King James Bible Study – [Mark 8:34 And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.]
Date: Saturday, June 11, 2022
Chapters: II CHRONICLES 2-4
Study: Storms, Fires, Pillars, And An Altar
Hello My Friend,
Yesterday’s devotional was about making sure that the work we do in the strength of Christ is not only an investment that will return back to us by the glory of God, but also that it needs to be on the foundation of Christ. Well, oddly enough today, we will learn about building up God’s temple, which by the way is every saved, born again Christian from the foundation of Christ, and what better words to understand that importance than what Jesus describes here.
[Luke 6:46-49 And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? 47 Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like: 48 He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock. 49 But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.]
I told you yesterday that I was contemplating getting a second job to help out with unexpected expenses that are leaving me begging God for the funds to keep up the normal stuff. Well, I got a nice surprise coming to me in my next paycheck, normally I work four ten hour days, but with training I will be back to five eight hour days. That actually alters my hours the first week I go from one schedule to the other because our work week is from Thursday to Wednesday, but our schedules are based on Sunday through Saturday. When I mentioned this, my supervisor adjusted my schedule for this coming week, and that actually gives me more hours, resulting in an extra ten hours and that means ten hours of overtime. Praise God! [Philippians 4:19 But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.]
I just had to throw that verse in there because I am convinced that the only reason that was made possible was because I told God that I would let Him handle it. Life has a way of flooding us with its storms that truly do beat upon us vehemently at times, but thankfully we do stand upon that ROCK, and I tell you what, it is the same ROCK that Moses and every other God fearing soul stood upon, [1 Corinthians 10:1-4 Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; 2 And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; 3 And did all eat the same spiritual meat; 4 And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.]
As we take a pause from Proverbs and return to the reading of 2 Chronicles, Solomon sets out to build the very first solid building that David, his father had given him the plan for. He knew that he would not be able to accomplish this massive project on his own, and that he was going to need some help. He contacted, David’s, good friend, Huran, the king of Tyre for help.
[2 Chronicles 2:1-3,5-6 And Solomon determined to build an house for the name of the LORD, and an house for his kingdom. 2 And Solomon told out threescore and ten thousand men to bear burdens, and fourscore thousand to hew in the mountain, and three thousand and six hundred to oversee them. 3 And Solomon sent to Huram the king of Tyre, saying, As thou didst deal with David my father, and didst send him cedars to build him an house to dwell therein, even so deal with me. 5 And the house which I build is great: for great is our God above all gods. 6 But who is able to build him an house, seeing the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain him? who am I then, that I should build him an house, save only to burn sacrifice before him?]
[And the house which I build is great:] Jesus, laid the foundation for us when we accepted Him as our Saviour, but every brick that is laid upon it, I tell you what, comes from those storms we endure as well as the beautiful days that come once we get through them. The temple that God builds us up as is not a bunch of perfect little stones, it is made up of both bits and pieces of broken rock as well as some stubble and wood, but, it will tell you this, the glue that holds it together and perfects it is none other than Jesus Himself. And just exactly how do you think that we are perfected? Enduring the storms with Him.
[Psalms 107:21,24,27-30 Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! 24 These see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep. 27 They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end. 28 Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses. 29 He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still. 30 Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.]
The children of men, these are the unsaved who live in the world, and there is a very good reason why God sends us out there and allows us to both work for them and or they work for us. Keep in mind, that God will use those who have a faith in Him, not the wicked, He does not want us to go near them. Solomon, was not just going to go over there and ask Huran for some lumber, he had a proposal for him.
