The Indwelling Presence of God.

“The trumpeters and singers performed together in unison to praise and give thanks to the LORD. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals, and other instruments, they raised their voices and praised the LORD with these words: “He is so good! His faithful love endures forever!” At that moment a cloud filled the Temple of the LORD.” ­– 2 Chronicles 5:13 NLT

The Temple was complete. The construction crews had gone home. It was now time to make the house Solomon had built for God ready for God. So he sent for the Ark of the Covenant. It had been in a temporary location since the time of David. A procession of priests and people accompanied the Ark from the city of David all the way to the Temple, which was located a spot that was at a higher elevation. Along the way, the priests made sacrifices to God – so many in fact, nobody was able to keep an accurate count. “King Solomon and the entire community of Israel sacrificed sheep and oxen before the Ark in such numbers that no one could keep count!” (2 Chronicles 5:6 NLT). There was music, instruments, singing and praises lifted up all along the way. It was a celebration of the highest order. And when they finally were able to place the Ark inside the Holy of Holies, the glorious presence of God filled the place. His shekinah glory, in the form of a cloud, descended onto the Ark and filled the Temple – making it impossible for the priests to continue their work.

The cloud, signifying God’s presence, filled the Temple. This was the same cloud that had led the people of God from Egypt all the way to the Promised Land. It was a sign of God’s favor, blessing, leading, and yes, His presence. When they saw the cloud, they knew that God was there. The invisible one had become visible. God did a similar thing when He sent His Son to earth – the invisible became visible. God came and dwelt among men in the form of a man. God’s Son walked and lived among us. He was the living, breathing presence of God. Then when Jesus died, rose again, and ascended back into heaven, God sent another proof of His presence – the Holy Spirit – who lives within us, filling us with the very presence of God. We are the temple of God and He indwells us just like He did that day when Solomon placed the Ark in the Tabernacle. And the very fact that the presence of God is among us and inside us, should cause us to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1), and lift up a constant flow of praise to Him. We should sing, shout, rejoice, and celebrate the presence of God among us each and every day of our lives.

Father, Your Spirit inhabits me just as it did the Temple that day. You fill me with Your presence every day of my life. Yet I take it for granted. I sometimes allow my “temple” to become less than holy. I fail to keep my “temple” separated for Your use only. I use it for my own pleasure and benefit. I forget that You are there. Give me a more constant awareness of Your presence. Help me not forget that You are there, right inside of me; guiding, directing, comforting, convicting, and loving me. What an incredible thing to consider. Amen

Ken Miller
Grow Pastor & Minister to Men
kenm@christchapelbc.org





A Glimpse of God.

“I am about to build a Temple to honor the name of the Lord my God.” ­– 2 Chronicles 2:4 NLT

How would you describe God? What words would you use? How many adjectives would you have to string together until you came up with a suitable description of a God who is indescribable? The fact is, describing God is an impossible task for mere man to take on. We don’t even have the capacity to  comprehend God, let alone describe him. So we are left at a loss for words. Which is part of the reason why I think God gave Moses the plans for the Tabernacle in the wilderness. Just think about it. God was VERY specific about how He wanted the Tabernacle to be constructed, right down to the  exact materials and measurements. Nothing was left to chance or the imagination. Now when it comes to the Temple that Solomon built, the plans were not from God, but they seem to be patterned after the Tabernacle. You might want to think of the Temple as the Tabernacle on steroids. It was a bigger, better version of the same thing. And I think it was Solomon’s attempt to describe the indescribable – God Himself. He made it clear that he was building the Temple in order to honor the name of the Lord. This building was an earthly representation or symbol for a heavenly being.

When you read this portion of the book of 2 Chronicles, it’s easy to let your eyes glaze over and your mind drift as you work your way through the endless details and descriptions of basins and bowls, cherubim and chains, lampstands and ladles, courtyards and curtains. But if you slow down long enough to think about what this building and all its elements must have looked like when completed, it begins to give you an idea of what I think Solomon was trying to do – honor the glory of his God with a building that was truly glorious and spectacular. The Temple contained elements and attributes that correlate with God Himself. The Temple was filled with expensive and hard-to-come-by metals. In fact, there was so much bronze used, that they couldn’t determine its weight. There were precious stones and exotic woods. Only the finest fabrics were used, handwoven with painstakingly dyed thread and containing intricate designs of incredible beauty. Everything seems to be over-sized and out of proportion. The basin could hold 11,000 gallons of water. There were hand-carved and cast versions of pomegranates everywhere – symbolic of fruitfulness and abundance. Gold glistened everywhere. Lamps filled with the finest olive oil shed a shimmering light on everything. Light, beauty, abundance, immensity, quality, craftsmanship, creativity, order, peace – all these things speak of God. They reflect who He is. This building was not only a dwelling for God, it was a telling place. It told of His goodness, greatness, power, creativity, holiness, righteousness, order, and beauty. Our God is great. Our God is good. Our God is indescribable. But the good news is – He is knowable. I may not be able to describe Him, but I can know Him and be known by Him.

