God's House

   The lesson is about the dedication of the first temple located in Jerusalem from approximately 957 to 586 B.C. it was built by Solomon and destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar. first of all what is a temple? A temple is a building for religious worship. The majority of Christianity does not have temples and we will later explain the reason why. 

Lesson  from  1 Kings 8:22 - 24; 37-39, 46, 48-50

"1 Kings 8: 22 Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands toward heaven; 23 and he said: “Lord God of Israel, there is no God in heaven above or on earth below like You, who keep Your covenant and mercy with Your servants who walk before You with all their hearts. 24 You have kept what You promised Your servant David my father; You have both spoken with Your mouth and fulfilled it with Your hand, as it is this day. 25 Therefore, Lord God of Israel, now keep what You promised Your servant David my father, saying, ‘You shall not fail to have a man sit before Me on the throne of Israel, only if your sons take heed to their way, that they walk before Me as you have walked before Me.’ 26 And now I pray, O God of Israel, let Your word come true, which You have spoken to Your servant David my father. 27 “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this temple which I have built! 28 Yet have thou respect unto the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplication, O Lord my God, to hearken unto the cry and to the prayer, which thy servant prayeth before thee to day: 29 That thine eyes may be open toward this house night and day, even toward the place of which thou hast said, My name shall be there: that thou mayest hearken unto the prayer which thy servant shall make toward this place. ...........  48 and when they return to You with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies who led them away captive, and pray to You toward their land which You gave to their fathers, the city which You have chosen and the temple which I have built for Your name: 49 then hear in heaven Your dwelling place their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause, 50 and forgive Your people who have sinned against You, and all their transgressions which they have transgressed against You; and grant them compassion before those who took them captive, "

   First, before we start talking about God's Temple and the lesson, let's start off with why a temple was needed. A temple was needed for the same the reason that  a sacrifice was need the FALL.  In Genesis humanity walked with God not separated by sin.  Genesis 3:8-10 says " 8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the [b]cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.9 Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.”  SIN  had broken humans access to God . By Genesis 4: God had established a blood sacrificial system that would continue until Jesus the ultimate Lamb died on Calvary.  An altar and because of sin a sacrifice was required, a blood sacrifice, or as Hebrews 9:22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. So once you had the need for a sacrifice and a blood sacrifice that means that you needed an altar a place to sacrifice the animal and for the blood to be disposed of, in a sense, this was the beginning of the need for a temple because humans fell they can no longer just walk with God as they did before the fall. 

  The next step was that God would meet with his leaders, priest and prophets at the place of worship and sacrifice  it was usually just one person or a small group of people a prophet, prophetess, priest or royalty.  First the the burning bush and then Mount Sinai became Holy ground a place where God would meet humanity, this would become the "holy of holies" in the tabernacle. As we move to Exodus 25-27  God establishes after Mount Sinai a place where he would meet Moses. He gives instructions on the building of an ark and he sets rules surrounding the mobile temple called the tabernacle.  The sacrifices would be centered around the tablernacle and the blood would be sprinkled on The Mercy Seat for the covering of the people's sins ; as we move on this would eventually lead us to the scripture in the lesson  which is a celebration of the temple's completion and dedication. 

   Prior the the lesson, King David decided to glorify God by building him a house for the ARK which was housed in a tent/tabernacle designed by God. it says in  "2 Samuel 7 1. And it came to pass, when the king sat in his house, and the Lord had given him rest round about from all his enemies; 2 That the king said unto Nathan the prophet, See now, I dwell in an house of cedar, but the ark of God dwelleth within curtains. 3 And Nathan said to the king, Go, do all that is in thine heart; for the Lord is with thee. 4 And it came to pass that night, that the word of the Lord came unto Nathan, saying, 5 Go and tell my servant David, Thus saith the Lord, Shalt thou build me an house for me to dwell in? 6 Whereas I have not dwelt in any house since the time that I brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt, even to this day, but have walked in a tent and in a tabernacle.7 In all the places wherein I have walked with all the children of Israel spake I a word with any of the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to feed my people Israel, saying, Why build ye not me an house of cedar? ..... 12 And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever. "

  The first temple was designed and planned by King David but he was not allowed to build it : 1 Chronicles 28: 2 Then King David rose to his feet and said, “Listen to me, my brothers and my people. It was in my heart to build a house as a resting place for the ark of the covenant of the LORD and as a footstool for our God. I had made preparations to build it, 3but God said to me, ‘You are not to build a house for My Name, because you are a man of war who has spilled blood."  The second approximately 515 BC–AD 70  was enlarged by Herod the Great from 20 BC and destroyed by the Romans during a Jewish revolt;  today the Wailing Wall is  about all that remains of the temple.

 Eventually God would replace the temple. Once Christ died on Calvary the veil was rent and the temple change places  Matthew 27:51 says "And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;" The new temple is in the body/spirit of each believer in Jesus 1 Corinthians 3:16 says "Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 17 If anyone 2defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are." The reality is that God never just lived in a temple because God is everywhere. Solomon's says this in  1 Kings 8:27 “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this temple which I have built!  God is not in the church building alone it not his house like our homes where he only there or in on place Jesus said in Matthew 18:20 'For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.” We who are in Christ are the temple and the church. 

The temple is that meeting place that Holy ground where humanity who is limited meets God.  and it was Altar  tabernacle , the temple of Solomon, Herod's Temple and then after Calvary every true Christian is now the Temple of God's spirit. Eventually there will be no temple as you see in Revelations 21: 22 And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. 23 And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb.

lesson online

https://rumble.com/v5gtebp-our-house-is-a-very-fine-house.html

lesson  from-  Sunday school lesson quarterly Lesson  Our House is a very Fine House 1 Kings 8:22 - 24; 37-39, 46, 48-50 - R,H boyd publications 

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