Why the Location of the Temple Matters (2 Chronicles 3:1)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.480 --> 00:00:07.000 If you can remain standing, let's hear God's Word now from second chronicles chapter 2 00:00:07.309 --> 00:00:19.190 three. I'm just one verse this evening. Second chronicles three, verse one. 3 00:00:28.859 --> 00:00:32.420 Second chronicles three, verse one. It's page three hundred and sixty if 4 00:00:32.460 --> 00:00:39.289 you're using the cart bibles. Let us hear the word of the Lord. 5 00:00:40.810 --> 00:00:46.490 Then Solomon began to build the House of Jehovah in Jerusalem, on Mount Moriah, 6 00:00:47.170 --> 00:00:50.759 where Jehovah had appeared to David, his father, at the place that 7 00:00:50.840 --> 00:00:57.520 David had appointed on the threshing floor of Ornan, the jebusite. You may 8 00:00:57.560 --> 00:01:14.310 be seated when, second chronicles chapter three, the chronicler is going to describe 9 00:01:14.430 --> 00:01:19.620 for us the Solomon's the temple that he is a going to build. And 10 00:01:19.819 --> 00:01:25.420 we're next time I preach on this, we're going to spend time walking through 11 00:01:25.500 --> 00:01:29.739 the temple really try into imagine it and and solidify it in our minds, 12 00:01:30.900 --> 00:01:34.129 not just so that we can have a more concrete understanding of what the temple 13 00:01:34.170 --> 00:01:37.769 is, which is, of course, what God gives us here, but 14 00:01:37.849 --> 00:01:44.170 so that we might understand its meaning and its purpose. But before, before 15 00:01:44.209 --> 00:01:49.280 we get to the particular instructions, the and descriptions of the House of God. 16 00:01:49.799 --> 00:01:59.200 Solomon mentions, excuse me, the chronicler mentions this location and kind of 17 00:01:59.280 --> 00:02:04.030 makes a big deal about it. Solomon began to build this house in Jerusalem, 18 00:02:04.269 --> 00:02:09.909 on Mount Moriah. Then there's a second description. This is the place 19 00:02:10.110 --> 00:02:15.819 where Yah Way Jehovah had appeared to David, his father, that is, 20 00:02:15.979 --> 00:02:21.099 Solomon's father, who is David, at the place that David had had pointed 21 00:02:21.259 --> 00:02:25.780 on the threshing floor of Ornan, the jebusite. So this is a lot 22 00:02:25.819 --> 00:02:31.289 of details right, mainly two things. This place that Solomon is building the 23 00:02:31.370 --> 00:02:38.009 House on Jerusalem is associated with two things, Mount Moriah first, and also 24 00:02:38.169 --> 00:02:45.719 second, this threshing floor of the Ornan Jebusite. So what I'd like to 25 00:02:45.759 --> 00:02:51.159 do this evening is think about those two places by telling you two stories, 26 00:02:51.560 --> 00:02:57.120 recounting for you the accounts that we have in scripture of two particular events, 27 00:02:57.280 --> 00:03:00.310 one surrounding Mount Moriah, which is this place, and when the other surrounding 28 00:03:00.430 --> 00:03:06.229 the threshing floor of Ornan, which is also this place. Perhaps you have 29 00:03:06.389 --> 00:03:10.150 places in like this in your life, places that have layered meaning for you. 30 00:03:12.469 --> 00:03:14.900 There are lots of places like this. For me, the first one 31 00:03:14.939 --> 00:03:17.460 that came to my mind was flagstaff. For me, this is the place 32 00:03:17.500 --> 00:03:20.900 where I went to college, it was the place where I got married, 33 00:03:20.939 --> 00:03:23.939 it was the place where I became reformed. It was a place where a 34 00:03:23.979 --> 00:03:28.490 lot of really important things happened to me. You maybe feel this way when 35 00:03:28.490 --> 00:03:31.250 you go home. I know this. Sometimes, when you visit a place 36 00:03:31.370 --> 00:03:38.050 that's familiar, even the most mundane things I can to be filled with meaning. 37 00:03:38.050 --> 00:03:42.680 Maybe there's a convenience store that was close to the house where you grew 38 00:03:42.680 --> 00:03:46.639 up, very similar to all the other convenience stores all over that steady, 39 00:03:46.120 --> 00:03:51.039 but that one, that one in particular, has special meaning for you because 40 00:03:51.319 --> 00:03:54.000 something happened there for you. You can think of these kinds of things. 