Thursday Evening Bible Study

October 25, 2012

Introduction

Do people see Jesus? Is the gospel preached? Does it speak to the broken hearted? Does it build up the church? Milk – Meat – Manna Preach for a decision Is the church loved?

There has been a transition between the rule of King David and the rule of his son Solomon.

Solomon has now been established firmly as king, and he has begun the process of building the Temple.

The last chapter ended with:

(1 Ki 6:38 NKJV) …So he was seven years in building it.

7:1-12 House Building

:1 But Solomon took thirteen years to build his own house; so he finished all his house.

Solomon’s own “house” was a complex of buildings which included the following buildings listed through vs. 12

The house of the forest of Lebanon (something like an armory) (10:16-17)

The Hall of Pillars (v.6)

A throne room with a gold and ivory throne (10:18-19)

A house for Pharaoh’s daughter (v.8)

:2-5 … He also built the House of the Forest of Lebanon

We’re not totally sure what all the purposes of this large structure was.  Some think Solomon might have lived here.

We do know that it was also a sort of “armory” where weapons were kept.

This building gets its name because it is covered entirely with cedar wood from Lebanon.

:2 He also built the House of the Forest of Lebanon; its length was one hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits, with four rows of cedar pillars, and cedar beams on the pillars.

:3 And it was paneled with cedar above the beams that were on forty-five pillars, fifteen to a row.

:4 There were windows with beveled frames in three rows, and window was opposite window in three tiers.

:5 And all the doorways and doorposts had rectangular frames; and window was opposite window in three tiers.

:6 He also made the Hall of Pillars

This seems to be a hall that connected the Lebanon Palace with the throne room.

:6 He also made the Hall of Pillars: its length was fifty cubits, and its width thirty cubits; and in front of them was a portico with pillars, and a canopy was in front of them.

:7 Then he made a hall for the throne, the Hall of Judgment, where he might judge; and it was paneled with cedar from floor to ceiling.

The Hall of Judgment was where Solomon had his throne and where he would hear court cases that were brought to him.

:8-12 And the house where he dwelt had another court inside the hall, of like workmanship. Solomon also made a house like this hall for Pharaoh’s daughter, whom he had taken as wife …

Solomon builds a house where he will live as well as a separate house for Pharaoh’s daughter.

We get a description of the kinds of stones and materials used in building these houses.

These buildings will be made out of stone covered with cedar.

:8 And the house where he dwelt had another court inside the hall, of like workmanship. Solomon also made a house like this hall for Pharaoh’s daughter, whom he had taken as wife.

:9 All these were of costly stones cut to size, trimmed with saws, inside and out, from the foundation to the eaves, and also on the outside to the great court.

:10 The foundation was of costly stones, large stones, some ten cubits and some eight cubits.

:11 And above were costly stones, hewn to size, and cedar wood.

:12 The great court was enclosed with three rows of hewn stones and a row of cedar beams. So were the inner court of the house of the Lord and the vestibule of the temple.

:1 to build his own house

Lesson

Put God’s plans first

Solomon builds the Temple first, and then builds his own house. We know he doesn’t build them at the same time because we are told that in total he was building for twenty years (1Ki. 9:10).

Solomon sets an example. Put God’s things ahead of your own.

The Israelites in Haggai’s day were the ones who were responsible for building the second Temple after the return from Babylon. But they were rebuked because they built their own houses before building God’s house.

(Hag 1:4 NLT) "Why are you living in luxurious houses while my house lies in ruins?

As a result of neglecting God’s priorities in their lives…

(Hag 1:6 NLT) You have planted much but harvest little. You eat but are not satisfied. You drink but are still thirsty. You put on clothes but cannot keep warm. Your wages disappear as though you were putting them in pockets filled with holes!

Jesus said

(Mt 6:33 NKJV) But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

What are the kinds of things that God wants you to put first in your life?

7:13-14 Huram the builder

:13 Now King Solomon sent and brought Huram from Tyre.

:14 He was the son of a widow from the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a bronze worker; he was filled with wisdom and understanding and skill in working with all kinds of bronze work. So he came to King Solomon and did all his work.

:13 Huram from Tyre

This Hiram is not the same as the man who was the king of Tyre, but who had the same name. This was a Jewish man who was living in Tyre.

