Building the Temple
(1kgs. 6:1ampsim13)
Redemption history is that of the faith genealogy and building Gods temple. The best condition for building the temple is being lowered and taken captive in the world. Davids prosperity has the same context as this. In what way can we build temple of the Lord?
1. God is the A to Z of building the temple. It starts with doing everything for salvation marriage, moving into a new house having a spiritual training etc. We cant build a temple without seeing our sins and weaknesses. Therefore, meditation on the Word and attendance at our small group meeting could be part of building the temple. The same applies to our small applications as a Christian such as obeying the traffic law, serving our parents heartily, and treating others to a good meal.
2. Suffering enlarges our temple, Solomons temple is basically composed of entrance, main hall, and inner sanctuary, whose length, height, breadth are exact and proportionate. The design and the style of the temple are actually Gods, not Solomons. God allowed the temple to be twice as big as Moses tabernacle. Enlarging the size of a temple calls for suffering. Therefore, we need to thank God for the suffering we have today because its Gods device to enlarge our temple. So we need to respond to the tough incidents with gratitude and obedience, which extends us cubit by cubit.
3. Its entrance needs to be capacious enough. The width of the temple and the length of the portico are the same, which implies that Gods grace is limitless and open to everyone. The portico, which didnt exist in the times of Moses, is the part through which people come into the temple. Therefore, it needs to be comfortable whether at church or at home. Some people feel uncomfortable even at the mere thought of going to church while others are going home from a service. As for those who feel uncomfortable when going to church, the church needs to check itself of course. However, if they are the only people who feel uncomfortable, they need to check themselves to see if they are uncomfortable beings. What kind of portico do you think you are? Is it wide enough to welcome others?
4. It needs to be able to communicate with the world. Gods temple needs to allow the light of the world to come in to communicate with the world. For this purpose, it needs to have some windows, which shouldnt be unnecessarily big. Christians should not be closed to the world, but they also should not be overtly open to it, which makes them vulnerable to worldly temptation. We all need to start with the mind-set of a sinner-before-God. Parents who start with a righteous-person mind-set cant persuade their children why they should keep their chastity or study hard because they fail to communicate properly with the world. We need to see the various lights of the world but with discerning eyes. Doing QT and sharing it with our community is a way to communicate with the world.
5. It needs to have its side rooms. The temple has about thirty side-rooms. They all are connected to the main hall and inner sanctuary. This implies that our cell groups are connected to the Word. All our service should be based on the Word. Small group activities without the word are dangerous. Thats why we need our small group prayer. While we hustle and bustle with our small group members, our side rooms are extended cubit by cubit, from five to six and from six to seven. Small group service, prayer, and devotion is actually beyond our human nature because it is unnoticeable and far from being recognized. True maturity comes from this unnoticeable and secretive service. God remembers and rewards our service as much as it is unnoticed.
5. It should be built without making any noise. Those who are truly good at their small group service dont make any noise. What are the sounds of hammer or chisel that you are making? How could the Israelites pull down the city of Jericho if they made any sounds of their own? We also have our own Jericho in our household and work place. In order to pull it down, we need to silence our voices till the time for us to speak up. The time will come soon when we all need to shout to pull it down. God trained the Israelite to be silent before they went into the land of Canaan. We also can be mute by meditating on the Word and listening to others in our community.
6. It should be completed with the fragrance of cedar planks. After finishing the main hal, inner sanctuary, portico, side rooms, and spiral stairways, the builders roofed the temple with beams and cedar planks. The final touch of the temple was cedar roofing. The main hall, inner sanctuary, and side rooms should be covered with cedar planks. Likewise our ministry should be covered with the thousand-year fragrance of our faith. And our church should always give its fragrance of cedar to non-believers!
7. It should be founded upon the Word. What matters to Christians is the process as well as the results. When we are enslaved, we listen to the Word. Our ears opening to the Word is Gods sign for us to build a temple. For this purpose, God constantly gives us sufferings and enlarges our side rooms and portico. Notice the final touch of the interior work is roofing with cedar planks. The temple is filled with the fragrance of cedar. Watching our step by step application, God wraps us with pure gold. Thus Solomons temple was completed in 7 years according to the design and style of God. Heres a testimony of a deacon who enjoys riding high in his work place. He used to think that he was more righteous than his wife and raised his idolized child ambitiously in a special offset ledge out of his sense of inferiority and bitterness. Then his father got a liver cancer, which he accepted as Gods work for salvation. However, he confessed that he often failed to accept it whole-heartedly as Gods grace. Thus, in the midst of this trial, he is now leading his small group with sympathy and a mourning heart. Notice that his current tough circumstances drive him to focus on his small group ministry, which is also a process of building his temple of God.
In the four hundred and eightieth year after the Israelites had come out of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomons reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, the second month, he began to build the temple of the LORD. (1Kgs 6:1)
