David's Preparation
1 Chronicles 22
History tells us that much of what we have been learning from the life of King David happened in his first 33 years as king. The majority of what we will learn today took place in the last 7 years of David as King and the last 7 years of his life.
A good thing to notice in the life of David, is that when sin knocked him down David got back up every time and served the Lord.
We can see that the heart of David was truly after God's own heart!
Even with all his mistakes, David is recognized as a man who served his own generation by the will of God.
Act 13:36 For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption:
Act 13:37 But he, whom God raised again, saw no corruption.
The Bible says, King David served his own generation by the will of God.
David had much sin in his life and God has not hidden that sin from us.
But we can also see in this verse that, Jesus, the Messiah, son of David had no sin and the Lord Jesus served our generation, the generation of the Church, by the will of God!
What was the purpose of a Temple?
We know that the Ark of the Covenant was a symbol of the presence of God to the Jewish people.
And just as the Ark, the Temple was constructed to enshrine, the symbol of God's presence.
As the Ark represented the presence of the Lord, the Temple would house the Ark of God!
Every true House of God must represent the presence of the Living God!
Let's begin.
*****1Ch 22:1 Then David said, This is the house of the LORD God, and this is the altar of the burnt offering for Israel.
David had the command of God that he should not build the Temple of the Lord, but there was no command that he could not make preparation for it to be built.
Last week we saw that David had purchased the land for the Temple and it appears that God had chosen the location of the Temple that was to be built by Solomon.
What do we know of the reasons David chose this place.
1) 2Sa 24:16 And when the angel stretched out his hand upon Jerusalem to destroy it, the LORD repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed the people, It is enough: stay now thine hand. And the angel of the LORD was by the threshingplace of Araunah the Jebusite.
The Angel of the Lord, stood at this place prepared to destroy Jerusalem but God ended His wrath here at this place.
2) 2Sa 24:18 And Gad came that day to David, and said unto him, Go up, rear an altar unto the LORD in the threshingfloor of Araunah the Jebusite.
God had sent the Prophet Gad who told David where to build this altar at this place.
3) 1Ch 21:26 And David built there an altar unto the LORD, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and called upon the LORD; and he answered him from heaven by fire upon the altar of burnt offering.
The Lord answered by fire from Heaven upon this altar at this place.
Now I don't know about any of you, but if I had in my mind to build a temple for the Lord, it would have been really hard not to have chosen this place.
Another thing to keep in mind is that of all the spots in Jerusalem, this spot belonged to a Gentile and it was purchased by the man of God.
We will also see that the majority of the labor force to build this Temple was a Gentile work force.
These are not just mere coincidences!
The Blood had flowed was from 70,000 of God's people.
The Bible teaches us:
Act 20:28 Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.
Even before the Temple was built this place was already a "Type" of Christ!
And even before this Temple was built God had decided it was to be built by Gentiles.
*****1Ch 22:2 And David commanded to gather together the strangers that were in the land of Israel; and he set masons to hew wrought stones to build the house of God.
Strangers are those people who are not Jews.
Every one who is not a Jew is a Gentile.
This also sounds like slavery but we should not ever forget that God has a reason for everything He does and we are still to learn form all His Written Word.
Everything these workers were in need of was provided for them!
We know the Temple was to be "Type" of Christ, just as the Tabernacle had been.
But the Tabernacle was built by the Jews and was a temporary place.
These hewn stones, prepared by Gentile labor must then be a "Type" of God's people.
1Pe 2:5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
When we were saved, we were purchased as slaves who were in bondage to Satan and are now bound in Christ by His own blood.
But really no longer slaves but chosen for the work of the Lord!
1Pe 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:
Once not even a people, belonging to no nation but now the people of God.
1Pe 2:10 Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.
And a people prepared in abundance while there will only be a remnant of the Jews saved.
Throughout the Old Testament this place would be called the House of God, or the House of the Lord and we know this house was built by men and it was destroyed more than once.
In the New Testament we find, God Himself builds a new house and this house can never be destroyed!
