple, not including the gold coins, the hundreds of tons of silver, bronze, brass, precious stones, and cedar wood, just material cost for the gold would be valued at $18 billion (that's right Billion with a "B") in today's value; price of gold being considered $1,657 per ounce. In comparison, the Empire State building in New York City when constructed in 1931 cost $41million. In 2007 it was valued at $560million. The twin towers of the World Trade Center was valued at $4.6 Billion dollars. Can you imagine the magnificence of the Temple of the LORD that was constructed?)
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