The Prophet and The Widow

Rehoboam (Solomon’s Son) and Jeroboam (one of the Head Craftsmen), faced off about the high taxes that the Israelites had to pay the to the Order of the Kingdom of Israel. This resulted in a disintegration of the kingdom of Israel, and 10 of the Tribes or family groups went with Jeroboam to form a splinter, a big splinter of the kingdom.

As we saw before Jeroboam was concerned more about his power than his people and set up idol worship as a means of controlling whether they should see what true worship is like in Jerusalem. After The Northern Kingdom went with Jeroboam, they had a series of bad kings with one rising up and taking the previous one down, or by inheritance.

Today, we go into the study of the kingship of Ahab and the Prophet of God during his reign, pulling out some key elements to display God’s Message.

1 Kings 17:1-12

Prior to 1 Kings 17 we know nothing about Elijah. Many people have speculated as to who he was and have come up with theories which cannot be proved or could be disputed. Some people believe that he was either God pre-incarnate or an angel in human form, but James 5:17 lays to rest either of those theories. Elijah is an example of faithfulness during a time of nationwide rejection of the truth.

We open up this study with a man appearing on the scene that we have no previous knowledge of, save that he was a Tishbite.

Now the name Tishbite, when broken down means sojourner, but could also refer to a location. Josephus refers to Elijah as being from Teshbon (a Country or Province in Gilead). The name Elijah means Jehovah is God and as the story ensues, Elijah’s life remains fairly close to the meaning of his name.

Ahab, was the son of a wicked king, who had done evil as had Jeroboam. The account we have before us says that Ahab was more evil than all who were before him. Ahab married Jezebel, the daughter of Ethbaal, who was a king of Sidon, and together they built an altar to Baal the Zidonian god, and Asherah the Zidonian goddess. Ethbaal was a priest-king of Baal, and his daughter Jezebel had picked up that spiritual power and transferred it into the worship in Israel. The name Jezebel itself means “where is the “Prince”? This is believed to be a direct reference to Baal who was a god of the underworld and their search for Spring and New Life! They believed that when Baal showed his face the crops and life itself flourished.

There is a few key points in verse 1 that we must not miss.

Elijah was addressing Ahab, that wicked king whose wife was a priestess of Baal, a god whose appearance was believed by them to bring New Life.

Elijah though facing a king who could have had his head, spoke the Word of The Lord.

Elijah stood before God, whose Message he brought to Ahab and Jezebel.

This drought that Elijah prophesied to the Israelites about had a previously issued warning in Deuteronomy 11:16,17 that when their hearts became deceived and they worshipped other gods, the wrath of God would fall on them and the heavens would issue no rain.

After meeting king Ahab in Samaria and giving him the warning about there being a drought, Elijah, under the command and provision of the Lord was told to escape Eastward and hide by the brook Cherith. Now Cherith was on the East side of the Jordan River, whereas Samaria was on the western side. God was preparing Elijah for a profound and miraculous ministry that required his complete trust in Jehovah. As Elijah lived by the brook, every morning and evening, ravens brought him bread and meat for his sustenance. “With God all things are possible.”

So where did these ravens get these tidbits of food the for the prophet to eat? I sincerely doubt these were leftover crumbs that some caravan discarded. Why do I feel this was not an option? Food was scarce, so if you had it; you didn’t waste it.

I figure that this was probably bread and meat from heaven that was specifically sent for the nourishment of God’s Prophet.

Now when there is a drought in a place, eventually the rivers and the creeks dry up and the avenue that God had provided for Elijah had left as the last drop of rain water evaporated into the air.

Elijah’s time of preparation was over and God wanted him to move onto the next phase of his ministry. Elijah was sent to Zarephath, a city in Sidon near the place where Jezebel, that wicked queen hailed from. This was a Gentile city, that was in the heart of idol worship, yet here is where the call of God sent Elijah.

