The Everyday Prayer

Re:Verse passage – 2 Chronicles 6:1-11 (day six)

Solomon stood on the promises of God for only a short season. While God remained faithful, Solomon soon began to go his own way. The chronicler is writing hundreds of years after the fact, of course. He knew all too well the destruction Solomon’s unfaithfulness would eventually bring.

Solomon was not the fulfillment of God’s promise to David. Nor would any king after him; not of the political sort, at least. God’s long game was not to prop up a perishing earthly kingdoms (even our own).

No, his faithfulness would eventually find its fulfillment in the one true eternal king, his Son Jesus. As true today as it was for the Israelites after the exile.

Interestingly, we find ourselves in the very same position as those who first read the writings of the chronicler. They were looking to a future Son of David, the messiah, to restore the kingdom. We now are looking to his return.

Re:Verse passage – 2 Chronicles 6:1-11 (day five)

“The Lord has kept the promise he made. I have succeeded David my father and now I sit on the throne of Israel, just as the Lord promised, and I have built the temple for the Name of the Lord, the God of Israel.”

There are several promises of God found in our Re:Verse text this week. A place for the temple. A person to rule. The next King. And the covenant God made with Israel.  God kept every one of them. God keeps all His promises. Are there promises that you need to discover or remember?  God’s promised presence.  God’s promised power.  God’s promised peace.   God’s promised wisdom.   God’s promised forgiveness.   (Just to name a few). Search the scriptures, remember His faithfulness and you will find a living God who has kept every promise He has made, who is worthy of praise and trust.

“The promises of God reveal his particular and eternal purposes to which he is unchangeably committed and upon which believers can totally depend.” – BibleGateway.

Re:Verse passage – 2 Chronicles 6:1-11 (day four)

It was always about God!  The Temple would be a place for God to dwell.  It was a place for His covenant with man to reside.  It was holy because of the presence of God.  The elaborate décor was to honor the God of all the universe.

It was never about man!  As extravagant as it was, the Temple was never to bring honor to Israel.  Even though David had dreamed of its glory, he was not allowed to build it.  Solomon could not claim glory for it…it was planned and provided for before he was even born.  As treasured and valuable as it was, men could not have conceived the holiness that inhabited the Temple.

“Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?  If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are.”  1 Corinthians 3:16-17

Our bodies are intricate and amazing…prepared for before we were born…designed to bring glory to God…and filled with the Spirit of God.  We are His temple!

Re:Verse passage – 2 Chronicles 6:1-11 (day three)

“The king faced about and blessed all the assembly of Israel.”

Will a person who holds power in a society work for the good of all the people in that society? That’s always the hope, isn’t it? What often ends up happening, though, is that the powerful people in a society support the one who will keep them powerful, and that person then works for the good of only some rather than all. Throughout history, the Lord has raised up people to speak truth to power. But for now, here’s power speaking truth to the people. Speaking the truth involves more than the right words; it’s also righteous actions for the good of all people. For a shining moment, it actually happened. Then Solomon abandoned the truth. He used his power to weaken and destabilize an entire nation. Leaders matter.

Re:Verse passage – 2 Chronicles 6:1-11 (day two)

 But the Lord said to my father David, ‘Because it was in your heart to build a house for My name, you did well that it was in your heart. vs. 8

According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it. For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 3:10-11

Isn’t it so gracious of the Lord that he remembers the hopes and dreams of King David? Solomon is also quick to acknowledge that the vision of a Temple was his father’s dream. This kind of generational legacy is not lost on the Apostle Paul. He reminds us that we are all playing a crucial role in the working out of God’s plan. We may have a great vision, and it is important that we give voice to it, but that does not mean that God will use us to complete it. Frustrating? Possibly, but remember the promise God gave to David. The role we ultimately play in this may not exactly fit our plan, but remember what a privilege it is to play a part at all.

Re:Verse passage – 2 Chronicles 5:1-14 (day seven)

I’m normally a silver-linings type of guy, but there is something dark in this passage that caught my eye.

“And King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel who were assembled with him before the ark, were sacrificing so many sheep and oxen that they could not be counted or numbered.” Vs 6

Animals lined up to be slaughtered, a massacre in the midst of a celebration. One can only imagine the amount of sacrificial blood that was shed on this day. It seems unnecessary. You are having this grand celebration and decide to have this ritual in the middle of it all? It sounds out of place… until we take into consideration the Presence of the Lord. A Devine encounter will always result in genuine repentance. As the people came into the temple they were overwhelmed by the Spirit of the Lord, which up against Perfection highlighted their imperfections and need for forgiveness.

Christ took on the massacre so blood is no longer on our hands; He only asks that we continue to draw near to His presence. Our encounters with Him will always result in genuine repentance.

Re:Verse passage – 2 Chronicles 5:1-14 (day six).

God descended upon Mount Sinai in smoke and fire. When Moses completed the assembly of the Tabernacle, God covered it in a cloud and his glory filled the tabernacle, so much so Moses could not enter. The same cloud hovered by day, and glowed with fire by night above the Tabernacle. In the desert, when either would move, then the people would take up camp and follow God’s lead.

So, when God’s presence filled the temple with a thick cloud during the dedication of the temple, it had little to do with God blessing the temple building, and more to do with expressing his continuity:

I am the God who revealed his glory to Moses.

I am the God who made a covenant with you on the mountain, and gave my Word to you.

I am the God who lead and provided for you for 40 years in the desert.

I am the God who fought all your battles in Canaan.

I am the God of your fathers.

I am the unchanging God. And I have made a way for you to know me, love me, meet with me, and move with me.

Emmanuel [God with us]

So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.  John 1:14

 

Re:Verse passage – 2 Chronicles 5:1-14 (day five). 

“All the men of Israel assembled themselves to the king at the feast, that is in the seventh month. Then all the elders of Israel came, and the Levites took up the ark.” 

Can you sense the unity?  Can you sense the community?  Can you picture the full participation of the leaders and people gathering for this time of worship and celebration? There is something tangible and overwhelming about being with God’s people. God’s presence. I am reminded of this truth most Sunday’s these days. At least one family or member will make their way back in person to worship or Bible study for the first time in a long while (some over a year). I love just watching and listening to them react after worship. Excited. Inspired. Emotional. Encouraged.

When it’s time (God will guide each of us in His timing) to gather in person, will you come with joy and expectation?   We are praying our gathered times will be marked by His overwhelming presence and a real sense of unity and community.

Re:Verse passage – 2 Chronicles 5:1-14 (day four)

When the Hebrews praised the Lord in the Temple (verse 13), they used a familiar phrase.  David had used it often in the psalms…”the Lord is good, for His lovingkindness is everlasting.”  (Chapters 106, 107, 118, 136)  The prophet Jeremiah used it later when he foretold the restoration of Israel from the Babylonian exile (Jeremiah 33:11).  Since Scripture is inspired by God, this phrase must be pleasing to God.  In our Re:Verse this week, God’s response to this corporate praise from the Hebrews was to fill the Temple with His presence.  He literally inhabited their praise.

Sounds like a good idea to use God’s own words to praise Him!  Using the words of Scripture to pray back to God is pleasing to Him.  In prayer, in songs and hymns, or in worship…God responds to His praise.  Do you want to acknowledge God’s love…God’s goodness…God’s character?  “The Lord is good, His lovingkindness is everlasting!”