Lesson

God uses skilled people

I think you could even make the point that God gives skills to skilled people.

The fellow that built the things of the Tabernacle in the time of Moses was named Bezalel. God said to Moses:

(Ex 31:3 NKJV) And I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship…

Do you have special skills? Maybe things that aren’t necessarily “spiritual”? God would like to use your skills to further His kingdom.

7:15-22 Pillars

:15 And he cast two pillars of bronze, each one eighteen cubits high, and a line of twelve cubits measured the circumference of each.

:15 two pillars of bronze

One of Hiram’s bigger projects was making of the two huge pillars out of bronze that will stand in front of the Temple. They were 27 feet tall, and 18 feet in circumference.

:16 Then he made two capitals of cast bronze, to set on the tops of the pillars. The height of one capital was five cubits, and the height of the other capital was five cubits.

:17 He made a lattice network, with wreaths of chainwork, for the capitals which were on top of the pillars: seven chains for one capital and seven for the other capital.

:18 So he made the pillars, and two rows of pomegranates above the network all around to cover the capitals that were on top; and thus he did for the other capital.

:19 The capitals which were on top of the pillars in the hall were in the shape of lilies, four cubits.

:20 The capitals on the two pillars also had pomegranates above, by the convex surface which was next to the network; and there were two hundred such pomegranates in rows on each of the capitals all around.

:21 Then he set up the pillars by the vestibule of the temple; he set up the pillar on the right and called its name Jachin, and he set up the pillar on the left and called its name Boaz.

:22 The tops of the pillars were in the shape of lilies. So the work of the pillars was finished.

:21 its name Jachin … Boaz

The pillars are given names.

Jachin – Yakiyn – “He will establish” (“stability”)

Boaz – Bo‘az – “in him is strength” (“strength”)

This is the same name as the fellow that married Ruth, and whose descendants included King David (Ruth 2:1)

Lesson

Dependable

We use the term “pillar” to speak of a person of “stability” or “strength” on which a community can depend upon.  We call these people “pillars of the community”.

It appears that there are pillars in heaven as well. Jesus writes to the overcomers in the Church of Philadelphia:

(Re 3:12 NKJV) He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name.

Those who “overcome” in life, who follow the Lord faithfully, are the “pillars” of the community of heaven.

If God needed somebody to do something, are you a person who would respond, “You can count on me”.

Play “Homeless to Hero” video.

Isaiah had a vision of heaven, of God’s Temple.  At the end of the vision, he hears God’s voice:

(Is 6:8 NKJV) Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: “Whom shall I send, And who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”

Will you go where God wants to send you?

I think that’s one of the results of having a real encounter with God – the willingness to go where God sends.

I’m not necessarily talking about going to Africa, but it might mean going across the street to your neighbor’s house, or across the aisle to your co-worker’s desk.

7:23-26 Bronze Sea

:23-26 And he made the Sea of cast bronze, ten cubits from one brim to the other; it was completely round. Its height was five cubits, and a line of thirty cubits measured its circumference…

:24 Below its brim were ornamental buds encircling it all around, ten to a cubit, all the way around the Sea. The ornamental buds were cast in two rows when it was cast.

:25 It stood on twelve oxen: three looking toward the north, three looking toward the west, three looking toward the south, and three looking toward the east; the Sea was set upon them, and all their back parts pointed inward.

:26 It was a handbreadth thick; and its brim was shaped like the brim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It contained two thousand baths.

:23 the Sea of cast bronze

Next Hiram makes the bronze “sea”. This was equivalent to the “laver” that was at the Tabernacle, but only much larger. Instead of a bathtub of water, this was a small swimming pool. It held 11,600 gallons of water, and was apparently used to supply water to the smaller, portable “lavers”.

It was 45 feet in circumference, and was cast in as a single piece. The walls were about 3 inches thick.

It was supported on the backs of twelve bronze oxen, which all faced outward.

In heaven, there isn’t a bronze or “brassy sea”, but a “glassy sea”.

