God's Master Builder (2 Chronicles 2)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.679 --> 00:00:05.759 Let's turn our attention now to God's word in second chronicles, chapter two. 2 00:00:06.120 --> 00:00:15.189 Second Chronicles, Chapter Two, second chronicles, chapter two. Now Solomon purpose 3 00:00:15.310 --> 00:00:20.230 to build a temple for the name of Jehovah and a Royal Palace for himself. 4 00:00:21.109 --> 00:00:26.379 And Solomon assigned seventy thousand men to bear burdens and eighty thousand to quarry 5 00:00:26.460 --> 00:00:32.179 in the hill country and three thousand six hundred to oversee them. And Solomon 6 00:00:32.219 --> 00:00:37.409 sent word to Hiram, the king of Tire, as you dealt with David, 7 00:00:37.450 --> 00:00:41.090 my father, and send him Cedar, to build himself a house to 8 00:00:41.130 --> 00:00:45.770 dwell in. So deal with me. Behold, I am about to build 9 00:00:45.810 --> 00:00:49.850 a house for the name of Jehovah, my God, and dedicate it to 10 00:00:49.890 --> 00:00:55.000 him for the burning of incense of sweet spices before him and for the regular 11 00:00:55.079 --> 00:01:00.479 arrangements of the showbread and for burnt offerings morning and evening on the sabbaths and 12 00:01:00.600 --> 00:01:04.670 the new moons and the appointed feasts of Jehovah, our God, as ordained 13 00:01:04.709 --> 00:01:10.349 forever for Israel. The House that I am to build will be great, 14 00:01:11.189 --> 00:01:15.469 for our God is greater than all gods. But who is able to build 15 00:01:15.469 --> 00:01:19.379 him a house? Since Heaven even highest heaven cannot contain him. Who Am 16 00:01:19.420 --> 00:01:23.099 I to build a house for him, except as a place to make offerings 17 00:01:23.180 --> 00:01:29.780 before him? So now send me a man skilled to work in gold, 18 00:01:30.140 --> 00:01:36.049 silver, bronze and iron and in purple, Crimson and blue fabrics, trained 19 00:01:36.090 --> 00:01:40.250 also in engraving, to be with the skilled workers who are with me in 20 00:01:40.370 --> 00:01:45.650 Judah and Jerusalem, whom David, my father, provided. Send me also 21 00:01:45.769 --> 00:01:51.120 Cedar Cyprus and Algum timber from Lebanon, for I know that your servants know 22 00:01:51.280 --> 00:01:55.560 how to cut timber in Lebanon, and my servants will be your with your 23 00:01:55.640 --> 00:02:00.359 servants to prepare timber for me in abundance, for the House that I am 24 00:02:00.439 --> 00:02:05.310 to build will be great and wonderful. I will give for your servants, 25 00:02:05.670 --> 00:02:09.949 the Woodsman Who Cut Timbers, Twentyzero Corps of crushed wheat, Twentyzero corps of 26 00:02:10.030 --> 00:02:17.460 barley, twentyzero baths of wine and twentyzero baths of oil. Then Hiram, 27 00:02:17.580 --> 00:02:22.180 the king of tire, answered in a letter that he sent to Solomon. 28 00:02:23.460 --> 00:02:29.300 Because Jehovah loves his people, he has made you king over them. Hiram 29 00:02:29.340 --> 00:02:34.409 also said, blessed be Jehovah, God of Israel, who made heaven and 30 00:02:34.610 --> 00:02:38.210 earth, who has given King David a wise son, who has discretion and 31 00:02:38.409 --> 00:02:45.000 understanding, who will build a temple for Jehovah and a Royal Palace for himself. 32 00:02:46.280 --> 00:02:50.719 Now I have sent a skilled man who has understanding, who Ram Abi, 33 00:02:51.479 --> 00:02:53.639 the son of a woman of the daughters of Dan, and his father 34 00:02:53.919 --> 00:02:58.990 was a man of tire. He is trained to work in gold, silver, 35 00:02:59.229 --> 00:03:02.150 bronze, iron stone and wood, and in purple, blue and Crimson 36 00:03:02.310 --> 00:03:07.270 Fabrics and fine linen, and to do all sorts of engraving and execute any 37 00:03:07.389 --> 00:03:13.219 design that may be assigned him with your craftsman, the craftsman of my Lord 38 00:03:13.340 --> 00:03:16.219 David, your father. Now, therefore, the wheat and barley, oil 39 00:03:16.300 --> 00:03:20.860 and wine of which my Lord has spoken, let him send to his servants 40 00:03:21.419 --> 00:03:24.219 and we will cut whatever timber you need from Lebanon and bring it to you 41 00:03:24.419 --> 00:03:30.129 and rafts by sea to Joppa so that you may take it up to Jerusalem. 