[2 Chronicles 2:10-12,15-16 And, behold, I will give to thy servants, the hewers that cut timber, twenty thousand measures of beaten wheat, and twenty thousand measures of barley, and twenty thousand baths of wine, and twenty thousand baths of oil. 11 Then Huram the king of Tyre answered in writing, which he sent to Solomon, Because the LORD hath loved his people, he hath made thee king over them. 12 Huram said moreover, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, that made heaven and earth, who hath given to David the king a wise son, endued with prudence and understanding, that might build an house for the LORD, and an house for his kingdom. 15 Now therefore the wheat, and the barley, the oil, and the wine, which my lord hath spoken of, let him send unto his servants: 16 And we will cut wood out of Lebanon, as much as thou shalt need: and we will bring it to thee in floats by sea to Joppa; and thou shalt carry it up to Jerusalem.]
[let him send unto his servants:] Hiram, gladly accepted Solomon’s proposal, and there was no money involved at all, it was provisions for offering their time as service. The work we do for God is not always compensated with silver and gold, in fact, Jesus says to His servants, which by the way, is an employee, [Luke 10:3-7 Go your ways: behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves. 4 Carry neither purse, nor scrip, nor shoes: and salute no man by the way. 5 And into whatsoever house ye enter, first say, Peace be to this house. 6 And if the son of peace be there, your peace shall rest upon it: if not, it shall turn to you again. 7 And in the same house remain, eating and drinking such things as they give: for the labourer is worthy of his hire. Go not from house to house.]
Do you see where Jesus says, [and salute no man by the way.]? We cannot let anyone or thing get in our way of doing God’s work. Why? Because it is a great work, in fact, it is the greatest work that we will ever do, and supersedes every other work that we would ever do. So, four years unto Solomon’s reign, everything was gathered together to begin building the temple, [2 Chronicles 3:1-3 Then Solomon began to build the house of the LORD at Jerusalem in mount Moriah, where the LORD appeared unto David his father, in the place that David had prepared in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite. 2 And he began to build in the second day of the second month, in the fourth year of his reign. 3 Now these are the things wherein Solomon was instructed for the building of the house of God. The length by cubits after the first measure was threescore cubits, and the breadth twenty cubits.]
[where the LORD appeared unto David his father,] Remember, this is where David had built the altar when he offered the sacrifice that would end the plague that happened when David had to choose the judgment when he had numbered the people without compensation, [1 Chronicles 21:26-28 And David built there an altar unto the LORD, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and called upon the LORD; and he answered him from heaven by fire upon the altar of burnt offering. 27 And the LORD commanded the angel; and he put up his sword again into the sheath thereof. 28 At that time when David saw that the LORD had answered him in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite, then he sacrificed there.]
The very same furniture, vessels, and equipment used in the tabernacle would also be used for the temple, only a lot more would be made. I guess Solomon or David, accounted for the millions of people who would come there every year to offer sacrifices besides Jews, but the one thing that would not be made in access is God’s little cubby, there would be only one place that God would dwell in the temple, and it would be guarded heavily.
[2 Chronicles 3:10-13 And in the most holy house he made two cherubims of image work, and overlaid them with gold. 11 And the wings of the cherubims were twenty cubits long: one wing of the one cherub was five cubits, reaching to the wall of the house: and the other wing was likewise five cubits, reaching to the wing of the other cherub. 12 And one wing of the other cherub was five cubits, reaching to the wall of the house: and the other wing was five cubits also, joining to the wing of the other cherub. 13 The wings of these cherubims spread themselves forth twenty cubits: and they stood on their feet, and their faces were inward.]
[And in the most holy house he made two cherubims] The cherubims were the security guards of the most holy place, which would be where the Ark of the Covenant would be and the Holy Spirit Himself would sit above the mercy seat. Their wings covered the entire entrance from wall to wall, and while they may have only appeared to be statues, those angels knew how to fight, and nothing was getting past them. Not to mention the veil that was placed before them to be sure that no one would go past it.