7:27-39 Portable Lavers

:27-39 He also made ten carts of bronze; four cubits was the length of each cart, four cubits its width, and three cubits its height…

:27 ten carts of bronze

Next, Hiram made ten smaller washing basins (lavers). Each laver sat on a base that had wheels which made them portable. Five were to be located on one side of the temple courtyard, five were on the other side. Each laver held 240 gallons of water. These were used by the priests to wash themselves and to wash the sacrifices.

The Jewish scholars who run the Temple Institute in Jerusalem (the people who are preparing to rebuild the Temple) have already built a copy of a laver. It looks like a large coffee pot with several spouts and valves coming out of it. They have determined that it was supposed to be built out of copper, not brass.

:28 And this was the design of the carts: They had panels, and the panels were between frames;

:29 on the panels that were between the frames were lions, oxen, and cherubim. And on the frames was a pedestal on top. Below the lions and oxen were wreaths of plaited work.

:30 Every cart had four bronze wheels and axles of bronze, and its four feet had supports. Under the laver were supports of cast bronze beside each wreath.

:31 Its opening inside the crown at the top was one cubit in diameter; and the opening was round, shaped like a pedestal, one and a half cubits in outside diameter; and also on the opening were engravings, but the panels were square, not round.

:32 Under the panels were the four wheels, and the axles of the wheels were joined to the cart. The height of a wheel was one and a half cubits.

:33 The workmanship of the wheels was like the workmanship of a chariot wheel; their axle pins, their rims, their spokes, and their hubs were all of cast bronze.

:34 And there were four supports at the four corners of each cart; its supports were part of the cart itself.

:35 On the top of the cart, at the height of half a cubit, it was perfectly round. And on the top of the cart, its flanges and its panels were of the same casting.

:36 On the plates of its flanges and on its panels he engraved cherubim, lions, and palm trees, wherever there was a clear space on each, with wreaths all around.

:37 Thus he made the ten carts. All of them were of the same mold, one measure, and one shape.

:38 Then he made ten lavers of bronze; each laver contained forty baths, and each laver was four cubits. On each of the ten carts was a laver.

:39 And he put five carts on the right side of the house, and five on the left side of the house. He set the Sea on the right side of the house, toward the southeast.

7:40-47 The Bronze Stuff

:40-45 Hiram made …

We are given a summary of all the things that Hiram made out of bronze for Solomon.

:40 Huram made the lavers and the shovels and the bowls. So Huram finished doing all the work that he was to do for King Solomon for the house of the Lord:

:41 the two pillars, the two bowl-shaped capitals that were on top of the two pillars; the two networks covering the two bowl-shaped capitals which were on top of the pillars;

:42 four hundred pomegranates for the two networks (two rows of pomegranates for each network, to cover the two bowl-shaped capitals that were on top of the pillars);

:43 the ten carts, and ten lavers on the carts;

:44 one Sea, and twelve oxen under the Sea;

:45 the pots, the shovels, and the bowls. All these articles which Huram made for King Solomon for the house of the Lord were of burnished bronze.

:46 In the plain of Jordan the king had them cast in clay molds, between Succoth and Zaretan.

:46 in clay molds

The things made out of bronze were made by pouring the molten metal into molds made out of clay down near the Jordan.

Play Succoth map video

This was an area on the eastern side of the Jordan River, about 30 miles north of the Dead Sea and about 40 miles from Jerusalem.

Excavations have shown that this area was a center of metallurgy.

:47 And Solomon did not weigh all the articles, because there were so many; the weight of the bronze was not determined.

:47 Solomon did not weigh all the articles

Solomon didn’t bother to keep track of how much bronze was used because they used so much.

I kind of like the hint of humility here – he didn’t keep track of everything that he did.  Some things, yes, but not all things.

I always make a point of letting people know about everything I do because I want pats on the back.  It’s probably better to let some things be done anonymously.

7:48-51  The Gold Stuff

Now we get a list of the stuff that was made out of gold.

:48 Thus Solomon had all the furnishings made for the house of the Lord: the altar of gold, and the table of gold on which was the showbread;

:49 the lampstands of pure gold, five on the right side and five on the left in front of the inner sanctuary, with the flowers and the lamps and the wick-trimmers of gold;

:49 the lampstands of pure gold

In the Tabernacle, there was a single candlestick (the Menorrah). In the Temple, everything was done on a larger scale, and so Solomon made ten candlesticks instead of one.

