We are not yet done with the temple of Solomon, since the next chapter recounts the dedication of the temple that includes Solomon’s prayer of dedication. That prayer is the high point of Solomon’s reign, a prayer rivalled only by his prayer for wisdom at the beginning of his rule.
Nevertheless, before we move to that very important chapter, something needs to be said in the conclusion to the chapters dealing with the preparation and building of the temple. We need to understand where the importance of worship lies and what the temple has to do with this importance.
Many matters might be discussed to come to the desired understanding, but we mention two that are perhaps the most important issues to consider. The first is the nearness of God to his people. True worship is found in drawing near to God and experiencing his presence. The temple was constructed to be God’s house, a symbol of the presence of God with those to whom he was bound by covenant. His presence was an assurance to Israel’s spiritual and physical well-being.
The second matter has to do with the manner in which the Lord may be approached. What was necessary in order to draw near to God in the sanctuary? It was the offering of bloody sacrifices. It is not only physical distance that separates man from God. There is another problem and that is sin, which is the chief problem. The temple, as the tabernacle before it, was a place of sacrifice. If the sacrificial system of the Mosaic law did not exist, the design and furniture of the temple would have been quite different.
The concept of sacrifice brings us to confront a place where the temple joins with the law as a school master to bring us to Christ
(Galatians 3:24). The law condemns us by our failure to be able to keep it, and the sacrificial system points us to the necessity of the condemnation being removed, if we are to appear blameless in God’s presence. The temple and its sacrifices speak to us of atonement.
Atonement, however, is a multifaceted concept. It carries with it a multitude of questions. One of the most important is the question of who is appeased by atonement. Is it man or God? In the temple worship of Israel, it is clear that it is God whose pardon is sought. Man brings the sacrifice and God receives it (or does not). If the same answer is not to be given with regard to the offering of Christ on the cross, the temple of Solomon is irrelevant to us. Jesus Christ as he shares our nature offers himself to the Father who sent him, that the obstacle of sin might be removed from his people.
51 Thus all the work that King Solomon did on the house of the LORD was finished. And Solomon brought in the things that David his father had dedicated, the silver, the gold, and the vessels, and stored them in the treasuries of the house of the LORD.