41 00:03:54.360 --> 00:04:00.229 This is what's going on here. When Solomon Builds here, as the chronicler 42 00:04:00.310 --> 00:04:05.830 describes this particular place, he's reminding us, he's bringing to our minds these 43 00:04:05.909 --> 00:04:12.939 various meanings, these associations that we are supposed to make when it comes to 44 00:04:13.060 --> 00:04:19.100 understanding where the Temple of God is being placed. The first one that's mentioned 45 00:04:19.220 --> 00:04:24.889 is Mount Moriah. The other place that this is mentioned in the Bible is 46 00:04:25.050 --> 00:04:30.250 in Genesis twenty two. In Genesis twenty two we have this great test one 47 00:04:30.329 --> 00:04:35.850 that I mentioned this morning. This is where God tells Abraham to take his 48 00:04:36.089 --> 00:04:42.240 son Isaac. You remember what God says? He says go to the land 49 00:04:42.360 --> 00:04:48.360 of Mariah and offer him there as a burnt offering. Now, burnt offerings 50 00:04:48.439 --> 00:04:54.269 were a sign of dedication. A burnt offering sometimes in the Bible is called 51 00:04:54.310 --> 00:04:58.949 a whole offering or a whole burnt offering. The reason for that is is 52 00:04:58.990 --> 00:05:01.629 that the whole thing is consumed, the whole thing is given to God, 53 00:05:01.750 --> 00:05:06.220 and so burnt offerings, though used in a lot of different ways, have 54 00:05:06.459 --> 00:05:15.540 this a meaning of dedication, of complete commitment and consecration to God. And 55 00:05:15.660 --> 00:05:20.730 you remember, of course, that these sacrifices are offered as a as a 56 00:05:20.810 --> 00:05:27.889 way of that worshiper offering him or herself to God. The worshipper is the 57 00:05:27.970 --> 00:05:31.649 one who is called to lay his hands on the animal. The worshipper is 58 00:05:31.730 --> 00:05:40.040 the one who will cut the animal actually sacrifice it. The priest will is 59 00:05:40.160 --> 00:05:44.560 typically the one who is required to use the blood in various ways, but 60 00:05:44.959 --> 00:05:49.750 it's all very invite the worshipper is all very involved in offering this burnt offering. 61 00:05:49.870 --> 00:05:56.189 One is essentially offering themselves. But here, as we know, it 62 00:05:56.430 --> 00:06:02.310 is not Abraham who is to be sacrificed, it is his son Isaac. 63 00:06:03.459 --> 00:06:06.860 God tells him to go to the land of Mariah and offer him as a 64 00:06:08.779 --> 00:06:13.540 burnt offering. He God says it would be on one of the mountains that 65 00:06:13.620 --> 00:06:19.129 I tell you now. That's important because God is very specific about the places 66 00:06:19.250 --> 00:06:24.529 where he wants to be worshiped. In Deuteronomy twelve. I won't read it 67 00:06:24.649 --> 00:06:28.129 now, but you can look at it later. God makes a very big 68 00:06:28.250 --> 00:06:31.009 deal about this. He says, do not worship in any other place than 69 00:06:31.050 --> 00:06:34.399 the place that I tell you to worship. And essentially he sang the same 70 00:06:34.480 --> 00:06:38.759 thing to Abraham here. He says, I want you to go to Mariah 71 00:06:38.800 --> 00:06:43.120 and you will go to the mountain that I tell you. It's a good 72 00:06:43.199 --> 00:06:47.189 reminder that we don't decide how God is to be worshiped. That's God's prerogative. 73 00:06:47.670 --> 00:06:51.990 He's King. It's his decision, one that he reserves for himself. 74 00:06:54.230 --> 00:06:57.709 There's lots of other things that we might mention about that, but keep that 75 00:06:57.829 --> 00:07:02.699 in your mind. So Abraham Goes, he takes his son, takes some 76 00:07:02.860 --> 00:07:08.939 woods, some fire servant and when he sees the mountain from a distance. 77 00:07:08.980 --> 00:07:13.740 Off He unsaddles his himself and his son. He leaves the servant behind and 78 00:07:13.819 --> 00:07:19.490 he places the wood in Isaac's arms and he says let's go. Isaac says 79 00:07:19.529 --> 00:07:26.449 my father. Abraham says here I am, my son. Isaac says, 80 00:07:26.490 --> 00:07:30.600 behold the fire in the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt 81 00:07:30.680 --> 00:07:34.759 offering? Isaac recognizes what's going on. He sees everything in place. There's 82 00:07:34.800 --> 00:07:39.560 wood, there's fire, they're going, they're traveling. No doubt his father 83 00:07:39.639 --> 00:07:44.790 had been talking about offering a burnt offering. And Isaac says there's something missing 84 00:07:44.910 --> 00:07:53.509 here. Abraham says God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, 85 00:07:53.629 --> 00:07:59.180 my son. But Abraham didn't have any other lamb other than his son. 86 00:08:00.379 --> 00:08:03.540 And so Abraham, doing as God had commanded him, bound Isaac, 87 00:08:03.620 --> 00:08:11.500 laid him on the altar and laid him on the wood. Abraham unsheaths his 88 