Solomon’s Temple – 1 Kings 8:1 – 9:9

“But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built!” – I Kings 8:27

Despite the grandeur of the temple and the pomp and circumstance of the occasion, Solomon realizes this important fact: God is much larger than the temple that Solomon had built!

God had revealed Himself through the pillar of cloud in the desert… God’s presence was often represented by the ark of the covenant and the tabernacle… God clearly filled the temple on this day of dedication.  And so the temptation may have been to think of God as contained in the pillar, or the ark, or the tabernacle or temple.  But Solomon wants to make sure people understand that God is not limited to this particular place or time.

When God works in our lives, we face a similar temptation.  Perhaps He spoke to you through a particular song… or He met you in a particular place, or at a conference, or through a ministry.  The temptation is to try to recapture those moments… to relive the experience… or to return to the place.

And then, because we’re attempting to go back to a particular moment, place, or activity, we miss what God is doing in the right here and right now.  If we attempt to live in past, we miss the present.  If we continue to try to find God in a particular place or building (that might not even exist anymore), then we fail to see him where we are at today.  And if we insist on continuing in ministries and activities where we encountered God a decade ago, we might miss the new thing that He wants to do in our lives.