Everything that was to be used inside the building was made out of gold. Everything that was used outside the building was made of bronze.

:50 the basins, the trimmers, the bowls, the ladles, and the censers of pure gold; and the hinges of gold, both for the doors of the inner room (the Most Holy Place) and for the doors of the main hall of the temple.

:51 So all the work that King Solomon had done for the house of the Lord was finished; and Solomon brought in the things which his father David had dedicated: the silver and the gold and the furnishings. He put them in the treasuries of the house of the Lord.

:51 which …David had dedicated

David had amassed quite a bit of wealth over the years, the spoils of all the wars he had fought.

A great deal of these things had been “dedicated” or set aside for the day that the Temple would be built.

Lesson

Where is your treasure?

Jesus said

(Mt 6:19–21 NKJV) —19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

It’s natural that our heart is drawn to the things that are important to us. If my car is something that is important to me, then I’ll spend time thinking about my car. If my 401K is important to me, I might spend some time worrying about the Stock Market.

If you put all your investments in heavenly things, then guess what kinds of things you’ll be thinking about?

8:1-11 Worship Begins

:1 Now Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the chief fathers of the children of Israel, to King Solomon in Jerusalem, that they might bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord from the City of David, which is Zion.

:1 that they might bring up the ark

(show City of David map)

The Ark of the Covenant had been in a temporary tent that David had set up inside the borders of his city of Jerusalem. The Temple was built on a hill overlooking David’s Jerusalem. They move the Ark up the hill into the new Temple complex.

:2 Therefore all the men of Israel assembled with King Solomon at the feast in the month of Ethanim, which is the seventh month.

:2 assembled … at the feast

This seems to take place at the Feast of Tabernacles, which took place in the “seventh month” (Lev. 23:24)

(Le 23:24 NKJV) —24 “Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a sabbath-rest, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation.

This was a Feast that had several purposes and several names.

It was called the Feast of Ingathering because it happened at the end of the harvest season, when all the crops had been harvested and stored for the winter.

It was called the Feast of Tabernacles because it was to remind the people how they were sustained for forty years in the wilderness, living in tents (tabernacles).

I think it’s interesting that Solomon waits until this Feast of Tabernacles to move the Ark from a “Tabernacle” into a permanent “House”.

Ethanim – also called Tishri (Sept.-Oct)

It has been eleven months since the completion of the Temple.

:3 So all the elders of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark.

:4 Then they brought up the ark of the Lord, the tabernacle of meeting, and all the holy furnishings that were in the tabernacle. The priests and the Levites brought them up.

:4 the tabernacle of meeting

As we’ve mentioned before, Moses’ original Tabernacle had been separated from the Ark and had been located at Gibeon (6 miles away), (Play Gibeon map clip) where Solomon had his dream about God (1Ki. 3).

It seems that the Tabernacle is now dismantled and moved, so there is now finally a single place of worship in Israel. It was God’s desire that eventually there would only be a single place of worship (Deut. 12).

:5 Also King Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel who were assembled with him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing sheep and oxen that could not be counted or numbered for multitude.

:6 Then the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the Lord to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the temple, to the Most Holy Place, under the wings of the cherubim.

:7 For the cherubim spread their two wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim overshadowed the ark and its poles.

:8 The poles extended so that the ends of the poles could be seen from the holy place, in front of the inner sanctuary; but they could not be seen from outside. And they are there to this day.

The poles used to carry the ark were too long to fit in the Holy of Holies. I wonder if somebody forgot to measure it or if this was done on purpose. The poles could be seen by the priests who would be in the outer room, the “Holy Place”, but they couldn’t be seen by the people outside the Temple.

:9 Nothing was in the ark except the two tablets of stone which Moses put there at Horeb, when the Lord made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt.

:9 Nothing was in the ark except

It seems that earlier, the Ark also had two other items either inside it or next to it.

There had been a golden jar with some of the manna in it. Moses had been told to keep some of the manna for a witness to future generations (Ex. 16:33-34)

(Ex 16:33–34 NKJV) —33 And Moses said to Aaron, “Take a pot and put an omer of manna in it, and lay it up before the Lord, to be kept for your generations.” 34 As the Lord commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the Testimony, to be kept.

