(2 Chronicles 3:1-17) Then Solomon began to build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to his father David, at the place that David had prepared on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. 2 He began to build on the second day in the second month of the fourth year of his reign.
3 Now these are the foundations which Solomon laid for building the house of God. The length in cubits, according to the old standard, was sixty cubits, and the width, twenty cubits. 4 The porch which was in front of the house was as long as the width of the house, twenty cubits, and the height twenty; and inside he overlaid it with pure gold. 5 He overlaid the main room with juniper wood and overlaid it with fine gold; and he ornamented it with palm trees and chains. 6 Further, he overlaid the house with precious stones; and the gold was gold from Parvaim. 7 He also overlaid the house with gold—the beams, the thresholds, and its walls and doors; and he carved cherubim on the walls.
8 Then he made the room of the Most Holy Place: its length across the width of the house was twenty cubits, and its width was twenty cubits; and he overlaid it with fine gold, amounting to six hundred talents. 9 The weight of the nails was fifty shekels of gold. He also overlaid the upper rooms with gold.
10 Then he made two sculptured cherubim in the room of the Most Holy Place and overlaid them with gold. 11 The wingspan of the cherubim was twenty cubits; the wing of one, of five cubits, touched the wall of the house, and its other wing, of five cubits, touched the wing of the other cherub. 12 The wing of the other cherub, of five cubits, touched the wall of the house; and its other wing, of five cubits, was attached to the wing of the first cherub. 13 The wings of these cherubim extended twenty cubits, and they stood on their feet facing the main room. 14 He made the veil of violet, purple, crimson, and fine linen, and he worked cherubim into it.
15 He also made two pillars for the front of the house, thirty-five cubits high, and the capital on the top of each was five cubits. 16 He made chains in the inner sanctuary and placed them on the tops of the pillars; and he made a hundred pomegranates and placed them on the chains. 17 He erected the pillars in front of the temple, one on the right and the other on the left, and named the one on the right Jachin and the one on the left Boaz.
(2 Chronicles 4:1-22) Then he made a bronze altar, twenty cubits in length, twenty cubits in width, and ten cubits in height. 2 He also made the Sea of cast metal, ten cubits from brim to brim, circular in form, and its height was five cubits and its circumference thirty cubits. 3 Now figures like oxen were under it and all around it, ten cubits, entirely encircling the Sea. The oxen were in two rows, cast in one piece. 4 It was standing on twelve oxen, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east; and the Sea was set on top of them and all their hindquarters turned inward. 5 It was a hand width thick, and its brim was made like the brim of a cup, like a lily blossom; it could hold three thousand baths. 6 He also made ten basins in which to wash, and he set five on the right side and five on the left to rinse things for the burnt offering; but the Sea was for the priests to wash in.
7 Then he made the ten golden lampstands in the way prescribed for them, and he set them in the temple, five on the right side and five on the left. 8 He also made ten tables and placed them in the temple, five on the right side and five on the left. And he made a hundred golden bowls. 9 Then he made the courtyard of the priests and the great courtyard, and doors for the courtyard, and overlaid their doors with bronze. 10 He put the Sea on the right side of the house toward the southeast.
11 Huram also made the pails, the shovels, and the bowls. So Huram finished the work that he did for King Solomon in the house of God: 12 the two pillars, the bowls and the two capitals on top of the pillars, and the two latticeworks to cover the two bowls of the capitals which were on top of the pillars, 13 and the four hundred pomegranates for the two latticeworks, two rows of pomegranates for each latticework to cover the two bowls of the capitals which were on the pillars. 14 He also made the stands and he made the basins on the stands, 15 and the one Sea with the twelve oxen under it. 16 The pails, the shovels, the forks, and all its utensils, Huram-abi made of polished bronze for King Solomon, for the house of the Lord. 17 On the plain of the Jordan the king cast them in the clay ground between Succoth and Zeredah. 18 So Solomon made all these utensils in great quantities, for the weight of the bronze could not be determined.
19 Solomon also made all the things that were in the house of God: the golden altar, the tables with the bread of the Presence on them, 20 the lampstands with their lamps of pure gold, to burn in front of the inner sanctuary in the way prescribed; 21 the flowers, the lamps, and the tongs of gold, that is, of purest gold; 22 and the snuffers, the bowls, the spoons, and the firepans of pure gold; and the entrance of the house, its inner doors for the Most Holy Place and the doors of the house, that is, of the main room, of gold.
(2 Chronicles 5:1-14) So all the work that Solomon performed for the house of the Lord was finished. And Solomon brought in the things that his father David had dedicated, the silver, the gold, and all the utensils, and he put them in the treasuries of the house of God.
2 Then Solomon assembled at Jerusalem the elders of Israel, all the heads of the tribes, and the leaders of the fathers’ households of the sons of Israel, to bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord up from the city of David, which is Zion. 3 All the men of Israel assembled themselves before the king at the feast, that is in the seventh month. 4 Then all the elders of Israel came, and the Levites picked up the ark. 5 They brought up the ark, the tent of meeting, and all the holy utensils that were in the tent. The Levitical priests brought them up. 6 And King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel who had assembled with him before the ark were sacrificing so many sheep and oxen that they could not be counted or numbered. 7 Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the house, to the Most Holy Place, under the wings of the cherubim. 8 For the cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark, so that the cherubim made a covering over the ark and its poles. 9 The poles were so long that the ends of the poles of the ark could be seen in front of the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen outside; and they are there to this day. 10 There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets which Moses put there at Horeb, where the Lord made a covenant with the sons of Israel, when they came out of Egypt.
11 When the priests came out from the holy place (for all the priests who were present had sanctified themselves, without regard to divisions), 12 and all the Levitical singers, Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun, and their sons and kinsmen, clothed in fine linen, with cymbals, harps, and lyres, standing east of the altar, and with them 120 priests blowing trumpets 13 in unison when the trumpeters and the singers were to make themselves heard with one voice to praise and to glorify the Lord, and when they raised their voices accompanied by trumpets, cymbals, and other musical instruments, and when they praised the Lord saying, “He indeed is good for His kindness is everlasting,” then the house, the house of the Lord, was filled with a cloud, 14 so that the priests could not rise to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of God.
TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:
If you have ever seen an elaborate cathedral, you'll know how easy it is to just sit down and admire the architecture and the ornate decor and stained glass windows, but I've been in many which feel very "empty". If there aren't any practicing true believers who use the building, it can even feel dead and dark.
It isn't enough to just have a beautiful church building. Why have a house of God if it isn't filled with the Lord God, Himself!? And as we meet there together, in His unity, He will be very present. Even though God is omnipresent, this doesn't mean that He is "present" - as in - moving in anyone's hearts.
As believers, our bodies are temples of God. At the time of becoming a Christian, our souls are sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise so we can't lose our salvation, but we certainly can still quench the Holy Spirit from working in and through us. Therefore, we are to told to continually ask the Lord to be filled with His Holy Spirit.
(Ephesians 1:13-14) In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of the promise, 14 who is a first installment of our inheritance, in regard to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.
(John 14:17) the Helper is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him; but you know Him because He remains with you and will be in you.
(1 John 4:13) By this we know that we remain in Him and He in us, because He has given to us of His Spirit
(1 Corinthians 6:19-20) Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? 20 For you have been bought for a price: therefore glorify God in your body.
(Ephesians 5:15-19) So then, be careful how you walk, not as unwise people but as wise, 16 making the most of your time, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not get drunk with wine, in which there is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your hearts to the Lord
(Ephesians 4:30) Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
(Galatians 5:16, 22-23) But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh... 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
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