Today’s Tasting: 1 Kings 7; 2 Chronicles 4
In the previous post, June shared with us how Dreams Come True. Today’s post looks at “Dreams Hold a Purpose.”
Solomon built his house that took thirteen years. Then, he completed the Temple in seven years. It took strength to persevere all these years, in order to see his dreams really come true. Solomon couldn’t accomplish this monumental task alone. He hired Hiram, a man full of wisdom, understanding, and skill for working with bronze (see 1 Kings 7:14). Hiram and his workers required great strength to complete their tasks also.
The two pillars of bronze at the entrance of the Temple held great significance. The names of the pillars were Jachin, a Hebrew meaning, He will establish and Boaz, a Hebrew meaning, In Him is strength. God established His people and in Him they found their strength.
The Lord instructed Solomon to arrange the furnishings according to a specific scheme designed to reveal Christ and His redemptive plan. After all, man needed a way back to God. The Temple layout revealed the plan of access to God, revealing Christ throughout the structure and furnishings.
Today’s Nourishment: In order to roll out the plans for the Temple, Solomon needed strength to oversee the fabrication of the furnishings and the construction of the temple. He also needed establishing as only God could establish him.
Solomon’s dream held a purpose: To build a place where God’s Name would dwell and His Presence would rest. What purpose do your dreams hold? Whatever our dream, it requires strength in Christ to accomplish the dream and it’s purpose. A purpose is always behind a dream. As you dream, ask yourself, what is the purpose behind the dream. Is it for selfish gain or Christ gain? Will this only build me up or build others up?
I had a dream of women coming together to blog through the Bible. The purpose for this dream was that women would become established in His Word and live in His strength. Kelly encouraged me to go for it and that she would help. Robin said, “You can’t not do this. I will send out a message to women that I know and I believe it will happen. I need this for accountability and for a consistent reading of God’s Word. I will help you.” And we did it. Robin put the blog together. It ran down to the last minute, but it happened.
I didn’t do this alone and still can’t do this alone. Joanne and Monica stepped up to edit the posts. We have Kelly, Robin, Jacinta, Monica, Chantea, June, Joanne, Sonyita, Kaitlyn, Tammy, and Teena, women across the United States continue to blog. He has established us and we have found that in Him is our Strength. Let’s depend on Him to establish us and live in His strength as we continue in The Bible Feast Blog.
He establishes and In Him is strength: How is Christ your strength to see your dreams come to fruition? How will He establish you?
Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself…comfort your hearts and establish (strengthen) you in every good word and work (2 Thessalonians 2:15-17 NKJV).
What purpose lies behind your dream?
For further study on the Temple of the Lord, see the Bible Feast Blog lower section of Day 162 Part 2. I name each piece of furnishings, their significance to Christ, and the redemptive plan of God.
Tomorrow’s Delight: 1 Kings 8; 2 Chronicles 5
Carolyn Marlowe, CCLC
Gigi to six adorable grandchildren
https://www.facebook.com/AlivebyHisWord
Day 162 – Part 2: I have worked in the profession of interior design and decorating for more than twenty years. In a design plan, the designer places furnishings for strategic reasons of aesthetics and function. As for the interior of the Temple of the LORD, we find the selected furnishing strategically placed. Each piece held significant meaning in the redemptive plan of God towards man.
Items for redemption:
The altar was the place where only priests could offer a sacrifice of sin for the people of Israel. Hebrews 13:10-12 states: “We have an altar from which the priests in the Tabernacle have no right to eat. Under the system of Jewish laws, the high priest brought the blood of animals into the Holy Place as a sacrifice for sin, but the bodies of animals were burned outside the camp. Verse 12 states that Jesus suffered and died outside the city gates in order to make his people holy by shedding his own blood. The Cross of Christ is our altar. This altar brought a cessation to all previous altars. Calvary fulfilled and abolished all the Old Covenant symbolic altars (adapted from The Temple of Solomon, Kevin J. Conner, Conner Publications, p. 107).
Items for washing:
Sea of cast metal: Priests used the Molten Sea for ceremonial washings.
Ten rolling stands for the Lavers were strategically placed for washing certain prescribed parts of the sacrificial animal for offerings. The washing of the water represents the Word’s cleansing power. They used the laver, a pagan article, in the cleansing ceremony. God takes us as we exist to use for His glory.
“He saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but of His mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5 NLT).
“To make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s Word. He did this to present her to Himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault (Ephesians 5:26-27 NLT). The Greek word here for washing is translated laver or loo-o meaning to bathe the whole person.
When Jesus started washing the disciples’ feet, Peter expressed to Jesus to also wash his hands. Possibly Peter meant, “Jesus, make me clean.” Perhaps Jesus said to Peter; “I have taken you and your junk to the loo-o and bathed the whole person. You are cleansed!” Only Jesus Christ makes us clean.
Items for illumination:
Ten Lamp stands created a hall of lights in the Holy Place: The lighting illuminated the space for guidance as the priests moved about in the Temple. The Holy Spirit guides us and leads us into all Truth, illuminating God’s Word to us.
Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path (Psalm 119:105 NLT).
Items for sustenance:
Ten Tables of Shewbread were seen in the light of the lamp stands. While only one table remained in the Tabernacle of Moses on which the bread of His Presence rested, it served as a symbol of God, as the provider of food. The twelve loaves of bread symbolized the 12 tribes of Israel in the Old Testament and the 12 apostles in the New Testament, stating to them that all could know God. Now, we find ten Tables speaking of the fullness of Christ in His Church. We would assume that to rest twelve loaves on each of the ten tables again speaks of Christ’s fullness. Someone replaced the bread every Sabbath, noting that God Presence remains fresh and never stales. Live in Christ-fullness.
Singers in the Temple of Solomon joyfully prepared the table of showbread, observed weekly. Light always illuminated the showbread revealing the power of the Bread of Life to the people of God. Jesus, the Bread of Life, our daily provision, shows forth His perpetual Presence. Christ Himself, broken for us, symbolizes the bread in the observance in communion. He is the Bread of Life.
The Golden Altar of Incense stood in the Holy Place before the veil. Incense burned to remove the stench of the sacrifices. The fragrance ascended within the veil carrying a sweet aroma to ascend to the presence of the Lord.
Items for prayer:
Accept my prayer as incense offered to you, and my upraised hands as an evening offering (Psalm 141:2 NLT). Morning and evening sacrifices and prayers rose daily in the Temple. In this song, David hints of the coming the New Covenant spiritual worship, replacing physical offerings.
The prayers of the saints: “And when He took the scroll, the four living beings and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp, and they held gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of God’s people” (Revelation 5:8 NLT). This symbolic altar refreshes, as we stand, pray, praise, and worship, in awe of our God! Praying, in the Name of Jesus, removes the stench of sin, while simultaneously ascends a sweet fragrance to the Lord.
Items for access to God:
The Veil of the Temple acted as a divider. Veil actually means, “that which hides.” Sin brought separation between God and man, hiding God’s glory from man. Man remained veiled from the Lord excluding intimacy with Him.
When Jesus died on the cross, “the curtain of the temple was torn in two” (Luke 23:45 NLT). The supernatural power of God ripped the veil in two, thus declaring no more separation between the Lord and the people He created. His Presence would now dwell within His creation called humans. Intimacy, between the Lord and His people may occur again.
And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place (Hebrews 10:19-20 NLT).
Christ became God’s Temple in the flesh. As the veil tore, we gained access to the glory of God and may now gain a relationship with Him through Jesus Christ.
The Most Holy Place or the Oracle, which literally means the speaking place, became the place of experiencing Covenant with God. The Ark of the Covenant housed the two tablets of stone, while the mercy seat remained the area to apply the blood of the sacrifice. They used acacia wood to construct the ark, which made it last forever. According to Holman’s Bible Dictionary, “insects find acacia wood distasteful and the density makes it difficult for water and other decaying agents to penetrate.” He is a forever God who wants to live in us forever.
They overlaid the ark with gold, which speaks of deity. Jesus, a type of the Ark of the Covenant, existed as the Eternal God. The Ark of the Covenant remained the only piece of furniture placed in the tabernacle of Moses, transferred to the Tabernacle of David, rested in its permanent dwelling place, the Temple of the Lord.
The Mercy Seat: the place where God spoke to the priests. The priests, upon hearing the Lord speak, would in turn, speak the Word of God to the people, after they sprinkled the blood from the sacrifice offering. The Cherubim dominated the Ark of the Covenant, as they were commissioned in the garden to protect the Presence of God. Beneath these Cherubim, God’s Glory and Presence rested.
Jesus rested in the Presence of God, as He did only what He saw His Father doing and spoke what His Father had spoken to Him. He said in the gospel of John, My sheep hear My voice. We now hear His voice as we live and abide in an awareness of His Presence. He speaks to us, in different ways, but He speaks. Repetitively in the book of The Revelation of Jesus Christ, we read, He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches (Revelation 2:7, 11, 17, 3:6, 13, 22, also see Revelation 13:9 NAS). What is He speaking to you?
You now have access to God because of the finished work of Christ. Write a prayer to the Lord in the sequence of the Temple furnishings. Remember these prayers are sweet incense to God. Commune with your Heavenly Father.
Jesus, You are my access to God. You have washed and cleansed me by the power of your blood. Thank you that I have access to the Father by the finished work of the cross. I may now commune with you, Lord, and know that you are with me forever.
Carolyn Marlowe, CCLC
Gigi to six adorable grandchildren
https://www.facebook.com/AlivebyHisWord
This is great Carolyn, yes Jesus is our access to God and I’m forever grateful for His deep love for me in that He was willing to be the sacrificial lamb. I’m learning so much through this blog and I’m so happy that you pursued God with your dream so that God could use you mightily to help and teach others of the importance and greatness of the Word of God!