42 00:03:30.210 --> 00:03:35.250 Then Solomon counted all the resident aliens who were in the land of Israel 43 00:03:35.289 --> 00:03:38.169 after the census of them that David, his father, had taken, and 44 00:03:38.250 --> 00:03:43.879 there were found a hundred and fifty three thousand six hundred Seventyzero of them. 45 00:03:43.960 --> 00:03:47.639 He assigned to bear burdens, eightyzero to corry in the hill country and three 46 00:03:47.719 --> 00:03:53.800 thousand six hundred as overseers to make the people work. You may be seated. 47 00:03:57.750 --> 00:04:02.310 I find it very easy to imagine myself in this kind of situation, 48 00:04:02.830 --> 00:04:08.430 not me as any kind of particular character, but everything is so detailed here, 49 00:04:09.110 --> 00:04:14.460 the Inns, the letters between these two kings, of it all makes 50 00:04:14.819 --> 00:04:19.459 a lot of sense. You can imagine similar building projects being done various kinds 51 00:04:19.500 --> 00:04:24.689 of trap and Trans Actions. Even today we do these kinds of things. 52 00:04:25.329 --> 00:04:29.569 For example, if you were to go and and build a big house or 53 00:04:29.610 --> 00:04:32.329 a big project or even just a general remodel of your home, you might 54 00:04:32.370 --> 00:04:39.680 hire a general contractor, and it seems that that's something of what Solomon is 55 00:04:39.800 --> 00:04:44.680 asking for. He writes to hire them and he says I need someone who's 56 00:04:44.720 --> 00:04:49.160 skilled not in any one thing but in everything, and it's interesting too that 57 00:04:49.279 --> 00:04:55.069 he seeks this from him. We might come back to that later, but 58 00:04:55.149 --> 00:04:59.230 anyway, all of these details as we see them, as grand as they 59 00:04:59.230 --> 00:05:04.310 are, it's clear to us what's going on here. Solomon says it himself. 60 00:05:04.350 --> 00:05:12.540 He's purposed to build a temple and all these things. There's many different 61 00:05:12.579 --> 00:05:17.459 lessons and things we might see. We might consider God's keeping his promises. 62 00:05:18.220 --> 00:05:24.009 The promises he made David back in first chronicles seventeen are being fulfilled here in 63 00:05:24.050 --> 00:05:29.209 this very real way. We also see here in second chronicles to a great 64 00:05:29.329 --> 00:05:34.959 demonstration of the wisdom that God has blessed Solomon with as he organizes his resources, 65 00:05:35.439 --> 00:05:40.439 in the way that he writes his letter and deals with this foreign king, 66 00:05:40.519 --> 00:05:45.000 in the work correspondence that goes back and forth. We even read hire 67 00:05:45.040 --> 00:05:54.189 Ms Profession of God's blessing on Solomon and his wisdom. What I want to 68 00:05:54.230 --> 00:05:59.910 focus on particularly this evening, though, is worship, the worship that is 69 00:06:00.029 --> 00:06:04.100 being established here, because ultimately that's what the temple is about, that's what 70 00:06:04.300 --> 00:06:10.699 Solomon is after. He says he purposes to build a temple for the Lord, 71 00:06:10.779 --> 00:06:15.100 but he says, of course, I'm not doing this to contain God 72 00:06:15.379 --> 00:06:20.370 somehow, because God dwells outside of temples, above the highest heaven. He 73 00:06:20.850 --> 00:06:27.930 can even the highest heaven cannot contain him. He has in mind probably the 74 00:06:28.129 --> 00:06:31.050 stars. To speak of the heavens, is sort of the clouds and sky, 75 00:06:31.290 --> 00:06:36.199 the sort of area just most directly above the earth and then even above 76 00:06:36.319 --> 00:06:42.319 that, the scars, the Stars and the highest heavens. Solomon says, 77 00:06:42.319 --> 00:06:46.990 as far as you can see, even the greatest expanses that we know they 78 00:06:47.069 --> 00:06:51.230 can't contain God. So I'm not trying to build a house for that. 79 00:06:51.310 --> 00:06:56.790 I'm trying to build a house for him, he says, so that I 80 00:06:56.949 --> 00:07:01.980 can dedicate it to him, for the burning of offerings and incense, for 81 00:07:02.060 --> 00:07:08.819 the celebration of faces and festivals. He says. I build to him a 82 00:07:08.980 --> 00:07:14.579 house as a place to make offerings before him. It's a place for worship. 