00:08:11.579 --> 00:08:16.810 knife and suspends it over his son and is about to slaughter him as a 89 00:08:16.889 --> 00:08:20.529 sacrifice when he hears a voice, an angel calls out to him and says 90 00:08:20.529 --> 00:08:26.449 stop, Abraham, stop. I know that you fear God, seeing that 91 00:08:26.610 --> 00:08:30.360 you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me. And 92 00:08:30.600 --> 00:08:35.200 there is this knife hanging over Isaac, hanging over the promised son, and 93 00:08:35.320 --> 00:08:41.070 Abraham freezes and he looks over and he sees a ram caught in a thicket 94 00:08:43.110 --> 00:08:50.830 and he offers it instead of his son. It's an amazing story worth lots 95 00:08:50.909 --> 00:08:56.460 and lots of reflection and it's important one, and we see that here in 96 00:08:56.580 --> 00:09:01.379 first chronicles three. God wants us to identify the temple, in the place 97 00:09:01.419 --> 00:09:05.220 where the temple will be built with this place. This isn't just any mountain, 98 00:09:05.860 --> 00:09:11.610 this is Mount Moriah. This is the place where Abraham almost sacrificed to 99 00:09:11.690 --> 00:09:18.289 his son. You might remember that Abraham, after all this happened. It's 100 00:09:18.450 --> 00:09:26.240 the Bible says that Abraham called the name of that place Yah way will provide. 101 00:09:26.480 --> 00:09:31.679 See, Abraham named it as well. This place has a particular meaning. 102 00:09:31.720 --> 00:09:37.000 Yah Way will provide. Moses goes on to say that, as it 103 00:09:37.159 --> 00:09:41.149 is said to this day, on the Mount of Yah Way, it shall 104 00:09:41.230 --> 00:09:50.870 be provided. Mountain Maraia then represents what is owed to God, what is 105 00:09:50.029 --> 00:09:58.580 Oh to God. Everything are very lives. Mountain Maraiah reminds us that it's 106 00:09:58.580 --> 00:10:05.340 because of sin that we owe ourselves to God, not just because of creation, 107 00:10:05.259 --> 00:10:09.649 but because we have sinned against him. A sacrifice must be made, 108 00:10:09.690 --> 00:10:15.929 a penalty must be paid. God not only gives us all things, but 109 00:10:16.090 --> 00:10:20.690 in sin we have taken what does not belong to us. It's what Adam 110 00:10:20.730 --> 00:10:24.720 and Eve did. That's what we've always been doing. But the wrath of 111 00:10:24.879 --> 00:10:31.799 God to those whom he loves is turned away by the mercy of God. 112 00:10:31.559 --> 00:10:37.750 That's what he does on Mount Mariah. He turns away his wrath from Abraham 113 00:10:37.950 --> 00:10:45.470 and his son and he finds satisfaction in the Ram. Not because the ram 114 00:10:45.629 --> 00:10:50.460 is great, not because the ram is as has something special about it, 115 00:10:50.379 --> 00:10:56.539 except that the Ram is chosen. The Ram is God putting something forward as 116 00:10:56.580 --> 00:11:03.700 a substitute for the ones whom he loves. Sacrifice must be made, the 117 00:11:03.860 --> 00:11:09.450 penalty must be paid, but because God loves Abraham, because God loves Isaac, 118 00:11:09.970 --> 00:11:15.129 instead of pouring out his wrath on them, he finds atonement in the 119 00:11:15.210 --> 00:11:18.879 Ram. When we give ourselves to him his faith, in faith, as 120 00:11:18.919 --> 00:11:24.919 Abraham did, we are trusting in his provision and in his salvation. That's 121 00:11:24.960 --> 00:11:28.360 what it means to give ourselves in faith to God. It's to trust in 122 00:11:28.600 --> 00:11:35.309 his provision to take care of our sins. And you know what is? 123 00:11:35.389 --> 00:11:41.309 Abraham says he always provides, and he did, of course, in Jesus, 124 00:11:43.149 --> 00:11:46.700 the place on which the future temple would be built would be the location 125 00:11:46.820 --> 00:11:52.659 in which the Covenant promises were made by God, received by man and kept 126 00:11:52.820 --> 00:11:58.100 through a sacrifice that God himself provided. Abraham, Isaac and all the people 127 00:11:58.139 --> 00:12:03.009 that would follow and flow from them would not perish because of sin, but 128 00:12:03.090 --> 00:12:09.330 would live under on under grace, because of God's mercy. That's where the 129 00:12:09.370 --> 00:12:16.639 temple would be built. The second reference that the is given here in first 130 00:12:16.679 --> 00:12:22.360 chronicles three, is the threshing floor of Ornan, the jebusite. This story 131 00:12:22.519 --> 00:12:26.600 comes from first chronicles twenty one and it's parallel in the other historical books. 