We don’t know for sure if she was a believer before Elijah met up with her or even if she had ever heard of the True God, but it would seem likely that she had heard about God from someone. When Solomon built God’s Temple in Jerusalem, and through the wisdom that God had given him, one would sure think that news like that along with the glory of the kingdom of Israel would have made it that far North (about 100 Miles or so). We do know that news had reached into the Land of Sheba, either known as Ethiopia or South Africa.

There was a widow in the city of Zarephath that God had prepared for this occasion and Elijah was sent to her, not so much for his benefit, but for hers. This widow, a citizen of that Gentile city was preparing to make her last meal and then she and her son would starve.

God’s people were forsaking him, yet among the Gentiles, there was a heart that was ripe for the Gospel Message, So God was moving in her heart and Elijah’s heart as they both were prepared for the meeting that was God ordained.

How far widespread was this drought? The rejection that Israel chose to send God’s way created a traumatic situation, not only for them but the neighboring countries around them. We notice that as far away as Sidon, their food supply was running out. The widow in our lesson shows us just how desperate things were for them as well as the Israelites.

Over and over again, God has displayed His mercy to a person who has humbled themselves before Him, no matter what background they come from. It had seemed clear, that the Israelites were God’s Chosen people, but once again, the popular belief was pushed aside so yet another soul could enter into God’s Kingdom. This was made available through the rejection of God’s Chosen People refusing to acknowledge Him as their Lord.

This widow’s obedience is amazing! She had no reason to trust Elijah and his God, but then what did she have to lose. Her whole life had been predicated on the lie that her god and goddess would bring the fruit from the ground, but when the time had come for a harvest these last 3 years; but alas, there was none.

As Elijah instructed her to bring him a cake first, she makes an interesting statement. She said, “As the Lord thy God Liveth”. First off, She is recognizing, There is a Living God. Secondly, she is recognizing Elijah as his Prophet. Thirdly, that she doesn’t know Him.

Elijah’s prophecy about her barrel of meal and cruse of oil came true and she began to warm up to the prophet and his God, the Living God who could create meal and oil from nothing. No matter how she scraped her barrel and cruse out, there was always some there the next time she needed it.

God’s provision for her, had brought her to the place of believing in Him.

The next step in this plan that God had for her and Elijah was one that had never been done before. Though it hadn’t been done before, Abraham had believed that God could do it for his son Isaac after he had sacrificed him. Hebrews 11:17-19

This widow, having lost her husband beforehand, now had he only child, a son, become sick and die. She immediately assumed that the grace of God was no longer on her head due to the entrenched ideologies that were ingrained into her belief system.

God understands the fears and confusions of our hearts. This woman was grief-stricken, and out of her grief, she spoke hastily. We, to speak hastily to the Lord at times when we don’t understand what is going on in our lives. We say things like “Why me Lord?”

We so easily forget the blessings of the Lord as soon as hardship comes. The Children of Israel forget the blessings of the Lord whether things were going good or badly for them. God is a Patient God and He was displaying His longsuffering nature to her so that she would understand more in depth who He is.

We may criticize this lady for accusing Elijah of bringing her son’s death upon her, but she was outside God’s chosen people. True she was serving the Lord now, and serving His Prophet, but how could she know that at some point her sins wouldn’t come back to haunt her? This was a legitimate fear for her. As a Gentile, she did not have the same rights before God as a born Jew would have, and any proselytized Gentile would have felt that. Today, through Jesus, all Gentiles have an open relationship with God, even to a greater degree than what the Old Testament Jews would have been able to have.

Sometimes when we experience traumatic incidents, we immediately assume that God has left us because of our unrighteousness. While that may be the case on occasion, God may actually be closer than we think. In the story we have before us, God had prepared this situation, not that He wanted her to experience her son dying, but that He wanted her to experience her son becoming alive again!

The purpose of this was to prove that He alone is God and that He creates Life!