1Co 3:16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
*****1Ch 22:3 And David prepared iron in abundance for the nails for the doors of the gates, and for the joinings; and brass in abundance without weight;
1Ch 22:4 Also cedar trees in abundance: for the Zidonians and they of Tyre brought much cedar wood to David.
It would take a lot of iron and brass and many cedar trees to build the Temple of God.
Iron expresses destructive power, political power and even slavery.
Brass expresses power, strength, hardness, and durability.
Cedar can express pride and loftiness.
We find all these things still in the Temple when the Messiah came.
David spent may years gathering the materials to build the Temple.
Most all of this material came from the spoils of wars but it was never the reason for war.
When the world abuses the people of God, the world will usually pay in carnal things!
The Egyptians had the Jews in bondage many years but when God led them out of Egypt by the hands of Moses, they brought out much spoil of the Egyptians.
*****1Ch 22:5 And David said, Solomon my son is young and tender, and the house that is to be builded for the LORD must be exceeding magnifical, of fame and of glory throughout all countries: I will therefore now make preparation for it. So David prepared abundantly before his death.
Solomon would have been at least less than 30 years old at this time but probably over 20 years old.
A son was not considered a man until the age of 30.
David had set an unreachable goal that this Temple should be an outward appearance of God's magnificence and greatness.
There is nothing on this Earth that we can compare to the greatness of Our God and David certainly knew this but David was determined that the Temple must be "beyond being great" to represent the "Glory of God".
This Temple would be a great task and Solomon may have been overwhelmed by it, if David had not made most all the preparations.
It is said that David spent the last 7 years of his life making preparations for the Temple that Solomon would build.
*****1Ch 22:6 Then he called for Solomon his son, and charged him to build an house for the LORD God of Israel.
Throughout David's lifetime he had been a great organizer but the world had not seen the organization of religious service that David had planned. David passed all this knowledge on to his son Solomon.
Solomon became wise at an early age partly because his earthly father took a lot of time preparing him for the task at hand.
We have read a lot of bad things about King David but David spent some time with his sons giving them direction.
Some learned just the bad things of David!
It was God who had named Solomon and it was God who had chosen Solomon to be the next King of Israel.
*****1Ch 22:7 And David said to Solomon, My son, as for me, it was in my mind to build an house unto the name of the LORD my God:
1Ch 22:8 But the word of the LORD came to me, saying, Thou hast shed blood abundantly, and hast made great wars: thou shalt not build an house unto my name, because thou hast shed much blood upon the earth in my sight.
Every House of God must send the message of peace between man and God!
Though David had a great desire to build this house of God it would have been inappropriate for this Temple to be built by a "man-of-war" such as King David.
It was not God's purpose for David to build this Temple.
David's purpose had been to bring the nation of Israel to this point of security and after may mistakes, Israel was reunited and in possession of most all the land that God had given to them.
Solomon did not have that same great desire to build this Temple but he did have a great desire to be obedient to the wishes of his father!
That is what God teaches us in His Word!
Not everyone can be a Church Planter but we can and should honor the wishes of Our Father in Heaven and do everything we can help build the House of God.
In the words of Jesus:
Mat 9:37 Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few;
Mat 9:38 Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.
*****1Ch 22:9 Behold, a son shall be born to thee, who shall be a man of rest; and I will give him rest from all his enemies round about: for his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quietness unto Israel in his days.
1Ch 22:10 He shall build an house for my name; and he shall be my son, and I will be his father; and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel for ever.
The name Solomon has the meaning of: peaceable, and perfect, and one who will recompense.
Verse 10 says his throne will be establish over Israel forever.
Solomon was a good King but we would be wrong not to believe these things were more about the Messiah, Jesus Christ than they were about Solomon.
These things could only be fulfilled in Jesus:
Heb 1:5 For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son?
Psa 89:26 He shall cry unto me, Thou art my father, my God, and the rock of my salvation.
Psa 89:27 Also I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth.
Psa 89:28 My mercy will I keep for him for evermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with him.
God told David that his son would be named Solomon and this shows us that God knows every one who will be born into this world, their names and their character before they are even born.
