“But will God really dwell on earth with humans? The heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built!”– 2 Chronicles 6:18 God is unlimited. He can reign in heaven while working on earth and even understanding every thought of every creature at the same time. Solomon recognized this truth when he prayed at the dedication of the temple. The temple was not the place where God lived, but a place where God... Read more

“Then the temple of the Lord was filled with the cloud, 14 and the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the temple of God.” -1 Chronicles 5:13-14 When the temple was dedicated, the cloud of God’s glory was so thick that the priests could not perform their services. I’ve wondered why God would stop his people from worshiping. Wouldn’t he want his Levites to offer sacrifices, to give him praise?... Read more

“All the objects that Huram-Abi made for King Solomon for the temple of the Lord were of polished bronze. 17 The king had them cast in clay molds in the plain of the Jordan between Sukkoth and Zarethan. 18 All these things that Solomon made amounted to so much that the weight of the bronze could not be calculated.” -2 Chronicles 4:16-18 God provided for every detail of the temple. In fact, it was more than enough. The items made of bronze... Read more

“Then Solomon began to build the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to his father David. It was on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite, the place provided by David.” -2 Chronicles 3:1 Location matters to God. You live where you live for a reason. You were born were you were born for a purpose. You work in the exact location you work with a reason. Even God’s temple was built... Read more

“But who is able to build a temple for him, since the heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain him? Who then am I to build a temple for him, except as a place to burn sacrifices before him?” -2 Chronicles 2:6 Solomon knew from the start that the temple was not a place to contain God; it was a place to worship him. As king, Solomon understood influence. Yet he also realized that God was greater than all and... Read more

7 That night God appeared to Solomon and said to him, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.” 8 Solomon answered God, “You have shown great kindness to David my father and have made me king in his place. 9 Now, Lord God, let your promise to my father David be confirmed, for you have made me king over a people who are as numerous as the dust of the earth. 10 Give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may lead this... Read more

“3 Besides, in my devotion to the temple of my God I now give my personal treasures of gold and silver for the temple of my God, over and above everything I have provided for this holy temple: 4 three thousand talents[b] of gold (gold of Ophir) and seven thousand talents of refined silver, for the overlaying of the walls of the buildings, 5 for the gold work and the silver work, and for all the work to be done by the craftsmen.... Read more

2 King David rose to his feet and said: “Listen to me, my fellow Israelites, my people. I had it in my heart to build a house as a place of rest for the ark of the covenant of the Lord, for the footstool of our God, and I made plans to build it. 3 But God said to me, ‘You are not to build a house for my Name, because you are a warrior and have shed blood.’” -1 Chronicles 28:2-3... Read more