83 00:07:16.689 --> 00:07:24.050 When we considered in Romans, in our morning services, the worship of 84 00:07:24.209 --> 00:07:30.639 Israel, we talked about how worship was expressed in Israel in various ways, 85 00:07:30.160 --> 00:07:35.360 and we see some of that here. Explicit things I'm being mentioned, but 86 00:07:35.519 --> 00:07:40.600 one of the things to notice, I want to mention three this evening, 87 00:07:41.959 --> 00:07:46.589 is that worship was about devotion to God, first and foremost. I'm second, 88 00:07:46.709 --> 00:07:53.750 worship was central to all of life and third, worship in Israel was 89 00:07:54.110 --> 00:07:59.660 also for the world. And these three things come out in various ways in 90 00:07:59.779 --> 00:08:03.699 this chapter, ways in which we come to understand what it was God was 91 00:08:03.779 --> 00:08:09.060 establishing in Israel. Under Solomon what kind of worship he was establishing in that 92 00:08:09.220 --> 00:08:15.930 place. The first thing is that it worship was about devotion and honor and 93 00:08:16.129 --> 00:08:20.850 fear of the Lord, to Yah Way, to God, the God of 94 00:08:20.009 --> 00:08:24.689 Israel. We see this in verse one. It was a temple, not 95 00:08:24.889 --> 00:08:28.439 in Solomon's name or the name of some moon God or something else. It 96 00:08:28.600 --> 00:08:35.559 is in the name of the Lord Jehovah or Yah Way. We also see 97 00:08:35.600 --> 00:08:39.120 that in verse four when he says I build a house in the name of 98 00:08:39.159 --> 00:08:41.429 the Lord, my God, and I'm going to dedicate it to him. 99 00:08:41.470 --> 00:08:46.470 That's what this is for. David had a house. Solomon will build a 100 00:08:46.549 --> 00:08:52.269 palace, but this one is for his God. Another way we see that 101 00:08:52.389 --> 00:08:58.860 worship is about devotion and honor to God is in its architecture. Notice what 102 00:08:58.940 --> 00:09:03.379 Solomon says in Verse Five. The House that I'm to billy build will be 103 00:09:03.700 --> 00:09:09.820 great. Then he gives a reason for our God is greater than all gods. 104 00:09:09.490 --> 00:09:16.769 Later on he also describes it as great and wonderful. We choose the 105 00:09:16.889 --> 00:09:24.559 architecture of various buildings to communicate particular things. Perhaps it's connection to the surrounding 106 00:09:24.600 --> 00:09:30.039 land, or perhaps it's connection to cultural history. Or perhaps the function and 107 00:09:30.200 --> 00:09:33.840 purpose of the building of skating rank is probably going to look a little different 108 00:09:33.879 --> 00:09:41.149 than a shopping mall or a house. Here Solomon Talks about the the reason 109 00:09:41.230 --> 00:09:46.509 why this building will be designed as it is so that offerings can be made 110 00:09:46.110 --> 00:09:50.389 and it is to be great, for God is greater than all gods. 111 00:09:52.669 --> 00:09:56.500 You see that worship is a Divo, about devotion to God and even the 112 00:09:56.620 --> 00:10:03.580 plans that are being made. Hiram also makes these points when he praises Yah, 113 00:10:03.700 --> 00:10:07.570 way, when he praises God. So, for example, and verse 114 00:10:07.649 --> 00:10:13.450 eleven, we read that when Hiram answers, when Hiram Answers Psalm, and 115 00:10:13.490 --> 00:10:18.570 he says because Jehovah loves his people, he has made you great. Blessed 116 00:10:18.769 --> 00:10:24.360 Be Jehovah, God of Israel, who made heaven and earth, who has 117 00:10:24.440 --> 00:10:28.360 given King David a wise son and discretion and understanding, who will build a 118 00:10:28.559 --> 00:10:35.830 temple for Jehovah and a Royal Palace for Himself? Worship, as I'm pointing 119 00:10:35.870 --> 00:10:41.350 out, as second chronicles teaches us, is about devotion and honor to God. 120 00:10:43.309 --> 00:10:48.750 It's worth pausing and reflecting on that point and thinking about our own worship. 121 00:10:48.789 --> 00:10:54.980 Who is our worship for when we come to worship, why do we 122 00:10:54.179 --> 00:10:58.460 worship? What is it for? The things that we do, the things 123 00:10:58.500 --> 00:11:01.980 that we say? What is it all about? Is it for God or 124 00:11:03.179 --> 00:11:09.529 is it for some other reason? Some people come for other's sake, to 125 00:11:09.649 --> 00:11:16.330 impress family or appease family, for friends, for community, to prove something. 