[2 Chronicles 3:14-17 And he made the vail of blue, and purple, and crimson, and fine linen, and wrought cherubims thereon. 15 Also he made before the house two pillars of thirty and five cubits high, and the chapiter that was on the top of each of them was five cubits. 16 And he made chains, as in the oracle, and put them on the heads of the pillars; and made an hundred pomegranates, and put them on the chains. 17 And he reared up the pillars before the temple, one on the right hand, and the other on the left; and called the name of that on the right hand Jachin, and the name of that on the left Boaz.]
[And he made the vail of blue, and purple, and crimson, and fine linen,] This is the very veil that ripped straight down the middle from the top down when Jesus died on the cross. That was the day that God took away the veil that separated Himself from man, it was no longer needed because Jesus would be the one in the middle from now on, [Luke 23:44-46 And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. 45 And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst. 46 And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.]
[called the name of that on the right hand Jachin,] What was the importance of naming a pillar? Well, these pillars were not your average beam that kept the building from caving in, these were designed and named specifically for a purpose. Jachin, meaning, he shall establish, was head over the priests during David’s reign, and Boaz, meaning fleetness or swiftness, was the kinsman redeemer who married Ruth, the Moabite, and kept the lineage of Judah from ending. He is also David’s great-grandfather, and written in the lineage from which Jesus would descend in the flesh. These pillars, believe it or not, also represent every saved, born again Christian, who stands upon the ROCK, [Revelation 3:12 Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.]
Him that overcomes, means men, women, and children, by the way, brick by brick, Jesus builds us up, from the inside out, not only are we going to face storms of life, He is also going to send some fires as well. Why? Well, sometimes we need a storm to strengthen us and other times we need a fire to refine us. Now, an account is given of the dwelling area of the priests, the furniture of God’s house, and also, the brass altar, this would be where the sacrifices of the people would be offered up to God for an atonement.
[2 Chronicles 4:1-2,6-7 Moreover he made an altar of brass, twenty cubits the length thereof, and twenty cubits the breadth thereof, and ten cubits the height thereof. 2 Also he made a molten sea of ten cubits from brim to brim, round in compass, and five cubits the height thereof; and a line of thirty cubits did compass it round about. 6 He made also ten lavers, and put five on the right hand, and five on the left, to wash in them: such things as they offered for the burnt offering they washed in them; but the sea was for the priests to wash in. 7 And he made ten candlesticks of gold according to their form, and set them in the temple, five on the right hand, and five on the left.]
[Moreover he made an altar of brass,] Notice that the altar was made of brass, this was done for two reasons, one; to withstand the heat and flames of the fire that would consume the sacrifice, otherwise, it would melt, and two; for strength to withstand the heat and flames. This altar was much larger than the one Moses had made in the tabernacle. It was to be hoped that the Jews would become more devout and expected that there would be a greater abundance of offerings brought to God’s altar than there had been previously. When you stop to think about what is also known as the brazen altar, and how it is so durable to withstand actual heat and flames, that sounds a lot like Jesus, by whom we come to the altar. Jesus not only keeps us from melting in the fire, He also gives us the strength to endure it. Praise God for that! [1 Peter 4:12-13 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: 13 But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.]
I just have to say this, the one thing about going through the storms and fire is that while everyone looks at you like you did something that brought it all on, God is the one who says, “Well done!” and when we do meet Jesus face to face, we are the ones who will receive the crown, [2 Timothy 4:1-2,6-8 I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; 2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. 6 For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. 7 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: 8 Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.]
Today’s Prayer: God, I understand that the second I called on Your Son, Jesus Christ, to save me that Your Spirit entered my body and now You indwell in me. LORD, since Christ is my foundation, and I am the pillar upon which it stands, I want to be more than just Your temple, I want to be the pillar You need me to be that gives support to the lost, to those lost in their way, and to everyone who seeks to know why I keep going no matter how many times I get knocked down. Lord, Watch over me, and guide me, teach me to love, obey, and trust in You at all times, fill me with Your mercy, grace, strength, and let me become a strong pillar to help build up Your kingdom until You bring me home. In ask this in Your name, Jesus. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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