Psa 139:16 Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.
But this does not mean that God has selected who will and who will not be saved!
God gave us the freedom to choose!
*****1Ch 22:11 Now, my son, the LORD be with thee; and prosper thou, and build the house of the LORD thy God, as he hath said of thee.
David reminded Solomon that God is "faithful"!
Our part in God's "faithfulness" is to trust the Lord and be obedient.
In fact, near the end of Solomon's years after all of his own mistakes, Solomon gave us these words:
Ecc 12:13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: "for this is the whole duty of man".
Ecc 12:14 For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.
If we would just have that godly fear of Our Lord and obey His Words and His calling, we would find a whole lot more peace and joy in our lives!
*****1Ch 22:12 Only the LORD give thee wisdom and understanding, and give thee charge concerning Israel, that thou mayest keep the law of the LORD thy God.
1Ch 22:13 Then shalt thou prosper, if thou takest heed to fulfil the statutes and judgments which the LORD charged Moses with concerning Israel: be strong, and of good courage; dread not, nor be dismayed.
We should all pray for our children and included in that prayer should be to ask the Lord to give them wisdom and understanding.
David even asked the Lord to help Solomon to rule Israel.
And none of us are above the law of God!
The Bible is specific:
Job 28:28 And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.
It is the wise thing to do to keep the commandments of the Lord!
This wisdom can be summed up in 2 verses:
Mar 12:30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
Mar 12:31 And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.
We can prosper in this life when we love the Lord!
We can have joy in this life when we love our neighbor as much as we love ourselves!
King David spent the last years of his life preparing the materials for the building of the Temple and preparing his son Solomon to build the Temple.
*****1Ch 22:14 Now, behold, in my trouble I have prepared for the house of the LORD an hundred thousand talents of gold, and a thousand thousand talents of silver; and of brass and iron without weight; for it is in abundance: timber also and stone have I prepared; and thou mayest add thereto.
No matter what David had gone through since the time he had retrieved the Ark, he had kept to his goal to build a Temple for the Lord.
It was David's goal to establish worship in the nation of Israel and that worship to be in the name of Jehovah God.
David had not amassed kingly riches as most kings do but had committed all his riches, and all the spoils of war to the Lord.
One talent of Gold would equal 91.15 troy lbs. or 12 times that for troy ounces. 1094 troy ounces.
One talent of Gold at todays value would be near $ 875,200.00.
King David had accumulated 100,000 talents of Gold near $ 875,200,000,000.00 at todays value.
Nearly 900 billion dollars.
Add to that 1,000,000 talents of silver worth today $ 14,000,000,000.00
14 Billion dollars.
With an untold weight of iron and brass we can see that King David had dedicated more than a Trillion dollars at todays currency rate to the building of the Temple.
King David had cedar cut and stored ready for construction.
King David had greater marble stones cut and stored for construction.
And King David had crews working on these materials long before Solomon became King of Israel.
*****1Ch 22:15 Moreover there are workmen with thee in abundance, hewers and workers of stone and timber, and all manner of cunning men for every manner of work.
1Ch 22:16 Of the gold, the silver, and the brass, and the iron, there is no number. Arise therefore, and be doing, and the LORD be with thee.
Many of these men working on the materials for the Temple were indeed experts in their field.
It takes all kinds of people to build God's House!
King David made made all the arrangements.
King David had assembled most all the work force.
King David had God's plans for the Temple.
King David had prepared a great wealth to build this Temple.
King David encouraged his son Solomon to get started.
We can see in all these things David was a "type" of the Heavenly Father.
It is Our Father in Heaven, who made all the arrangements, Who assembles the work force, Who made all the plans before He created any of these things.
It is Our Father in Heaven, Who has all the riches, and Who prepared His Son Jesus to build His House!
*****1Ch 22:17 David also commanded all the princes of Israel to help Solomon his son, saying,
King David wanted his entire family involved in the building of God's House.
We should have this same goal.
We need to encourage our entire family to get involved in the work of God that goes on at the House of God.
Why?
