Rocks & Obedience

1 Kings 6:7 tells us that the stones and timbers were prepared away from the site and then moved to the location of the temple. Now consider the location of the temple on Mount Moriah (2 Chronicles 3:1). These rocks were not only moved to the location, but they were moved up a mountain to be able to be used in the building of the temple. This mountain, we learn, was the threshing floor that Solomon's father, David, had purchased Araunah to build an altar of sacrifice to God against whom he had mightily sinned. David was offering this sacrifice on behalf of himself and the people.

A threshing floor is usually a rock outcropping where the whole wheat is beat, and then thrown into the air for the wind to blow away the chaff and for the choice kernels of grain to fall and be harvested. This same Mount Moriah was earlier the place of Abraham's sacrifice, when God provided the ram in the thicket as a substitutionary sacrifice as God tested Abraham's obedience in the sacrifice of his son, Isaac.

Let's also look at a promise made by God to David and to Solomon 1 Kings 6:12 (NASB): "Concerning this house which you are building, if you will walk in My statutes and execute my ordinances and keep all My commandments by walking in them, then I will carry out My word with you which I spoke to David your father. And I will dwell among the sons of Israel, and will not forsake my people Israel."

Rocks and obedience seem to be pretty important to God in the building of the temple to house His presence and place of personal sacrifice. In the past several posts you have been asked to look at Jesus' sermon on the mount where He spoke specifically about His expectations for a believer's life. He let the listeners (and us) know that if we heard all these things and didn't take them to heart and apply them in our lives our foundations were built on some very sandy soil, and they would fail. He urged them and us to build our foundations on rock! We learned that Jesus Christ is our chief cornerstone. We also are "living stones being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." 1 Peter 2:5 (NASB). We must be prepared before we are useful.

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All other material, Copyright Lynn U. Watson 2004, 2011

Three Millenium of Earthquakes...

...and this temple's foundation still stands.

1 Kings 5:13-18 (NIV)

King Solomon conscripted laborers from all Israel -- thirty thousand men. He sent them off to Lebanon in shift of ten thousand a month, so that they spent one month in Lebanon and two months at home. Adoniram was in charge of the forced labor. Solomon had seventy thousand carriers and eighty thousand stonecutters in the hills, as well as thirty-three hundred foremen who supervised the project and directed the workmen. At the king's command they removed from the quarry large blocks of quality stone to provide a foundation of dressed stone for the temple. The craftsmen of Solomon and Hiram and the men of Gebal cut and prepared the timber and stone for the building of the temple.

Tyre and Sidon were cities in an area known in the ancient world as Phoenicia. King Hiram of Tyre in Lebanon was a friend to Solomon's father David. Solomon sent to him for help with the temple construction. One thing the Phoenicians knew well was how to work with stone and timber. They worked alongside the men Solomon had brought together to build the temple for the Lord.

As I looked for information on Phoenician architecture and building practices I found it interesting to note that they used enormous foundation stones. The findings of the Palestine Exploration Fund in their excavations have found that

"the temple foundation consists of blocks measuring from fifteen to twenty-five feet in length, and from ten to twelve feet in height. The width of the blocks at the angles of the wall, where alone it can be measured, is from twelve to eighteen feet. At the south-west angle no fewer than thirty-one courses of this massive character have been counted by the recent explorers, who estimate the weight of the largest block at something above a hundred tons." *

One of the advantages of such enormous blocks is

". . . massiveness in the material conduces greatly to stability, and that, in lands where earthquakes are frequent, as they are along all the Mediterranean shores, not many monuments would have survived the lapse of three thousand years had the material employed been of a less substantial and solid character." *

Remember that in Isaiah's vision the foundation of this temple shook when the angels raised their voices in praise to the Almighty! WHEW! I'm being blown away again by the whole host of heaven and the SIZE of my God!!!



*Khalaf, Salim-George, "A Bequest Unearthed, Phoenicia" http://phoenicia.org, Solomons Temple page, 2004. Quotes & Photo used by permission.

Copyright Lynn U. Watson 2004, 2011 

Temple Under Construction

We are about to finally embark on this journey of discovery as we cooperate with God in a  temple remodeling project preparing ourselves to more closely resemble the temple that He desires to fill with His glory. We will dig deep into our past, way past our failures and shortcomings and straight to the heart of God, to discover His marvelous faithfulness in our own lives up to this very moment. As we intentionally picture His hand on our entire life, the glimpses we see of His glory in our lives will grow. We will be asking some serious questions about a specific sin in our own lives that is keeping us from being the person He has created us to be and from reflecting His glory in the tasks for which He has chosen us. And finally we will look at how He is preparing us to deal with specific sin in our lives.

Another reminder -- We can't change anything by our own power, and God won't ask us to change it all at once. We will be spending our time uncovering truths about God and about ourselves, allowing Him to prepare us for the construction work He desires to do in our lives. Prayerfully, we will be allowing Him to release His grace within us to transform our lives. Our obedience to His Word is rewarded when we reflect His glory for others to see.

To find Scriptural examples we will be looking at the preparations for the building of Solomon's temple. We will look further to see how those same principles aply as God prepared some Bible characters to serve Him is such a way that His glory was magnificently displayed through their lives. We will apply God's blueprints for construction work on our own temples, and learn to recognize and follow His call to serve Him with our lives.

We will consider the lives of Bible characters, just as human as ourselves, who sinned just as we do. Yet, God in His wisdom, offered His great mercy, love, and forgiveness to each of them. Through them He revealed His glory in some marvelous ways. Rahab, a harlot, observed God's faithfulness to His people. She made preparations that helped the Israelites, saved her family, and reflected God's glory as she took her place in history in the direct line of decent to Jesus. The Shepherds tending their flocks in Bethlehem, David and his son Solomon, Job, the woman at the well and others -- they all have stories to share that will enhance our remodeling work. We will be participating in some fun, creative projects and exercises during our time together that will hopefully help us to remember and apply the truths we learn.

Let's get started. I'm excited about the possibilities and all God has in store for all of us. I wish I could be at every construction site to see you and God working on this project together, growing more intemate with each other each day. I'll be praying for you for magnificent results in each timple. They will all be so different, and so beautiful, and all a part of the body of Christ -- what an incredible thought!

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All other content, Copyright, Lynn U. Watson, 2004, 2011