Well, it appears this posting has become an every-other-week kind of event! Sorry about that. We'll try to stay more on top of it here!
This week is an interesting bridge between the leadership and poetry of David into the life and wisdom of Solomon. The Chronological readings provide an interesting week for us, in that the building of the temple- which is reported in two different books- will consume the bulk of the week. Some of this technical detail (size, height, amount, builders, etc) can become burdensome to our modern mind, but these passages are communicating an important point. This building, this temple to the Most High God, would become the pinnacle place of life and worship for the entire Jewish nation. The completed work would be so impressive that foreign dignitaries, most notably the Queen of Sheba, would take pilgrimages just to behold the wonder.
So I encourage you as you read to keep in mind the New Testament. In light of this week's reading, how shocking would Jesus' statement have been that he would tear down the Temple and rebuild it in three days? (yes, it was a different temple by then, but I would argue that it carried the same weight of importance in the Hebrew heart.) How crazy was it for Peter and Paul to tell the church that they had become the living Temple? What does it mean for us personally if our bodies are now the Temple of the Holy Spirit? When we grasp the deep significance of the first Old Testament Temple, we can appreciate in new ways the "new" Temple we have become through Christ.
Read in joy-
Nick
1 comment:
I am in awe and then somewhat overwhelmed at the high cost that the offerings made to dedicate the temple must have been. The quantity of animals is beyond something I can fathom! I think it is really easy for me to take for granted then the high price that Jesus paid to end those animal sacrifices. I can't imagine raising that many animals for temple sacrifice, because it isn't a part of my life - and I forget to be thankful for that... A good reminder for me today of another reason to praise God.
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