In the Old Testament, King David wanted to build a temple for God, reasoning that people lived in houses, but God has only ever lived in a tabernacle (tent). Why should people live in a nicer place than God? However, David was not allowed to build the temple, but God said his son Solomon would build it. David gives the reason in a speech to Israel from 1 Chronicles 28:2-3:
“I had it in my heart to build a house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the LORD and for the footstool of our God, and I made preparations for building. But God said to me, ‘You may not build a house for my name, for you are a man of war and have shed blood.’” (emphasis mine)
Since becoming king, David had to fight many of Israel’s neighbors in order to establish peace, which was accomplished by Solomon’s time as king. But David was not idle regarding the temple; he made many preparations to make Solomon’s job easier when the time came. After David’s death, Solomon, preparing for construction, worked with Hiram king of Tyre to secure lumber. In his letter to Hiram, Solomon wrote:
“You know that David my father could not build a house for the name of the LORD his God because of the warfare with which his enemies surrounded him, until the LORD put them under the soles of his feet. But now the LORD my God has given me rest on every side. There is neither adversary nor misfortune.” – 1 Kings 5:3-4
God wanted His temple – His dwelling place – built under peaceful conditions, by a peaceful leader, not by a warrior. Under Solomon’s leadership, God’s temple was completed.
Solomon’s temple is no more, but God is now building another temple – another dwelling place – His church. How do we know this? Peter wrote that Christians as “living stones are being built up as a spiritual house”[1] and Paul that Christians “also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.”[2] God now spiritually lives in and among His people, not in a physical building.
What does David and Solomon’s experience teach us about the temple God is now building? We know that Solomon’s temple had to be built by peaceful people, and Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew 5:9, that:
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.”
In the Greek language used in the New Testament, the word for peace comes from the verb “to join,” so peacemaking has to do with joining people together. Between believers, this means that the more we live like Christ, the more we are able to join together in unity. From believers to unbelievers, this “joining” means we offer them the love Christ gave us and hope and pray they will join with Him. When discussing all issues non-essential to salvation, this means we seek to join and not separate, to promote peace instead of discord.
So, with God now building a temple of peacemakers, Paul urges us to be “eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”[3] Pray that this Spirit can grow in each of us and in His people worldwide!
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.”
Driving Toward the Morning Sun 