For a full description of the (Y3) reading plan, see the “About” page.
- What attributes of God’s character does this passage reveal?
- How does the passage point to Jesus?
- How should the truth of this passage change me?
- How do the events of today’s reading help you better understand the grand narrative of Scripture?
2 Chron. 6
I started noticing something about Solomon’s temple dedication prayer this morning. For every situation he mentions, the reconciliation for it begins with the people turning and praying toward God’s temple. Solomon asks that when the people pray toward the temple, God will hear from heaven and answer them. The temple is one specific building in one specific city that is one specific direction from wherever a person might be. And when someone turns to this one very specific place in humble prayer, the healing begins. This is one more very important way that God’s temple represented Jesus.
Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (Jn. 14:6). Paul later wrote to Timothy, “For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Tim. 2:5). And Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said, “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to people by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12). One building; one man. One direction to turn and one way to travel to find and receive reconciliation with God. Go back through Solomon’s prayer, putting the name of Jesus in place of the temple, and you begin to see what God has done for us through His Son.
2 Chron. 7
In this chapter we read God’s response to Solomon’s beautiful prayer. As with Solomon’s prayer, we see the promise of Jesus in this response. “[If] my people, who bear my name, humble themselves, pray and seek my face, and turn from their evil ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land. My eyes will now be open and my ears attentive to prayer from this place. And I have now chosen and consecrated this temple so that my name may be there forever; my eyes and my heart will be there at all times.” (2 Chron. 7:14-16).
The thing that really hit me in the gut about this, though, is the final “if” clause in God’s response. If the people turned away from God, He promised that He would banish the temple from His presence. “As for this temple, which was exalted, everyone who passes by will be appalled” (2 Chron. 7:21a). That promise is so much more than it sounds like on the surface! It is God’s promise to us that, because of our sin, He would banish His only begotten Son to the fires of His righteous judgment. Jesus left His throne to bear our shame and carry our condemnation. And because He was fully righteous, He passed through that fire unscathed and rose to be that temple where God’s name exists forever.
Ps. 136
I wonder if this was the Psalm they sung in worship at the temple dedication. In writing about the dedication, the Chronicler twice quotes the line, “For He is good, for His faithful love endures forever.” (2 Chron. 5: 13b & 7:3b). And, though I’m sure they didn’t realize it, this Psalm tells the salvation story. God created and He will save. He leads His people, who passed safely through the waters from death to life, through the wilderness. He remembers us in our humiliation and leads us to His inheritance for us, while the enemy and all his army God will hurl into the sea.
Interestingly, even the sun, moon, and stars seem to speak of His plan. “He made…the sun to rule by day…the moon and stars to rule by night.” (from Ps. 136 7-9). God is the sun who rules for eternity, and there is no night with Him (see Rev. 21 & 22). This span of eternity called time is the night. Jesus is the light God sent into the darkness. And we who believe in Him are the stars; citizens of heaven and joint heirs with Christ, spreading God’s light into the darkness from which He saved us. “Give thanks to the God of heaven! His faithful love endures forever.” (Ps. 136:26).