Year 1, Week 45, Day 4 Bible Reading Observations

Year 1, Week 45, Day 4

I have a brief observation for today’s reading of 2 Chronicles 2-3.

Today’s reading parallels the Temple construction account of 1 Kings 5-6. 2 Chronicles 2 reports the beginnings of the Temple building project, which included Solomon’s relationship with Hiram, the king of Tyre, who would supply the cedar needed to build the structure. Solomon’s words to Hiram reflect well on Solomon’s understanding of the LORD: “The house that I am to build will be great, for our God is greater than all gods. But who is able to build him a house, since heaven, even highest heaven, cannot contain him?” (2 Chronicles 2:5-6a). Solomons declared that the Temple should be great because the LORD is great. But he also declared that as great as the Temple would be, the LORD was infinitely greater. The Chronicler’s description of the Temple building project mirrors the description of the Tabernacle building project: “So now send me a man skilled to work in gold, silver, bronze, and iron, and in purple, crimson, and blue fabrics, trained also in engraving, to be with the skilled workers who are with me in Judah and Jerusalem, whom David my father provided” (2 Chronicles 2:7; see Exodus 35:30-35). 2 Chronicles 3 notes the connection between Abraham and David and the location selected for the Temple: “Then Solomon began to build the house of the LORD in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the LORD had appeared to David his father, at the place that David had appointed, on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite” (2 Chronicles 3:1). 2 Chronicles 3 also begins a description of the Temple that was built. 

One of the things that struck me from today’s reading was that while the building of the Temple was something new, the purpose for the Temple would not change from that of the Tabernacle: “Behold, I am about to build a house for the name of the LORD my God and dedicate it to him for the burning of incense of sweet spices before him, and for the regular arrangement of the showbread, and for burnt offerings morning and evening, on the Sabbaths and the new moons and the appointed feasts of the LORD our God, as ordained forever for Israel…Who am I to build a house for him, except as a place to make offerings before him?” (2 Chronicles 2:4,6b). On the one hand, there was a new day in Israel. A permanent place of worship was being built. On the other hand, there was not really much that was new. The tradition of worship, handed down from the LORD through Moses, was still defining what would occur at the Temple. The regular pattern of worship set forth for the Tabernacle (see instructions such as Exodus 30:1-10; Leviticus 24:1-9; and Numbers 28-29), would be the regular pattern of worship to be set forth for the Temple. It was the same God, who needed to be approached in the same manner previously prescribed. The focus of Israel’s worship was the LORD. Thus, there was not a great need for the actual details of worship to adjust. The daily, weekly, monthly, and annual offerings and feasts will still be the requirement. The Temple would extend the continuity of worship that was required for the Tabernacle.

But just as with the Tabernacle, so now the Temple required the realization that while the LORD would choose to have His presence dwell near His people, no structure would actually contain the LORD: “The house that I am to build will be great, for our God is greater than all gods. But who is able to build him a house, since heaven, even highest heaven, cannot contain him?” (2 Chronicles 2:5-6a). Solomon will reiterate this truth on the day that the completed Temple would be dedicated: "But will God indeed dwell with man on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you, how much less this house that I have built!” (2 Chronicles 6:18). The LORD did not need to have a Temple built for Him to have a place to dwell. No created thing—even the created universe itself, could contain the LORD. He is infinitely greater than anything that either He has created or man has built. But the LORD is pleased to dwell near His people. He knows that it is good for His people that He dwells near them, just as He knows that it is good for His people that they approach Him in worship in the manner that He prescribes. The Temple as well as the Tabernacle reflect the greatness of God’s love for His people: “Behold, to the LORD your God belong heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth with all that is in it. Yet the LORD set his heart in love on your fathers and chose their offspring after them, you above all peoples, as you are this day” (Deuteronomy 10:14-15). It is the LORD’s presence abiding near His people that is a great display of His love. God’s love and the nearness of His presence to His people are intertwined. 

The New Covenant, while it renders obsolete the Temple regulations and functions, it does not set aside the connection between the LORD’s love for His people and His presence. In fact, the New Covenant gets better! The LORD moves from dwelling near His people in the Temple, to dwelling in His people, who are now His Temple: “For this reason I bow my knees before the Father…that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:14-19).

What struck you in today’s reading? What questions were prompted from today’s reading?

Pastor Joe