132 00:12:28.759 --> 00:12:33.070 And First Chronicle Twenty one we read that Satan Tempts David to do something evil, 133 00:12:35.029 --> 00:12:39.990 specifically to take a census. He is he david desires to number Israel. 134 00:12:41.110 --> 00:12:46.620 Now, a sensus in itself isn't a sinful thing, but this one 135 00:12:46.820 --> 00:12:54.059 is. There's no particular reason for a census here. God doesn't require it, 136 00:12:54.259 --> 00:12:58.690 he doesn't ask for it. The sensus that David takes seems to be 137 00:12:58.769 --> 00:13:05.490 a sin because of pride, power and perhaps even fear. It's the kind 138 00:13:05.529 --> 00:13:11.730 of accounting that happens when you check your bank account again and again and again 139 00:13:11.889 --> 00:13:16.919 and again and again, just wanting to see how much is there. Perhaps 140 00:13:16.000 --> 00:13:24.039 because of fear, perhaps because of pride or power. Sometimes people will check 141 00:13:24.159 --> 00:13:26.509 their blessings, count their blessings, not so that they can give glory to 142 00:13:26.590 --> 00:13:31.870 God, but so that they can have confidence in themselves or, on the 143 00:13:31.909 --> 00:13:35.509 flip side, fear because they don't have the things that they think they ought 144 00:13:35.549 --> 00:13:43.500 to have. This kind of constant checking, whether that's money or your importance 145 00:13:43.379 --> 00:13:46.980 or some other things, what David tries to do here, and it sendsed 146 00:13:48.059 --> 00:13:52.740 immediately by by Joe AB. His Servant Warns Him. He says, Dave, 147 00:13:52.980 --> 00:13:56.570 don't do this thing. This is evil, this is wrong and wicked. 148 00:13:56.690 --> 00:14:03.129 David decides to do it anyway, despite the warnings, despite the sin, 149 00:14:03.370 --> 00:14:09.200 David goes ahead and does it and God strikes Israel in punishment. What 150 00:14:09.360 --> 00:14:13.759 happens next? Well, David sees the error, he sees his sin and 151 00:14:13.879 --> 00:14:18.519 he confesses it. This is what he says. He says, I have 152 00:14:18.799 --> 00:14:22.879 sinned greatly in that I have done this thing. But now he says to 153 00:14:24.000 --> 00:14:28.710 God, please take away the iniquity of your servant, for I have acted 154 00:14:28.750 --> 00:14:37.230 very foolishly. WHAT IS INIQUITY? Iniquity is sin, and usually it's connected 155 00:14:37.669 --> 00:14:41.539 to the guilt of sin or the consequences of sin. It's tied together with 156 00:14:41.700 --> 00:14:46.100 these things, and David very much sense is that God's wrath is coming down 157 00:14:46.179 --> 00:14:52.129 upon them. God strikes Israel and punishment and David sees the consequences of his 158 00:14:52.210 --> 00:14:56.250 sin. He's feeling the guilt of his sin and he asks God, please 159 00:14:56.409 --> 00:15:01.730 take it away, take away my guilt, take away the consequences. I 160 00:15:01.889 --> 00:15:09.320 have been foolish. I have greatly sinned against you. God then gives him 161 00:15:09.360 --> 00:15:16.480 a choice. That's not an easy one. God says, choose one of 162 00:15:16.639 --> 00:15:20.360 three things. You can either have three years of famine, three years of 163 00:15:20.750 --> 00:15:24.950 three or sorry, three three years of famine, three months of devastation by 164 00:15:24.950 --> 00:15:31.710 the sword of your enemies, or three years of my sword, a pestilence, 165 00:15:31.750 --> 00:15:35.980 a plague destroying your land. I said years again. I got that 166 00:15:37.100 --> 00:15:41.860 wrong. It's three years, three months, three days. Either three years 167 00:15:41.940 --> 00:15:48.779 of famine, three months of foreign enemy devastation, or three days of God's 168 00:15:48.980 --> 00:15:54.929 plague upon the people. David sort of choose, is not to choose, 169 00:15:56.210 --> 00:16:00.409 but perhaps also chooses the last one when he says, let me fall into 170 00:16:00.450 --> 00:16:06.000 the hand of Jehovah, for His mercy is very great, but do not 171 00:16:06.159 --> 00:16:11.399 let me fall into the hand of man. Next we read again, first 172 00:16:11.399 --> 00:16:18.789 chronicles twenty one. That seventyzero people die. That is a lot of people 173 00:16:19.389 --> 00:16:26.190 and they almost destroy Jerusalem. There's plague, there's pestilence everywhere and just like 174 00:16:26.470 --> 00:16:30.429 Abraham was standing there in judgment over sin, you know what David Sees? 175 00:16:30.470 --> 00:16:37.379 He sees an angel floating between Heaven and Earth with a sword ready, standing 176 00:16:37.419 --> 00:16:42.340 over Jerusalem, about to sacrifice it, about to slay it in judgment. 