“The
Temple I Am Going To Build
Will Be Great”
Solomon gave orders to
build a temple for the Name of the Lord and a royal palace for himself. He
conscripted 70,000 men as carriers and 80,000 as stonecutters in the hills and
3,600 as foremen over them.
Solomon sent this message
to Hiram king of Tyre: “Send me cedar logs as you did
for my father David when you sent him cedar to build a palace to live in. Now I
am about to build a temple for the Name of the Lord my God and to dedicate it
to him for burning fragrant incense before him, for setting out the consecrated
bread regularly, and for making burnt offerings every morning and evening and
on the Sabbaths, at the New Moons and at the appointed festivals of the Lord
our God. This is a lasting ordinance for Israel.
“The temple I am going to
build will be great, because our God is greater than all other gods. But who is able to build a temple for him,
since the heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain him? Who then am I
to build a temple for him, except as a place to burn sacrifices before him?
“Send me, therefore, a
man skilled to work in gold and silver, bronze and iron, and in purple, crimson
and blue yarn, and experienced in the art of engraving, to work in Judah and
Jerusalem with my skilled workers, whom my father David provided.
“Send me also cedar,
juniper and algum logs from Lebanon, for I know that
your servants are skilled in cutting timber there. My servants will work with
yours to provide me with plenty of lumber, because the temple I build must be
large and magnificent. I will give your servants, the woodsmen who cut the
timber, twenty thousand cors of ground wheat, twenty
thousand cors of barley, twenty thousand baths of
wine and twenty thousand baths of olive oil.”
2
Chronicles 2:1-10
King Solomon wanted to
give God a much greater gift than a “big birthday” would merit. He wished for
the temple to be built to be worthy of God’s presence in it. In his letter, he
remarked that the temple would be great “because our God is greater than all
other gods.” He acknowledged that God’s vastness and goodness far exceeded what
could ever be built with human hands, yet set about the task anyway out of love
and worship.
Our God is indeed greater
than all other gods. He has done wondrous things in our lives, prompting our
hearts to bring Him and loving and precious offering, regardless of its eternal
value. Solomon knew his gift wouldn’t match God’s worth, yet joyfully set his
offering before Him. We can do the same.
The
most treasured gift we can give to God is our love.
Our
Daily Bread – November 12, 2017