DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- A MAGNIFICENT TEMPLE

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – A MAGNIFICENT TEMPLE

We come again to II Chronicles. Solomon was now the king, and after four years, he finally got around to the task of building the Temple that his father Dad had assigned to him. It was a huge undertaking. We read in II Chronicles 2:1, "Then Solomon determined to build a temple for the name of the LORD, and a royal house for himself."

Just suppose that you were Solomon with the responsibility of building a temple for God. What kind of temple would it be? Would you build one just good enough to get by? Would you use inferior material in order to save money – to get by as cheap as you could? Would you just throw a shanty together without a thought of the quality?

We get a glimpse of Solomon's attitude and motivation by what he said to Hiram, King of Tyre. " 'The temple which I build will be great, for our God is greater than all gods. Who is able to build Him a temple, since heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain Him? Who am I then, that I should build Him a temple, except to burn sacrifice before Him...'" (II Chronicles 2:5-6a)

Solomon was determined to make the temple a wonderful piece of work. The word "great" is more than just size. As the NLT translates this phrase, "This must be a magnificent temple." Solomon determined that this house of God would be a grand and glorious place. He would spare no expense. He hired the best craftsman from Tyre to work with the skillful men in Judah. He imported cedar and cypress lumber. And he was willing to pay a lot for these things.

The reason that Solomon was willing to go to all this trouble and expense was that he understood how great God is. As we have noted many times in the Gleanings, we are the Temple of the living God. How are we building this temple? Just enough to get by? Or are we making it the magnificent dwelling place of our Great God? The goal is not to make us look good so we can brag about how good we are, but to bring glory to Him. He is an awesome God. I want His temple to be as magnificent as it can be.

Love, Dad