1 Kings
6:19-20 The Oracle, The Dwelling Place
6/05/2016 < >
#1. Neither
Hammer Nor Axe (1Kings6:7, Eph 2:9)
#2. Not With
Silver or Gold (Jer 31:3, 1 Pet 1:18-19.
John 10:26-28)
#3. Be Ye
Separate (1Pet 1:16, 2Cor 6:14-18,
John 8:44)
Please open your
Bibles to the prophecy of 1st Kings 6:1 (2X). This is the chapter where
we read how the temple in Jerusalem was built under the leadership of king
Solomon. No, Solomon did not build it himself, but it was built under his
leadership, and it was built according to the pattern that king David, his
father, had given him. And so, Solomon obeyed and he built the temple, and he
particularly paid attention to the details of the holy of holies where the Ark
of the Covenant was to be placed. And now we want to know the title of this
sermon. It is: "The Oracle"
(2X), or "The Dwelling Place"
(2X).
An Oracle is a "saving from God". Any message
from God is an Oracle. In the OT, the place where God spoke His words
also came to be called "The Oracle". And thus, the Holy of
Holies, in the temple, where the Ark of the Covenant was placed, where God
spoke from between the two Cherubim on top of the Ark, this most holy place was
also called "The Oracle". This most holy place in the temple
is the focus of our sermon today. Let us begin to read here in 1 Kings 6:1,
1 Ki 6:1 And it came to
pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were
come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of
Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month Zif,
which is the second
month, that he began to build the house of the LORD.
1 Ki 6:2 And the house
which king Solomon built for the LORD, the length thereof was threescore
cubits, and the breadth thereof twenty cubits, and the height thereof thirty cubits.
1 Ki 6:3 And the porch
before the temple of the house, twenty cubits was the length thereof,
according to the breadth of
the house; and ten cubits was the breadth thereof before the house.
1 Ki 6:4 And for the house
he made windows of narrow lights.
1 Ki 6:5 And against the
wall of the house he built chambers round about, against the wails of the
house round about, both of the temple and of the oracle:
and he made chambers round about:
1 Ki 6:6 The nethermost
chamber was five cubits broad, and
the middle was six cubits broad, and
the
third was seven cubits broad: for without in the wall of the house he made narrowed rests round
about, that the beams should not be fastened in the
walls of the house.
Thus, it was a building that was about 90 feet deep, and 30
feet wide, and it was about 45 feet high. Today we have houses in
suburbia that are this large, and some are even larger, but not with the lavish
interior of Solomon's temple. In addition, there were chambers built
round about this building that were built up three stories high. The
lowest story was 714 feet wide, the middle story was 9 feet wide, and the top
story was 10/4 feet wide. The reason for these differences in width was because
the walls were thicker at the bottom than they were at the top. The walls
had to be much stronger at the bottom than at the top. Much craftsmanship was
needed during the construction of this temple. For example, there were neither
hammers nor axes heard during the construction.
#1. Neither
Hammer Nor Axe (1 Kings 6:7, Eph 2:9). We read in verse 7,
1Ki 6:7 And the house, when
it was in building, was built of stone made ready before it was brought thither: so that there was
neither hammer nor axe nor any tool
of iron heard in the house, while it was in building.
