Solomon builds the temple | Pastor Di Beals | Venture Church

Yeah, hey, don't miss it.

Well, if I haven't met you, good morning. My name

is Die, part of the team here at our Mill

Creek campus and you are joining us for our series

through the life.

Of Solomon Solomon.

So far, what we've covered and I'll always direct you

back to messages that you maybe have missed, But so

far we've covered is that Solomon was the third King

of Israel. He's known as both the wisest and the

richest king of Israel. And last week we focused on

the moment, really important moment in his life that he

asked God for wisdom, and we pointed out that that

was not just knowledge, but that was a special ability

to use supernatural knowledge in order to lead God's people. Well,

what an incredibly noble example. He was wise until he

was not. I think it's it's fair to say that

it's hard to summarize someone's life as wise until they've

lived the totality of their life. And unfortunately Solomon had

wise chapters of his life, but maybe the entire title

of the book of his life was not wisdom. Later

this year, in a couple of months, we're going to

actually look at the Book of Ecclesiastes on Sunday mornings,

and Ecclesiastes, most scholars believe is Solomon's work that he

wrote near the end of his life, where he's reflecting

on the choices that.

He made mostly unwise.

And how he is now choosing and directing and instructing

how to live a life of wisdom. Today, we're going

to explore Solomon's incredible and remarkable achievement of building a

temple for God, a permanent place for God's presence to

live among his people, a place for God's people to

come and worship, a place that is holy, a place

that God's people come and dedicate themselves to God, a

place where God's people pledge their obedience to God. And

this is not about a life of perfection. Do not

hear that this is not perfection. This is also more

than just dedication. It's more than a one time event.

It's a life of continued recommitment to live a life

of obedience to God. Eugene Peterson, who is the author

of the Message Translation of the Bible. He's known famously

for describing a life of commitment to God as long obedience.

In the same direction, not perfection, but day in, day out,

choices for obedience. Now, that pattern is set up for

us here. It's set up for us in this structure

of making a space for God and the people coming

and dedicating themselves to God.

It's set up for commitment and holiness.

Also, want to set you up with this expectation. We

are going to see something that is still true now,

and that is if we will build a space for God,

he will fill it with himself. If we'll build it,

he will fill it. So that's a good time for

us to pray.

Would you join me God?

Right now we're here, I'm just going to pray over

this room and over those who are joining us online

or who will listen to this in the weeks to come.

Would you find hearts.

That are willing and desiring of your presence to come

and fill our lives in this place. We need you,

We need we needed you maybe the first time we

ever called on you. For those of those that are

here that have called on you before, and those that

are here and they just found themselves here today, I

want them to.

Hear as well that they need you. We need you, God.

We're asking for you to.

Come and fill this place, our lives, our homes, our marriages,

our families, our community, and our world with your presence.

It's in your holy name we pray Amen. First King's

Chapter six is where we're gonna go. We're actually gonna

cover a few chapters, and so I'll call out some

of the verses that we're gonna highlight. You can always

go back and read all the details that I'm gonna summarize,

and if you don't have your Bible, the words will

be on the screen for you. But chapter six tells

us that it in the spring of the fourth year

of Solomon's reign that he began building a temple for

the Lord. Now history is going to call this the

first Temple, and that's because Israel's story involves many times

being conquered in lots of destruction. But the timeline for

Israel at this point in the story is important for.

Us to just kind of encapsulate.

So as of right now, for Israel, God has covenanted

with Abraham and Abraham's family his descendants to give them

the land known as Canaan now known as Israel. But

for four hundred years, Israel's family his descendants live in Egypt.

Eventually in brutal slavery in.

Egypt, and God rescues his people from brutal slavery in Egypt,

and he leads them through a physical desert to teach

them how to trust Him as their God. They learn

that they're set apart from everyone else, from the other nations,

and that the other nations in this land are going

to be looking to them.

So that's their role.

Israel's role to these other nations is to remain in

faithful relationship with God so the other nations can see

and learn what their God is like. Israel builds a

moving tent it's called a tabernacle for God's presence to

set them apart, and God himself leads the way for

Israel in the form of smoke and fire. And despite

God's awesome presence in their very midst it takes Israel

a very long time to learn to trust God.

Can you relate?