126 00:11:16.169 --> 00:11:22.200 Some people come and make a habit out of worship to do something for 127 00:11:22.320 --> 00:11:28.240 others. Other people come to worship to do something for themselves, perhaps to 128 00:11:28.360 --> 00:11:33.549 prove something to themselves, perhaps to show something to themselves. But ultimately our 129 00:11:33.669 --> 00:11:37.830 worship. But in some senses it's for others, in some senses as for 130 00:11:37.909 --> 00:11:43.110 ourselves. Ultimately our worship, real worship, is about devotion, not to 131 00:11:43.230 --> 00:11:50.179 ourselves, not to others, but to God. That's what worship was about 132 00:11:50.340 --> 00:11:54.899 here in the Old Testament. That's every aspect of the temple made that clear, 133 00:11:56.340 --> 00:12:01.090 and it should be the same for us. Our worship should reflect God, 134 00:12:03.169 --> 00:12:09.409 the God of Israel. Our worship should respond to God and he should 135 00:12:09.409 --> 00:12:15.919 have our best. When we come in worship, we should be giving our 136 00:12:16.120 --> 00:12:20.039 best to God. That's what Solomon does here, and you see it in 137 00:12:20.120 --> 00:12:22.720 a few different ways. You see it it for example, and all the 138 00:12:22.799 --> 00:12:28.159 gold and silver and the precious metals. You see it in the woods that 139 00:12:28.320 --> 00:12:33.509 he chooses. He could have gathered woods from Israel, but he doesn't because 140 00:12:33.509 --> 00:12:37.750 he wants the best woods and he knows the best woods come from other places. 141 00:12:37.350 --> 00:12:43.500 The cedars of Lebanon, Algum timber that's mentioned here as well as was 142 00:12:43.659 --> 00:12:50.419 known for being something that could be highly polished, beautiful grain, some of 143 00:12:50.460 --> 00:12:54.980 the woods that are chosen in the temple, or also bug resistant, mild 144 00:12:56.179 --> 00:13:00.649 resistant. He's choosing the best. Sometimes, when we build projects, we 145 00:13:00.730 --> 00:13:03.610 don't choose the best. We need a cheap we want to get it done 146 00:13:03.610 --> 00:13:07.889 fast. That that's not what Solomon does. He makes a political arrangement with 147 00:13:09.049 --> 00:13:13.000 another king to transport would and all the rest, for these are very for 148 00:13:13.120 --> 00:13:18.960 this special purpose of giving all that he has, the greatest, the best 149 00:13:18.039 --> 00:13:22.559 that he has, to the worship of God. You see it in the 150 00:13:22.639 --> 00:13:30.669 these fabrics as well, purple, Crimson, blue, fine fabrics. Well, 151 00:13:30.750 --> 00:13:35.230 one of these dies, one of these dyes, was likely imported from 152 00:13:35.629 --> 00:13:41.860 Phoenicia. I was reading that one. In one commentary it said that a 153 00:13:41.899 --> 00:13:46.580 chemist had had studied this die and calculated that it would take about a quarter 154 00:13:46.700 --> 00:13:50.899 of a million of these snails that are used to make this die, to 155 00:13:50.019 --> 00:13:56.370 make about one ounce of pure die. It's a lot of work. These 156 00:13:56.490 --> 00:14:05.649 things are expensive, time consuming, labor intensive. You think about the stone 157 00:14:05.769 --> 00:14:11.000 cutting that was required for projects like this. There are various reliefs throughout the 158 00:14:11.039 --> 00:14:16.039 ancient near east of people doing this kind of work, texts that talk about 159 00:14:16.159 --> 00:14:20.919 sore backs and sore thighs. They would go into these quarries and pull out 160 00:14:22.039 --> 00:14:26.429 these large stones. Stones would ben be dressed in very careful ways, so 161 00:14:26.710 --> 00:14:31.990 carefully actually, that you wouldn't always have to use mortar to hold it all 162 00:14:31.190 --> 00:14:41.100 together. Solomon is giving his best because yahwaghs great and worship is ultimately about 163 00:14:41.100 --> 00:14:46.980 devotion to him. A second point we might learn about worship from this passage 164 00:14:48.019 --> 00:14:54.769 is that worship of God and among his people is central to life. It's 165 00:14:54.809 --> 00:14:58.570 a center point. It is of what the people are about. It organizes 166 00:14:58.690 --> 