Every stone was precut to size and shape so that each stone
fit perfectly in place. We do not read of any mortar that was being used
in this building. The stones were shaped such that they interlocked with
each other. The wooden beams interlocked with each other, and the panels of
cedar wood also were put in place without hammering. This required a great deal
of preparation. Solomon employed 153,600 men for 7 years just to
build the temple and finish the work. Just imagine that all the male workers in
the city of Long Beach would be fully employed for 7 years to work on just this
project. That is how extensive this project was. But at the place where the
temple was built, every stone and every wooden beam fell in place. God recorded
this to indicate that the temple in Jerusalem was pointing to another temple, a
spiritual temple of God. The unique stones of Solomon's temple were more
than complete in an earthly sense; they were perfect. God declared them
perfect. There was no defect in them & there may nothing defective be added
by applying iron tools to fasten them in place. This must be the temple of the
God of peace, and therefore no iron tools may be heard in it. God's work
must be done with as much care and as little noise as possible. Noise and
violence will only hinder the work of God, but they will never be of any help
to the work of God. Iron symbolizes violence. Iron is used in
weapons of war. Iron is used in shaping building materials, but they are shaped
with a great deal of force and violence. Moreover, God indicated hereby
that the spiritual temple of God is built without human hands. God
prepares the stones, which represent all the saints whom He chose unto
salvation, and they are put in place without any work from mankind. Our
salvation may not be a product of our work, or of anything that we DO. God says
in Eph 2:9 that our salvation is: "Not of works, lest any man
should boast". Before God saves us, He does a great deal of preparing
us. God's providence, operated by God's Holy Spirit, shapes us and prepares us
for the moment that we are "put in place". The entire history
of the world serves to prepare the stones that are going to be "put in
place", and once we are put in place, which is the moment we have
become "Born from Above", God declares us perfect, and God declares
us to be the place:
1 Ki 6:11 And the word of
the LORD came to Solomon, saying,
1Ki 6:12 Concerning this
house which thou art in building, if thou wilt walk in my statutes, and execute my judgments,
and keep ail my commandments to walk in them; then will I perform my word with
thee, which I spake unto David thy father:
1 Ki 6:13 And I will dwell
among the children of Israel, and will not forsake my people Israel.
Can this be true?
Does God dwell in temples made with hands? God did not specifically say that He
will dwell in this temple, but it is implied. It is "as if God
would personally be in their midst, and "as if He was dwelling in the
temple that was in their midst. There are many verses in the OT that point to
this. For example, you remember the sermon of last week started with Psalm
80:1, "Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph
like a flock; thou that dwellest between the
cherubim, shine forth". This expression "between the cherubim" occurs 10 times in
the OT, but everywhere you see this expression the word "between" is in italics, which means that the
translators inserted it as a suggestion, but it was not in the original text.
You could change this to "Thou that dwellest as the cherubim", and still be correct. The point I am
making is that you do not find a verse in the Bible where God says that He personally
was dwelling in the temple at Jerusalem, although from the context, it is
implied, and it is so used in NT doctrine. Solomon knew this already. If you
turn about 7 pages to your right, to 1 Kings 8:27 (2X), we read
there in 1Ki 8:27 "But will God indeed dwell on the earth?
Behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee: how much less
this house that I have builded?" God is omnipresent, which means that
God is present everywhere. But will God personally dwell in something
that His creatures have made? Could the building that man made be more glorious
than heaven itself? Of course not! In the beginning, God made heaven and
earth. Could this mean that God made heaven for Himself as a dwelling place?
Did God improve on His situation by creating heaven? Of course, the answer is
NO! God is not more perfect now than He was in the past, because then He would
continuously improve on Himself, and then He would not be God. We do not
understand exactly in what way God would dwell in a temple made with hands, and
we do not understand exactly in what way God will dwell in the souls of those
whom He has saved, but we accept these words as truth even though we cannot
fully understand them. And so, we see that we must be careful in understanding
the place where God dwells. Almighty God who is infinite and who is
greater than this universe, which we already call infinite, and who already is
present everywhere in this universe, this great God declared that He would
dwell in certain places in a special way. For example, the Lord Jesus said in John
14:23, "Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me. he will
keep my words: and my Father will love him, and WE will come unto him,
and make our abode with him". Will God shrink Himself to pinpoint size
and so dwell in our souls? No! We cannot understand how God would do this, but
we must believe that it is true. He dwells in our souls, but we do not know in
what way He dwells there. Let us turn again to 1Kings 6:16 (2X).
Now God speaks about the oracle, the most holy place in the
temple, because there is where God was believed to dwell "between the cherubim" above the Ark of the
Covenant.
1Ki 6:16 And he built
twenty cubits on the sides of the house, both the floor and the walls with
boards
of cedar: he even
built them for it within, even for the oracle, even for the most holy place.
1 Ki 6:17 And the house,
that is, the temple before it, was
forty cubits long.
1 Ki 6:18 And the cedar of
the house within was carved with
knops and open flowers: all was cedar;
there was no stone
seen.
