$145 billion might seem like a hard number to get your head around. At today’s prices, $145 billion was the cost of just the gold that was used in King Solomon’s temple. It was said that silver was as common as stone in Jerusalem when Solomon ruled. Even the seven and a half years it took 120,000 laborers to build the temple isn’t normally calculated. What was helpful for me was the figure for one lamp stand in the Holy Place – $980,000. I’m a homeowner so that figure can translate into monthly payments and mortgages for me. For all the extreme value that was King Solomon’s temple, it doesn’t compare to the dear price that was paid for my soul. I don’t say that to cheapen the value of yours, but to remind everyone that if there was just one soul that had sinned, God still would’ve split the heavens and come down in humility to pay for that one soul’s sins. The blood of God doesn’t fluctuate on a world market; it’s priceless. If that was what it took for you to be forgiven, that is an incredible worth that is attached to you.
Why in his right mind would Solomon want to tell the world about his temple? Wouldn’t he be putting a giant target on his kingdom? Maybe, but that didn’t stop him. Solomon knew that when people came to see the magnificent structure they would see a taste of how incredible the God of free and faithful grace really was! And when they did they would pray to the Lord, and be saved. The Queen of Sheba came and saw, and according to Jesus you will see her on the Last Day in glory..
Topic(s): FaithBook(s): 1 Kings
Tag(s): King, Prayer, Temple
Speaker(s): Fred Guldberg