Father, I have no idea what the Temple really looked like, but I can imagine it was an incredible sight to behold. But even in all its glory, it couldn’t hold a candle to You. Open my eyes and let me somehow perceive just how great and good You are. You reveal Yourself around me each and every day, but I have grown blind to Your presence. Open my eyes and let me see. May the glory of Solomon’s Temple give me a little glimpse of just how great You really are. Amen

Ken Miller
Grow Pastor & Minister to Men
kenm@christchapelbc.org





The Lord Will See To It.

“So Solomon began to build the Temple of the LORD in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the LORD had appeared to Solomon’s father, King David. The Temple was built on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite, the site that David had selected.” ­– 2 Chronicles 3:1 NLT

I am always amazed at those who see some great gulf existing between the Old and New Testaments. They love reading the New Testament and seem to believe that because it contains the revelation of Jesus, it somehow trumps the Old Testament. The Old Testament to them is … well, old. It is antiquated, out of touch with modern day life and full of hard-to-understand images of sacrifice, war, and an angry, vengeful God. But the entire Bible is the revelation of God. It reveals God Himself, and His redemptive plan for mankind, which culminates in the life, death and resurrection of His Son, Jesus. If you look carefully, you will see this redemptive message all throughout the Bible. It is what is sometimes referred to as the Scarlet Thread. Pictures of God’s redemption of mankind can be seen throughout the Old Testament and our chapter for today is no different. At first glance, it appears to be just another description of Solomon’s Temple. There are measurements of pillars and foundations, descriptions of the various rooms and courtyards. There appears to be no real purpose behind these detail, unless you begin at verse 1. Hidden within these two sentences is a wonderful picture of God’s redemptive plan.

It tells us that Solomon was building the Temple on Mount Moriah. What is significant about that? Well, to begin with, it was on Mount Moriah that God commanded Abraham to offer up his son, Isaac, as a sacrifice (Genesis 22). Here was Abraham being told by God to sacrifice the one son he had waited so long for. He was the one through whom all the promises of God were to be fulfilled. And now Abraham was being told to end his life. Which Abraham was willing to do – out of faith in God and his belief that God would raise him up again. Abraham was willing to die to his dream in order to be obedient to God. And because of that, God told Abraham, “Do not hurt the boy in any way, for now I know that you truly fear God. You have not withheld even your beloved son from me” (Genesis 22:12 NLT). Instead of Abraham having to sacrifice Isaac, God provided a substitute, a stand-in. “Then Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught by its horns in a bush. So he took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering on the altar in place of his son” (Genesis 22:13 NLT). Abraham ended up calling the place on which this entire event took place, “Yahweh Yireh” or “The Lord will provide,” or literally, “The Lord will see to it.”

Fast-forward to the time of David. There came a time in David’s life when he sinned against God by refusing to trust Him. Instead, he placed his trust in his own military might and took an ill-advised census of the people in order to determine just how many able-bodied soldiers he had. David’s sin was in putting his faith in numbers rather than God. As a result, God punished Israel and 70,000 men died. God was going to destroy all of Jerusalem, and sent an angel to meet with David. The place where they met was the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite – the very same place where Abraham was commanded to offer up Isaac. David looked up and saw the angel standing before him with his sword drawn and stretched out over Jerusalem. At that point, David confesses that the sin was his and his alone. He takes ownership for what has happened and offers his own life in exchange for that of the people of Israel. “I am the one who called for the census! I am the one who has sinned and done wrong! But these people are innocent — what have they done? O LORD my God, let your anger fall against me and my family, but do not destroy your people” (1 Chronicles 21:17 NLT). God commanded David to build an altar on the very same spot where Abraham had built his altar. There David offered up sacrifices and offerings to God, and God spared the people.