*****1Ch 22:18 Is not the LORD your God with you? and hath he not given you rest on every side? for he hath given the inhabitants of the land into mine hand; and the land is subdued before the LORD, and before his people.
The Apostle Paul wrote these words for us:
Rom 8:31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
Rom 8:32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
We must realize that God will not allow us to fail when we are in His will!
David not only ruled Israel but all the surrounding nations were at peace with Israel.
Israel could rest from war.
Israel had been given a good land that always blossoms when they are on it.
It was time for all of David's family to concentrate on the things of the Lord.
It is Our Father who rules all His creation.
It is Our Father who makes His creation to blossom.
It is Our Father who would have all His creation, "whosoever will", become His family.
It is Our Father who will give us rest, not only here on Earth, but true rest in Heaven one sweet day!
*****1Ch 22:19 Now set your heart and your soul to seek the LORD your God; arise therefore, and build ye the sanctuary of the LORD God, to bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and the holy vessels of God, into the house that is to be built to the name of the LORD.
It was time for all of Israel to seek the Lord.
God had taken away all the distractions that hindered the work of the Lord.
Everything about the Temple was to be stately and magnificent, being a "type" of Christ.
The entire Old Testament was written to lead us to the Lord Jesus Christ!
Christ came.
Christ died for our sins.
Christ rose from that death and lives evermore.
We need to set our heart and souls to seek the Lord and get busy about the Master's Work.
God has removed the obstacles and hindrances of our old life and made us new creatures.
It is still time to build God's House!
A new House of God is built "every time a soul is saved" and these are permanent houses, indestructible!
When the Lord Jesus ascended into Heaven, there were 2 angels standing with the Apostles and as messengers they had this message.
Act 1:10 And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel;
Act 1:11 Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, "why stand ye gazing up into heaven"? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.
Why are we still standing around gazing up to Heaven waiting on the Rapture and Christ's return.?
We need to be busy at the work Christ Jesus has given us to do!
King David had prepared the best this world had to offer to build the House of the Lord, and we fail the Lord when we do not give Him our very best!
Questions?
Let's Pray!
1 Chronicles 22
History tells us that much of what we have been learning from the life of King David happened in his first 33 years as king. The majority of what we will learn today took place in the last 7 years of David as King and the last 7 years of his life.
A good thing to notice in the life of David, is that when sin knocked him down David got back up every time and served the Lord.
We can see that the heart of David was truly after God's own heart!
Even with all his mistakes, David is recognized as a man who served his own generation by the will of God.
Act 13:36 For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption:
Act 13:37 But he, whom God raised again, saw no corruption.
The Bible says, King David served his own generation by the will of God.
David had much sin in his life and God has not hidden that sin from us.
But we can also see in this verse that, Jesus, the Messiah, son of David had no sin and the Lord Jesus served our generation, the generation of the Church, by the will of God!
What was the purpose of a Temple?
We know that the Ark of the Covenant was a symbol of the presence of God to the Jewish people.
And just as the Ark, the Temple was constructed to enshrine, the symbol of God's presence.
As the Ark represented the presence of the Lord, the Temple would house the Ark of God!
Every true House of God must represent the presence of the Living God!
Let's begin.
*****1Ch 22:1 Then David said, This is the house of the LORD God, and this is the altar of the burnt offering for Israel.
David had the command of God that he should not build the Temple of the Lord, but there was no command that he could not make preparation for it to be built.
Last week we saw that David had purchased the land for the Temple and it appears that God had chosen the location of the Temple that was to be built by Solomon.
What do we know of the reasons David chose this place.
1) 2Sa 24:16 And when the angel stretched out his hand upon Jerusalem to destroy it, the LORD repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed the people, It is enough: stay now thine hand. And the angel of the LORD was by the threshingplace of Araunah the Jebusite.
The Angel of the Lord, stood at this place prepared to destroy Jerusalem but God ended His wrath here at this place.
2) 2Sa 24:18 And Gad came that day to David, and said unto him, Go up, rear an altar unto the LORD in the threshingfloor of Araunah the Jebusite.
God had sent the Prophet Gad who told David where to build this altar at this place.