The widow’s last testimony we read of is “I know that thou art a man of God, and the Word of the Lord in your mouth is truth”. She no longer is calling God Elijah’s God, but the grammatical sense is denoting ownership of God. In other words, she now was a personal believer in God.

‪#‎Godcreateslife‬ ‪#‎believerinGod‬ ‪#‎widowinZarephath‬ ‪#‎testimonyoflife‬

The Strategies of Two Kings - 1 Kings 12

The Strategies of Two Kings

1 Kings 12

Shechem played a pivotal role in the history of the Jews that is often overlooked by Bible Commentaries.  Shechem was a city where Abraham was living nearby when he received one of God’s promises. Genesis 12:6,7  By the time Jacob came on the scene 200 years later had become a thriving city.  Now the word city in Hebrew means that this settlement was a walled settlement, and Genesis 34:20, 24 report that it had a gate.  

Shechem was home to Abraham, Jacob, it is where Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers, Joshua was to read the law from the side of one of the mountains nearby once they had made the conquest into that region Joshua 7,8. and Jesus talked to the woman at the well there.  The city of Shechem was situated between two mountains and had a natural acoustic effect so one could be speaking on the mountain and be heard in the valley.  The source I got this information from also indicated that he had been on top of one of the mountains and could hear the children playing in the city, so the acoustic nature worked both ways.

You remember from our last study that Solomon had started out well as a leader, but then his heart wandered,and he became a self-serving king.  In other words, it was more of a tyranny as he pressed his very own people into slavery to him and his family.  Toward the end of Solomon’s reign the heart of the people had already started to shift, and when he died, Jeroboam, one of his well respected men had fled to Egypt after have to seek asylum there.

Now Rehoboam, who was Solomon’s son that should take on the kingdom, went to Shechem for his coronation.  The story that goes on from here expands yet again the history of the city of Shechem as this event takes on another pivotal role in the history of the Israelites.

We start out our Lesson with one of Israel’s well respected men in exile.

1 Samuel 8:11-18

11 And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots.

12 And he will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over fifties; and will set them to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots.

13 And he will take your daughters to be confectioneries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers.

14 And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your olive-yards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants.

15 And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants.

16 And he will take your menservants, and your maidservants, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, and put them to his work.

17 He will take the tenth of your sheep: and ye shall be his servants.

18 And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the Lord will not hear you in that day.

We do not know that Solomon knew of the interchange between Ahijah, the prophet of God and Jeroboam, but he certainly must have suspected something. Jeroboam was an industrious individual who was a natural born leader. The Bible calls him a valiant warrior.  As Solomon was losing his grip on his people it seemed natural that someone as powerful militarily as Jeroboam would be a threat to Solomon's throne, and he moved to get him out of the way. Jeroboam sought asylum in Egypt.

1 Timothy 6:6-11

6 But godliness with contentment is great gain.

7 For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.

8 And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.

9 But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.

10 For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

11 But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.

The presence of Jeroboam, a returned exile, by the invitation of the people should have been threat enough to this new king, and then to have him as the spokesman for the entire camp of Israel who was offering bargaining chips to the king really should have left no question in Rehoboam’s mind as to the danger of not hearing their request.

Any leader who is self-serving is headed for disaster.  The old men advised Rehoboam to be compassionate to the people of Israel and they would serve him forever.  A good leader would have heard his followers and would have consulted his advisors, not from a selfish standpoint, but one that would seek to serve his own people.  This was the downfall of Solomon and Rehoboam.

When there is a group of people who either won’t hear the advice of the older generation or isn’t surrounded with the wisdom of the older generation, where will that take them.  In Rehoboam’s case, he consulted with his peers, who were self-serving just like himself.  

Today as individuals, families, and the church we do have access to the Holy Spirit speaking directly into our lives so in one sense it is different, but should we be seeking advice for our lives corporately and/or individually?

God had given Jeroboam the greater portion of the kingdom of Israel and protected him from being killed from Solomon.  He had forgotten that God could preserve the kingdom as well as give it to him.