177 00:16:42.419 --> 00:16:51.610 A David sees this. David sees this and he says, take me and 178 00:16:51.929 --> 00:16:56.009 my father's household. He begs the Lord, he puts on Sackcloth, he 179 00:16:56.210 --> 00:17:00.690 falls on his face. He says take me, do not take your people. 180 00:17:00.250 --> 00:17:08.359 This is my sin. God tells him to make an altar there where 181 00:17:08.359 --> 00:17:14.720 that angel is. So he goes and where this altar is? It's this 182 00:17:15.200 --> 00:17:18.430 where this God tells him to make this altar. It's this big open space 183 00:17:18.589 --> 00:17:23.869 where threshing happens and it belongs to this man named or Nan. He's a 184 00:17:25.230 --> 00:17:32.180 jebusite. I'm Jerusalem was likely named Jeebus before it was named Jerusalem, so 185 00:17:32.299 --> 00:17:38.059 this is a Jebu site here and he has owns this threshing floor. Well, 186 00:17:38.579 --> 00:17:45.049 what might convince or Nan to sell his threshing floor to David? Well, 187 00:17:45.089 --> 00:17:48.529 God convinces him. He opens or Nan's eyes and the eyes of his 188 00:17:48.650 --> 00:17:56.130 sons and they see this angel and they are terrified. They are terrified is 189 00:17:56.210 --> 00:18:02.480 this angel stands with its sworn drawn over Jerusalem and they say take it, 190 00:18:03.200 --> 00:18:06.720 take it, take the ox and take the wood, take everything. You 191 00:18:06.920 --> 00:18:11.000 just have it, do whatever you need to do. David says, I'm 192 00:18:11.079 --> 00:18:14.950 not taking it, I will buy it from you. I am not going 193 00:18:14.990 --> 00:18:18.750 to make a sacrifice that is not really a sacrifice. I'm not going to 194 00:18:18.869 --> 00:18:26.430 take what is yours and sacrifice it to God for my sin. So David 195 00:18:26.549 --> 00:18:30.460 buys it. He buys it all, the whole thing, buys this land 196 00:18:30.619 --> 00:18:34.900 from Ornan and that's how it comes into possession of the king. And they're 197 00:18:36.099 --> 00:18:45.450 on that altar below the angel as it stands there with its sword shown. 198 00:18:47.690 --> 00:18:53.930 David makes offerings burnt offerings like that that was required of Isaac, and also 199 00:18:55.410 --> 00:19:00.680 peace offerings. Peace offerings are a little different than burnt offerings. Atonement is 200 00:19:02.039 --> 00:19:06.880 likely part of it, but the idea is that there's a kind of reconciliation 201 00:19:07.119 --> 00:19:11.910 that is happening between man and God. A peace offering is an offering that's 202 00:19:11.029 --> 00:19:18.029 offered with the hope and in faith that through atonement, man and God can 203 00:19:18.150 --> 00:19:23.460 be at peace again. When the relationship between man and God has fallen apart, 204 00:19:23.460 --> 00:19:30.259 a peace offering sort of celebrates its fix, it celebrates a coming together 205 00:19:30.420 --> 00:19:33.619 again. So really what we have here is David humbling himself and, in 206 00:19:33.700 --> 00:19:41.730 a sense pleading and begging God to take this sacrifice instead of Jerusalem, instead 207 00:19:41.769 --> 00:19:49.609 of him. But it's also offered in hope. There's a faithfulness that's offered, 208 00:19:49.930 --> 00:19:59.279 a hope that peace will be made, and God takes it. Signifying 209 00:19:59.480 --> 00:20:06.400 his pleasure in this, he sends fire from Heaven, lightning maybe, I'm 210 00:20:06.440 --> 00:20:11.349 not entirely sure. Dramatic. No matter, I'm sure sends fire from heaven, 211 00:20:12.789 --> 00:20:22.460 consumes the offering and the angel sheaths his sword. Sigh of relief, 212 00:20:23.420 --> 00:20:29.619 probably similar to the one that Abraham and Isaac had when they saw that Ram 213 00:20:30.460 --> 00:20:37.609 so, Ornan's threshing floor also has this altar, a alter built is a 214 00:20:37.730 --> 00:20:44.210 powerful reminder that David and Israel, as held in Jerusalem, did not perish 215 00:20:44.369 --> 00:20:49.359 because of sin, but instead lived and found peace again because of the mercy 216 00:20:51.240 --> 00:20:59.000 of God. When you think about these things, you can understand then. 217 00:20:59.279 --> 00:21:02.839 That why, even in recent years, even I think it was last week, 218 00:21:03.559 --> 00:21:07.990 I was hearing on the radio that Jews in Israel are pushing harder and 219 00:21:07.269 --> 00:21:12.910 harder to be able to pray on the Temple Mount to go to this particular 220 00:21:14.150 --> 00:21:19.380 place where a Moslem mosque now stands. You can understand why some are even 221 00:21:19.460 --> 00:21:26.740 calling for another temple to be built, because this is mountain Mariah, this 222 00:21:26.019 --> 00:21:32.779 is Ornan's threshing floor, this is Jerusalem, the city of David, the 223 00:21:33.210 --> 00:21:40.009 Temple of God. But you know what, though, we can understand it 224 00:21:41.369 --> 00:21:47.130 if we hear God's word, is he speaks to us in scripture, we 225 00:21:47.240 --> 00:21:52.759 know that they're going to the wrong place. They're going to the wrong place. 