Now years later, Solomon is erecting the Temple on the very same ground. He is building a house place for God where His presence can dwell and where the people can bring their sacrifices. Each year on the Day of Atonement, the high priest would offer a substitute sacrifice for Israel just as Abraham had done for Isaac. It would be a constant reminder that “The Lord Will Provide.” He will see to it. He has a plan for the sin of mankind. And while the sacrifices offered in the Temple could never completely forgive or wipe out the sins of men, it foreshadows God’s ultimate plan of substitionary sacrifice – the death of His own Son in our place. Jesus became the Lamb who was slain. He became our sin substitute. He was the one who would pay the ultimate price for the sins of mankind by giving His own life to satisfy the justice of God. God saw to it. He provided. And those of us in Christ have benefited greatly from that grand redemptive plan.

Father, thank You for providing a way for me to be made right with You. I could never have done it on my own. I could never have done enough to pay for my sin or earn Your good favor. But You mercifully and graciously provided a way. You saw to it. And I am eternally grateful. Amen

Ken Miller
Grow Pastor & Minister to Men
kenm@christchapelbc.org





Going To Great Lengths For A Great God.

“This will be a magnificent Temple because our God is an awesome God, greater than any other.” ­– 2 Chronicles 2:5 NLT

Solomon was going to fulfill the dream of his father David and build a temple dedicated to the worship of God. And even though this was not Solomon’s personal vision, he was not going to treat it as insignificant or give it a second-rate effort. This was going to be a huge undertaking for Solomon that would require the expenditure of a huge sum of money, the coordination of tens of thousands of workmen, the purchase and shipment of vast quantities of material from all over the Middle East, and countless hours of project oversight on the part of Solomon. And Solomon jumped in with both feet. He was as dedicated to this project as his father had been; applying all his God-given wisdom to accomplish the task at hand. Solomon knew that there was no way that he or anyone else could build a structure worthy of the God of the universe. “But who can really build him a worthy home? Not even the highest heavens can contain him! So who am I to consider building a Temple for him, except as a place to burn sacrifices to him?” (2 Chronicles 2:8 NLT). He knew that this building was really going to be a place for men to show their honor and respect to God by offering the sacrifices He had commanded them to make. But rather than take a utilitarian approach and build a simple structure, functional and basic; Solomon determined to build a building like no other in the known world at that time. He would spare no expense. Why? Because it would be a reflection of the greatness and glory of the God of Israel. Solomon told King Hiram, “the Temple I am going to build will be very large and magnificent” (2 Chronicles 2:9 NLT). Today, there would be those who would say, “What a waste of money! Couldn’t you have taken all that gold, silver, and bronze and given it to the poor!” They would have bemoaned the fact that the Israelites were building a monument to their on glory, not God’s. They would have complained about the expense involved, the waste of manpower, the extravagance of the furnishings, and the overall distraction the construction process had become to the kingdom. But Solomon had his focus on one thing – to honor God. Even the pagan king, Hiram understood what Solomon was doing. “It is because the LORD loves his people that he has made you their king! Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who made the heavens and the earth! He has given David a wise son, gifted with skill and understanding, who will build a Temple for the LORD and a royal palace for himself” (2 Chronicles 2:11-12 NLT).

Solomon was motivated by God’s grandeur, not a desire to impress men. He was determined to honor God and make His name great. If anything, he wanted the other nations to know that His God was the greatest god – the only true God. And the way he chose to do that was by building a structure that was worthy of His greatness. Solomon knew that men could not see God Himself, but they would be able to see His dwelling place – the Temple. So he was going to make it large, impressive, and awe-inspiring. Because it would be a reflection of the character and nature of God. This makes me wonder how much thought, time, effort and energy we are willing to put into the things we do for God. Do we give half-effort or do just enough to get by or are we willing to do all that we do with a level of excellence that gives an indication of how much we think of our God. Let’s move beyond buildings and think about the Sunday School lessons or Bible studies we prepare. Do we give them the time God deserves? Do they reflect our understanding of His greatness? Does the way we run our homes and manage our families reflect back on God in a positive way? Are we willing spare no expense and sacrifice great effort in whatever we do so that God gets the glory? Paul put it this way, “So eat your meals heartily, not worrying about what others say about you – you’re eating to God’s glory, after all, not to please them. As a matter of fact, do everything that way, heartily and freely to God’s glory” (2 Corinthians 10:31 MSG). Do everything heartily and freely to God’s glory. Do it with excellence. Give it your best effort. Think about Him when you do it. Make His name great. Honor Him at all times in all that you. Why? Because He deserves it.

Father, so much of what I do is not done well. It is not done with You in mind. I give half-hearted effort too often, just to get by and get it done. Give an attitude like Solomon had. Help me to understand Your greatness and in turn, have the desire to give You glory in all I do. Amen

Ken Miller
Grow Pastor & Minister to Men
kenm@christchapelbc.org