Jeroboam, as well as Solomon and Rehoboam, had proved that their heart cared more for their positions than the people.  You remember in our last study we talked about Israel worshipping God in high places, and it was in such a place that Solomon met God and got the promise of wisdom.  Though these high places were forbidden through the Law that was given by God,  it was something He winked at as they were still giving him lip service.  These same high places caused Israel to compromise their beliefs in God, because they weren’t entirely following His directives.

When Jeroboam lead the revolt against Rehoboam, only Judah remained with Rehoboam.  So now that Jeroboam had eleven tribes with him he didn’t wish to lose that power that all those people gave him.  This why he set up the golden calves in the high places of Dan and Bethel.  

Do we as leaders become so power hungry that we set up some kind of idolatry so we do not lose the power, the authority that we have gotten?  This could be true of us as fathers, or as leaders in the church.

Jeroboam’s quest for power began with hearing the voice of God and being appointed by God to lead the 10 tribes of Israel.  Jeroboam got the lowest of the people to be his new priests at the high places in the worship of the golden calves.  He tried to brainwash the people that these calves that he made were representations of God who led them out of Egypt.  He was playing on their need to worship something physical and trying to keep them out of Jerusalem.  He knew that Jerusalem was the place God had set up through David and Solomon as the place where His presence would be felt and where the voice of God would be heard, but he chose to withhold any real experience of worship from them so he could maintain his own kingdom.

There were a total of eleven tribes that went with him, but when the tribe of Levi discovered they weren’t needed for worship, they went back and joined up with Rehoboam and Judah.  

Solomon’s wives lead him astray as they became more important to him than God. 1 Kings 11:3,4

Rehoboam’s friends lead him astray by giving him poor advice.

Jeroboam wanted to keep the hearts of the people, and though there was no immediate threat to losing them, he took counsel and built idols so the Israelites would not go back to Jerusalem to worship. 1 Kings 12:28

Defining Moments of a King!

Defining Moments of A King!
1 Kings 3

King Solomon was a young king over a people group that was without number. The background for this study begins in the first chapter of 1 Kings.

Solomon’s father David has had declining health and will eventually turn the kingdom over to his successor. Meanwhile David’s fourth son, Adonijah, has seized the moment and gained notoriety among David’s former colleagues and has set himself up as king. God had promised before hand that Solomon would be taking on that role and so right from the start Solomon walks right into a conflict that is left over from his father’s mistakes/sins. As David found out that Adonijah had set himself up as his father’s successor, David moved quickly then with the Prophet of God to instate Solomon as a God-ordained King. The reality of this situation is there is two coronation ceremonies going on within the same family to rule over the same people.

As Adonijah understood that he had a rival that was ordained by God and his father, he ran to the tabernacle and grabbed onto the horns of the altar in desperation begging for his life. Solomon left him live under the order that he was to show himself a worthy man. Adonijah bowed himself before his brother indicating his allegiance to him.

Eventually Solomon has Adonijah put to death because he asked a favor of Solomon regarding the woman that had been David’s servant to keep him warm as he aged. That was too much for Solomon and he ordered Adonijah killed.

For the sake of national security Solomon was ordered by David to carry out the judgment for various offenders of David’s that he hadn’t dealt with.

The Quest for Wisdom

To begin with, I would like to look at the Laws that were given by Moses for when Israel would receive a king. Deuteronomy 17:14-20
Now as we come to the text of our study 1 Kings 3, we see Solomon as an established, though young king. From the start of his reign he gets mixed up with foreign women, largely due to the various affinities he made with various kings.

It is here that he begins to go wrong. In order to see what was controlling his heart, let’s dissect this account together and see where Solomon’s heart was.

First of all, what is an affinity? According to the Strong’s Concordance, affinity is to give a daughter away in marriage, to contract affinity by marriage. So then what is an affinity? It is a relationship that is bonded through a marriage. The modern definition of this is forming a treaty through a marriage.