There was also Aaron’s rod that budded (Num. 17:10)

(Nu 17:10 NKJV) —10 And the Lord said to Moses, “Bring Aaron’s rod back before the Testimony, to be kept as a sign against the rebels, that you may put their complaints away from Me, lest they die.”

The writer to the Hebrews tells us that these things had been kept inside the Ark (Heb. 9:4)

(Heb 9:4 NKJV) —4 which had the golden censer and the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which were the golden pot that had the manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant;

But for some reason, by Solomon’s day, the only thing that remained in the Ark was the two stone tablets with the Ten Commandments on them.

If Aaron’s rod and the manna pot were in the Ark, one suggestion is that the Philistines might have taken them, or else the men of Beth Shemesh since they had “peeked” inside the Ark.

:10 And it came to pass, when the priests came out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the Lord,

:11 so that the priests could not continue ministering because of the cloud; for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord.

:11 the glory of the Lord

We call this cloud of glory the Shekinah.

This had happened once before, when Moses first set up the Tabernacle as a place of worship, God’s glory filled the Tabernacle (Ex. 40:34-35)

(Ex 40:34–35 NKJV) —34 Then the cloud covered the tabernacle of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 35 And Moses was not able to enter the tabernacle of meeting, because the cloud rested above it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.

8:12-21 Solomon’s message

:12 Then Solomon spoke: “The Lord said He would dwell in the dark cloud.

(Ex 19:9 NKJV) —9 And the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I come to you in the thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and believe you forever.” So Moses told the words of the people to the Lord.

Solomon knew from the Scriptures what was happening. This had all happened once before.

:13 I have surely built You an exalted house, And a place for You to dwell in forever.”

:14 Then the king turned around and blessed the whole assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel was standing.

:15 And he said: “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who spoke with His mouth to my father David, and with His hand has fulfilled it, saying,

:16 ‘Since the day that I brought My people Israel out of Egypt, I have chosen no city from any tribe of Israel in which to build a house, that My name might be there; but I chose David to be over My people Israel.’

Up to this point, there has been no permanent place chosen to be the place of God’s Temple (Deut. 12).

:17 Now it was in the heart of my father David to build a temple for the name of the Lord God of Israel.

:18 But the Lord said to my father David, ‘Whereas it was in your heart to build a temple for My name, you did well that it was in your heart.

:19 Nevertheless you shall not build the temple, but your son who will come from your body, he shall build the temple for My name.’

:20 So the Lord has fulfilled His word which He spoke; and I have filled the position of my father David, and sit on the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised; and I have built a temple for the name of the Lord God of Israel.

:21 And there I have made a place for the ark, in which is the covenant of the Lord which He made with our fathers, when He brought them out of the land of Egypt.”

:21 the ark

An “ark” is simply a box.  We call this gold covered box the “Ark of the Covenant” because it is the box that contains the “covenant”, or the stone tablets with the Ten Commandments on them.

8:22-53 Solomon’s Prayer

:22 Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands toward heaven;

The writer of Chronicles tells us that Solomon stood on a bronze platform so the people could see him (2Chr. 6:13)

(2 Ch 6:13 NKJV) (for Solomon had made a bronze platform five cubits long, five cubits wide, and three cubits high, and had set it in the midst of the court; and he stood on it, knelt down on his knees before all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands toward heaven);

:23 and he said: “Lord God of Israel, there is no God in heaven above or on earth below like You, who keep Your covenant and mercy with Your servants who walk before You with all their hearts.

:24 You have kept what You promised Your servant David my father; You have both spoken with Your mouth and fulfilled it with Your hand, as it is this day.

:24 kept what You promised

An example of God’s faithfulness was right before them, the completed Temple. God promised David that his son would build the Temple, and now it has happened.

(2 Sa 7:13 NKJV) He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.

:25 Therefore, Lord God of Israel, now keep what You promised Your servant David my father, saying, ‘You shall not fail to have a man sit before Me on the throne of Israel, only if your sons take heed to their way, that they walk before Me as you have walked before Me.’

:26 And now I pray, O God of Israel, let Your word come true, which You have spoken to Your servant David my father.

:27 “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this temple which I have built!