226 00:21:53.039 --> 00:22:02.190 How so well, for one, Jerusalem was rejected by God as a 227 00:22:02.309 --> 00:22:06.430 place of worship and second, kings, twenty three seven, God says you're 228 00:22:06.509 --> 00:22:10.309 out of here. I reject this place, I throw it away and it 229 00:22:10.390 --> 00:22:17.460 will be conquered by foreign enemies. It would be restored after the exile, 230 00:22:18.579 --> 00:22:22.740 but this return home, a return home from Babylon, and even the building 231 00:22:22.779 --> 00:22:26.220 of the temple again, would not be complete and ultimately, ultimately, it 232 00:22:26.259 --> 00:22:33.210 would end in the Roman occupation and destruction of the temple in seventy a d 233 00:22:34.329 --> 00:22:41.329 but God did not leave his people forever. When Ezekiel has this vision of 234 00:22:41.450 --> 00:22:47.039 a glory of God descending up away from the Temple, away from Jerusalem, 235 00:22:47.839 --> 00:22:53.599 it would not be forever. God would not leave his people from ever forever, 236 00:22:55.039 --> 00:23:00.230 in fact, just the opposite. Instead, he would come to dwell 237 00:23:00.430 --> 00:23:07.190 with them in the form of a man whose name was Jesus. Is Jesus, 238 00:23:07.230 --> 00:23:10.869 who is born in the House of Day Evin, called to be Israel's 239 00:23:10.910 --> 00:23:18.579 king, but he would not reign in the earthly Jerusalem. Why? Because 240 00:23:18.940 --> 00:23:25.539 Jesus, the son of David, as David himself confesses in the psalms, 241 00:23:26.339 --> 00:23:32.049 was greater than he was. This Jesus is not just another Israelite King in 242 00:23:32.289 --> 00:23:36.170 a long line of Israelite kings. This Jesus, this son of man, 243 00:23:36.890 --> 00:23:41.759 is also the son of God, who does not dwell and reign in an 244 00:23:41.839 --> 00:23:51.960 earthly city and an earthly house. God himself will not reign in an earthly 245 00:23:52.039 --> 00:23:57.309 house and Temple. No, Jesus would ascend to what the Bible calls the 246 00:23:57.470 --> 00:24:03.829 New Jerusalem. He would ascend where he would reign eternally in a city whose 247 00:24:03.910 --> 00:24:11.220 foundations cannot be shaken. Jesus would not only be the king, he would 248 00:24:11.220 --> 00:24:15.339 also be a priest for his people. Like Abraham, he would offer a 249 00:24:15.579 --> 00:24:22.539 sacrifice, but that sacrifice would be himself, a sacrifice that God, his 250 00:24:22.779 --> 00:24:32.250 father provided. God provided the Ram, God provided the sacrifices that David gave, 251 00:24:33.289 --> 00:24:37.250 because one day he would provide his own son, and by his blood, 252 00:24:37.329 --> 00:24:41.599 God would forever atone for sin, would forever make peace with man. 253 00:24:44.079 --> 00:24:49.119 He would establish in Jesus a sacrifice that would purify us, cleanse us, 254 00:24:49.279 --> 00:24:53.069 make us holy, that would draw US close to him so that we could 255 00:24:53.069 --> 00:25:00.549 be reconciled to him. This is what Paul says in Romans A, chapter 256 00:25:00.630 --> 00:25:04.069 five. Let me read it to you. Romans five, verse one. 257 00:25:06.269 --> 00:25:10.660 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God 258 00:25:11.059 --> 00:25:17.299 through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him, we have also obtained access by 259 00:25:17.420 --> 00:25:22.049 faith into this grace in which we can stand and we rejoice in the hope 260 00:25:22.089 --> 00:25:26.329 of the glory of God. That is an amazing thing, isn't it? 261 00:25:27.289 --> 00:25:33.329 We don't stand like David, trembling under our sins, wondering when the wrath 262 00:25:33.369 --> 00:25:38.759 of God will fall upon us, when Jesus will come and bare his sword 263 00:25:40.839 --> 00:25:45.960 and separate the wheat from the chaff. We don't fear that, because Jesus 264 00:25:45.960 --> 00:25:52.710 is already offered himself as a sacrifice for us. His blood has been shed 265 00:25:52.829 --> 00:25:56.309 so that we can have