Solomon began his reign by creating a relationship with the king of Egypt through the marriage of Pharaoh’s daughter. What did this affinity mean for the kingdom of Israel? Egypt and Israel were both powerful nations at this point and basically this maneuver was creating an alliance between them similar to the alliance between Great Britain and the U.S.. 2 Corinthians 6:15 This type of alliance between Egypt and Israel was different though in the sense that Israel was designated a nation of God’s People, who were holy. Egypt, however was on a cultural path of destruction, through their idolatry, and ignorance of God. So as this plays out, we have a people set aside to be holy; whose king makes an alliance with a people who is unholy. Can this end anywhere but in a mess? 1 Corinthians 15:33

I see this episode, as a lack of trust on Solomon’s part. As an ally, they were bound to each other to stand in for each other in battle.

What do you have an affinity with? In Genesis 6 this gets played out in the spiritual realm as the sons of God saw the daughters of men and married them and through that alliance, giants were born. Today, if we allow the alliance between ourselves as holy children of God and the spirits of this world, the inevitable will happen and giants will be born within our soul.

The worship experience of Israel in those days was to worship in high places. The tabernacle was the original designated place of worship and at this point it was located in Gibeon. Even though the Tabernacle was in Gibeon, the ark of the Covenant (which represented God’s Presence) was in Jerusalem. For some reason God blessed Solomon’s worship in the high place at Gibeon even though it was still set up as a high place. This worship in high places was more than just building an altar such as Abraham, Samuel, and David had done; but was a complete worship center with groves, and whatever else was common in those types of settings. This was not true worship for it was forbidden by God, and was a form of idolatry.

What are our high places? Can we set up a spiritual high place, where by appearance we are worshipping God, but we are doing so in disobedience, and have set up our place of worship whether physical or spiritual as an idol before the Lord. Isaiah 29:13/Matthew 15:8 Are we following the practices of the heathen around us when we worship the Lord?

Now, after all this, Solomon goes to worship the Lord in Gibeon where the tabernacle is residing. This is the official place to meet the Lord for the Israelites. It is here in Gibeon, that God meets Solomon and offers him; no strings attached, whatever he wants.

Note that though Solomon loved the Lord, his devotion to the Lord was not his full devotion. He was distracted from giving the Lord his full devotion.

Solomon’s heart is toward the Lord at this point, and he knew that the job he had been called to do was bigger than he was. He was young, and inexperienced needing God’s wisdom for this undaunting task of leading God’s people on the right way. James 1:5

What is the difference between the wisdom of this world and the wisdom of God? The wisdom of this world is often viewed as philosophy including a wide spectrum of circumstances, and scientific theories; while the wisdom of God is having the understanding of life from God’s perspective. The only true way to understand life is through the wisdom of God, for God gives life, and He gives life meaning. If you try to understand life with a worldly wisdom, there are many areas in life when answers will fail you and life will cease to have meaning, judgments will be narrow sighted, and the future will be bleak.

Proverbs 3:7-26

John 15:16 We do have the same opportunity to ask God for whatever we will, but with one stipulation though. We need to ask in Jesus name. What does that mean? When Jesus abides in us, and the spirit of God moves through us, our request is not selfish, but for the good of the Kingdom of God. As a child of God, in whom the Spirit of God dwells, our greatest goal is to want God’s for ourselves and others what God has designed for us.

Solomon’s heart was distracted from giving God his full devotion. What about us? Are we distracted in our devotion to the Lord. Is our Faith radical? Have we given our complete trust to the Lord?

We have been given the position to lead in one way or another. Are we asking humbly God for wisdom to lead in the area we have been called?

Solomon’s request to God was also for an understanding heart. An understanding heart is one that hears, not just in passing or as one who is distracted when someone else is talking but one who really hears. Solomon wanted a heart that would really hear God when He was talking. A comparison to this spiritually would be in Ephesians 1:18.