:27 heavens cannot contain You

Even though Solomon has just finished building the Temple, he isn’t fooled by it. Even though the Temple will become known as “God’s House”, Solomon knows better. He knows that this Temple is much too small to be a house for God.

Lesson

Bigger than a Temple

How big is God to you?

(Is 40:12 NKJV) Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, Measured heaven with a span And calculated the dust of the earth in a measure? Weighed the mountains in scales And the hills in a balance?

God measured the heavens with the span of His hand.

With modern technology like the Hubble Space Telescope we know more than ever just how big the universe is.

It seems to me that God must have pretty large hands to measure things in thousands and millions of light years. Right now they’re saying that the fringes of the observable universe is something like 10 billion light years away.

You usually only ask people to do things they are capable of.

It used to be that I could talk about asking one of my sons to clean their room.  Now I might ask one of my sons to build a computer.  But I won’t ask him to build a nuclear power plant.  Maybe next year.

God is pretty big. He has pretty big hands. Is there something you need to be asking Him? Jeremiah wrote,

(Je 32:17 NKJV) ‘Ah, Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for You.

What could you be asking God?

:28 Yet regard the prayer of Your servant and his supplication, O Lord my God, and listen to the cry and the prayer which Your servant is praying before You today:

:29 that Your eyes may be open toward this temple night and day, toward the place of which You said, ‘My name shall be there,’ that You may hear the prayer which Your servant makes toward this place.

:30 And may You hear the supplication of Your servant and of Your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. Hear in heaven Your dwelling place; and when You hear, forgive.

:30 when You hear, forgive

Lesson

God forgives sin

It seems that there is one thing that will keep God from hearing our prayers.

(Is 59:1–2 NKJV) —1 Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, That it cannot save; Nor His ear heavy, That it cannot hear. 2 But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear.

The Bible says,

(1 Jn 1:9 NKJV) If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Lesson

God hears your prayers

Solomon is asking God to honor this Temple by paying attention to the prayers of people who pray towards the direction of the Temple.

From the time of Solomon to Jesus, God did indeed listen to the prayers of His people as they prayed towards Jerusalem. But with Jesus, things changed.

When Jesus met the woman at the well (John 4), she raised a question as to where God should be worshipped. Being a Samaritan, she thought that God was supposed to be worshipped on Mount Gerizim. She said,

(Jn 4:20–24 NKJV) —20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.” 21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews.

The Samaritans had a perverted, twisted form of Judaism. They didn’t know what they were doing. But the Jews had a pure form of worship, following the Scriptures.

23 But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. 24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

The worship of God no longer has anything to do with location or direction of your prayers.

It has to do with your heart.

It has to do with whether you are coming to God with your heart and whether you are coming to God based on the truth of the Scriptures.

Are you coming to God through Jesus? Do you have God’s correct address?

Illustration

Getting the Address Correct

A couple from Minneapolis decided to go to Florida for a long weekend to thaw out during one particularly icy winter. Because both had jobs, they had difficulty coordinating their travel schedules. It was decided that the husband would fly to Florida on a Thursday, and his wife would follow him the next day. Upon arriving as planned, the husband checked into the hotel. There he decided to open his laptop and send his wife an e-mail back in Minneapolis. However, he accidentally left off one letter in her address, and sent the e-mail without realizing his error. In Houston, a widow had just returned from her husband’s funeral. He was a minister of many years who had been ‘called home to glory’ following a heart attack. The widow checked her e-mail, expecting messages from relatives and friends. Upon reading the first message, she fainted and fell to the floor. The widow’s son rushed into the room, found his mother on the floor, and saw the computer screen, which read:

To: My Loving Wife

From: Your Departed Husband

Subject: I’ve Arrived!

I’ve just arrived and have been checked in. I’ve seen that everything has been prepared for your arrival tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing you then! Hope your journey is as uneventful as mine was.

P.S. Sure is hot down here!

Be sure the address is correct. We come to God through Jesus.

(Jn 14:6 NKJV) Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

:31 “When anyone sins against his neighbor, and is forced to take an oath, and comes and takes an oath before Your altar in this temple,

:32 then hear in heaven, and act, and judge Your servants, condemning the wicked, bringing his way on his head, and justifying the righteous by giving him according to his righteousness.

