Prayer and God’s Mission

The Temple

The Temple

David had wanted to build the Temple (2 Samuel 7), but God had told him that he was

not the one to do it.

The Temple

David had wanted to build the Temple (2 Samuel 7), but God had told him that he was

not the one to do it.

David’s son Solomon builds the temple. (1 Kings 6)

The Temple

The Jewish temple was to be different than those of pagan gods.

The Temple

The Jewish temple was to be different than those of pagan gods.

Pagan gods were local or national gods.

The Temple

The Jewish temple was to be different than those of pagan gods.

Pagan gods were local or national gods.

The God of the Jews was to be over all the earth.

The Temple

The Jewish temple was to be different than those of pagan Gods.

Pagan God were local or national Gods.

The God of the Jews was to be over all the earth.

This was reflected in the nature of the dedication prayer for the temple. (1 Kings 8)

Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in front of the whole assembly of Israel, spread out his hands toward heaven and said:    “LORD, the God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth below—you who keep your covenant of love with your servants who continue whole-heartedly in your way. You have kept your promise to your servant David my father; with your mouth you have promised and with your hand you have fulfilled it—as it is today . . .

 

. . .“But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built! Yet give attention to your servant’s prayer and his plea for mercy, LORD my God. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is praying in your presence this day. May your eyes be open toward this temple night and day, this place of which you said, ‘My Name shall be there,’ so that you will hear the prayer your servant prays toward this place. Hear the supplication of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray toward this place. Hear from heaven, your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive . . .

“As for the foreigner who does not belong to your people Israel but has come from a distant land because of your name— for they will hear of your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm—when they come and pray toward this temple, then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your own people Israel, and may know that this house I have built bears your Name.”

I Kings 8:22-24, 27-30, 41-43 (NIV)

Solomon’s Assumptions

Foreigners would hear about the temple.

They would come to see the temple and pray there.

Their prayers would be heard and the whole earth would hear of the Lord.

The theme of the prayer for the temple.

The temple was to be a place of grace.

The temple was to be a place where the people of all the world could come and pray.

Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’”

Matthew 21:12-13 (NIV)

Jesus is doing more than simply cleansing the temple.

Jesus is announcing the destruction of the temple.

By the time of Jesus the temple was not serving the purpose for which Solomon had

dedicated it.

And foreigners who bind themselves to the LORD    to minister to him, to love the name of the LORD,    and to be his servants, all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it    and who hold fast to my covenant— these I will bring to my holy mountain    and give them joy in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices     will be accepted on my altar;

for my house will be called     a house of prayer for all nations.”

Isaiah 56:6-7 (NIV)

Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.

I Corinthians 3:16-17 (NIV)

How should we pray regarding a building?

Pray that the building would be an instrument of God’s grace.

It should be a blessing to all nations.