The Gift of Wisdom

The speech pleased the Lord! What about Solomon’s speech pleased the Lord? Solomon had humbled his heart before the Lord, and a broken or humble spirit God will not turn away. God promised Solomon that he would be given wisdom and an understanding heart. 1 Corinthians 13:2 says that if a man understand all mysteries and doesn’t have love, he is nothing.

While on one hand Solomon had humbled himself and God had promised him wisdom and an understanding heart, Solomon was still living in disobedience to the Lord through his allegiance to Egypt through his marriage, and his continued worship in the various high places. The wisdom and understanding had proved to be disregarded in his personal life while at the same time he enabled others to benefit from it.

As part of Solomon’s blessing for choosing wisdom and understanding, God also blessed him with riches and honor. The Old Covenant was a physical covenant in which many times the faithful were rewarded physically as well. Many of the faithful under the Old Covenant received riches and honor as a blessing from God for their faithfulness. Under the New Covenant, however, which is spiritual, the blessing may not necessarily be physical. The faithful under the New Covenant will be rewarded with spiritual riches and when the day arrives when God calls his servants home, their reward will be so much greater than anything physical could possibly be.

After Solomon awake from his vision, and realized all that God had promised him, he went and stood before the Ark of the Covenant and offered up burnt offerings, worshiping God, and offering Peace offerings. Solomon was, as it were, standing in the throneroom of God before the mercy seat of the Almighty in humble submission.

The Results of Wisdom

I have often wondered what woman would be so hard as to say to cut a child to pieces. I mean you could see the child, yet that is what happened in this account. Solomon was able to see through her pretentious fascade and chose to use the method of threatening to do this as a means of determining who the real mother was. I can’t go on from here without saying that many of today’s mothers are doing exactly that. They are taking the place of that second woman and are having their unborn child torn apart or drugged so they die. Many real mothers and fathers are MIA (missing in action) when it comes to being there for their children.

In this case, though, the real mother’s heart yearned for her child and she couldn’t bear to see it destroyed. Isaiah 49:15.

Solomon’s wisdom that he showed in this case further solidified his place as a worthy ruler and his subjects were slow to disobey him because of his discernment. In the same way, when we trust the Lord, and do righteously, many people will respect us for it.

The contrast that came before Solomon was selfishness and compassion. This is what Solomon was choosing between.

The original plan for Israel was to be a nation of priests which would draw the world to God. Israel was located strategically between two major civilizations and would be right on the trade route. If Israel could maintain their spirituality, God would continue to bless them physically and nations would be in awe of them. Today as people of the New Covenant, God has blessed us not necessarily with physical things, but spiritual; and if we continue to live in faith the people of the world will be drawn to God through us. This will not be an automatic wave of people coming to God, but nevertheless, people will come.

Solomon used God’s wisdom well when applying it to the lives and needs of others, but when it came to applying it to his personal life, he was severely lacking. Truly applying wisdom will affect your personal life. Psalm 111:10, Proverbs 9:10

Wisdom:
Delivers us from the ways of evil men Proverbs 2:10-13
Delivers us from immorality 5:1-3
It gives us the right words to say 10:31,32; Luke 21:15

Delivers us from evil and brings us to humility 16:16-18
It builds up and brings us strength and safety 24:3-6
Disciplining brings wisdom to children and to all whom God disciplines 29:15
Prepares men for Leadership Acts 6:3
Enables us to determine God’s will Colossians 1:9
True wisdom is gentle, pure, and merciful James 3:1

‪#‎askforwisdom‬ ‪#‎wisdom‬ ‪#‎questforwisdom‬ ‪#‎giftofwisdom‬ ‪#‎resultsofwisdom‬‪#‎walkinrighteousness‬

Preparing for the Temple!

Preparing For The Temple
1 Chronicles 22

Historical background:
David had just received a sound defeat spiritually from the hand of Satan and chose to number the children of Israel (which was strictly forbidden). The result of this was Israel experienced first hand the wrath of the Lord as David discovered his sin affected many more people than himself (the entire nation). The angel of death killed 70,000 people as a punishment for David’ sin.

