1 Chronicles: The Glory of the Temple 204c38

Scripture Reading: 1 Chronicles 29:10-20 Near the end of his reign, King David desired to build a temple for the Lord.  For 400 years, since the exodus from Egypt, the central place of worship in Israel had been the tabernacle.  The tabernacle was a tent which the Jews carried through the wilderness.  Now David wanted to build a permanent structure as the main place of worship for Israel. His desire was denied by God.  David could make the plans, but could not be the builder of the temple because his reign had been characterized by the bloodshed of war (1 Chr 28:2-6).  David’s son, Solomon, whose name means ‘peace’, would be the builder.  Though David was not allowed to build the temple, before he died he laid elaborate plans, including the personnel to oversee and care for the temple and its activities.  There were 38,000 Levites to oversee the operation of the temple, caring for everything from singing to counting money to baking bread for the Table of Showbread in the Holy Place (cf. 1 Chr 23-27).  When David had finished preparations, he addressed the people and Solomon (1 Chr 28) and prayed a stirring prayer in 1 Chronicles 29.  In David’s prayer, we see a reflection of the purpose for the temple.  First, it was to be a reminder to the people of the person of God and so David lauds the character of God in his prayer . . . God’s greatness, power, glory, victory, and majesty (1 Chr 29:10-13).  Second, the temple was to be a reminder of the necessity of humility before the Lord and obedience to Him (1 Chr 29:14-19). Churches exist today, whether they have buildings or not, to reflect to our world the matchless glories of God and the pleasure of worshipping him in holiness and wonder and joy. e2m2a