Solomon is asking God to make the oaths made before this place to be so serious that He doesn’t let people get away with things.

:33 “When Your people Israel are defeated before an enemy because they have sinned against You, and when they turn back to You and confess Your name, and pray and make supplication to You in this temple,

:34 then hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of Your people Israel, and bring them back to the land which You gave to their fathers.

There will be times when God will allow Israel to be beaten by their enemies in battle as a judgment against some sin. Solomon asks that God would forgive that sin if the people will confess it to God.

:35 “When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against You, when they pray toward this place and confess Your name, and turn from their sin because You afflict them,

:36 then hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of Your servants, Your people Israel, that You may teach them the good way in which they should walk; and send rain on Your land which You have given to Your people as an inheritance.

Again, sometimes judgment may come in the form of drought. If the people will confess their sin, God will forgive.

:37 “When there is famine in the land, pestilence or blight or mildew, locusts or grasshoppers; when their enemy besieges them in the land of their cities; whatever plague or whatever sickness there is;

:38 whatever prayer, whatever supplication is made by anyone, or by all Your people Israel, when each one knows the plague of his own heart, and spreads out his hands toward this temple:

:39 then hear in heaven Your dwelling place, and forgive, and act, and give to everyone according to all his ways, whose heart You know (for You alone know the hearts of all the sons of men),

:40 that they may fear You all the days that they live in the land which You gave to our fathers.

There is a sense in which sometimes God allows bad things to happen as a result of our sin.

:39 You alone know the hearts

Lesson

God knows our hearts

We may think that we can get away with things in front of people. But God knows.

Illustration

God Is Missing

In a certain suburban neighborhood, there were two brothers, 8 and 10 years old, who were exceedingly mischievous. Whenever something went wrong in the neighborhood, it turned out they had a hand in it. Their parents were at their wits’ end trying to control them. Hearing about a minister nearby who worked with delinquent boys, the mother suggested to the father that they ask the minister to talk with the boys. The father agreed. The mother went to the minister and made her request. He agreed, but said he wanted to see the younger boy first and alone. So the mother sent him to the minister. The minister sat the boy down on the other side of his huge, impressive desk. For about five minutes they just sat and stared at each other. Finally, the minister pointed his forefinger at the boy and asked, “Where is God?” The boy looked under the desk, in the corners of the room, all around, but said nothing. Again, louder, the minister pointed at the boy and asked, “Where is God?” Again the boy looked all around but said nothing. A third time, in a louder, firmer voice, the minister leaned far across the desk and put his forefinger almost to the boy’s nose, and asked “Where is God?” The boy panicked and ran all the way home. Finding his older brother, he dragged him upstairs to their room and into the closet, where they usually plotted their mischief. He finally said, “We are in * B I G * trouble now!” The older boy asked, “What do you mean, * B I G * trouble ????” His brother replied, “God is missing and they think we did it.”

:41 “Moreover, concerning a foreigner, who is not of Your people Israel, but has come from a far country for Your name’s sake

:42 (for they will hear of Your great name and Your strong hand and Your outstretched arm), when he comes and prays toward this temple,

:43 hear in heaven Your dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to You, that all peoples of the earth may know Your name and fear You, as do Your people Israel, and that they may know that this temple which I have built is called by Your name.

Solomon asks God to listen to foreigners, Gentiles, who might come to God and pray. That includes us.

:44 “When Your people go out to battle against their enemy, wherever You send them, and when they pray to the Lord toward the city which You have chosen and the temple which I have built for Your name,

:45 then hear in heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause.

They say there are no atheists in foxholes.  Solomon asks God to honor the prayers of the men in battle as they pray toward the Temple in Jerusalem.

:46 “When they sin against You (for there is no one who does not sin), and You become angry with them and deliver them to the enemy, and they take them captive to the land of the enemy, far or near;

:47 yet when they come to themselves in the land where they were carried captive, and repent, and make supplication to You in the land of those who took them captive, saying, ‘We have sinned and done wrong, we have committed wickedness’;

:48 and when they return to You with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies who led them away captive, and pray to You toward their land which You gave to their fathers, the city which You have chosen and the temple which I have built for Your name:

:49 then hear in heaven Your dwelling place their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause,

:50 and forgive Your people who have sinned against You, and all their transgressions which they have transgressed against You; and grant them compassion before those who took them captive, that they may have compassion on them

:51 (for they are Your people and Your inheritance, whom You brought out of Egypt, out of the iron furnace),

:52 that Your eyes may be open to the supplication of Your servant and the supplication of Your people Israel, to listen to them whenever they call to You.