00:15:05.450 everything. In Romans twelve one, we read that we are to present our 167 00:15:05.610 --> 00:15:11.159 bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your 168 00:15:11.279 --> 00:15:16.799 spiritual worship. When Paul says this, he has in mind that we are 169 00:15:16.960 --> 00:15:22.750 to take ourselves in every aspect of our lives and give ourselves, our bodies, 170 00:15:22.190 --> 00:15:30.029 over to God in obedience to him, and that is our spiritual worship, 171 00:15:30.230 --> 00:15:35.740 our sacrifice that is wholly and acceptable to God. God doesn't want part 172 00:15:35.779 --> 00:15:39.179 of us, he wants all of us, our heart, our mind, 173 00:15:39.860 --> 00:15:46.019 our strength. That's what Jesus says when he when someone asks him what the 174 00:15:46.139 --> 00:15:50.090 Greatest Commandments are, when he talks about devotion to the Lord, he talks 175 00:15:50.129 --> 00:15:58.169 about love. He means complete love in every sense. Hebrews Thirteen, fifteen 176 00:15:58.250 --> 00:16:03.960 and sixteen to expresses it similarly through Jesus. Then let us continually offer up, 177 00:16:04.519 --> 00:16:10.759 continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God. That is the fruit 178 00:16:10.799 --> 00:16:15.120 of lips that acknowledge his name. Do not neglect to do good and to 179 00:16:15.279 --> 00:16:21.750 share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God. You See, 180 00:16:21.750 --> 00:16:26.110 the New Testament, when it describes our lives, when it describes our 181 00:16:26.350 --> 00:16:32.899 worship in these old testament terms, describes them in this continual way. We 182 00:16:33.019 --> 00:16:38.340 are to give ourselves fully and continually over to God. The continual aspect of 183 00:16:38.460 --> 00:16:45.820 this worship is symbolized and ritualized here in second chronicles too, in the temple, 184 00:16:45.940 --> 00:16:49.129 when Solomon Talks about what's going to be going on in the temple. 185 00:16:49.450 --> 00:16:55.529 He talks about the regular kind of life that would be going on in Israel. 186 00:16:56.610 --> 00:17:00.289 He mentions he mentions the incense. In Verse Four. He says he's 187 00:17:00.330 --> 00:17:07.920 building this House for the burning of incense of sweet spices before him. He 188 00:17:07.039 --> 00:17:12.799 also mentions for the regular arrangement of the showbread. These two things, the 189 00:17:14.640 --> 00:17:19.309 incense in the showbread, were two of three things, three pieces of furniture 190 00:17:19.349 --> 00:17:26.549 or artic temple articles that were in the holy place, that place right before 191 00:17:26.630 --> 00:17:30.700 or you entered into the holy of holies or the most holy place. The 192 00:17:32.259 --> 00:17:37.859 incense was a an altar. There was an altar similar to the altar that 193 00:17:37.059 --> 00:17:44.289 was in other altars in the temple, with polls of ACACIA and rings and 194 00:17:44.369 --> 00:17:48.930 those kinds of things, and on this altar incense would be offered to God. 195 00:17:51.089 --> 00:17:56.930 It would be a pleasing aroma, a sacrifice to God. In addition 196 00:17:56.049 --> 00:18:00.759 to this incense that would be offered regularly, there would be the showbread, 197 00:18:02.839 --> 00:18:07.160 where the bread of presence on the on the altar of the bread of presence, 198 00:18:07.480 --> 00:18:12.150 I'm twelve loaves representing the twelve tribes of Israel, would be placed each 199 00:18:12.190 --> 00:18:18.509 and every week and then on the Sabbath Aaron and his sons would eat of 200 00:18:18.950 --> 00:18:25.349 that bread. Regular things going on in the life of Israel. We also 201 00:18:25.390 --> 00:18:30.460 read of daily sacrifices, burnt offerings morning and the evening. Every single day 202 00:18:30.619 --> 00:18:37.980 in Israel there was a continual sacrifice to God. Now, these were probably 203 00:18:37.339 --> 00:18:41.890 one lamb in the morning and one lamb in the evening, offered corporately for 204 00:18:42.009 --> 00:18:47.650 all of Israel, representative for all of Israel, not each and every single 205 00:18:47.769 --> 00:18:52.009 person bringing one lamb in the morning in one lamb in the evening, but 206 00:18:52.130 --> 00:18:56.200 the priests would