David saw the angel of the Lord with his sword raised over Jerusalem, but then God caused the angel to stop the destruction. The location was Araunah’s Threshing Place. David buys the threshing floor from Araunah and worships the Lord there with a sacrifice.

Later David proposed to build the Temple there as a world renowned worship center. God told David that he was not to be the one to build it because he had blood on his hands. That my friends, is a lesson itself of why today’s Temple builders need to be non-resistant!

Here we are today, taking a look at the preparation David enacted to speed up the process of the Temple construction.

First of all, David had a vision.

On one hand, I hesitate to refer to David’s vision as a vision, lest it be understood as something it is not. This vision David had is more like a purpose. We could say, “David purposed in his heart to build a Temple for the Lord”, and then God said “Not so fast David, You have blood on your hands”.

God met David where he had surrendered and David wanted it built there as a memorial!

At the time of David’s reign, the land was still inhabited with wicked people. The comparison is that as David rooted them out or subjected them in labor, he was setting forth a physical example of our spiritual battles where we root out the carnal nature or subject it to a holy calling. Clarification - The Carnal Nature will never be completely eradicated, but our battles will continue to work to that end!

In our study today, vision and purpose mean the same thing!

Proverbs 29:18 says “Without a vision, the people perish”. The vision David had was not just some dream of building a Temple, but it affected his life. David put forth energy to turn this vision into reality.

David had been instructed by God not to build him the Temple but told him that he would have a son whose name would mean peaceful. God told David that Solomon his son would be the one to build Him the Temple.

As a Spiritual Application we take a look at this account from beyond the physical realm and try to discover how to apply it to our lives today.

There are two types of Spiritual Temples we are building today. First, as 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 say, “Your body is the Temple of the Holy Ghost”; secondly, The Church, though commonly referred to as the body of Christ is also a Temple for the Holy Ghost. Wait a minute, isn’t the Church people? Then what we really have is each Christian as a temple and as they come together in a collective worship they should begin to merge together as a glorious temple as the one Lord comes with them. Matthew 18:20

We find David not just reaching out to the Israelites to help him gather material and process it for the Temple, but David as the king of Israel, sent to gather the strangers that were in the land of Israel at that point to cut stone for the Temple. In other words, “they were forcibly gathered and put to work at hard labor as slaves, no less. So why did David do that?

Who were the Gibeonites? In Joshua 9:1-27 the story of the Gibeonites begins. Though there is no direct reference to who the “strangers” were, we first of all can be pretty certain they were not Israelites. The distinction would not have been made. Based on what we do know about the Gibeonites and the Treaty of Gilgal we can rightfully assume they were at least part of this group of strangers. There was basically two ways that Israel took over the Land of Canaan. One was killing everyone off or enslaving them forever. Also, remember, when Israel took off from Egypt, they had a following on non Israelites. These were people hoping to have a better life. While we do not know assuredly who any of the strangers were, these groups of people would have been strangers (not brethren).

This could be applied to our lives in that as we build the Temple of God (our bodies), we need to subject our carnal man (the original inhabitant of our temple) to our Spiritual man as he builds the Temple with the blueprint that God has set forth as one that will bring Him the Glory He deserves. As we build the Spiritual Temple, the general populous should be setting up to take notice of the Glory of God, and come to worship God just as the Queen of Sheba did for Solomon’s Temple! Her decision to search out the God of Solomon enabled her to say the half had not yet been told!

The detail that David put into his preparations shows how serious he was about his vision. He did not just gather stuff that could be used, but manipulated it to make it more useful. He obviously had a plan that indicated how each stone was to be cut, how each piece of lumber was to be cut, how each nail was to be formed for their respective function.

