One thing I forgot to mention yesterday.
Keep in mind that a whopping 13 years had passed between the Temple dedication and the Lord’s subsequent visitation to Solomon, when He promised to grant his requests.
My point is, did Solomon even remember what he had requested from the Lord over a decade earlier?
That was a helluva lot of waiting to find out.
Nevertheless, one important lesson to extract from this is that though it may take many long years…
The Lord ALWAYS keeps His promises.
Can I get an AMEN to that?
Alrighty, let’s move on.
Take a look at verse 3.
“Adonai said to him, I have heard your prayer and your plea that you made before me: I am consecrating this house which you built and placing my name there forever; my eyes and heart will always be there.”-1 Kings 9:3
Now, an interesting question that arises is why would the Lord need to impress upon Solomon once again that He had consecrated the Temple and placed His Name there?
I think there are two practical reasons why.
First, after 13 years of ups and downs, perhaps the Lord wanted to reassure Solomon that His commitment to the Temple as a holy meeting place remained firmly intact.
Second, I believe the Lord also wanted to remind Solomon that it was HE who had consecrated and made the Temple holy.
It wasn’t Solomon nor the priesthood.
It was Him.
And that leads to our takeaway for today.
Never forget it is only the Lord who possesses the authority to make something holy.
Not ceremonies.
Or priests.
Or prayer.
Or reading Scripture every day.
The Catholic Church and the Pope, with their claims of papal authority, don’t possess the power to decree something holy.
But that’s essentially what happened when the Catholic Church changed the Sabbath from Shabbat to Sunday.
The 7th day is a rest day holy unto the Lord because He has declared it so.
Israel and His people are His Chosen and holy people because He has declared them to be.
I’m not saying prayer, Bible study, or ceremonies aren’t important.
I’m just saying those acts in and of themselves don’t make you holy.
They never have, and they never will.
It is ONLY the Lord who has the power to cleanse you of your sin.
And make you holy.
Ya feel me?
Done
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