A Place for god's name to dwell!

(The red words of linked to biblestudytools.com lexicon). 

Solomon begins construction on the temple 480 years after Israel left Egypt. The word of the Lord comes to Solomon and said; “Concerning this house which thou art in building, if thou wilt walk in my statutes, and execute myjudgments, and keep all my commandments to walk in them; then will I perform my word with thee, which Ispake unto David thy father: And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will not forsake my peopleIsrael” (1 Kings 6:12-13).  This conditional statement has so much promise!

The promises are those given to David through the prophet Nathan; "When your days are complete and you liedown with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come forth from you, and I willestablish his kingdom. "He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his king "I will be a father to him and he will be a son to Me; when he commits iniquity, I will correct him with the rod of men and the strokes of the sons of men, but My lovingkindness shall not depart from him, as I took it away from Saul,whom I removed from before you.  "Your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throneshall be established forever""' (2 Sam. 7 12-16).  

This time the Lord will not leave the King Solomon as he did with Saul. Why not? I believe it is because of the promise he made to David. Because of David’s relationship with the Lord, Solomon received Grace! Solomon openly worships idols!  He makes terrible mistakes and sins greatly, but the Lord stayed with him!  Again, why?  The promise!  This is a picture of the promise made all the way back in the garden of a coming Savior.  We do not deserve the Grace that has been given us, but because God gave His promise, because God keeps His Word… He sent the Word and offered Grace to those who would believe!

Solomon does not keep all of the covenant and statutes of the Lord (1 Kings 11:11-13)! He fails many times. He marries multiple wives, he marries foreign wives, he worships their gods, he builds places of worship for those gods and more (1 Kings 11)!   In fact, these high places and idols will be a snare to Israel beginning just after Solomon’s death and continued to be so until the captivity (1 Kings 12:30-32). And it is at this point that Israel begins its long descent away from God until they are finally sent into captivity. All of this reinforces the fact that as goes the leader, so goes the followers. This is true not only of a nation, but all the way down to the church and the home of each and every family. What a clear picture of the need for a Savior. Because of the sins of Solomon that Israel would continue to commit, they would walk away from God and God's presence would no longer dwell there in the house of God with the people. After Solomon’s death in 930 BC, the Kingdom of Israel was divided into the Northern Kingdom (Israel) and the Southern Kingdom (Judah).  But the promise was still in effect!  The Savior would come!  Again, Grace...

Finding Jesus on Every Page

We have a Savior! Jesus Christ! He lives in us! We are the temple!  His presence does not live in a building. He lives in us! Not because we are sinless and keep all of God’s statutes, judgments and commandments. Israel could not keep all of them and neither can we.  All have sinned (Rom. 3:23)! His presence indwells us only because of redemption offered by Grace through Jesus Christ. God can and does dwell in us as a temple, not because we are sinless but because our sins have been paid for by the ultimate sacrifice, the Son of God, Jesus Christ! The Temple is a picture that is teaching us about the indwelling presence of God within us! God would not continue in the Temple of Israel because of the people's sins. But, because of the redeeming work of Jesus Christ, God remains in us. Jesus said, "I will never leave you or forsake you” (Heb. 13:5 HCSB). (See also: John 6:39.)

God's manifest presence in the Temple was conditional for Israel. His manifest presence within our hearts is also conditional. We are unable to meet any of those conditions. That's why He sent His only Son! He is the only one who could meet those conditions and keep the statutes and execute the ordinances and keep all the commandments of the Lord!  He lived a sinless life!  Then He gave Himself up for us to the cross (Gal. 1:4)!  He died once for all (Rom. 6:10)! He rose from the dead!  He won the victory (1 Cor. 15:57)!  And, if you have trusted in Him, you have Him in your heart as His Temple!  We cannot see it with our eyes now but one day we will see Him face to face!  What Jesus has done and is doing in us is even more glorious than that day at Solomon's Temple!  Let's live like that!  The image and glory of God! Live like that! The beautiful Temple of the Almighty God!