To Encourage You

1 Kings 5:2-5 “And Solomon sent word to Hiram, ‘You know that David my father could not build a house for the name of the Lord his God because of the warfare with which his enemies surrounded him, until the Lord put them under the soles of his feet. But now the Lord my God has given me rest on every side. There is neither adversary nor misfortune. And so I intend to build a house for the name of the Lord my God, as the Lord said to David my father, “Your son, whom I will set on your throne in your place, shall build the house for my name.”’”

In the passage above we have an excerpt from the account of Solomon as he was making preparations to build the temple of God.  It was to be the focus of worship in Israel and the most glorious building project of Solomon’s reign.  Initially, it had been David’s desire to build the temple, but God didn’t permit him to do this because David was a man of war.  The temple was to be constructed by the son of David, one whose very name meant “peace.”  In some passages we are given the idea that God was somehow holding the fact that David had killed so many people in war as a blemish that weighed against him in terms of the temple building. Yet, David’s wars were holy wars that were conducted under the direction and to the glory of God.  Which brings us to the passage above that indicates that David’s prohibition from realizing his dream was largely because the warfare kept him so preoccupied with his enemies that the task of temple building just wasn’t feasible.  But then God gave David victory, and that victory allowed his son to experience “rest on every side,” so he could commence fulfillment of his father’s dream.

So, what does this have to do with you and me?  The Bible tells us that all Scripture is profitable for us (2 Timothy 3:16-17). So what about this passage?  In thinking about this I’m reminded that the Scriptures tell Christians that we are the “temple of God,” a place where his Holy Spirit dwells (1 Corinthians 3:17-19).  But in order for that to be possible, just as was the case with Solomon, first there had to be preparations made. 

So again, thinking about the passage above, we are told that until David’s enemies were put under the soles of his feet, the temple could not be built.  Do you realize that before a person becomes a Christian, they are just as much an enemy of King of kings as the Philistines were enemies of King David?  In our natural condition, we are in rebellion against Him. We don’t want Him to be our King.  The Bible clearly says that because we are the friends of the world system that is opposed to God, we, too, are at enmity with Him (James 4:4).  You see, as Jesus clearly said, “no house divided against itself will stand” (Matthew 12:25).  So, in our natural condition, we could never be part of the temple of God. 

But then the miracle of it all.  The King of kings did war with His enemies, but not in a way anyone would ever think.  While David was known as a warrior who had shed blood (1 Chronicles 28:3), the One we know as the Son of David was also a warrior and One Who shed blood. But in the case of Jesus, it was His own blood that was shed. And as Jesus told His disciples during the last supper, the wine that He gave them represented “the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you” (Luke 22:20).  It was not until that warfare was waged that any of us could be included in the household of God as members of His glorious spiritual temple. 

It’s all described for us in the following wonderful words from Romans 5:6-11: “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”

So, do you realize that all the preparations have been made for you to be included in the household of God? Do you realize that the war has been fought, the price has been paid, and though you may now be “separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world” (Ephesians 2:12), the way of peace with God has been opened to you because of what Christ has done?  Do you realize that those who are “in Christ Jesus” because they have put their trust in Him, although they “once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ” (Ephesians 2:13)?  And those who have been brought near in this way, “are no longer strangers and aliens, but . . . fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit” (Ephesians 2:19-22).

What wonderful shadows we have in the Old Testament of the love and grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. What a wonderful thing is the temple of God.