:53 For You separated them from among all the peoples of the earth to be Your inheritance, as You spoke by Your servant Moses, when You brought our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord God.”

:46 they take them captive

There would be a day when God would send the nation into captivity.  The Babylonians would take the nation away to Babylon in 586 BC.

Solomon prays that if the people come to their senses while in captivity, and if the pray toward the land of Israel, that God would hear their prayers and restore them to the land.

The prophet Daniel took this promise seriously.

Toward the end of his life, Daniel had been studying the Scriptures and realized that according to Jeremiah’s prophecies, the nation was nearing the end of their seventy year captivity.  What does Daniel do?  He confesses the sins of the nation and asks God for forgiveness (Dan. 9:1-5)

(Da 9:1–5 NKJV) —1 In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the lineage of the Medes, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans— 2 in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years specified by the word of the Lord through Jeremiah the prophet, that He would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem. 3 Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. 4 And I prayed to the Lord my God, and made confession, and said, “O Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and mercy with those who love Him, and with those who keep His commandments, 5 we have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from Your precepts and Your judgments.

Did God answer Daniel’s prayer?  Yes.  It was at this time that the decree went out for the Jews to be returned to Jerusalem.

8:54-66 Blessing

:54 And so it was, when Solomon had finished praying all this prayer and supplication to the Lord, that he arose from before the altar of the Lord, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread up to heaven.

:55 Then he stood and blessed all the assembly of Israel with a loud voice, saying:

:56 “Blessed be the Lord, who has given rest to His people Israel, according to all that He promised. There has not failed one word of all His good promise, which He promised through His servant Moses.

:57 May the Lord our God be with us, as He was with our fathers. May He not leave us nor forsake us,

:58 that He may incline our hearts to Himself, to walk in all His ways, and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments, which He commanded our fathers.

:59 And may these words of mine, with which I have made supplication before the Lord, be near the Lord our God day and night, that He may maintain the cause of His servant and the cause of His people Israel, as each day may require,

:60 that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God; there is no other.

:61 Let your heart therefore be loyal to the Lord our God, to walk in His statutes and keep His commandments, as at this day.”

:55 blessed all the assembly

Lesson

Blessing the flock

A leader needs to keep in mind that he is called to “bless” God’s people.

It’s not just about “fixing” people.  It’s about calling down God’s “blessing” on them as well.

The priestly blessing:

(Nu 6:24–26 NKJV) —24 “The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 The Lord make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; 26 The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace.” ’

:62 Then the king and all Israel with him offered sacrifices before the Lord.

:63 And Solomon offered a sacrifice of peace offerings, which he offered to the Lord, twenty-two thousand bulls and one hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the children of Israel dedicated the house of the Lord.

:64 On the same day the king consecrated the middle of the court that was in front of the house of the Lord; for there he offered burnt offerings, grain offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings, because the bronze altar that was before the Lord was too small to receive the burnt offerings, the grain offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings.

Solomon has to make special arrangements to handle all the offerings because the regular altar of burnt offering can’t handle this big of a load.

:65 At that time Solomon held a feast, and all Israel with him, a great assembly from the entrance of Hamath to the Brook of Egypt, before the Lord our God, seven days and seven more days—fourteen days.

:65 Hamath … Brook of Egypt

Play Hamath to Egypt map clip

Under Solomon, the nation of Israel is greatly expanded.

We usually say “from Dan to Beersheba”, but this goes way beyond that.

:66 On the eighth day he sent the people away; and they blessed the king, and went to their tents joyful and glad of heart for all the good that the Lord had done for His servant David, and for Israel His people.

:66 joyful and glad of heart

Lesson

Worship leads to joy

I know that we need to be careful that we aren’t always looking for an emotional “high” when we come to church.

But there ought to be a sense in which we experience joy by being in God’s presence.  We ought to be “glad” we came to church.