peace with God. Well, Jesus is not only 266 00:25:56.390 --> 00:26:02.589 a sacrifice, he's also the cornerstone for the temple. He's also the bill 267 00:26:02.750 --> 00:26:07.579 older of this heavenly city. And so Hebrews thirteen fourteen says we look for 268 00:26:07.700 --> 00:26:15.180 the heavenly city, the one that is to come. We don't mourn for 269 00:26:15.299 --> 00:26:22.769 the Old Jerusalem, because the new Jerusalem exceeds it in every way. I 270 00:26:22.930 --> 00:26:27.650 am going to resist the temptation to read to you all of revelation twenty one, 271 00:26:30.690 --> 00:26:38.440 but I have to read a little bit. John says in revelation twenty 272 00:26:38.480 --> 00:26:41.880 one, then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the 273 00:26:42.039 --> 00:26:48.109 first heaven and the first Earth passed away in the sea was no more and 274 00:26:48.309 --> 00:26:55.069 I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of Heaven from 275 00:26:55.150 --> 00:27:00.269 God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a 276 00:27:00.390 --> 00:27:07.819 loud voice from the throne saying, behold, the dwelling place of God is 277 00:27:07.900 --> 00:27:11.380 with man. He will dwell with them and they will be his people, 278 00:27:11.819 --> 00:27:18.890 and God himself will be with them as their God. This is temple language, 279 00:27:18.890 --> 00:27:23.210 isn't it? This is temple language where God says I will dwell with 280 00:27:23.329 --> 00:27:32.640 my people, where the new Jerusalem. The consequence is our amazing he will 281 00:27:32.680 --> 00:27:37.240 wipe away every tear from their eyes and death and death shall be no more. 282 00:27:38.039 --> 00:27:41.920 Neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for 283 00:27:42.079 --> 00:27:49.150 the former things have passed away. If you skip over the verse two thousand 284 00:27:49.150 --> 00:27:53.869 and Nineteen, you get a sense of the beauty of this place. The 285 00:27:53.950 --> 00:27:59.140 foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind of jewel. 286 00:28:00.099 --> 00:28:03.180 The first was Jasper, the Second Sapphire, the third age at, the 287 00:28:03.220 --> 00:28:08.019 Fourth Emerald, the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelium, the seventh chrysolite, 288 00:28:08.299 --> 00:28:14.809 the eight Barreld, ninth top has the ten chrystal press, the Eleven Jason, 289 00:28:15.089 --> 00:28:21.650 the Twelve Amethyst and the twelve gates were twelve pearls. Each of the 290 00:28:21.690 --> 00:28:25.890 gates made of a single Pearl, and the street of the city was pure 291 00:28:26.650 --> 00:28:32.799 gold, transparent is glass. And I saw no temple in the city, 292 00:28:33.359 --> 00:28:38.440 for it's Temple is the Lord, God, the Almighty and the Lam. 293 00:28:41.359 --> 00:28:47.109 It goes on and on. It's breathtaking. That's why we don't mourn Old 294 00:28:47.190 --> 00:28:52.150 Jerusalem, because we have new Jerusalem, a new Jerusalem that exceeds it in 295 00:28:52.309 --> 00:29:03.380 every way. Found it on Jesus Christ fist and his sacrifice. Why do 296 00:29:03.500 --> 00:29:07.059 I tell you about Mount Moriah? Why do I tell you about ornand and 297 00:29:07.140 --> 00:29:12.210 his thresting for why should we hear about Abraham and Isaac and David in Israel? 298 00:29:14.849 --> 00:29:18.609 I tell you because I want you to know what it is God has 299 00:29:18.690 --> 00:29:23.519 done in the world. I want you to know the kind of sacrifice that 300 00:29:23.599 --> 00:29:27.160 he has given. I want you to know what it is we have been 301 00:29:27.279 --> 00:29:34.319 saved from and what it is we've been saved unto, salvation from sins, 302 00:29:36.119 --> 00:29:41.630 peace and reconciliation with God. I tell you these things because I want you 303 00:29:41.789 --> 00:29:47.430 to know what God has given to you. In Christ and how he has 304 00:29:47.509 --> 00:29:52.460 given it. Brothers and sisters, the Glories of Heaven await you. They 305 00:29:52.619 --> 00:29:57.380 wait for those who no longer cling to the earth, but look beyond this 306 00:29:57.579 --> 00:30:03.619 world to the treasures in heaven and our risen savior himself. In Jesus, 307 00:30:04.339 --> 00:30:17.609 you will find all the joys of Jerusalem. Let us pray our father in 308 00:30:17.849 --> 00:30:25.400 heaven. Your name is indeed holy and to be hallowed. We pray to 309 00:30:25.559 --> 00:30:32.640 you and worship You, the God of Abraham, who brought forth not only 310 00:30:32.720 --> 00:30:41.230 a