1Ki 6:19-20 And the oracle
he prepared in the house within, to set there the ark of the covenant of the
LORD. And
the oracle in the forepart was twenty
cubits in length, and twenty cubits in breadth, and twenty cubits in the height
thereof: and he overlaid it with pure gold; and so covered the altar, which
was of cedar.
1Ki 6:21 So Solomon
overlaid the house within with pure gold: and he made a partition by the chains
of gold before the
oracle; and he overlaid it with gold.
1 Ki 6:22 And the whole house he overlaid
with gold, until he had finished all the house: also the
whole altar that was by the oracle he overlaid with gold.
First, the entire interior of the temple was covered with cedar,
and then all the cedar was covered with gold. What could this mean?
Cedar is strong and durable. Many houses in California have roofs of cedar
shingles. Cedar also has a very sweet smell. Moreover, the cedar tree is used
in the Bible as representing "mighty conquerors". The kings of
Assyria, and the Pharaoh's of Egypt, and the kings of Judah, and the Hebrew
commonwealth itself, and the majesty of the Messianic age, are all compared to a
towering cedar, in its royal loftiness and supremacy, like a mighty
conqueror. But all the cedar in the temple was covered with gold. In fact, all
the interior of the temple, and all the candlesticks, and all the vessels, and
all the utensils, were covered with "pure gold". Gold stands
for being rich. Gold is not representing the elect people of God,
because gold was found in Arabia, in Sheba, and in Ophir, but gold was not
found in the land of Canaan, symbol of the Kingdom of God. Gold was abundant in
Babylon, and the Babylonian Empire is spoken of as a "head of gold"
because of its great riches, but the gold in Babylon as well as the gold in the
land of Israel was all imported gold. So, gold Is the mark of being
rich. Babylon was rich in material things, but God is rich in material! things
as well as spiritual things. In the days of Solomon's temple people walked on a
golden floor, anticipating what we read in Rev 21 that in the New
Jerusalem people will walk of streets paved with gold. When gold is abundant,
it lessens its value. Rightly so, because the attraction of the New Jerusalem
is not for its gold, but because Christ is there. He is worth more than ail the
gold in the universe. And thus, when we look at the spiritual temple of God,
the NT church, then the two attributes of the spiritual temple of God shown
here are: It is a mighty conqueror and it is rich. But the
conquering character of the church is overshadowed by the characteristic of
being rich; not with the riches of this world, but with the riches that God bestowed
on us. God says in Rom 8:32, "He that spared not his own Son,
but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us
all things?" If God has given us all things that we need, then we are
rich beyond belief. We have been redeemed through the blood of Christ "according
to the riches of His grace", and we have been redeemed:
#2. Not With Silver or Gold (Jer31:3,
1 Pet 1:18-19, John 10:26-28)
We have not been bought back with earthly silver or with gold, but
by the suffering and death of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the meaning
of the blood of Christ. Please turn in your Bibles to the Epistle of 1Pet
1:18 (2X). Here, in 1Pet, Chap 1 we can compare the earthly temple in
Jerusalem with the spiritual temple that God speaks about so often in the NT.