offer these on behalf of the people to God. A lamb, 207 00:18:56.319 --> 00:19:00.720 a male lamb, one year old, without blemish, was what was 208 00:19:00.839 --> 00:19:06.000 required. One in the morning and another at twilight. Every morning, every 209 00:19:06.240 --> 00:19:11.750 evening, every day, day after day after day after day, sacrifice is 210 00:19:11.829 --> 00:19:17.710 going up before the Lord. In addition to these daily burnt offerings, Paul, 211 00:19:17.869 --> 00:19:22.990 I'm sorry, the Chronicler also mentions the sabbaths. In addition to these 212 00:19:22.029 --> 00:19:27.779 daily sacrifices in Israel there were weekly a sacrifices on the Sabbath in addition to 213 00:19:27.859 --> 00:19:34.299 the daily offerings. That day two additional lambs would be offered and in addition 214 00:19:34.500 --> 00:19:40.529 to these weekly extra offerings, on each Sabbath, each seventh day, each 215 00:19:40.690 --> 00:19:45.089 new moon that would come along, there would be two more bowls and one 216 00:19:45.210 --> 00:19:48.930 ram and seven sheep, in addition to a goat offered as a sin offering. 217 00:19:49.049 --> 00:19:55.079 And in addition to these regular monthly offerings, at each new moon, 218 00:19:55.720 --> 00:20:00.400 there were regular feasts going on throughout the year. A each harvest there was 219 00:20:00.480 --> 00:20:03.920 a separate feast, three three different feasts include and on top of that, 220 00:20:04.119 --> 00:20:08.589 the Feast of trumpets and the Day of Atonement. All of these taken together 221 00:20:08.710 --> 00:20:14.150 that he mentions here, the incense, the showbread, the morning and evening 222 00:20:14.190 --> 00:20:18.349 sacrifices, the Sabbaths, the new moons and all the appointed feasts of the 223 00:20:18.470 --> 00:20:22.460 Lord. This is what's going on in Israel. You see why I say 224 00:20:22.579 --> 00:20:29.539 worship was a continual part of life, a regular part of life. Israel, 225 00:20:29.779 --> 00:20:36.250 in the temple, was continually offering up sacrifices to God, and these 226 00:20:36.289 --> 00:20:40.970 were just the regular ones. They are all kinds of additional sacrifices that might 227 00:20:41.009 --> 00:20:45.009 be offered, offerings that would be given, some things that we'd be done 228 00:20:45.049 --> 00:20:55.079 unto the Lord. It was central to life and it still is. We 229 00:20:55.240 --> 00:20:59.559 no longer have the temple. And indeed, Paul says, and in Colossi 230 00:20:59.559 --> 00:21:03.079 in sixteen, let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and 231 00:21:03.160 --> 00:21:08.029 drink or with regard to festivals or new moon or Sabbath. He gives a 232 00:21:08.109 --> 00:21:11.829 reason for that. He says this is why we no longer do those things. 233 00:21:11.910 --> 00:21:15.750 In verse seventeen. These are a shadow of the things to come, 234 00:21:15.950 --> 00:21:22.819 but the substance belongs to Christ when Christ is come here. When Christ came, 235 00:21:22.980 --> 00:21:26.140 he fulfilled all of these things that were anticipated here, and so we 236 00:21:26.500 --> 00:21:32.299 don't go back to shadows and types anymore when we have the reality in Christ. 237 00:21:33.890 --> 00:21:40.890 Nevertheless, that same principle of continual worship, of continually giving ourselves over 238 00:21:41.009 --> 00:21:45.329 to God, is still true. The forms of these things have changed, 239 00:21:45.970 --> 00:21:48.920 but you know Jesus Christ does when he sits at the father's right hand. 240 00:21:49.920 --> 00:21:56.079 The Bible says he's continually offering intercession for us, pleading his own sacrifice, 241 00:21:56.519 --> 00:22:02.029 his own blood. We don't offer sacrifices again and again and again, day 242 00:22:02.069 --> 00:22:03.990 after day after day, week after week, month after month, year after 243 00:22:04.029 --> 00:22:10.829 year, because Jesus is there. A sacrifice was final and complete for us. 244 00:22:12.829 --> 00:22:18.380 But in that our worship still remains a central part of our lives. 245 00:22:18.420 --> 00:22:23.259 It's not just a Sunday thing, though on Sundays we do do something special. 246 00:22:23.460 --> 00:22:27.019 We meet corporately and receive, we receive the Lord's means of grace. 