And so it takes them a long time to enter

the land that He has promised to give them. And

it's in this land. Once they enter it, the people

of God ask God for a king because they really

prefer to have a leader that they can see. And

it's now and this story is set for us. In scripture,

it is now four hundred and eighty years. Scripture says,

since God rescued Israel from slavery in Egypt and Solomon

is now their king. Solomon's father is famous King David,

and Solomon's father David asked if he could build a

permanent residence for God, a place that was worthy of

his presence and his holiness. But Solomon is the one

that God has ordained to build this space. The site

chosen for the temple to be built is Mount Mariah.

And this is a sacred space through the history of

God's people. It's connected to Abraham. It's the place where

Abraham has to learn to trust God with his son Isaac.

It is connected to David.

Where David must learn how to trust God but also

ask God and learn and receive from God his mercy.

And later, and we're not there in the story yet.

Later it will be the place that Jesus will willingly

be sacrificed and be crucified on a cross.

It's on this mountain. It's an important location.

Over one hundred and fifty thousand men are enlisted into

the troops.

To build this temple.

This project resources for This project includes cedar from the

nation to the north Lebanon. It includes massive stones that

are shaped in quarries and then somehow delivered to the

temple site. It includes massive amounts of precious metals gold

and bronze specifically, and it involves skilled artisans, skilled craftsmen,

people with souper natural Even scripture tells us ability for

creativity to make things to go inside of the temple,

and it includes people with the ability to lead such

a massive project. An entire nation is building a space

for God, expecting that if they will build the space

for God, he will come and inhabit it and live

amongst them. And it's in the midst of this sacred

space for God that God then speaks to Solomon and

he gives him this message. You can find this in

Chapter six, verses twelve and thirteen. This is God speaking.

He says, concerning this temple you are building. If you

keep all my decrees and regulations and obey all my commands,

I will fulfill through you the promise I made to

your father, David.

What's the promise?

I will live among you, I'll live among the Israelite.

I will not abandon my people Israel. Did you hear

that it's an if then promise built right in? God

promises to live in the space they build for him

if they stay faithful to him. Chapter six includes tons

of details about the size, the shape.

The materials used to build the temple.

I think if we were and we're going to look

at a map in just a second, or a picture.

But I think, if I were to summarize an important

thing for you, the impressiveness or the massiveness or the

shininess of the building is not what draws God to

come and live in it. Chapter six tells us about

this space.

We have a couple of pictures for you.

If you were here last week, you know Brandon said

I was going to use his picture this week.

No, it wasn't very good. Don't tell him, don't tell him.

I said that I think this is a better picture

to give us a bit of the scale. We're gonna

focus on this upper portion, this very large flat portion

here is known as the outer court or the upper

court or the Great court. And then when you go

inside of the wall through the gates, you're gonna come

to an inner court area. We're gonna look in a minute,

we'll come back to this, and we'll look at these

buildings on this side. Those are like government buildings and

palaces and stuff. But if we just focus on the

building that's inside of that wall there, the temple building itself,

and we have a picture of that, and these are

just artists renderings, but based on the information we're given

right here in scripture, we see that the temple building

itself has a courtyard or an entryway, and inside it

is what's called the Holy Place. So that main space

inside there would have been a curtain hanging there, but

you got a little cutout so you can see what's

inside what is known as the Holy of Holies or

the most holy Place. The Holy of Holies is overlaid

with pure gold, and it contains an altar. It contains

too massive cherubim, representing the awesome presence of God himself.

Incense would be burning as a pleasing offering to God.

Smaller cherubim and.

Palm trees and open flowers are overlaid in the door

and in the floors and then covered in gold, and

they represented God's presence and provision amongst his people. And

it is here that the ark of the Covenant would

be placed the Ark. Contrary to what you know from

Raiders of the Lost Ark, the Ark was a sacred

that means set apart only for God, a sacred object,

a gold plated wooden chest that symbolized God's presence, his holiness.

And his covenant, his promise.

Inside of the Ark are the two stone tablets that

Moses placed inside of it, that God himself carved the

Ten Commandments into so that his people would know how

to be in relationship with him. And all of these

were written on top of a mountain covered in smoke

and exploding in fire. The Holy of Holies was where

God's presence would dwell, a space for a holy God

amongst his people that are not always holy, so there

is separation between God, a holy God, and his people.

It takes seven.

Years for this marvelous space for God to be completed.

