 |
 |
  |
 |
  |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
 |
April 1 A TIME OF PREPARATION Read 1Kings 5-7. "The temple, when it was being built, was built with stone finished at the quarry, so that no hammer or chisel or any iron tool was heard in the temple while it was being built” (1Kings 6:7). The atheists was arguing with the judge that there was no holiday for him while Christians had all kinds of holidays. The judge replied but there was for "the fool has said in his heart there is no God" (Ps. 53:1) -- April fool! Now to the scripture for the day. These chapters record the building of Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem. The Temple is called the house of the Lord, because God had directed how it was to be built. Verse 13 records the purpose for its existence, "I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will not forsake My people Israel." The Temple was to be employed in the service of the Lord for He was to dwell there. No iron tool must be heard in it; quietness and silence was to be its environment. God’s work is done with much care and very little noise. The presence of clamor and violence often hinders but never furthers the work of God. The kingdom of God grows in the heart of man with confidence and in quietness before the Lord. “It is in returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and confidence shall be your strength” (Is. 30:15). Ephesians 2:20-22 says that the Church is “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being joined together, grow into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.” Believer, you are the temple of the Holy Spirit (1Cor. 3:16, 6:19). When Jesus gave up His Spirit on the cross, the veil before the Holy of Holies in the temple was rent in twain as a visible sign that the place where God chooses to dwell is now in the lives of the converted (Mt. 27:51, Mk. 15:38, Lk. 23:45). The moment Christ died, the temple in Jerusalem ceased to be the temple of the Divine Presence. That Presence is now in the Church, the body of Christ. As in the building of Solomon’s temple there is no sound of the hammer in the temple. The stones are prepared in the quarry then placed in the temple. We “as lively stones, are build up a spiritual house” (1Pe 2:5) by the Holy Spirit working within each of us. We are being quarried and fit together as we learn to love one another just as He loves us “till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Eph. 4:13). The New Jerusalem is described as a cube in Revelation 21:16. The only other cube mentioned in the Bible is seen in 1Kings 6:20. It was the Holy of Holies, God’s dwelling place in Solomon’s temple. Now, each believer and the total Church enumerable built together, has become that perfect place fit for the Lord’s Presence. Prayer: “I worship and thank You, Lord, for this time of preparation. I know You will finish Your work. I and all the saints are citizens of that blessed New Jerusalem, the city of God. Amen.” Evening Reading: Deuteronomy 18:1-20:20 Luke 9:28-50 Psalms 73:1-28 Proverbs 12:10 |
 |
 |
|