Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - Where Does God Dwell? | The Life of Solomon | 1 Kings 8

Starting point is 00:00:05 Welcome to Tim Minna Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life in the time it takes to get to work. My name is Patrick Miller. And I'm Keith Simon. I became a Christian right about the time I was turning 19. It was during my freshman year of college. And if you would have asked me what Christianity in the Bible was all about before I became a Christian, and for many years after I became a Christian, I would have given you the same answer. It's an answer I no longer agree with.

Starting point is 00:00:34 Back then, I would have said that the main point of Christianity was to believe in Jesus so that you can go to heaven when you die. That's the answer I no longer think is accurate. Now, wait, before you freak out and bail on me here, let me assure you that I think a Christian is one who believes in Jesus. And as we've talked about on 10-minute Bible talks before, I think the word believe can be a little misleading. The kind of belief in Jesus that the Bible encourages is one that results in us following Jesus. It looks a lot like giving our allegiance to a king. And that makes sense because that's exactly what Jesus is. Jesus is the saving king.

Starting point is 00:01:19 But the story of the Bible is not primarily how through Jesus we can go to heaven when we die. No, the story of the Bible is more along the lines of how Jesus brings heaven to earth. Where do you think heaven is? Up there somewhere in the sky? The Bible says that heaven is the space God dwells. So now we're in a series on the life of King Solomon. And First Kings tells us that he is the one who built the temple in Israel. The temple is a really, really, really big deal. So in First Kings 5, Solomon and Israel collect all the materials that are necessary to build it. In chapter six, they actually build the temple, and then in chapter seven, they furnish the temple. Chapter 8, Solomon dedicates the temple with this really beautiful prayer. And just for historical reference, all this is taking place somewhere around 960 BC.

Starting point is 00:02:19 Now, when you read through these chapters, it's easy to get bogged down in the details and miss the big point. So let's just step back for a couple minutes and think about how the temple fits in. into the larger story of the Bible, the larger story of what Christianity is all about. To do that, we'll start at the beginning of the Bible in the book of Genesis, in the first chapters. There we find that God dwells in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve. In Eden, there is perfect overlap between heaven, which is where God dwells, and earth, which is where human beings dwell. Sin tears that union apart. Adam and Eve are kicked out of the garden. heaven and earth are separated. Beginning in Genesis 12 with the covenant that God made with Abraham,

Starting point is 00:03:08 God sets out to reconcile sinners to himself. He sets out to reconcile heaven and earth. When sin enters into the world, God doesn't give up on the world. He reclaims it. He starts a renewal project. He's going to reunite what sin tore apart. When Moses was leading the people to the promised land that God had originally promised to Abraham. God commanded Moses and the Israelites to build a tabernacle. The tabernacle was a portable structure that Israel could take with them during their wanderings. Eventually, when Israel was established in the promised land and David was king, God called them to build a temple to replace the tabernacle. But the tabernacle and the temple, they both served the same function. They were the dwelling place of God. At the heart of this covenant that God made with his people

Starting point is 00:04:02 is a promise that he would dwell with them, just like he did in the Garden of Eden, just like he did before sin entered into the world. Right after God brought the people out of Egypt and across the Red Sea, he promised them that he would eventually one day dwell with them. Exodus 15, You will bring them in and plant them on the mountain of your inheritance, the place, Lord, you made for your dwelling, the sanctuary, Lord, your hands established. Deuteronomy 16-2. God tells them to celebrate Passover, and here's the quote from the verse, at the place the Lord will choose as a dwelling for his name. Here's one more verse, Leviticus, chapter 26.

Starting point is 00:04:49 God says, I will put my dwelling place among you, and I will not abhor you. I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people. The most basic promise of the covenant is that Yahweh would dwell with us, that he would be our God, and we would be His people. God kept that promise in the tabernacle. That is where he dwelt with the people when they wandered in the wilderness. And he kept that promise in the temple that Solomon built. That is the place that God dwelt.

Starting point is 00:05:24 1 Kings chapter 6 verse 13 God says and I will live among the Israelites and will not abandon my people Israel. Sounds familiar to what he had said earlier in Israel's history. You see, in the temple, God's space and our space are being reunited. Heaven and earth are overlapping. The temple is God's beachhead in this world. It's the beginning of a holy invasion. God is keeping his promise. to dwell with his people.

