You Are a Temple – 1 Kings 8:1-21

How do people come to know the Lord? Through other people. There were two people who were instrumental in my coming to know the Lord. One was a classmate in high school who developed a friendship with me, a new kid at school. The other was a young evangelist who played the 12 string guitar and shared his testimony with my youth group. They were “temples” of God where I met the Lord.

Solomon has completed the temple. Now it is time to bring the ark of the covenant into the most holy place.

Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the fathers’ houses of the people of Israel, before King Solomon in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of the city of David, which is Zion. And all the men of Israel assembled to King Solomon at the feast in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month. And all the elders of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark. And they brought up the ark of the LORD, the tent of meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the tent; the priests and the Levites brought them up. And King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, who had assembled before him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing so many sheep and oxen that they could not be counted or numbered. Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the LORD to its place in the inner sanctuary of the house, in the Most Holy Place, underneath the wings of the cherubim. For the cherubim spread out their wings over the place of the ark, so that the cherubim overshadowed the ark and its poles. And the poles were so long that the ends of the poles were seen from the Holy Place before the inner sanctuary; but they could not be seen from outside. And they are there to this day. There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets of stone that Moses put there at Horeb, where the LORD made a covenant with the people of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt. And when the priests came out of the Holy Place, a cloud filled the house of the LORD, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD.

Then Solomon said, “The LORD has said that he would dwell in thick darkness. I have indeed built you an exalted house, a place for you to dwell in forever.” Then the king turned around and blessed all the assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel stood. And he said, “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who with his hand has fulfilled what he promised with his mouth to David my father, saying, ‘Since the day that I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house, that my name might be there. But I chose David to be over my people Israel.’ Now it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of the LORD, the God of Israel. But the LORD said to David my father, ‘Whereas it was in your heart to build a house for my name, you did well that it was in your heart. Nevertheless, you shall not build the house, but your son who shall be born to you shall build the house for my name.’ Now the LORD has fulfilled his promise that he made. For I have risen in the place of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised, and I have built the house for the name of the LORD, the God of Israel. And there I have provided a place for the ark, in which is the covenant of the LORD that he made with our fathers, when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.” (1 Kings 8:1-21, ESV)

The building of the Temple was one of the most glorious days in Israel’s long history. It happened in an era of unprecedented prosperity under its most renowned king and it stood as testimony to the One who made it all happen, Yahweh, the God of all the earth and the God of Israel. When the ark of the covenant that David had brought to Jerusalem in anticipation of this day was then brought into the Temple, the Glory of Yahweh filled the whole house. Can you imagine being there that day and seeing this undeniable presence of Yahweh as confirmation of His pleasure and promise to be with His people?

The ark, which had cherubim on it, was placed under the giant cherubim whose wings reached the entire length of the most holy place (see 1 Kings 6). The ark no longer contained the sample of manna nor Aaron’s rod that miraculously budded, but it still contained the 10 commandments inscribed by God Himself on tablets of stone. Perhaps the rod and manna were lost when the Philistines captured the ark.

Solomon’s remarks are remarkable. He sees God’s fulfillment of His promise to Solomon’s father, David, being fulfilled this day. And He rightly recognizes that the Temple is not a dwelling for God but for His Name, meaning God’s unique display of His presence is abiding in this place. And he recalls God’s word to Israel through Moses when they came up out of Egypt some 400 years earlier that Yahweh would select a place for all His people to worship in unity.

God wants to live among us, wants to display His love and power in our lives. In Jesus we have become the new Temple of Yahweh, the place where heaven and earth intersect and where people may discern the presence of the Living God. We are the vehicle God wants to use to show His glory to all the earth.

Is the glory of Yahweh filling your temple?