In First King six thirty eight tells us exactly that

the entire building was completed in every detail by mid autumn,

during the eleventh year of Solomon's reign. It took seven

years to build the very next verse, Chapter seven, verse

one tells us that it takes another thirteen years for

Solomon to complete his palace. Now if we go back

to the picture of the palace. While I understand that

there are government buildings and his palace, and probably quarters

for his family and his attendance people that serve in

his court, there's a lot of things being built there.

It has always.

Bothered me that it took almost double the amount of

time for Solomon to build his own home that it

took to build the house for God. Included in building

his own house, Solomon also built a palace for his wife,

and it is separate. Scripture tells us in chapter seven,

verse eight, that he build similar living quarters for Pharaoh's daughter,

who he had married. We already mentioned this, We mentioned

it last week in fact. But Solomon, who starts off

so well, isn't that a rough.

Beginning of a sentence?

He starts off so well, but he participates in the

common practice of the day, which is marrying the daughter

of a foreign king in order to enter into a

political alliance. Now, as a reminder, or if you are

new to the Bible, you might not know this, God

forbid his people from marrying the daughters of foreign kings

in order to enter into political alliances. Why lest they

trust the alliance with a foreign king more than they

trust their own.

God for protection. He also, God also.

Forbid his people from marrying foreign women. Why is he

just really partial to this particular people and he doesn't

like people from other nations or other races.

No, it is simply because he knows his.

People, and he knows if they marry outside of their

own faith, they're going to marry people who will influence

them to worship the gods of other cultures that are

not the one true Holy God. So Solomon disobeys God

and he marries an Egyptian women, woman in fact, the

first of many hundreds of foreign women that he will marry,

and he builds her a palace of her own, and

scholars assert that the reason that he did that is

so that her Egyptian worship of Egyptian gods would not

pollute the space where the people were.

Worshiping the One True God.

So, while Solomon is actively building a space for God,

which we admire, he's also knowingly disobeying, and just like us,

Solomon cannot live with a.

Foot in both worlds.

Sadly will later see that Solomon will build an altar,

in fact, multiple shrines to false gods, and he himself

will participate in worship to false gods.

Starting off well, and I know you know.

This, but let's just say it out in the open

does not guarantee that we finish well. Starting off wise,

starting off dedicating ourselves to the Lord does not guarantee

that we complete a life of faithfulness or a life

of wisdom. Instead, that requires of us long obedience in

the same direction, faithfulness today, faithfulness tomorrow, holiness today, holiness

tomorrow being set apart, today, being set apart tomorrow.

And the next day and the next day.

First Kings, chapter seven, verse fifty one tells us that

when Solomon finished all the work on the temple of

the Lord, he brought all the gifts his father David

had dedicated, silver, the gold, the various articles, and he

stored them in the treasuries of the Lord's temple. And

then he summoned for the Ark of the Covenant. Remember

that symbolizes God's presence, his holiness, his covenant, his promise.

Then he summoned for the Ark of the Covenant to

be brought. And while the arc is coming and in

preparation for the holiness and presence of God. Scripture describes

that the priests and the levice. They sacrifice more sheep

and goats and cattle than anyone can count. Why doesn't

that sound barbaric? No, this is in preparation for the

holiness for a holy God to come and live in

the midst.

Of his people.

Right here, I just have to pause and say, this

is a really hard passage of scripture to teach on

because on one side it can be an old story

from an old book from a long time ago, and

this is certainly so deserving of so much more than

just a story. And on the other end of the spectrum,

I don't want to overdramatize this, but I'm going to

invite you, if you've read this before or heard it before,

or if you've never heard it before, would you just

allow the words to sink into an open heart and

try to imagine what the presence of God coming to

live in the midst of his people would be like.

Look what happens next Verses ten and eleven sorry verse six.

First, when the priest carried the ark of the Lord's

Covenant into the inner sanctuary of the Temple, the most

holy place, the Holy of Holies, and placed it beneath

the wings of the Cherubim, whose wings formed a canopy

over the ark. When they did that Verses ten and eleven,

when they came out of the Holy Place, a thick

cloud filled the Temple of the Lord. A thick cloud

filled the Temple of the Lord. A thick cloud the

Lord's presence filled the Temple of the Lord. The priests

couldn't continue their service, not because it's smoky in there,

because the presence of the Lord has filled every bit

of the space inside of the Holy of Holies. And

it says they couldn't continue because of the cloud the

Lord's presence, for the glorious presence of the Lord had

filled the entire Temple of the Lord. There's a companion's

story to this text, so this is First Kings, but Chronicles.

