2 Chronicles 6 – 10
Verse 6:18 asks a very interesting question:
How can I think that this temple I have built will be suitable lodging for You when the heavens You created are not vast enough? Certainly we are not worthy to have You live among us humans.
How can anyone assume we can make a building suitable for the Lord? I know the temples, mosques and churches attempt to do this. Does man really think they can contain God into a building? This is the problem with the personification of God. The Bible refers to God the father, Jesus as a man and The Holy Spirit as an individual when in reality they are one. Not three in one, but one.
Ok call me nuts but think about this God is omnipresent and omnipotent, how can a “body” do this? It can’t and therefore we must look at God differently. The only thing I can compare Him to is energy, which is everywhere, in different forms and easily moves between those forms. In the instance of Jesus, He was a man with the spirit of God as Him.
Verse 7:8 documents the celebration for completing the temple:
Solomon and all of Israel (from the border with Hamath in Aram to the river of Egypt) feasted for seven days, celebrating the temple dedication and Succoth, the Festival of Booths.
Where the Festival of Booths was not to dedicate the temple, but rather gives us a time frame of when it happened (close to harvest time). The festival was to celebrate the 40 years in the wilderness and coming to the Promised Land.
After Solomon dies his son Rehoboam takes control and verse 10:7 has Solomon advisor making suggestions for the new King:
Listen to their concerns, show them kindness, and please them. Then they will be your subjects and will always respect you.
Instead he listened to his younger friends who wanted to build more and not give the people any rest. The resulting act caused a fracture in the nation of Israel where the tribes of Judah and Benjamin separated from the rest of the tribes. In this David’s blood line would remain king over the people, just not all.
This should have us all listening to God and not our young buddies who have no clue what a relationship with God really is like. Sure we can tune our “small voice” to understand when God is speaking to us, but most of the time elders are the best source since they have decades of refining this process.