by Joyce Sibthorpe
King Solomon built a temple for his God, even though he knew that - “The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built!” 1 Kings 8:27
In 1 Kings 8:13 (The Message) Solomon says to God, “I have built this splendid temple, O God, to mark your invisible presence forever.” God hides His glory in clouds and darkness to protect us. Moses, God’s friend, could only view God’s back; God placed him in the cleft of the rock and placed his hand over the entrance for his protection. Moses never spoke of that encounter – it was beyond words.
A cloud of glory accompanied the dedication of Solomon’s temple, and the priests were unable to perform their service because of the cloud. Solomon prayed that God would fill this building, have his eyes and ears opened to the prayers prayed in the building, and that whenever men’s hearts were turned in faith towards it – in trouble or sickness, in war or whatever – God would hear and answer their cries. He also prayed that all nations would come to this temple to marvel at “this presence” which was beyond the architecture and design, beyond the gold and silver. They were to meet the One whose mighty hand and outstretched arm alone can perform miracles, answer prayer and cause true worship and reverential fear of God.
Paul, in 1 Corinthians 3:16, speaks of the Church being the temple of the living God, and of our individual bodies also being a temple. (1 Cor 6:19) The enormity of linking these two thoughts has overwhelmed me. Is my body a splendid temple to contain the “invisible presence” of God? Is the Church (local, national or global) a place where God is known to dwell? A place where both individuals in need and world leaders can come to find answers or to marvel?
Will you cry out for God to come with His glory and inhabit us again at an individual and corporate level? Will you pray that men may know the invisible, but awesome presence of the King of Kings – Almighty God, coming to his temple?
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