Friday, May 21, 2010

May 21 ~ tammi

Today's passages from the One-Year Bible Chronological Reading Plan are 1 Kings 3:16-28, 1 Kings 5:1-18, 2 Chronicles 2:1-18 and 1 Kings 6:1-13, 2 Chronicles 3:1-14, 1 Kings 6:14-38.

Today's passages contain the intriguing story of Solomon's startling "cut the baby in half" verdict that seems to establish in everyone's mind that God has, indeed, blessed him with great wisdom, but the reading focuses mainly on the building of the great temple in Jerusalem. The permanent place of worship that the Israelites have dreamed of having since they left Egypt almost 500 years earlier; the one David had all the plans for, but wasn't allowed to construct because of all the blood on his hands.

It must have been an incredible structure!!

What's really quite extraordinary (you know, other than its size, its decor, its building materials... and oh yeah, the fact that it was designed by GOD HIMSELF!) is that the rocks were all prepared at the quarry so that no hammers or chisels were needed at the actual building site ~ someone on that jobsite had some mad math skillz!! That requires serious precision!

As the daughter of a home-builder, I can recall countless times my dad came home annoyed that the company comissioned to design and construct the rafters hadn't made them the right size. This was a constant source of frustration for him! Partly because it slowed him down, but partly because my dad just happens to BE a math genius. He would have preferred to design and create the trusses himself (because then they would have been done perfectly the first time!), but of course, that would have cost the client more, so it usually didn't happen that way.

So I can really appreciate how detailed and precise the plans for this temple must have been, and how very carefully they were followed by the stone masons. David Guzik explains the significance of the 'silent' building site:

i. This speaks to the way God wants His work done. The temple had to be built with human labor. God did not, and would not, send a team of angels to build the temple. Yet Solomon did not want the sound of man's work to dominate the site of the temple. He wanted to communicate, as much as possible, that the temple was of God and not of man.

ii. This speaks to the way God works in His people. Often the greatest work in the Kingdom of God happens quietly. Yet the building site of the temple was only quiet because there was a lot of noise and diligent work at the quarry.

iii. This speaks to God's work in the church. "But why is this so particularly marked? Is it not because the temple was a type of the kingdom of God; and the souls of men are to be prepared here for that place of blessedness? There, there is no preaching, exhortations, repentance, tears, cries, nor prayers; the stones must be all squared and fitted here for their place in their New Jerusalem." (Clarke)
What a great picture of the way God is working in our lives now ~ hammering and chiseling away at us while we're still in the quarry, shaping and sanctifying us...


...so that someday, when we enter the eternal House of God, we will be exactly the way He designed us. Perfect and holy, fit for permanent residence in His glorious presence.








Tomorrow's passages: 1 Kings 7:1-51 and 2 Chronicles 3:15-4:22.

1 comment:

Tammy said...

I thought the silent construction was incredible too!

That was good skit as well. Thanks for your post!