Starting point is 00:05:56 And when you read through 1st Kings chapter 5 through 7, there are lots of specific instructions for exactly how the temple should be designed. And those instructions included artwork. First King 632. And on the two olive wood doors, he carved cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, and overlaid the cherubim and palm trees with hammered gold. A few verses later in verse 35. He carved cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers on them, and overlaid them with gold hammered

Starting point is 00:06:31 evenly over the carvings. So what's up with these specific directions about what kind of artwork should be in the temple? What's up with trees and flowers and cherubim? Well, that artwork, it's pictures, its images of the Garden of Eden. The cherubim were the angelic beings placed in the garden that prevented Adam and Eve from returning after they had sinned and been kicked out. The artwork was a reminder that when you came to the temple, you were coming into the presence of God. Now, maybe you're asking this question. Maybe you're saying something like, I thought God was holy. How can he accept sinners back in his presence, whether it's in the

Starting point is 00:07:14 tabernacle or the temple? And that's where the sacrifices come in. The sacrifices for sin, they temporarily provided a space for God and human beings to dwell together. Fast forward into the New Testament. Listen to what John 114 says. The Word, now the word here is Jesus. The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. That word for dwelling is literally tabernacle. What this verse says is the word became flesh and tabernacled among us.

Starting point is 00:07:49 You see, in Jesus, God. is coming to dwell with his people. Jesus is the fulfillment of the tabernacle and the temple. He is what they were pointing to. In John chapter 2, Jesus said, destroy this temple and I will raise it in three days. They replied, it has taken 46 years to build this temple and you're going to raise it in three days? But the temple he had spoken of was his body. When he told them to destroy the temple and he will raise it, they thought he was talking about the massive stone temple. They thought that he was talking about Herod's temple, which was a rebuilding of Solomon's original temple. But that's not what Jesus was talking about. He was using the temple as a metaphor

Starting point is 00:08:39 as something that pointed toward him. He was speaking about his body, he said, because in him, God came to dwell with his people, just like he had in the temple. And then after Jesus was crucified and raised from the dead and ascended to be with the Father, he sent the Spirit. 1 Corinthians 3, don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's spirit dwells in your midst? So now we as individuals and collectively as a church, a body of Christ, both locally and locally and globally, we are the place that God dwells on earth. Think about the responsibility that that gives us.

Starting point is 00:09:24 Think about how special it is to be the place that God dwells. We are God's temple. That's what First Corinthians 3 says. That temple that Solomon built, it pointed to Jesus. And now that Jesus is with the Father through the Holy Spirit, we are His temple, the place that God dwells. So when people want to know what God is like, they should look at us. But I told you that this is a way of understanding the whole Bible from beginning to the end.

Starting point is 00:09:57 And I meant it. Because in the second to the last chapter of the Bible, Revelation chapter 21, listen to what it says and see if this doesn't make sense in light of everything we've talked about. I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, look, God's dwelling place. is now among the people and he will dwell with them. They will be his people and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain for the old order of things has passed away. You see, God keeps his promise. God reunites heaven and earth. God comes to dwell among his people. God kept his promise that he would be our God and we would be his people. I just want to make sure you get it. Heaven and earth have

Starting point is 00:10:52 been reunited just like it was in Eden before sin, except now they are reunited after Jesus has conquered sin. This story makes what Jesus said in John 1423 even more meaningful. He said, if anyone loves me, He will keep my word and my father will love him and we will come to him and make our home with him. This is the promise of Jesus for anyone who loves him and believes in him. The promise is that the father, the son, and the Holy Spirit will come and make their home in your life. They come with forgiveness of sins. They come with help for your troubles. They come for comfort and all your sorrows.

Starting point is 00:11:41 they come with strength and grace for every important thing you are called to do in your life. They come as the guarantee of everlasting joy in the kingdom of God. Will you open the door of your life? Will you welcome God into your life by believing in the saving king, King Jesus? He is ready and willing to live with you. Jesus said, anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into him and eat with him and he with me. Thanks for listening. If you've enjoyed this content, please subscribe and give us a rating. That helps

Starting point is 00:12:24 others find this podcast more easily. Also ask yourself who you could share this podcast with. Texting an episode to a friend or family member is a great way to help them grow spiritually. If you want to go deeper, check out our show notes for book recommendations.

Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - Where Does God Dwell? | The Life of Solomon | 1 Kings 8

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.