God speaks here through the pen of the Apostle Peter, and God reminds us in
this chapter that we are special in His eyes. God said in Jer 31:3,
"Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love", which means
that we were always special in His eyes, because He loved us from the infinite
past. But there was a time between our physical birth and our spiritual birth
that we were at the same time under the wrath of God for our sins. It was for
these sins that Christ had to redeem us. And then the oracle from God
came in the form of a sermon that we heard, or in the form of a Bible study
teacher that we heard, or in the form of a fellow church member that we heard,
for which we suddenly had ail ears. It made us sit up and listen, because we
realized that it was an oracle from God. Briefly summarized, this is
what we heard:
1Pe 1:18 Forasmuch as ye
know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;
1 Pe 1:19 But with the
precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:
1Pe 1:20 Who verily was
foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last
times for you,
In 16th century English: "We were redeemed
from our vain conversation". In 21st century English: "We
were delivered from the sinful life that we lived". And how were we
delivered? God bought us back so that we became one of His sheep. He did
not buy us back with silver or gold, since these are corruptible things, which
will be burned up at the end of the world, but He bought us back with the
precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. How did we happen to live the sinful
life that we lived? It was received by tradition from our fathers, such as Adam,
and anyone else of our fathers between Adam and now. We learned from our direct
fathers by imitation, but the reason why we liked it was because our father
Adam gave us this sinful body, and thus we really like our sins. But Christ
bought us back, by substituting for us before the Judgment throne of
God. Christ paid the penalty for our sins in our place. He was the Lamb of God,
without blemish and without spot. And He was foreordained before the
foundation of the world to suffer and die in our place for our sins. It means
that our sins were also in God's view before the foundation of the world, and
it means that everybody's sins were also in God's view before the foundation of
the world. But Christ did not suffer and die for everybody's sins. He
specifically chose to pay for the sins of those who were His sheep. The Lord
Jesus said to the unbelieving Jews in John 10:26-28, "But ye
believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. My
sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give
unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish". When He gave us
eternal life, we became aware that this was an oracle from God. We became aware
of it because God came to dwell in our soul. This is:
This is where God dwells here on earth, in the
souls of those whom He saved, by first having Christ pay for our sins, and then
by applying that payment to our life at the time that fit God's plan. Is that
not glorious? But it will get even more glorious. Please turn in your
Bibles to almost the last page of your Bible, to Rev 21:9 (2X). When the
Last Day of this earth has come, and God has given everybody a new immortal
body, and when God has destroyed this earth, and God has judged and removed all
the wicked from our sight, then He will take us up into a place that is called
the NH&NE. And there God will show us the complete set of all
the saints. It is impossible to describe it in terms of this universe what God
is showing us in the next universe, where all the laws of nature are different.
Literally, we have no words for it, because everything we will see and
everything we will do is literally out of this world. That is why God described
it to us in the form of a parable. He said in Rev 21:9,
Re 21:9 And there came unto
me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last
plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride,
the Lamb's wife.
Re 21:10 And he carried me
away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city,
the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,
Re 21:11 Having the glory
of God: and her light was like unto a
stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal;
All the saints together are called "the bride, the Lamb's
wife". She is called "the bride" and at the same time
"the Lamb's wife" because we will be celebrating a wedding feast
which will continue into eternity future. When God describes the New Jerusalem
He describes it in a parable. The Bride of Christ, or the body of believers, or
all the OT and NT saints together, does not look like an earthly city and it
does not look like a gigantic Jasper stone. These are earthly representations
of something that God describes as super glorious. But look now at the
dimensions of that city. Drop down to verse 15.
Re 21:15 And he that talked
with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the
wall thereof.
Re 21:16 And the city lieth foursquare, and the length
is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve
thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal.
Here is a cube of 12000 furlongs on each side; it is not important
how long 12000 furlongs are. The main thing is that this is a cube
where God promised He would dwell. We read in Rev 21:3 (2X),
Re 21:3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven
saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with
men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself
shall be with them, and be their God.
Therefore, the NH&NE is not another planet earth where we are,
and a heaven above it where God dwells. NO! It is a place all right, but God
will dwell with us, in the same place, which is called the NH & NE. At the
same time, God describes it as a cube of 12000 furlongs where God dwells with
man and among man. Does this not remind us of another cube, the Holy of Holies
in the temple, where God promised to dwell? This was the cube that was called the
Oracle, and it was 20 cubits in length, 20 cubits in breadth, and 20 cubits
in height. God dwelt there, represented by the Ark of the Covenant, which was
placed there. God approved of it, as demonstrated by the fire from the
Lord when Solomon offered a burnt offering at the completion of the temple. And
so. we have come full circle back to the Oracle, or the Holy of Holies, or the
most holy place. There God spoke oracles from between the two cherubim.
The NT uses the word oracle only in the plural form. What are:
In the NT, the Oracles of God refer to the Scriptures. Please
turn in your Bibles to the Acts of the Apostles 7:37 (2X). In
Acts, chap 7 Stephen, one of the 7 deacons of the church at Jerusalem gave his
defense. He was accused of blasphemy, he was brought before the council of the
Sanhedrin, and there he gave his last sermon before he was stoned to death. God
spoke through the mouth of Stephen, and God said in Acts 7:37,
Ac 7:37 This is that Moses,
which said unto the children of Israel, A prophet shall the Lord your
God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me: him shall ye hear.
