The Significance of the House of God

Wayne Galloway
07/15/14 - N/A

Series: Studies in First Kings

Introduction:

1.  God spoke to King David saying, “I will make a house for you.  When your days are complete and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, and I will establish his kingdom.  He will build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever” (2 Sam. 7:11c-13). 2.  In fulfillment of His promise God raised up Solomon as king over His people Israel. 3.  David charged him saying, “Keep the charge of the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, His commandments, His ordinances, and His testimonies, according to what is written in the Law of Moses, that you may succeed in all that you do and wherever you turn” (1 Kings 2:3). 4.  Solomon was given wisdom, wealth and power and while God was building the house of David Solomon built a house for the Lord. 5.  1 Kings 6-9 describes the process. 6.  In this study we will give consideration to the temple and what it meant for the people of God.

Discussion:

I.  It meant that God dwelt among His people (6:11-13; 8:5-10).

A.  The house of God was a glorious house.

1.  Solomon contracted with king Hiram of Sidon to help with the construction.

a.  The Sidonians were specialists in cutting timber.

b.  Solomon contracted with them for cedar and cypress timber.

2.  Lebanon is famous for the cedar that comes from the region.

3.  Solomon had 30,000 laborers that were sent to Lebanon, 10,000 a month in relays.

4.  He had 70,000 responsible for transportation.

5.  80,000 responsible for hewing stone.

6.  He had 3,300 who supervised the project.

B.  Solomon was seven years in building it.

C.  But while its size and grandeur were impressive these paled in insignificance to the fact that it represented God dwelling among His people.

1.  As God spoke to Solomon He made His dwelling among them conditional (6:12-13).

2.  A multitude of sacrifices were offered as the Ark of the Covenant was brought into the house (8:5-9).

3.  A cloud filled the house so that the priests could not minister “for the glory of the Lord filled the house of Lord” (10-11).

II.  It meant that God was given to covenant keeping and showing lovingkindness (8:22-26).

A.  In his prayer of dedication David mentioned this.

B.  God had fulfilled His promise to David.

C.  Solomon prayed that God’s promise continue to be confirmed.

D.  God does what He says He will do.  Blessings come to those who take heed to their way and walk before the Lord in the way that David walked.

III.  It did not mean that God actually dwelt on the earth or in the house that Solomon had built, but it meant that He had a special relationship with Israel, His special covenant people (8:27).

A.  Some limit the nature of God as if He were like us, limited in time and space.

1.  The Canaanites made small houses for their gods.

2.  Shrines of small boxes into which they placed the images of their idols.

3. They took them out of the box to pay homage and then put them back into the box when they were finished.

B.  But Solomon did not make this mistake.

1.  He said, “Heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain You, how much less this house which I have built.”

2.  Paul said to the idol worshipers of Athens, “The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands, nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything.”  His contrast, “He gives to all life and breath and all things.  He made men to live on the earth.”  In other words, we are the ones that are so limited, but not Him.  See Acts 17:24ff.

IV.  God’s special relationship with His people meant that He heard the prayers of the penitent and forgave them (8:28-30).

A.  Notice the special nature of this relationship.

1.  Solomon did not say, “Listen to our prayers when we ask for more material blessings.” He did not say, “Listen to our prayers when we are sick and heal us.”

2.  Everything was interpreted in light of their need for forgiveness.

a.  When a man sins against his neighbor (8:31-32).

b.  When they were defeated before an enemy because of sin (8:33-34).

c.  When there was no rain because of sin (8:35-36).

d.  When there was famine because of sin (8:37-40).

e.  In captivity because of sin (8:46-50).

B.  The house of God represented the special relationship between God as forgiver and Israel as

V.  The house of God meant that God was a God of justice and one who condemned sin.

A.  This is the reason for all the sacrificial offerings associated with the house of God (8:62).

B.  But the house of God meant that God was gracious—making promises and fulfilling those promises upon the basis of His lovingkindness (9:1-3).

C.  Thus the warning (9:4-9).

D.  Thus the temple was all about God, sin, and His relationship with His people.

Conclusion:

1.  “Well what does all this mean for us?” 2.  Eph. 2:19ff describes those reconciled to God by the blood of Jesus Christ as God’s household, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone.  We are God’s building.  We are His holy temple, built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit. 3.  We are the house of God.  God dwells in us.  It is not that He inhabits our bodies, but that He has a special relationship with us.  It means that He hears our prayers for forgiveness and responds on the basis of His lovingkindness and forgives us. 4.  It means that He does not forsake us. 5.  It means that we must not forsake Him.