Location, Location, Location
One Year Bible (June 9)
I Kings 5:1-6:38
Location. Location. Location.
Recently the song, “Go Rest High On That Mountain” by Vince Gill has come to my attention. Perhaps it is because we all mourn when we watch faithful humans struggle and die before their time.
The song begins with the words, “I know your life on earth was troubled And only you could know the pain. You weren’t afraid to face the devil. You were no stranger to the rain.”
David was a “man after God’s own heart”, but he was also a fallen man who would not be allowed to lead Israel from The Tabernacle to The Temple. David had made the plans and preparations and collected a vast amount of materials before his death. (I Chron. 22:5). Even though Solomon was young and inexperienced, David would not be the one to build the “magnificent structure, famous, and glorious throughout the world”. (22:5)
“Then David sent for his son Solomon and instructed him to build a Temple for the LORD, the God of Israel. I wanted to build a Temple to honor the name of the LORD my God.” David told him, “But the LORD said to me, ‘You have killed many men in the great battles you have fought. And since you have shed so much blood before me, YOU WILL NOT BE THE ONE to build a Temple to honor my name. But you will have a son who will experience peace and rest. I will give him peace with his enemies in all the surrounding lands. His name will be Solomon, and I will give him peace and quiet to Israel during his reign.’... “And I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever.” (I Chronicles 22:6-10)
What is the significance, symbolism, and site of all of this elaborate building that is under construction for the Temple by King Solomon in I Kings 5-7?
Have you heard of Mount Moriah?
This is the LOCATION where King Solomon began building the Temple in the fourth year of his reign. As God promised, it was a time of peace, and there was an alliance of peace with David’s friend, Hiram, who said, “Praise the Lord for giving David a wise son to be king of the great nation of Israel.” ( I Kings 5:7)
First, Mount Moriah is the location where (2000 years before) Jesus died.
Secondly, Abraham, the Hebrew patriarch of Israel, ascended this mountain with his only son, Isaac, to sacrifice him to his God as requested to show his faith. It was on Mount Moriah that God provided a ram to take the place of his human son. This lamb was the substitutionary sacrifice. The book of Hebrews says that Abraham received his son “back from the dead”.
The theme of “The Sacrificial Substitutionary” lamb was the basis of the Feast of the Passover that Moses was instructed to institute. The enslaved Israelites were instructed to sprinkle the blood of a lamb over their doorposts to spare them from death and to free them from slavery.
Thirdly, perhaps, we may not have connected all the dots yet, but we also recently saw Mount Moriah as the place where David bought a threshing floor to atone for his sin concerning taking the census. It was there that he commented, “I will not offer a sacrifice that cost me nothing”.
Solomon built the very first temple on this very site where his father, David, had sacrificed to God, and where Abraham, the “Father of the Nation of Israel” had been willing to sacrifice his only son. Does the significance of this location give you chills?
Remember when God told Solomon that he would “establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever.”? The Temple that Solomon is building in this passage was destroyed by the Babylonians. Then King Herod later remodeled the structure. The second temple, however, was destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D. So, what happened to the “Kingdom over Israel forever”?
promise? Mount Moriah in Jerusalem is now known as “The Temple Mount”. So, what was God referring to in his promise?
During his ministry, Jesus compared himself to the Temple in Jerusalem. He promised that HE would “tear down the temple in three days and raise it again in three days”. (John 2: 19-21)
What about that sacrificial lamb introduced to Abraham and Isaac on Mount Moriah? Revelation 13:3 tells us that, “Jesus is the LAMB slain before the foundation of the world.”
You see, if we miss the location of the mountain where the Temple is built, we will miss the message and the meaning of all of the symbolism that goes on inside of it. Mount Moriah reminds us that the Temple is not a Temporary Place. It is a Forever Person and an Eternal Promise fulfilled through Jesus Christ, the perfect lamb!
“Go rest high upon that mountain. Son your work on earth is done. Go to heaven a-shoutin’ Love for the Father and the Son.” (Vince Gill)
As you can see, one can not begin to understand the significance or symbolism of the Temple without understanding … Location. Location. Location.
