“You will not build the temple; your very own son will build the temple for my honor.” I Kings 8:9                 “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up again.” John 2:19

KING SOLOMON’S DEDICATION OF ISRAEL’S FIRST TEMPLE WAS ONE OF THE GREATEST EVENTS IN ISRAEL’S HISTORY. SOLOMON WAS A KING, NOT A PROPHET; BUT HIS PRAYER DEDICATING THE TEMPLE TO GOD WAS A WONDERFUL PROPHETIC STATEMENT! AS HE UTTERED THAT PRAYER, HE FORESAW ISRAEL’S COMPLETE HISTORY.

HE FORESAW THEIR DISOBEDIENCE, CAPTIVITY, AND RESTORATION. AND HE SAW THE FINAL BLESSING THAT ISRAEL WOULD BRING TO THE WHOLE WORLD. BUT WOVEN THROUGH IT ALL, JERUSALEM AND THE PLACE OF THE TEMPLE IS THE FOCUS, THE PLACE WHERE THEY WOULD FIND FORGIVENESS.

“THE TIME WILL COME WHEN YOUR PEOPLE WILL SIN AGAINST YOU, FOR THERE IS NO ONE WHO IS SINLESS, AND YOU WILL BE ANGRY WITH THEM AND DELIVER THEM OVER TO THEIR ENEMIES WHO WILL TAKE THEM AS PRISONERS TO THEIR OWN LAND, WHETHER FAR AWAY OR CLOSE BY. WHEN YOUR PEOPLE COME TO THEIR SENSES IN THE LAND WHERE THEY ARE HELD PRISONER, THEY WILL REPENT AND BEG FOR YOUR MERCY IN THE LAND OF THEIR IMPRISONMENT, ADMITTING, ‘WE HAVE SINNED AND GONE ASTRAY; WE HAVE DONE EVIL.’ WHEN THEY RETURN TO YOU WITH ALL THEIR HEART AND BEING IN THE LAND WHERE THEY ARE HELD PRISONER, AND DIRECT THEIR PRAYERS TO YOU TOWARD THE LAND YOU GAVE TO THEIR ANCESTORS, YOUR CHOSEN CITY, AND THE TEMPLE I BUILT FOR YOUR HONOR, THEN LISTEN FROM YOUR HEAVENLY DWELLING PLACE TO THEIR PRAYERS FOR HELP AND VINDICATE THEM. FORGIVE ALL THE REBELLIOUS ACTS OF YOUR SINFUL PEOPLE AND YOUR SPECIAL POSSESSION WHOM YOU BROUGHT OUT OF EGYPT, FROM THE MIDDLE OF THE IRON-SMELTING FURNACE.” I Kings 8:46-51

DURING THIS WEEK WILL BE THE HIGHEST JEWISH HOLY DAY, YOM KIPPUR, THE DAY OF COVERING OR ATONEMENT. KING SOLOMON’S PRAYER IS A PERFECT PRAYER FOR THAT DAY. WE HAVE SEEN THE RETURN OF THE JEWS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD WHERE THEY HAVE BEEN SCATTERED, FROM FAR AND NEAR. WE HAVE SEEN THE RE-BIRTH OF THE NATION OF ISRAEL. BUT STANDING ON THAT HOLY MOUNT WE SEE NO TEMPLE  – YET.

THE FACT CANNOT BE IGNORED THAT THE MAGNIFICENT TEMPLE OF ISRAEL WAS DESTROYED JUST 40 YEARS AFTER THE CRUCIFIXION OF JESUS. ONE OF THOSE WHO WITNESSED AGAINST HIM AT HIS TRIAL ACTUALLY REPEATED JESUS’ OWN WORDS. HE SAID, “DESTROY THIS TEMPLE AND IN THREE DAYS I WILL RAISE IT UP.” THE WITNESS WAS SUGGESTING THAT JESUS WANTED THAT EDIFICE TO BE DESTROYED AND THAT HE COULD REBUILD IT. WHEREAS, JESUS WAS BEARING WITNESS TO HIMSELF, THAT EVEN SHOULD THAT EARTHLY TEMPLE BE DESTROYED, HIS OWN BODY, GOD’S LIVING TEMPLE, WOULD BE RAISED UP.

EVEN KING SOLOMON ADMITTED IN HIS PRAYER THAT THE EXQUISITE TEMPLE HE HAD BUILT FOR GOD WAS INADEQUATE. “IF THE SKY AND THE HIGHEST HEAVEN CANNOT CONTAIN YOU, HOW MUCH LESS THIS TEMPLE I HAVE BUILT!” YET GOD HAD ASSURED SOLOMON’S FATHER, KING DAVID, “IT IS RIGHT FOR YOU TO HAVE A STRONG DESIRE TO BUILD A TEMPLE TO HONOR ME.” AND SO IT IS TODAY, ISRAEL LONGS FOR THEIR TEMPLE AND THAT IS A GOOD THING. THEIR TEMPLE SPOKE OF GOD’S PRESENCE WITH THEM. IT IS A GOOD THING TO WANT GOD TO BE WITH US AND TO BE ABLE TO MEET WITH HIM. BUT A TEMPLE BUILT BY HUMAN HANDS IS NOT ENOUGH! GOD WANTS SO MUCH MORE FOR US, AND FOR HIMSELF.

GOD DOES NOT WANT TO BE LIMITED TO A BUILDING. HE WANTS TO DWELL IN US AND WITH US. BUT OUR SIN STANDS IN THE WAY. OUR SIN MUST BE REMOVED PERMANENTLY, AND NO MATTER HOW HARD WE TRY TO BE GOOD OR HOW MANY SACRIFICES WE BRING TO GOD, OUR SIN IS STILL THERE.