3) 1Ch 21:26 And David built there an altar unto the LORD, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and called upon the LORD; and he answered him from heaven by fire upon the altar of burnt offering.
The Lord answered by fire from Heaven upon this altar at this place.
Now I don't know about any of you, but if I had in my mind to build a temple for the Lord, it would have been really hard not to have chosen this place.
Another thing to keep in mind is that of all the spots in Jerusalem, this spot belonged to a Gentile and it was purchased by the man of God.
We will also see that the majority of the labor force to build this Temple was a Gentile work force.
These are not just mere coincidences!
The Blood had flowed was from 70,000 of God's people.
The Bible teaches us:
Act 20:28 Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.
Even before the Temple was built this place was already a "Type" of Christ!
And even before this Temple was built God had decided it was to be built by Gentiles.
*****1Ch 22:2 And David commanded to gather together the strangers that were in the land of Israel; and he set masons to hew wrought stones to build the house of God.
Strangers are those people who are not Jews.
Every one who is not a Jew is a Gentile.
This also sounds like slavery but we should not ever forget that God has a reason for everything He does and we are still to learn form all His Written Word.
Everything these workers were in need of was provided for them!
We know the Temple was to be "Type" of Christ, just as the Tabernacle had been.
But the Tabernacle was built by the Jews and was a temporary place.
These hewn stones, prepared by Gentile labor must then be a "Type" of God's people.
1Pe 2:5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
When we were saved, we were purchased as slaves who were in bondage to Satan and are now bound in Christ by His own blood.
But really no longer slaves but chosen for the work of the Lord!
1Pe 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:
Once not even a people, belonging to no nation but now the people of God.
1Pe 2:10 Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.
And a people prepared in abundance while there will only be a remnant of the Jews saved.
Throughout the Old Testament this place would be called the House of God, or the House of the Lord and we know this house was built by men and it was destroyed more than once.
In the New Testament we find, God Himself builds a new house and this house can never be destroyed!
1Co 3:16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
*****1Ch 22:3 And David prepared iron in abundance for the nails for the doors of the gates, and for the joinings; and brass in abundance without weight;
1Ch 22:4 Also cedar trees in abundance: for the Zidonians and they of Tyre brought much cedar wood to David.
It would take a lot of iron and brass and many cedar trees to build the Temple of God.
Iron expresses destructive power, political power and even slavery.
Brass expresses power, strength, hardness, and durability.
Cedar can express pride and loftiness.
We find all these things still in the Temple when the Messiah came.
David spent may years gathering the materials to build the Temple.
Most all of this material came from the spoils of wars but it was never the reason for war.
When the world abuses the people of God, the world will usually pay in carnal things!
The Egyptians had the Jews in bondage many years but when God led them out of Egypt by the hands of Moses, they brought out much spoil of the Egyptians.
*****1Ch 22:5 And David said, Solomon my son is young and tender, and the house that is to be builded for the LORD must be exceeding magnifical, of fame and of glory throughout all countries: I will therefore now make preparation for it. So David prepared abundantly before his death.
Solomon would have been at least less than 30 years old at this time but probably over 20 years old.
A son was not considered a man until the age of 30.
David had set an unreachable goal that this Temple should be an outward appearance of God's magnificence and greatness.
There is nothing on this Earth that we can compare to the greatness of Our God and David certainly knew this but David was determined that the Temple must be "beyond being great" to represent the "Glory of God".
This Temple would be a great task and Solomon may have been overwhelmed by it, if David had not made most all the preparations.
It is said that David spent the last 7 years of his life making preparations for the Temple that Solomon would build.
*****1Ch 22:6 Then he called for Solomon his son, and charged him to build an house for the LORD God of Israel.
Throughout David's lifetime he had been a great organizer but the world had not seen the organization of religious service that David had planned. David passed all this knowledge on to his son Solomon.
Solomon became wise at an early age partly because his earthly father took a lot of time preparing him for the task at hand.
We have read a lot of bad things about King David but David spent some time with his sons giving them direction.
Some learned just the bad things of David!
