2 Samuel 7:12-14 "When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. (13) He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. (14) I will be his Father, and he shall be My son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men.”
The next key event that we will discuss is the construction of the First Temple. As revealed to us in the above-quoted passage of scripture, in approximately the year 1000 BC the Lord spoke about the temple that King Solomon would build for Him in the city of Jerusalem[1]. The context of this passage is that King David had asked the Lord if he could build a temple for Him. However, because of the amount of blood David had shed in the wars he conducted, the Lord denied David’s request. Nevertheless, because the Lord ensured that there was peace during the reign of David’s son, the Lord permitted King Solomon to build His temple (1 Chronicles 22:8-10). As an aside, this is an important point for us to take into account when we discuss the future rebuilding of the Third Temple. Because of the amount of blood King David had shed on the earth, God would not allow him to build His temple, even though God said of him that he was a man after His own heart (1 Samuel 13:14). And so we see a principle here; God will not allow His temple to be built during a time of conflict, and neither will He allow His temple to be built by Jewish leaders that promote conflict. God will only allow His temple to be built during a time of peace, and by Jewish leaders that promote peace. At this present time, Israel is experiencing an increasing level of conflict with its neighbours, and the current Israeli leadership has been responsible for shedding much blood in the Gaza Strip. Currently, there are many Jews and Christians alike, which think Israel is on the verge of rebuilding the Third Temple. They will be sorely disappointed, however, because God will not allow His temple to be built until peace is restored in Israel, and the current Israeli leadership is replaced. Another truth that needs to be mentioned from the above-quoted passage of scripture is its dual interpretation. The first interpretation, which we have already mentioned in this section, refers to King Solomon's building of the First Temple. The second interpretation, however, refers to the Lord Jesus building the eternal Temple of God (the church). We know that the second interpretation refers to the Lord Jesus because God refers to Him as His Son, who if He commits iniquity, God would chasten with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men. And so even though Solomon did commit iniquity, God never chastened him with the blows of the sons of men. Nevertheless, when Jesus took upon Himself the iniquity of the world and was crucified, God chastened Him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men.
1 Kings 6:1-2 “And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of the Lord. (2) Now the house which King Solomon built for the Lord, its length was sixty cubits, its width twenty, and its height thirty cubits.”
The above-quoted passage of scripture reveals to us that King Solomon began building the First Temple in approximately the year 966 BC[2]. Scripture teaches us that the First Temple took seven years to build and was thus completed in the year 959 BC (1 Kings 6:38). It is important to note that Scripture does not give a detailed description of the First Temple's construction. In other words, modern architects would be unable to use the biblical description to draw up plans for its construction today. Historical records show us that the First Temple stood for approximately 372 years[3]. As an aside, it is important to note that the section of the temple called the Holy of Holies was designed to house the Ark of the Covenant. Under God's instruction, Moses constructed the Ark of the Covenant and its Tabernacle (tent) in approximately the year 1445 BC[4] (Exodus 25 & 26). The Ark of the Covenant was originally housed in the section of the Tabernacle called the Holy of Holies. God instructed Moses to place the following items into the Ark of the Covenant; the golden pot that had the manna, Aaron's rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant (Hebrews 9:3-4). In approximately the year 1070 BC the Israelites lost the Ark of the Covenant to the Philistines in battle, but after seven months the Philistines returned the Ark of the Covenant to the Israelites[5] (1 Samuel 4-6). When the Ark was returned, the golden pot of manna and Aaron's rod that budded had disappeared, and all that remained inside were the tablets of the covenant. And so by the time the Ark of the Covenant was moved from the Tabernacle to be placed into the First Temple that Solomon built, it only contained the tablets of the covenant (1 Kings 8:9).
Michael E.B. Maher
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