David was preparing a heritage for his son, who would be able to stand on the shoulders of his father’s spiritual experience and go forward to build the Temple. How are we building the Spiritual Temple? Is it in disarray? Does it just have a bunch of useful stuff laying around that isn’t being form for it rightful purpose? How are we preparing to pass the heritage of our Spiritual Experience on to our children?

When your children are young and tender, as a parent, you should do everything to shore them up spiritually including patiently and tenderly guiding them. As a parent we have the advantage of being able to see what makes our children tick, and can then steer them toward some type of project, job, or ministry that would be able to use their strong points.

David was nearing the end of his life and now saw fit to pass the baton of faith on to his son Solomon. David gave his son a charge (or an appointment/command). David goes back over his vision with his son and the reason he could not build the Temple of God. He tells Solomon that God had ordained him as the builder of the Temple and that God would be a Father to him, and that he, Solomon would be a son to God. David repeats God’s promise to Solomon that his descendants would be on the throne forever.

David, then closes off with the blessing “The Lord be with thee and prosper thee”; and then to make the charge official said “Build thou the House of the Lord as He has said you would do”. David continues his charge by giving Solomon more blessings and instruction with “Follow God and you will be blessed”.

We must be found doing God’s will if we want to be blessed.

As David continued to instruct Solomon, he tells him that he, David, had went out of his way to prepare this for him. The word “trouble” means misery or affliction, so if we were to read that with its meaning in place then it would read like this, “Now, behold, in my affliction (or misery) have I prepared for the House of the Lord”.

Why did David make such a big deal about the misery he was in while gathering and preparing the material? First of all, Do we know what had been going on in David’s life up to this point? Ever since David’s sin with Bathsheba, his kingdom was becoming more and more divided, his family situation was falling apart, and spiritually he was having his ups and downs.

So, taking a look at all that, Does it make a difference knowing what was going on in his life? I think it does!

Christ is the Prince of Peace and Solomon’s name meant peaceful. Both Christ and Solomon initiated a New Spiritual Era! Solomon’s Spiritual era was physically glorious, but Jesus’ Spiritual era is Spiritually glorious.

The name Solomon means peaceful and because his domain had peace from its enemies, he was able to put forth his energy to building Temple. The blood that David had shed hindered him from building the Temple of God. So what about us? Maybe we aren’t shedding physical blood, but what about spiritual or emotional blood. Are we killing off our contemporaries through gossip and slander? What about sarcasm? Sometimes we give ourselves a pass saying that it was just in jest not giving any regard to how they perceived it.

The charge to Solomon consisted of more than just building the Temple. David charged Solomon with living holy before God. It was as though David was telling Solomon “Focus … Focus … Focus”. There is so much out there today to grab our attention from serving the Lord and fulfilling His purposes, but if our eyes are single, if our hearts are stayed on the Lord, if the Holy Spirit is being heeded; then we will be where God wants us and we will always be glorifying God.

Can you set your heart and soul on building God's House today by having a frolic? Is that going to do it? All that action! All that interaction! Colossians 3:2 Says “Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.” Just as married people will lay down their will for the sake of their partner, if we are married to Christ, we will lay down our will for Him. See, if our affection is on something, all else will take second place. I don’t have a problem with people doing things extra spiritual, but if that extra spiritual thing is holding their affection, that is going to be their focus and has become their God. They will talk about a lot as their passion for it consumes them.

Solomon didn’t do so well at that. He made all sorts of agreements with heathen kings and through that gathered to himself many heathen wives who lead his heart astray.

Deuteronomy 17:14-20

The Law for the king was given by Moses who foresaw that Israel would be asking for one. If the Law had been followed, Solomon would have had some guards in place to guard his heart, but no, he multiplied silver and gold, got wives in abundance, and tried the best that the carnal man could enjoy.

That took him on a spiritual ride from which he almost didn’t recover. Even as the wisest man who had ever lived he was blinded by prosperity and luxury. It does seem as though he did come through though and gave his heart back to God at the end of his life.