RTW May 22
Who’s Your Builder?
Solomon built a palace for himself, and it took thirteen years to complete the construction.
1 Kings 7:1
My Takeaways
Something Old
Who is building me?
Something New
Hebrews 3:4 For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything. (NIV)
The Greek word for builder is Kataskeuazo (katask-you-od’-zo): to furnish, equip, make ready; of one who makes ready for a person or thing; of builders, to construct, erect, with the idea of adorning and equipping with all things necessary
Something to Do
Let God do all things necessary to build me up, so others will see His splendor.
My Takeaways Temple Building continues
Something Old:1 Kings 7:1-12 Solomon builds his Palace. Why do you think it took longer to build the palace than the temple? A question to ponder with many different responses. Solomon palace was much bigger than the temple. It was a temple complex that included 5 more buildings (Kings 7:2-8). Many years of preparation, planning, and accumulation of materials had preceded the seven-year temple project, while the work on the palace apparently had no such head start. The temple didn’t take as long because It was an important project, they got on it right away and worked diligently until the project was finished. They could have dilly dallied around while building the palace. But in reality I’ll really never know. What I do know is that the Bible gives us the full details of the temple’s structure and furnishings. Solomon’s own house took longer to build, but receives much less attention–just twelve verses for five buildings.By de-emphasizing Solomon’s palace, the Bible is keeping things in their proper priority.
Something New: One of Solomon’s final touches on the front of the Temple was to add “two pillars. He named the one on the south ‘Jakin’ and the one on the north ‘Boaz’” (2 Chronicles 3:15-17). Through research I discovered the reason that Solomon named these pillars was to remind him of two important promises. Jakin, which means “He establishes,” reminded Solomon of God’s promise to his father David, that he would always have a de- scendant on the throne (2 Samuel 7:12-16). It is God who established the Davidic line of kings.
The second pillar was named Boaz, which means, “In Him is strength.” This pillar reminded Solomon of the charge his father David gave to him when he was crowned as his successor. “Be strong and courageous and do the work. Don’t be afraid or discouraged by the size of this task, for the Lord God is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you” (1 Chronicles 28:20). It was in the strength of God that Solomon would be an effective king.
Something To Do: Keep my priorities straight. Always put God first in my life.Thank God that He has given me His power and His strength, through the Holy Spirit in me.