The Temple Was Built in Peace

"David said, “My son Solomon is young and inexperienced, and the house that is to be built for the LORD shall be exceedingly magnificent, famous and glorious throughout all lands. Therefore now I will make preparation for it.” So David made ample preparations before his death. Then he called for his son Solomon, and charged him to build a house for the LORD God of Israel. David said to Solomon, “My son, I had intended to build a house to the name of the LORD my God. But the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ‘You have shed much blood and have waged great wars; you shall not build a house to My name, because you have shed so much blood on the earth before Me. Behold, a son will be born to you, who shall be a man of rest; and I will give him rest from all his enemies on every side; for his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quiet to Israel in his days. He shall build a 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 forever.’ " 1 Chronicles 22:5-10

I was reading this portion of scripture last night and two interesting and related points struck me;

• David prepared the materials for the temple as a man of war.
• Solomon a man of peace used those materials to build the temple and was given rest.

Given that a temple is a place where God lives, then there are two analogies that I can see - and probably a whole bunch more that I can't see;


Analogy One:

"He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God ..." Revelation 3:12 

Each person who accepts Christ becomes a member of His church, His body, here on earth. The church is the place where God lives so it is a temple of God and each of us is a building block of that temple.

We (our characters), are being prepared during a time of war. Jesus is moulding us here and now during His war with Satan. Some of us will be pillars as mentioned in the verse above, the rest of us will be other parts of this temple. 

The finished temple that the church represents will actually be put together, 'built,'  during a time of rest and peace - when Jesus comes again and collects all of the people who chose to follow Him and takes them to Heaven and we (the church) live with God for ever and ever. 

"And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them..." Revelation 21:3

Analogy Two:

"Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?" 1 Corinthians 6:19

Our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit.

We were born, 'prepared,' during a time of war, during the war between Jesus and Satan.

The temple is 'built' when we accept Jesus as our Saviour and the Holy Spirit comes to live in our hearts making us a Temple of God. He brings with Him peace and rest.

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness..." Galatians 5:22

Any thoughts?