The author of Chronicles also describes this story. Hear the

detail that the author adds in Second Chronicles chapter seven.

He says, when Solomon finished praying, fire flashed down from

heaven and burnt up the offerings and the sacrifices. Remember

we said there were so many they couldn't even be counted.

And the glorious presence of the Lord filled the temple.

The presence of the Lord filled the temple. The priests

couldn't enter the temple because the glorious presence of the

Lord had filled it.

There was no room for the humans.

When all the people of Israel saw the fire coming

down in the glorious presence of the Lord filling the temple,

what did they do? They fell face down on the

ground and worshiped. And they praised the Lord, saying he

is so good, his faithfulness endures forever. All they could

do is fall on their faces and worship. Let's pause

here and remember who these people are, because they're like

us in some ways, in lots of ways. Maybe you've

heard the stories of the Bible where God has shown

up in power. Maybe you're here and you're right now

going back to a time in your life where you knew,

beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the presence and

power and love of God was real, that it enveloped you.

That maybe you fell on your face and worship. Who

are these people?

Remember? These people have heard stories of God showing up

in power. They have heard.

Stories of God rescuing their ancestors from slavery in Egypt.

They heard that He parted the sea so that his

people could work on dry land. They've heard that God himself,

in the presence of smoke and fire, led his people.

Those were symbols of his very presence.

They've been told that God then led them to a

mountain of fire and smoke and gave them the law

so they could learn how to be in relationship with him.

They know, they know, they've heard the stories that the.

Land he promised them, he led them to it by

fire at night and by cloud smoke in the day.

And now here they are, having completed a place for God,

having asked him to fill it, having worshiped, They've seen

now his presence come and dwell in their midst, his

glorious presence, both in the.

Form of fire and smoke. And they're undone. They're undone.

They can't even function, they can't even do the human things.

All they can do is fall on their faces before

a holy God and say, don't leave. God, Creator, God,

Author and sustainer of life, the one who breathed life

into the first humans, the one who created the one

who created you, and I, Holy, vast and mighty, has

come to live in the midst of his people. It's

all stories until he shows up.

Chapter eight.

Verse twenty three of Kings says Solomon's praise and worship

to God, and you can read his entire prayer.

I'm just gonna pull out a few verses.

Verse twenty three, Solomon says, Oh Lord, God of Israel,

there is no God like you in all of heaven

above or on the earth below.

And then he goes on to pray, Well, God, God

really live on earth? Will you really come and live

in our midst? Even the highest heavens can't contain you.

How much less this temple I've built for you. But

listen to my prayer and my plea. Oh Lord, my God,

hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is

making to you today.

May you watch over.

The temple night and day, this place where you have said,

my name will be here. What does that mean? My

name will be here. That's God's way of saying, I'm

gonna live here. I'm gonna come and dwell here. I

could be a separate God, I could be an up

in the heavens God, but I want to be with

the people that I created. So my name is here

because I will be here too. Let's note something. The

temple is magnificent, but it cannot contain God. Its design

emphasizes holiness and beauty and separation for God. God, but

it requires a holiness and a separation of the people

that he comes and lives in the midst of. And

if you read Solomon's whole prayer, He's gonna say, over

and over, God, when we call on you, because we've sinned,

forgive us and live amongst your people, remain in our midst.

Stay here, He's pleading, stay here with U.

God.

He's reminding God, you said you'd come and live here.

But God also says, but I won't live.

In the midst of unclean people. And Solomon's life is

going to teach us that a person can be brilliantly

wise in judgment of how others should live their lives,

and yet inconsistent and compromised in their own personal obedience.

The choice belonged to Solomon, and the choice belonged to

all of the people of Israel at that moment. Did

they want to a holy God to live in their

midst enough that they would remain holy and choose a

life of long obedience? And mark my words, me and you,

we have the same choice today. Do we want a

holy God enough that we will choose a life of

holiness and a life of long obedience. This is not

about a life of perfection. But it is also not

about a life of just a one time dedication. See

the temple was dedicated. I mean we do this today, right,

We do symbolic things like you know, we say a

few words, we take some pictures, we cut the ribbon.