It was God who had named Solomon and it was God who had chosen Solomon to be the next King of Israel.
*****1Ch 22:7 And David said to Solomon, My son, as for me, it was in my mind to build an house unto the name of the LORD my God:
1Ch 22:8 But the word of the LORD came to me, saying, Thou hast shed blood abundantly, and hast made great wars: thou shalt not build an house unto my name, because thou hast shed much blood upon the earth in my sight.
Every House of God must send the message of peace between man and God!
Though David had a great desire to build this house of God it would have been inappropriate for this Temple to be built by a "man-of-war" such as King David.
It was not God's purpose for David to build this Temple.
David's purpose had been to bring the nation of Israel to this point of security and after may mistakes, Israel was reunited and in possession of most all the land that God had given to them.
Solomon did not have that same great desire to build this Temple but he did have a great desire to be obedient to the wishes of his father!
That is what God teaches us in His Word!
Not everyone can be a Church Planter but we can and should honor the wishes of Our Father in Heaven and do everything we can help build the House of God.
In the words of Jesus:
Mat 9:37 Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few;
Mat 9:38 Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.
*****1Ch 22:9 Behold, a son shall be born to thee, who shall be a man of rest; and I will give him rest from all his enemies round about: for his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quietness unto Israel in his days.
1Ch 22:10 He shall build an house for my name; and he shall be my son, and I will be his father; and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel for ever.
The name Solomon has the meaning of: peaceable, and perfect, and one who will recompense.
Verse 10 says his throne will be establish over Israel forever.
Solomon was a good King but we would be wrong not to believe these things were more about the Messiah, Jesus Christ than they were about Solomon.
These things could only be fulfilled in Jesus:
Heb 1:5 For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son?
Psa 89:26 He shall cry unto me, Thou art my father, my God, and the rock of my salvation.
Psa 89:27 Also I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth.
Psa 89:28 My mercy will I keep for him for evermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with him.
God told David that his son would be named Solomon and this shows us that God knows every one who will be born into this world, their names and their character before they are even born.
Psa 139:16 Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.
But this does not mean that God has selected who will and who will not be saved!
God gave us the freedom to choose!
*****1Ch 22:11 Now, my son, the LORD be with thee; and prosper thou, and build the house of the LORD thy God, as he hath said of thee.
David reminded Solomon that God is "faithful"!
Our part in God's "faithfulness" is to trust the Lord and be obedient.
In fact, near the end of Solomon's years after all of his own mistakes, Solomon gave us these words:
Ecc 12:13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: "for this is the whole duty of man".
Ecc 12:14 For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.
If we would just have that godly fear of Our Lord and obey His Words and His calling, we would find a whole lot more peace and joy in our lives!
*****1Ch 22:12 Only the LORD give thee wisdom and understanding, and give thee charge concerning Israel, that thou mayest keep the law of the LORD thy God.
1Ch 22:13 Then shalt thou prosper, if thou takest heed to fulfil the statutes and judgments which the LORD charged Moses with concerning Israel: be strong, and of good courage; dread not, nor be dismayed.
We should all pray for our children and included in that prayer should be to ask the Lord to give them wisdom and understanding.
David even asked the Lord to help Solomon to rule Israel.
And none of us are above the law of God!
The Bible is specific:
Job 28:28 And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.
It is the wise thing to do to keep the commandments of the Lord!
This wisdom can be summed up in 2 verses:
Mar 12:30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
Mar 12:31 And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.
We can prosper in this life when we love the Lord!
We can have joy in this life when we love our neighbor as much as we love ourselves!
King David spent the last years of his life preparing the materials for the building of the Temple and preparing his son Solomon to build the Temple.
*****1Ch 22:14 Now, behold, in my trouble I have prepared for the house of the LORD an hundred thousand talents of gold, and a thousand thousand talents of silver; and of brass and iron without weight; for it is in abundance: timber also and stone have I prepared; and thou mayest add thereto.
No matter what David had gone through since the time he had retrieved the Ark, he had kept to his goal to build a Temple for the Lord.