KING DAVID STATED PROPHETICALLY, “SACRIFICE AND OFFERINGS THOU DIDST NOT DESIRE, BUT PREPARED FOR ME A BODY; WHOLE BURNT OFFERINGS AND OFFERINGS FOR SIN YOU DID NOT REQUIRE. THEN I SAID, ‘BEHOLD I COME, IN THE VOLUME OF A BOOK IT IS WRITTEN RESPECTING ME TO PERFORM, O MY GOD, YOUR WILL, I WAS DETERMINED, EVEN THAT LAW OF YOURS, WITHIN MY HEART.'” Psalm 40:6-8 Septuagint

THE PROPHET EZEKIEL ALSO STATES WHAT GOD’S DESIRE AND GOAL IS, AGAIN QUOTING FROM THE SEPTUAGINT, “I WILL GIVE YOU A NEW HEART AND PUT A NEW SPIRIT IN YOU. I WILL TAKE AWAY THE STONY HEART OUT OF YOUR FLESH, AND GIVE YOU A HEART OF FLESH. AND I WILL PUT MY SPIRIT IN YOU, AND CAUSE YOU TO WALK IN MY STATUTES, AND TO KEEP MY JUDGEMENTS AND PRACTICE THEM.” Ezekiel 36:26-27

WHAT GOD IS DESIRING OF US IS HOLINESS. “YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I THE LORD YOUR GOD AM HOLY.” Leviticus 19:2 HE WANTS HIS LAW TO BE A PART OF OUR BEING, NOT JUST AN EXTERNAL SET OF RULES. AS DAVID WROTE, YOU ARE PREPARING FOR ME A BODY, A BODY THAT HAS GOD’S LAW WITHIN HIM, WHO REALIZES NOT JUST THE LETTER OF THE LAW BUT ITS VERY SPIRIT.

GOD ALONE IS HOLY. HOLINESS CANNOT BE CREATED. ADAM AND EVE WERE INNOCENT BEFORE THEY SINNED BUT NOT HOLY. HAD THEY BEEN HOLY, THEY WOULD NEVER HAVE SINNED. IN ORDER TO MAKE US HOLY, GOD HAD TO GIVE HIS VERY LIFE TO US WHICH HE DID IN THE INCARNATION AND HIS DEATH. “THE WORD BECAME FLESH AND DWELT AMONG US, AND WE SAW HIS GLORY, GLORY AS OF THE ONLY BEGOTTEN FROM THE FATHER, FULL OF GRACE AND TRUTH.” John 1:14

BUT HOW DOES THE HOLY LIFE OF THE SON OF GOD HELP ME? HOW CAN JESUS TAKE AWAY MY SIN? TAKING A LOOK AT ISRAEL’S TEMPLE HELPS US TO UNDERSTAND.

INSIDE SOLOMON’S TEMPLE, AT THE BACK, THERE WAS A SPECIAL ROOM, THE MOST HOLY PLACE OR HOLY OF HOLIES, WHERE THE ARK OF THE COVENANT, OR TESTIMONY, WAS HOUSED. THE ARK SPOKE OF THE MOSAIC COVENANT, THE GIVING OF THE LAW ON MOUNT SINAI. IN SOLOMON’S TIME THE ARK STILL CONTAINED THE STONE TABLETS INSCRIBED BY GOD WITH THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. THOSE TABLETS WERE REALLY A TESTIMONY AGAINST ISRAEL BECAUSE NO SINFUL PERSON CAN KEEP THE WHOLE LAW PERFECTLY. HOWEVER, THAT ARK HAD A SOLID GOLD COVERING THAT WAS SPRINKLED WITH BLOOD BY THE HIGH PRIEST WHO COULD ENTER THAT MOST HOLY PLACE ONCE A YEAR WITH BLOOD FROM A SIN OFFERING FOR BOTH HIMSELF AND THE PEOPLE.

WHAT WAS THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE BLOOD? THE ANSWER IS GIVEN IN LEVITICUS. “FOR THE LIFE OF THE FLESH IS IN THE BLOOD, AND I HAVE GIVEN IT TO YOU ON THE ALTAR TO MAKE ATONEMENT FOR YOUR SOULS; FOR IT IS THE BLOOD, BY REASON OF THE LIFE, THAT MAKES ATONEMENT.” Leviticus 17:11 THE EFFICACY OF THE BLOOD LAY IN ITS LIFE.

THE SOLID GOLD LID WITH THE SPRINKLED BLOOD COVERED ISRAEL’S SIN, YEAR BY YEAR. THE ARK, THE LID, THE BLOOD, ALL ARE BUT AN IMAGE, A SYMBOL OF THE REALITY.

WHEN GOD TOLD KING DAVID THAT HIS SON WOULD BUILD THE TEMPLE, GOD WAS NOT JUST SPEAKING OF SOLOMON. HE SPOKE OF HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON WHO WAS DESCENDED FROM DAVID ACCORDING TO THE FLESH, AND DESIGNATED SON OF GOD IN POWER ACCORDING TO THE SPIRIT OF HOLINESS BY HIS RESURRECTION FROM THE DEAD. Romans 1:3-4

JESUS IS OUR LIVING ATONEMENT. IN HIM, WE ARE COVERED BY THE SPLENDOROUS GRACE AND BEAUTY OF THE VERY LIFE OF GOD, THE PROMISE OF OUR RESURRECTION AND TRANSFIGURATION!

“DESTROY THIS TEMPLE AND IN THREE DAYS I WILL RAISE IT UP.” JESUS IS GOD’S TRUE AND LIVING TEMPLE, AND THROUGH HIM, OUR COVERING, OUR ATONEMENT, THE LIVING GOD CAN DWELL IN US.

Rosemary E Hyslop

October 6, 2019