ram but your own son, that we might live in him. Thank 311 00:30:41.309 --> 00:30:45.630 you for forgiving US our sins. So, Lord, thank you for for 312 00:30:45.869 --> 00:30:52.180 forgiving the sins of David and his people that Jerusalem might stand another hour, 313 00:30:52.859 --> 00:30:56.259 that the worship of God might be proclaimed and made visible in the world, 314 00:30:57.420 --> 00:31:03.740 that solemn in might build this glorious temple, that we might see and know 315 00:31:03.890 --> 00:31:08.609 what you are doing in the heavenly places. We thank you for the new 316 00:31:08.690 --> 00:31:14.210 heavens and the new earth which exceed this. We thank you for King Jesus 317 00:31:14.529 --> 00:31:18.529 and the ways that he exceeds all the kings of old. We thank you 318 00:31:18.640 --> 00:31:22.920 for making US citizens of this heavenly kingdom that we might live in him and 319 00:31:22.079 --> 00:31:27.680 reign with him. Have peace with you and pleasant things in our hearts. 320 00:31:29.960 --> 00:31:36.869 Indeed, you are good, and we ask that you would keep our eyes 321 00:31:37.109 --> 00:31:41.470 fixed on this heavenly hope. Help us not too long for the things of 322 00:31:41.589 --> 00:31:48.420 old, but to see them as these great signs pointing us the way to 323 00:31:48.539 --> 00:31:53.380 Jesus and the things that we have in him. Let us not despise them, 324 00:31:55.220 --> 00:32:00.339 but love them and enjoy them for what they are and what you have 325 00:32:00.180 --> 00:32:06.609 given them to be. In this Lord, we pray for all of the 326 00:32:06.769 --> 00:32:10.049 cares and concerns that we have in this world and we asked that, by 327 00:32:10.170 --> 00:32:15.210 the hope of Heaven and the hope of Christ, you would sustain us in 328 00:32:15.529 --> 00:32:21.480 our trials and tribulations. We pray for hopes, jaw and her thumb. 329 00:32:22.200 --> 00:32:28.400 We asked that you would heal her and and encourage her in her in her 330 00:32:28.519 --> 00:32:32.549 troubles. We praise you that summer has her old job back and we asked 331 00:32:32.630 --> 00:32:37.670 that you would bless her and and the other students is they return back to 332 00:32:37.789 --> 00:32:43.109 school. May studying the things of this world, the things that you have 333 00:32:43.309 --> 00:32:49.460 made, be a joy to them and maybe they excel in it. We 334 00:32:49.619 --> 00:32:52.819 also pray for Patty and we asked that you would continue to help her. 335 00:32:53.460 --> 00:32:59.329 We thank you for your mercies that you have already given the answers to our 336 00:32:59.450 --> 00:33:02.450 prayers. We asked that you would play, that you would be blosed, 337 00:33:02.609 --> 00:33:09.289 you would that we pray that your will would be done and that this kidney 338 00:33:09.369 --> 00:33:15.480 surgery that's coming would go well, that she would be healed in it and 339 00:33:15.599 --> 00:33:22.200 that she would give of you praise for the work of your hands. Finally, 340 00:33:22.279 --> 00:33:24.920 Lord, we pray for our mission works here in Arizona. We pray 341 00:33:25.000 --> 00:33:32.109 for Jeremy Baker and his upcoming ordination exams and we asked that you would help 342 00:33:32.150 --> 00:33:37.309 him so that he might serve as a church planner there in human we pray 343 00:33:37.390 --> 00:33:40.619 for Steve Larson. We asked that you would bless him and the saints and 344 00:33:40.779 --> 00:33:46.180 Concho. We asked that their relationship would go grow and strengthen as he begins 345 00:33:46.259 --> 00:33:52.299 that work there. And Lord, we also pray for the other Bible Studies 346 00:33:52.420 --> 00:33:57.170 and works that are going on, all the prayers that are being offered for 347 00:33:57.289 --> 00:34:04.809 various outposts of the Gospel, including, Lord, our friends in cotton. 348 00:34:04.890 --> 00:34:07.769 Would we pray for Brian and for Sarah? We asked that you would be 349 00:34:07.969 --> 00:34:15.840 with with them. Please encourage that congregation and and help them to grow a 350 00:34:15.960 --> 00:34:20.760 finally, Lord, we pray for ourselves. We ask that you would strengthen 351 00:34:20.880 --> 00:34:23.469 us in the faith, that you would bind us together in love and make 352 00:34:23.510 --> 00:34:28.750 us a faithful witness to the good news of Jesus Christ. We pray this 353 00:34:28.949 --> 00:34:36.070 in his name. Well, let's stand together and respond to God and his 354 00:34:36.230 --> 00:34:39.900 good word to us. Let's respond by singing him two hundred and seventy one