Today we read of the glory of the Lord manifested in the Temple Solomon built for Him. All that it was and all that was in it testify to the Sovereignty of our God. The pillars which supported it testified of His great strength and abiding faithfulness. The great sea, an extremely large bowl of water, itself represents the sea which the ancients believed was chaos. The fact that it was contained in this bowl testified to the fact that the Lord was sovereign even over chaos. He brought order and light out of disorder and darkness. He still brings order out of chaos even the chaos of our lives in this world. We give glory to Him alone and trust that He will enforce justice on all evil-doers including terrorists, murderers and those who abuse others.
The rest of the furnishings of the Temple included motifs and designs that evoked the Garden of Eden: the cherubs as well as the pomegranates. The Garden was the place of perfect peace, rest and oneness with Yahweh, all of which was lost through the sin of Adam. The peace people sought with God He restored by means of the sacrifice of atonement, so that the Temple became a type of the new Eden. Those who sought rest and oneness with God found it there.
The Temple teaches us that in God we find all that we need for life. We find the peace and intimate fellowship with the Lord God that Adam enjoyed in the church today. But we find it not in the Temple or the sacrificial system, but in Jesus who is our atonement. Those who want rest from chaos find it in Him and in the church that He empowers as long as its members embody His love, mercy and grace.
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