.... How much less this temple which I have built! In the first part of this verse (1 Kings 8:27) King Solomon asks “But will God indeed dwell on the earth,” and the title is Solomon's answer. I remember as a young man, still far from God, going into one of the magnificent Cathedrals in England and gazing in awe at it. Some of these cathedrals had supporting pillars 27 feet in circumference and they supported stone roofs hundreds of feet above. And the size and splendour of the stain glass windows were breathtaking. But, although I did not get this sense in all of them by and large, they were tombs, empty monuments, devoid of the Lord's presence. But from the Biblical description of Solomon's temple, their splendour paled in comparison. Solomon had commissioned seventy thousand who carried burdens, and eighty thousand who quarried stone in the mountains for the purpose of laying the foundation of the Temple. Perhaps some of them remain at the wailing wall, I don't know!
Solomon's temple was destroyed of course (2 Kings 25:8–10), and a second Temple built. Its size and grandeur was clearly regarded as inferior however (Ezra 3:12). In spite of this, the disciple stared in wonder at it, wondering “what manner of stones and what buildings are here” (Mark 13:1). So how glorious must the original have been? Much of its interior was covered in gold!! Nevertheless as Solomon declared “The heaven of heavens cannot contain You, how much less this temple.” God is so much bigger than we tend to think of Him. And with this morning's, readings, the Lord is challenging me to once again meditate on the greatness, the Glory and the Majesty of our God.
The heavens referred to in our quote are the earth and the starry heavens, the heaven of heavens is the seat of the divine Majesty of God and the habitation of angels and glorified saints. But, as we read, even this cannot contain Him. Indeed heaven is His throne, and earth His footstool (Isaiah 66:1). Clearly the throne and footstool, are but a tiny, tiny fraction of a King's Kingdom, so how great and how marvellous must our God be? Stephen in his provocative speech at his trial declares “The Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands” (Acts 7:48). And yet, and yet, my body is the living Temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19). Do we even begin to comprehend the apparent contradiction in these things. No earthly structure, not even the Heaven of heavens can contain Him, yet He has condescended to dwell in me and in you! Words fail me to even begin to express the enormity and the glory of this!
Father, thank You for the ancient hymns that scratch the surface of my inadequate words. “Oh Lord my God when I in awesome wonder, consider all the worlds thy hands have made .... see the stars....” Thank Your Lord for the amazing and beautiful worship songs You are inspiring in this season. But Lord we have hardly begun to appreciate or even see the beauty and the glory of Worship in the heaven of heavens. Open our eyes Lord to begin to comprehend the greatness of You our incomparable God, and we will give You the Glory in Jesus Name Amen
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