The Day God Filled The House
Introduction
Our text gives us the exciting account of the dedication of Solomon’s temple. This temple was the fulfillment of a promise made by God to King David. David had desired to build a permanent dwelling place for the ark of God, but was denied the privilege of doing so because he was a man of war. However, God promised David that He would give him a son who would build a magnificent temple unto the Lord. That son of course, was Solomon.
As we enter into Second Chronicles, chapter five, the temple has been completed, and preparations are being made for its dedication. Solomon orders all the treasures dedicated by his father, David, as well as the instruments to be used in the service of the temple to be moved from the tabernacle to their new place in the temple.
This was a solemn occasion indeed. Israel had never known a stationary place of worship. For years they had known only the portable tent called the tabernacle. It was a constant reminder of Israel’s wilderness wanderings. However, that was all about to change.
Solomon’s temple, due to the fact it was a permanent structure, implied that God had established His people in the land of promise, never to wander again. When the temple was dedicated, the Lord demonstrated His approval in a most exciting way. I would like to briefly examine the happenings of this momentous event to see what principles can be applied to our present situation.
Theme: God filled the house when…
I. GOD RETURNED TO HIS REVERED PLACE
A. Everyone Assembled For The Occasion.
1. The leaders of Israel were there.
2 Chronicles 5:2 “Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the chief of the fathers of the children of Israel, unto Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the city of David, which is Zion. 4a And all the elders of Israel came…”
It has often been stated that everything rises or falls on leadership. That statement certainly has an element of truth. Solomon was about to dedicate the house of God. He knew that the presence of himself, and the leaders of Israel, would demonstrate the importance of this event. It’s important for any member of the church to be faithful when this body of believers meets to worship. But if you hold a position in this church, your faithful attendance, or the lack thereof, helps set the tone for the rest of the body.
A Leader Is … Peter Drucker, perhaps the most noted authority on leadership in the 20th century, says:
A leader is one who has followers. An effective leader is not someone who is loved or admired. He is someone whose followers do the right thing. Popularity is not leadership, results are. Leaders are highly visible. They, therefore, set examples. Leadership is not rank or privileges, titles or money. Leadership is responsibility.[1]
Any person who holds a position in the church, and yet will not be faithful to God’s house, is setting a poor example. One who has been given the responsibility of a position in the church also has the added responsibility of setting the standard for faithfulness.
2. The people were there.
2 Chronicles 5:6 “Wherefore all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto the king in the feast which was in the seventh month.”
NOTE: It is important for every member of the church to be faithful to God’s house. You never know what you might miss. You might miss the very spiritual morsel you need. Having to miss a service now and then is completely understandable. However, haphazard attendance in God’s house by God’s children is not understandable.
B. Solomon And The People Made Sacrificial Offerings.
2 Chronicles 5:6 “Also king Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel that were assembled unto him before the ark, sacrificed sheep and oxen, which could not be told nor numbered for multitude.”
These sacrificial animals represented the best the worshippers had to offer. They were being offered to the Lord in worship and adoration. Worshippers of today are not required to sacrifice animals in order to worship God. They are commanded by God to sacrifice something far more valuable—their whole person. Paul said, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service” (Rom. 12:1). Without getting into all of the theology involved in this verse, let it suffice to say that Paul is advocating that the child of God make a full surrender to the Lord. In essence, we are to give God the sacrifices of our time, energy, talents, and even our finances for His service.
C. The Ark Is Placed In The Temple’s Oracle.
2 Chronicles 5:7 “And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the Lord unto his place, to the oracle of the house, into the most holy place, even under the wings of the cherubims:”
The Ark of the Covenant was the physical symbol of the presence and power of God among His people. The lid of the ark was called the mercy seat. It was there, between the wings of the cherubim, that God’s glory appeared once a year, on the Day of Atonement, and communed with the high priest, and rolled back Israel’s sins for one more year.
Exodus 25:22 “And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.”
The word “oracle” is “…a technical term for the most holy place.”[2] The most holy place, or the Holy of Holies, as we know it, was the focal point of the temple. Every ceremony performed in the temple would have its ultimate confirmation in the Holy of Holies.
Just as the Ark, representative of God’s presence and power, was returned to its revered place in the Holy of Holies, even so, must we be careful to keep the Lord as the central focus of all we do in God’s house. We must do nothing that would grieve His holy presence. St. Augustine once said, “Jesus Christ is not valued at all until He is valued above all.”[3] In other words, Christ must be at the center of our lives—He must be the focal point.
II. GOD RECEIVED HIS RIGHTFUL PRAISE
If there is one thing that we Baptist could learn to do better, it is praising God.
A Heart for Praise
Louis Albert Banks tells of an elderly Christian man, a fine singer, who learned that he had cancer of the tongue and that surgery was required. In the hospital after everything was ready for the operation, the man said to the doctor, “Are you sure I will never sing again?” The surgeon found it difficult to answer his question. He simply shook his head no. The patient then asked if he could sit up for a moment. “I’ve had many good times singing the praises of God,” he said. “And now you tell me I can never sing again. I have one song that will be my last. It will be of gratitude and praise to God.”
There in the doctor’s presence the man sang softly the words of Isaac Watts’ hymn,
I’ll praise my Maker while I’ve Breath,
And when my voice is lost in death,
Praise shall employ my nobler power;
My days of praise shall ne’er be past,
While life, and thought, and being last,
Or immortality endures.[4]
A. God Was Praised With Music.
2 Chronicles 5:11 “And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place: (for all the priests that were present were sanctified, and did not then wait by course: 12 Also the Levites which were the singers, all of them of Asaph, of Heman, of Jeduthun, with their sons and their brethren, being arrayed in white linen, having cymbals and psalteries and harps, stood at the east end of the altar, and with them an hundred and twenty priests sounding with trumpets:)”
The musical program that day must have been something to hear. Everyone was involved in enthusiastic praise to God. Too many times the music service is viewed as nothing more than the entertainment segment of the service; or worse yet, that annoying period of time between the preaching and the last amen. We need to remember that the songs we sing are to be offered in praise to the Lord. It is a part of our worship of Him.
B. God Was Praised For His Goodness And Mercy.
2 Chronicles 5:13 “It came even to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord; and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised the Lord, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth forever: that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the Lord;”
My how we need to praise God today for His goodness and mercy toward us. God deserves our praise simply because He hasn’t dealt with us according to what we deserve.
Psalm 103:10 “He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.”
Lamentations 3:22 “It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.”
We need to praise God today for the great salvation He has granted through faith in Christ.
Romans 8:5 “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
III. GOD REVEALED HIS RIGHTEOUS PRESENCE
A. The Lord’s Presence Was Obvious.
2 Chronicles 5:13c “…then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the Lord;”
This cloud was none other than the Shekinah glory of God. This was the same cloud of God’s presence and power that appeared to the Israelites in their wilderness wanderings (Ex. 13:21, 22).
B. The Lord’s Presence Was Overwhelming.
2 Chronicles 5:14 “So that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of God.”
Do you know what this verse says to me? It tells me that when God filled the house, the man-made order of service went right out the window. I’m not saying that our services should be ruled by chaos. However, I am saying that we need to be careful to leave room for God to do something different from what we’ve planned. God’s order needs to be our only order of service.
[1] Quoted in Focal Point, summer, 1997, p. 19.
[2] Charles F. Pfeiffer and Everett F. Harrison, Editors, The Wycliffe Bible Commentary, published by Moody Press, Chicago, Illinois; pg. 395.
[3] St. Augustine.
[4] Our Daily Bread, January 15.