Nathan’s Prophetic Words May Carry a Double Meaning Once King David has his kingdom established, he wants to build the temple for God and tells the prophet Nathan. Nathan gives him his blessing to proceed, but later God gives Nathan a different message. Nathan returns to David and says, “You are not the one to […]
Our Response to Resistance Determines the Outcomes We Realize In the beginning of the book of Ezra we have the story of Zerubbabel, who under direction of King Cyrus, begins to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. His job is a noble one and backed by the full support of the Persian Empire and all that […]
How Much Time We Spend on Our Activities Reveals Our Priorities King David longs to build a temple for God, but God says this is not to be. Another, a descendant of David, will attend to its construction. Instead David must content himself with the temple’s planning and in accumulating its building materials. Then he […]
In the Old Testament, the people perceive the temple as God’s dwelling place here on earth. Therefore, to approach God they need to go to the temple. They worship God there and no place else. The God in the Old Testament commands it. In the temple hangs a thick, heavy veil (curtain) that separates the […]
When Solomon dedicated the temple, the people praised God with much fanfare and then something strange happened. A cloud formed—inside the building. But there’s more. “The Glory of the Lord filled the temple.” It became so intense that the priests couldn’t even work; God’s presence was that strong. It was extreme. They became overwhelmed with […]
The “Holy of Holies” (also called “the Most Holy Place” or “the Holiest of all”) was the innermost part of the tabernacle and later, the temple. It was so sacred that only the high priest could enter it and then only once a year. When Jesus died, the veil (which was very thick, more akin […]