The construction of the Temple of the Lord.

Soon after David moved into his new palace, he said to Nathan the prophet, "Look around! I live in a palace made of cedar, but the sacred chest is kept in a tent."  (1 Chronicles 17:1 CEV)

 The story of Moses in the Bible is very well known story. The Lord spoke to Moses and told him that he must lead the Israelites slaves to freedom. When they were in the desert the Lord spoke to Moses again. He told Moses to construct a tent according to Gods specifications. Moses again did as the Lord asked him to. He constructed the tent which was later known as the Tabernacle.

Now the Tabernacle was a luxurious tent in which the Ark of the Covenant was stored in. Much, much later King David told the Lord that he (David) wanted to construct a more permanent home for the Lord and the Ark of the Covenant. After all David, a human, lived in a luxurious palace constructed with an expensive wood, whilst God lived in a luxurious tent! I think I can see why King David wanted to construct a big, more permanent temple for his God. After all, God did free his people from slavery in Egypt.

As we can read in our core verse, King David already constructed a luxurious palace for himself and his dynasty. David then asked the prophet Nathan to speak to the Lord on his behalf. David wanted to know what the Lord would say if David constructed the temple.

Sadly, God didn’t allow King David to construct the temple. Later in the Bible we read that King David had too much blood on his hands to build the temple of the Lord. In other words God said to David that he killed to many people during his reign as King. Pew, David must have been a violent ruler!   

But King David also did much good during his reign as King of Israel. Even though he wasn’t allowed to construct the temple, God used him to gather resources so that the temple could be constructed more easily by the next king. The next king of Israel, after David, was King Solomon, his son,s  the richest and wisest king found in the Bible.

What can we learn about king David from the story found in 1 Chronicles?

1.       God uses people to glorify Him.

Even though God didn’t use King David to construct the temple, he used King David to gather materials for the building of the temple in the future. Surely the temple of the Lord required only the best of building materials. The Lord appointed his loyal servant King David specifically to this difficult task.

2.       God uses people to help others.

God had a very clever plan concerning the gathering of construction materials for the temple! King David gathered the materials for the temple, making the actual building of the temple much easier for the actual builders. In other words the builders of the temple already had the necessary building materials!

3.       Follow the will of God.

God knows everything! He knows and sees the bigger picture. In our example God saw that King David should not construct the temple, but rather that King Solomon should build the temple. Gods’ way was much easier, since the builders of the temple already had the building materials. This sometime requires patience!

Till next time!!