You know, the place is dedicated. It's opened, it's a

grand opening. We just we just did this here, you men,

a couple of weeks ago. And all of that means

nothing if the stuff that follows the dedication is not

holiness and obedience. This is about setting aside a space

for God to fill and living a life of continued

obedience tomorrow and the next day and the next day

over time.

This would all probably be.

Fairly hopeless for us if it weren't for Jesus. See

Jesus helps us with this. The Bible says that when

we receive forgiveness from Christ, God's spirit lives in us.

Did you know that God's spirit lives inside.

Of us like we become the temple.

In fact, one Grinth in six Pot nineteen says that

don't you know that your body is a temple of

the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given

to you by God. For this reason, we are then

to live like we are a temple for a holy

God to live inside of, which means there is not

space for us to mess around and be unholy, not perfection,

not perfection. One Corinthians three p. Sixteen also says, don't

you realize that all of you together are the temple

of God, and that the Spirit of God lives in you,

all of us together.

So when I.

And when you make a choice to live like a

temple for a holy God to reside in, and then

we bring a holy God residing in us into this

space that we have set aside for a holy God,

and we join together in worship of a holy God.

He fills the space. He fills this space, and he

feels this space. And I.

Don't know what you picture in your mind when I

talk about filling the space.

I don't know what comes to your mind.

I don't know if you have never known God and

you're sitting here going I don't even know this God

you're talking about.

I don't know if you if your heart is hard

or if.

You have walked away, But if you and I will

dedicate ourselves to.

Build a space, if we will.

Choose a life of obedience, God will fill the space.

And when we get it wrong, we rededicate ourselves to God,

and he forgives, and then He fills our lives when

we worship him, when we believe that, when we worship

him and put him first, he'll.

Fill the space.

He'll fill our lives, He'll fill our marriages, he'll fill

our families.

He does.

So I'm going to ask across this place and online

if you will bow your heads for just a moment,

because I'm really messed up by the people are undone.

Because God's presence shows up. I've heard it said over

the years, and maybe you have two that God shows

up where He's wanted. And I guess that's the question

for us today is do we want a holy God?

You want a holy God in your life? Do you

want a holy God in your home? Do you want

a holy God in your relationships? And do we corporately

want a holy God? Right here in our midst and

so all over this room. If what you need to

do today is dedicate, maybe that is you've just never

had the opportunity to know to know God, to know

his son Jesus who.

Died for you.

Or maybe you need to rededicate yourself because you have

not set aside a space for God to fill. If

that's you and you want to say I want to

dedicate myself, would just raise your hand with me, Raise

a high, mom. This is not a time to mess around. Great,

thank you all over this room.

Thank you.

I'm gonna invite you. Will you stand to your feet

with me, And for lack of distraction purposes, we just

keep your eyes closed.

This is just.

So you can focus on maybe what God is doing

stirring inside of you. I'm gonna pray a prayer of dedication.

Whether this is the first time that you have prayed

this prayer or the fiftieth or the thousandth, it does

not matter. And when I pray this prayer, I'm opening

the space at the front. If you would like to

come and worship, you are invited to step out of

your seat.

We're just gonna take a few minutes.

I think it's appropriate for us to say, God, we

dedicate ourselves to you. We want you to fill this place,

and our entire focus is you.

That's what worship is.

Worship doesn't have to be singing the song. You don't

have to know the words. Worship is you opening your

mouth and saying, Holy God, come and live in my life.

Holy God, come and live in my relationships, be in

my home.

Would you join me?

God?

Right now?

We dedicate ourselves to you. That's the first step. We say,

you are holy and we are not. You are holy

and we have fallen short. So God, thank you that

your word says, if we will call on you, you

will forgive us and make us clean and holy again.

Thank you that your son Jesus paid the price for

us to be made holy in your sight. We receive

that forgiveness. Thank you Jesus for your forgiveness. And now,

all across this place and watching online, we don't just

dedicate ourselves to you now, God, we say, would you

fill this.

Place with your presence?

Start with me, Fill my heart, fill my mind, fill

my life.

I worship you God. There is none like you. Holy?

Are you God?

Set apart? Righteous? I don't even know how you could

be in my presence? But God, thank you that you

want to be God. We're asking that this would not

just be a building.

Where we come and not our heads.

It would be a place where you are lifting up,

where your presence fills this place, where you live here.

God, we want you to live here, so we worship you.

Mighty God, Holy God, Holy God.

Show up in this place in ways that are tangible,

and it's all for you.

It's for your glory.