Tues.’s Devo - Solomon Builds the Temple

Read: 1 Kings 5:1-6:38; Acts 7:1-29; Psalm127:1-5; Proverbs 16:28-30 Hiram of Tyre had always loved David and when he found out Solomon his son had been anointed Israel’s next king he sent his servants to Solomon to help in anyway he needed them. Solomon sent back word to Hiram that he needed help building a house for the Lord. Since Hiram’s servants were best at cutting down cedar and construction, he would pay them whatever Hiram asked to built the Temple. *** This pleased Hiram greatly that they would be able to continue their good relationship. Israel had grain and oil that Hiram needed, so they would trade for cedar and woodcarvers. Solomon also drafted a crew of 30,000 men out of Israel. They would work a month in Lebanon cutting trees, then be home two months. He also had 70,000 men to haul stone and 80,000 to cut it. Three thousand and three hundred men officiated the work. They began this work 480 years after they had come out of Egypt with Moses. *** God sent word to Solomon saying that if he would walk in his ways and laws, then He would dwell among them and they would not be forsaken. *** The Temple was majestic and the inside was made to look like the Garden of Eden which was the earth’s reflection of heaven. The walls were covered in cedar with carved gourds, open flowers, palm trees and cherubim. Everything in the Temple was overlaid with gold to shine forth the glory of God. Two huge cherubim were made to sit in the inner sanctuary. They were made of olive wood and overlaid with gold. Even the floors were overlaid with gold. *** The Temple was completed in seven years and four months. *** In Acts, Stephen had been accused by false witnesses of preaching against the Temple and the law of Moses. They also accused Stephen of saying that Jesus would destroy this place and change the customs that Moses gave them. The high priest wanted to know if what they were saying about Stephen was true. Stephen then gave his long discourse of the history of their nation. *** Stephen began with how God appeared to Abraham and led him to the land of Israel, and gave him a son named Isaac, who had Jacob. Jacob had 12 sons who became the 12 tribes of Israel. *** Jacob and his family were brought to Egypt by Joseph so that they would be preserved during the famine. Jacob died, but his bones were taken back to Shechem where they were buried in the only land they owned in the promised land. *** In Egypt, Jacob’s family grew until a king came to power who didn’t know all Joseph had done for his kingdom. He began to greatly oppress the children of Israel. *** Moses was born in a time when the pharaoh of Egypt was killing all the baby boys because the Hebrews were multiplying too fast. Moses was a special baby. He was preserved and adopted by the Pharoah’s daughter. *** When Moses was 40, he went out to see how his brothers were doing. He ended up defending an Israelite who was being abused by an Egyptian. He thought he was secretly killing the Egyptian and no one would know, but the next day he learned the word was out.He fled to the land of Midian where he married and had two sons. *** To be continued… *** Lord, It is so important to remember where we came from and thank you for all you have done for us. May we study our past so we can make the right choices for the future. As a nation, may we look back and learn so we can prosper in the days to come. Thank you for saving us out of our sin and giving us a future filled with hope.