247 00:22:29.140 --> 00:22:33.250 Nevertheless, throughout the week we continually offer ourselves, at least we try to 248 00:22:33.329 --> 00:22:37.809 offer ourselves, and we should offer ourselves as a pleasing sacrifice to the Lord, 249 00:22:37.849 --> 00:22:42.849 our God. The final thing to note about worship here is that worship 250 00:22:42.970 --> 00:22:49.599 in Israel was for the world. Various portions of scripture, and Jesus mentions 251 00:22:49.720 --> 00:22:53.799 this as well. The temple was intended to be a house of prayer for 252 00:22:53.920 --> 00:23:00.670 the nation's that's a remarkable thing, since this temple was promised to David and 253 00:23:00.789 --> 00:23:06.309 Solomon and Israel in particular. But we see something of that happening even here 254 00:23:06.670 --> 00:23:11.430 in the construction of the temple, in High Ram's confession, in the service 255 00:23:11.710 --> 00:23:18.019 of these foreign people, in the great this contractor, this general contractor that 256 00:23:18.220 --> 00:23:22.660 is hired to come and oversee and make sure that all these things are done 257 00:23:22.700 --> 00:23:30.569 well and done perfectly in the resident aliens and strangers that are living among Israel, 258 00:23:30.250 --> 00:23:33.930 these people that are signed to bear burdens, to quarry the hill country 259 00:23:34.089 --> 00:23:40.210 and even oversee the work and make sure it's done well. The worship of 260 00:23:40.369 --> 00:23:44.720 Israel was for the Lord, or, I'm sorry, well, was for 261 00:23:44.880 --> 00:23:48.240 the Lord, but it was also for the world. It was to benefit 262 00:23:48.319 --> 00:23:51.880 the world. The world was in some ways to participate in it and to 263 00:23:52.039 --> 00:23:56.750 enjoy in it. And again, as with these other two things, this 264 00:23:56.069 --> 00:24:03.630 also is true. But as with the first two things, all the things 265 00:24:03.670 --> 00:24:11.420 change and worship tray changes in some significant ways. When Jesus comes to the 266 00:24:11.539 --> 00:24:15.900 first point, worship is still devotion to God, but now we realize and 267 00:24:15.980 --> 00:24:22.700 we understand that God. When we say that, we mean also Jesus, 268 00:24:22.779 --> 00:24:26.650 this one who came, who was born of Mary, who's born in a 269 00:24:26.730 --> 00:24:33.569 stable and died on a cross. We worship him. He wasn't just someone 270 00:24:33.650 --> 00:24:37.609 who came to do some good things. He came to save us and he 271 00:24:37.730 --> 00:24:44.119 saved us as God himself. Jesus is God himself and we worship him. 272 00:24:45.799 --> 00:24:49.000 As to the second point about the worship being central to life, we've already 273 00:24:49.000 --> 00:24:56.190 said and noted that worship in the temple changes. But if fit's fulfilled in 274 00:24:56.309 --> 00:25:02.549 him and continues in him today, we might say that worship, the ritualized 275 00:25:02.589 --> 00:25:07.980 worship, happens less often. We don't have a morning and evening sacrifices or 276 00:25:07.019 --> 00:25:14.180 monthly sacrifices, are really any sacrifices? But another way it happens constantly now, 277 00:25:14.980 --> 00:25:19.539 with Jesus constantly, continually interceding for us. Another way in which we 278 00:25:19.619 --> 00:25:26.369 see a change after Jesus is now the worship of God is spread high. 279 00:25:26.410 --> 00:25:32.650 Room isn't participating in worship from afar, but we see the temple being in 280 00:25:32.890 --> 00:25:38.440 God's people everywhere and in all places, and not just kings but people all 281 00:25:38.559 --> 00:25:45.240 over the world worshiping God. And that that. That brings us to that 282 00:25:45.680 --> 00:25:51.549 last point. Let me read again, as we've quoted various times. Second 283 00:25:51.589 --> 00:26:00.230 Peter, I'm sorry, Second Peter, I'm versus chapter one, of versus 284 00:26:00.349 --> 00:26:04.579 five and six. No, I am right, I am right, and 285 00:26:04.660 --> 00:26:11.140 wrong his first Peter, First Peter, the chapter one, chapter two, 286 00:26:11.539 --> 00:26:15.700 versus five through six. We read that you yourselves, like living stones, 287 00:26:15.740 --> 00:26:21.690 are being built up as a spiritual house. Here Peter Speaks to us as 288 00:26:21.730 --> 00:26:26.410 Christians. He speaks to us in terms of a temple. He says that 289 00:26:26.490 --> 00:26:30.970 we are to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God 290 00:26:30.609 --> 00:26:36.920 through Jesus Christ. For as it stands in scripture, behold, I'm laying 291 00:26:36.960 --> 00:26:41.119 in Zion a stone, a corner stone, chosen and precious, and whoever 292 00:26:41.240 --> 00:26:48.190 believes in him will not be put to shame. Do you remember why they 293 00:26:48.269 --> 00:26:53.069 wanted to put Jesus to death? Because he was saying things about the temple 294 00:26:55.029 --> 00:26:57.789 was one of the reasons, anyway. For example, in Matthew Twelve six, 295 00:26:57.910 --> 00:27:02.740 he says, I tell you something greater than the temple is here. 296 00:27:03.019 --> 00:27:10.700 That's a pretty remarkable statement in light of second chronicles, to thousands upon thousands, 297 00:27:10.740 --> 00:27:17.369 hundreds of thousands of people at work building this thing, international relationships being 298 00:27:17.529 --> 00:27:22.730 formed to build this structure, the worship of Yahway going on day in and 299 00:27:22.809 --> 00:27:30.400 day out here, all fulfillments as of God's promises to David. And yet 300 00:27:30.440 --> 00:27:37.839 Jesus comes and says of himself, I tell you something greater than the temple 301 00:27:37.319 --> 00:27:44.750 is here. In John to nineteen, he says destroy this temple and in 302 00:27:44.910 --> 00:27:48.990 three days I will raise it up again. There we read that Jesus is 303 00:27:49.190 --> 00:27:56.109 being somewhat coy and that he's in John tells us he's talking about his body 304 00:27:56.670 --> 00:28:02.900 and that when he did rise from the dead, the disciples believed the scripture 305 00:28:03.259 --> 00:28:07.700 and Jesus's words. When Jesus speaks in this way, when he speaks about 306 00:28:07.779 --> 00:28:12.130 something being greater than the temple, when he speaks about his own body being 307 00:28:12.329 --> 00:28:18.730 that temple, he's telling US something. He's telling us that all of this 308 00:28:18.930 --> 00:28:23.049 greatness and all of this worship and all that is given to God here and 309 00:28:23.210 --> 00:28:30.880 second chronicles too, comes into an even greater form, a more majestic form, 310 00:28:30.960 --> 00:28:37.680 a more wonderful form, a more precious form in himself. When Jesus 311 00:28:37.839 --> 00:28:41.670 dies and rises from the dead, he raises a temple that will last forever. 312 00:28:44.150 --> 00:28:48.990 When Peter tells us that we are those stones that the Holy Spirit himself 313 00:28:49.230 --> 00:28:56.579 is quarrying out of the mess of the world and dressing and building up into 314 00:28:56.619 --> 00:29:03.779 this holy temple, he's telling US something very significant. When we see hierum 315 00:29:03.859 --> 00:29:10.329 worship being and praising God and blessing God and participating in this project, we 316 00:29:10.450 --> 00:29:17.369 are beginning to get just a foretaste of what we experience every day when people 317 00:29:17.529 --> 00:29:22.849 from all over the world come and worship and play it praise the God of 318 00:29:22.970 --> 00:29:30.559 Solomon, of David, of Abraham. This is a wonderful thing to which 319 00:29:30.119 --> 00:29:37.950 we belong. When John says that the disciples believed of the Scripture and Jesus's 320 00:29:38.029 --> 00:29:45.549 words, it's also is implicitly saying that we should too. When we read 321 00:29:45.630 --> 00:29:49.150 of the temple in the Old Testament, our minds should go to Jesus Christ 322 00:29:49.750 --> 00:29:57.140 and the and and his work as a priest, as a sacrifice, as 323 00:29:57.140 --> 00:30:03.660 a builder of a House that is better than the Salt House that Solomon built. 324 00:30:03.859 --> 00:30:07.529 When we read of this in the Old Testament, when we sing the 325 00:30:07.609 --> 00:30:12.730 psalms, when we consider who we are, we must think about ourselves as 326 00:30:12.769 --> 00:30:18.009 belonging to Jesus in this way, a great way, a glorious way, 327 00:30:18.049 --> 00:30:25.720 a wonderful way and a way that all fulfills God's promises and desires for worship, 328 00:30:26.880 --> 00:30:30.039 worshiping him. Let us pray