It was David's goal to establish worship in the nation of Israel and that worship to be in the name of Jehovah God.
David had not amassed kingly riches as most kings do but had committed all his riches, and all the spoils of war to the Lord.
One talent of Gold would equal 91.15 troy lbs. or 12 times that for troy ounces. 1094 troy ounces.
One talent of Gold at todays value would be near $ 875,200.00.
King David had accumulated 100,000 talents of Gold near $ 875,200,000,000.00 at todays value.
Nearly 900 billion dollars.
Add to that 1,000,000 talents of silver worth today $ 14,000,000,000.00
14 Billion dollars.
With an untold weight of iron and brass we can see that King David had dedicated more than a Trillion dollars at todays currency rate to the building of the Temple.
King David had cedar cut and stored ready for construction.
King David had greater marble stones cut and stored for construction.
And King David had crews working on these materials long before Solomon became King of Israel.
*****1Ch 22:15 Moreover there are workmen with thee in abundance, hewers and workers of stone and timber, and all manner of cunning men for every manner of work.
1Ch 22:16 Of the gold, the silver, and the brass, and the iron, there is no number. Arise therefore, and be doing, and the LORD be with thee.
Many of these men working on the materials for the Temple were indeed experts in their field.
It takes all kinds of people to build God's House!
King David made made all the arrangements.
King David had assembled most all the work force.
King David had God's plans for the Temple.
King David had prepared a great wealth to build this Temple.
King David encouraged his son Solomon to get started.
We can see in all these things David was a "type" of the Heavenly Father.
It is Our Father in Heaven, who made all the arrangements, Who assembles the work force, Who made all the plans before He created any of these things.
It is Our Father in Heaven, Who has all the riches, and Who prepared His Son Jesus to build His House!
*****1Ch 22:17 David also commanded all the princes of Israel to help Solomon his son, saying,
King David wanted his entire family involved in the building of God's House.
We should have this same goal.
We need to encourage our entire family to get involved in the work of God that goes on at the House of God.
Why?
*****1Ch 22:18 Is not the LORD your God with you? and hath he not given you rest on every side? for he hath given the inhabitants of the land into mine hand; and the land is subdued before the LORD, and before his people.
The Apostle Paul wrote these words for us:
Rom 8:31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
Rom 8:32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
We must realize that God will not allow us to fail when we are in His will!
David not only ruled Israel but all the surrounding nations were at peace with Israel.
Israel could rest from war.
Israel had been given a good land that always blossoms when they are on it.
It was time for all of David's family to concentrate on the things of the Lord.
It is Our Father who rules all His creation.
It is Our Father who makes His creation to blossom.
It is Our Father who would have all His creation, "whosoever will", become His family.
It is Our Father who will give us rest, not only here on Earth, but true rest in Heaven one sweet day!
*****1Ch 22:19 Now set your heart and your soul to seek the LORD your God; arise therefore, and build ye the sanctuary of the LORD God, to bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and the holy vessels of God, into the house that is to be built to the name of the LORD.
It was time for all of Israel to seek the Lord.
God had taken away all the distractions that hindered the work of the Lord.
Everything about the Temple was to be stately and magnificent, being a "type" of Christ.
The entire Old Testament was written to lead us to the Lord Jesus Christ!
Christ came.
Christ died for our sins.
Christ rose from that death and lives evermore.
We need to set our heart and souls to seek the Lord and get busy about the Master's Work.
God has removed the obstacles and hindrances of our old life and made us new creatures.
It is still time to build God's House!
A new House of God is built "every time a soul is saved" and these are permanent houses, indestructible!
When the Lord Jesus ascended into Heaven, there were 2 angels standing with the Apostles and as messengers they had this message.
Act 1:10 And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel;
Act 1:11 Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, "why stand ye gazing up into heaven"? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.
Why are we still standing around gazing up to Heaven waiting on the Rapture and Christ's return.?
We need to be busy at the work Christ Jesus has given us to do!
King David had prepared the best this world had to offer to build the House of the Lord, and we fail the Lord when we do not give Him our very best!
Questions?
Let's Pray!
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