Lessons From The Construction Of Solomon’s Temple 1 Kings 6:2-4 1. God Desires To Dwell Among His People • The temple, which housed the Ark of the Covenant, symbolized God’s presence and character. It represented God’s desire to live among his people. • It was a visible sign and pledge of his covenant relationship with the people, built to honor God. The name of God is “holy,” which means that it is complete, perfect, pure, and separate from all evil. • So God wanted to be known and worshiped by Israel as the Holy One and the Sanctifier of his people. 1 Kings 6:11-13 2. God's Spirit Is Attracted To Our Obedience • However, the temple gave no absolute guarantees of God’s presence. It symbolized God’s presence only as long as the people rejected all other gods and followed God’s law and instructions. • The history recorded in 1 and 2 Kings reveals God's people's tragic and repeated failure to meet this condition of obedience. • These are encouraging words, putting God’s blessing on the building of the temple. God was with Solomon in this massive undertaking, and he would recognize the temple as his dwelling place among his people. This promise takes in two aspects of the Davidic covenant. i. God established for David a lasting dynasty and declared that his son Solomon would be the one to build the house for the Name of the Lord that David had desired to build. ii. Solomon, in order to experience the blessings of the Davidic covenant, must exhibit the faith and obedience of David toward the Word of God. › Here is the problem: we want all of God’s presence without obedience. We want God to come and move, but we don’t want to follow his commands. 1 Kings 6:19-22 3. God Desires Us To Go To The Inner Courts • The inner sanctuary was the Most Holy Place or Holy of Holies because it housed the ark of the covenant, a symbol of the presence of God. 1 Samuel 4:4 and 2 Samuel 6:2 speak of God as being enthroned between the cherubim. In Exodus 25:21–22, God told Moses that he would meet with him there and give him all his commands for the Israelites. • Thus, the ark in the Most Holy Place is the focal point of the temple and its ritual, not as an object of worship or superstitious awe, but as the place where God manifested his presence in his converse with his people. No one could enter into the inner courts without going through a process of cleansing of all unrighteousness. I think this is lost on our culture, because we live in a culture of grace. We expect to come into God’s presence with no expectation of right living. › If we want a mighty move of God, we have to do our part. We cannot expect God to move if there is unrighteousness in our hearts. What are our transformational moments? 1. Is your heart a suitable dwelling place for God? 2. Do you live a life that the Spirit of God is attracted to? 3. Do you need to confess to God and move into the inner courts?