Ac 7:38 This is he (Moses), that was in the
church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sinai,
and with our fathers: who received the
lively oracles to give unto us:
The prophet, whom God raised up, like unto Moses, was the Lord
Jesus Christ. Then Moses received "the lively oracles" to give
to the children of Israel. What were those lively oracles? They were Genesis,
Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. Now, drop down to verse 47,
Ac 7:47 But Solomon built
him an house.
Ac 7:48 Howbeit the most
High dwelleth not in temples made with hands: as saith the prophet,
Ac 7:49 Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: what house will ye
build me? saith the Lord: or what is the
place of my rest?
Ac 7:50 Hath not MY hand
made ail these things?
God takes full credit
for all the building efforts of Solomon. God says that His hand has made
all these things. God made the temple in Jerusalem, and God was responsible for
enforcing the rules that no hammer blows and no axes may be used on the
building site. God determined that the Holy of Holies must be 20 cubits X 20
cubits X 20 cubits, signifying His dwelling place within the temple. And God
did that because He was going to describe another cube where He would dwell
among the children of men. God determined that the entire temple would be
encased in cedar and gold, and God saw to it that gold would be available when
the temple was under construction. God saw to it that His oracles would be
completed by the end of the 1st century, and that His people,
those for whom Christ suffered and died, would know in their lifetime
that they had been redeemed by the blood of Christ. As a result, God says to
those who have been redeemed:
#3,
Be Ye Separate (1Pet 1:16, 2Cor6:14-18. John 8:44)
Please turn in your Bibles to
the 2nd Epistle to the Corinthians 6:14 (2X). God says
in 1Pet 1:16, "Be ye holy, for I am holy", or "Be
ye separate, for I am separate". In what way is God separate? God is
separate from other gods. God does not mingle with other gods. God is set apart
by Himself, and He demands from us that we set ourselves apart from those who
will draw us away from God. He demands that from us because we have
become the dwelling place of God. He says in 2Cor6:14,
2Co 6:14 Be ye not
unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath
righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with
darkness?
2Co 6:15 And what concord
hath Christ with Belial? Or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?
2Co 6:16 And what agreement
hath the temple of God with idols? For ye are the temple of the living God; as
God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
2Co 6:17 Wherefore come out
from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,
2Co 6:18 And will be a
Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord
Almighty.
We must not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. If a Christian
girl meets a boy who is of a different persuasion, and he insists that his
religion is best, then she should not try to win him over for Christ, because
in that way she would be violating what God has stated here in verses 14-16. Do
not try to find loopholes by making your fiancé your evangelism ground. God
says in verse 15, "What agreement has Christ with Satan?" An unsaved
individual is still in the hands of Satan. The Lord Jesus said to them in John
8:44. "Ye are of your
father the devil". If you
get married to an unsaved individual, then your father in law is the devil.
This can never be a happy marriage. Moreover, your children will be drawn away
to follow the devil. Then they will marry unsaved spouses and so your
entire posterity will remain
unsaved. The term "unequally yoked"
also applies to business relationships. We should not imagine that we
would receive a fair treatment from those business partners who are in the
clutches of Satan. You know that Satan hates you, and thus he will try
his level best to harm you in any way he can. Your business relationship may be
sailing smoothly for the first few years, but when troubles start everything
will be falling apart. The term "unequally yoked" also applies
to your place of worship. If you are a member of a church that has become a
different gospel, then you are worshipping in a temple dedicated to the worship
of devils. God says in verse 17, "Wherefore come out from among
them, and be ye separate". God's command to us is that we come out
from among them. Leaving that church will be pleasing to God. If you stay,
trying to convert someone, you will be swallowed up in their cesspool of
unrighteousness. God's command to us is that we must remember that, we are the
temple of God. Therefore, we must conduct ourselves in such a way that we
remain unspotted from the evil that is ail around us. Pray to God that He will
give us the wisdom to recognize when we should refuse an unequal yoke. Pray to
God that He will give us the courage to cut the ties of our existing unequal
yokes. Pray to God that He will give us the grace to bring it to a conclusion
that is pleasing in His sight. AMEN.
Let us turn to the Lord in prayer.