Gold for the heart - 2 Chronicles 5-7

2 Chronicles 5

1 And all the work that Solomon made for the house of the LORD was finished: and Solomon brought in all the things that David his father had dedicated; he put the silver, the gold, and all the articles among the treasures of the house of God. 2 Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the heads of the fathers of the children of Israel, to Jerusalem, to bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of the city of David, which is Zion.

The Ark of the Covenant was the box of wood covered with gold that represented the deity and humanity of Christ.
The mercy seat was the solid gold lid on the box.
The mercy seat was the throne of God on earth.

3 And all the men of Israel gathered themselves to the king in the feast in the seventh month. 4 And all the elders of Israel came; and the Levites took up the ark. 5 They carried the ark, the tabernacle of the congregation, and all the holy articles that were in the tabernacle, these the priests and the Levites brought up.

What God sacrificed for us cannot be measured

6 Also king Solomon and all the congregation of Israel that were assembled to him before the ark, sacrificed so many sheep and oxen that they could not be counted or numbered for multitude.

God’s love is so big that He gave something that is beyond us to understand.
His Son is infinite and eternal and perfect in every way.
Each of these sacrifices was a picture for us of God’s great sacrifice for us.

Romans 5:8 But God commends his love toward us, in that, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

7 And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the LORD to his place, to the inner sanctuary of the house, into the most holy place, the wings of the cherubim: 8 For the cherubim spread out their wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim covered the ark and its poles above. 9 And they drew out the poles of the ark so that the ends of the poles were seen from the ark before the inner sanctuary; but they were not seen outside. And it is there to this day. 10 There was nothing in the ark except the two tables that Moses put in it at Horeb, when the LORD made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of Egypt.

God’s covenant with us is:

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him not perish, but have everlasting life. 36 He that believes on the Son has everlasting life: and he that does not believe on the Son will not see life; but the wrath of God abides on him.

11 And when the priests came out of the holy place: (for all the priests that were present were sanctified, and did not wait by course: 12 Also the Levites who were the singers, all of them of Asaph, of Heman, of Jeduthun, with their sons and their brothers, clothed in white linen, having cymbals, harps, and lyres, stood at the east end of the altar, and with them an 120 priests sounding with trumpets:)

All the priests were present, not just those whose turn it was to serve at God’s house.

Our good, merciful God filled His house with His glory

13 As the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the LORD; and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets, cymbals, and instruments of music, and praised the LORD saying, For he is good; for his love endures forever: that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the LORD; 14 So that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud: for the glory of the LORD had filled the house of God.

God Himself was in the cloud.

Numbers 12:5 And the LORD came down in the pillar of the cloud, and stood in the door of the tabernacle…

Ezekiel 1:26 And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, appearing like a sapphire stone: and on throne was the of a man above upon it. 27 And I saw as the color of amber, as the appearance of fire around and within it, from the appearance of his loins upward, and from the appearance of his loins downward, I saw the appearance of fire, and it had brightness around it. 28 Like the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain was the appearance of the brightness around it. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD.

2 Chronicles 6

1 Then Solomon said, The LORD has said that he would dwell in the thick darkness. 2 But I have built a lofty house, and a place for your dwelling forever. 3 And the king turned his face, and blessed the whole congregation of Israel: and all the congregation of Israel stood. 4 And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, who has with his hands fulfilled what he spoke with his mouth to my father David saying, 5 Since the day that I brought my people out of the land of Egypt I chose no city among all the tribes of Israel to build a house for my name to be there; neither did I chose any man to be a ruler over my people Israel: 6 But I have chosen Jerusalem, that my name might be there; and have chosen David to be over my people Israel. 7 Now it was in the heart of my father David to build a house for the name of the LORD God of Israel. 8 But the LORD said to my father David, Because as it was in your heart to build a house for my name, you did well that it was in your heart: 9 Nevertheless you will not build the house; but your son who will come out of your loins, he will build the house for my name. 10 The LORD therefore has performed his word that he has spoken: for I have risen up in the place of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised, and have built the house for the name of the LORD God of Israel. 11 And I have put in it the ark in which is the covenant of the LORD that he made with the children of Israel.

Matthew 24:35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

There is none like the Lord God

12 And he stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread out his hands: 13 For Solomon had made a bronze platform 7 1/2 feet long and 7 1/2 feet wide and 4 1/2 feet high, and had set it in the center of the court: and he stood on it and kneeled down on his knees before all the congregation of Israel, and spread out his hands toward heaven, 14 And said, O LORD God of Israel, there is no God like you in the heaven, nor in the earth; who keeps covenant, and shows love to your servants that walk before your with all their hearts: 15 You who have kept your promise with Your servant David; and spoke with Your mouth, and have fulfilled it with your hand, as it is this day.

2 Peter 1:4 by which we are given exceeding great and precious promises: that by these you might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

16 Now therefore, O LORD God of Israel, keep with your servant, my father David, what you have promised him saying, You will not fail to have a man in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel; if your children guard their behavior to walk in my law, as you have walked before me. 17 Now then, O LORD God of Israel, let your word be confirmed that you have spoken to your servant David.

God is bigger than the heavens

18 Is it true that God will dwell with men on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain you; how much less this house which I have built! 19 So respect the prayer of your servant, and his humble appeal, O LORD my God, to listen to the cry and the prayer that your servant prays before you: 20 For your eyes to be open on this house day and night, on the place of which you have said that you would put your name there; to listen to the prayer that your servant prays toward this place. 21 Listen to the humble appeals of your servant, and of your people Israel, that they will make toward this place: hear from your dwelling place, even from heaven; and when you hear, forgive. 22 If a man sins against his neighbor, and an oath is laid upon him to make him swear, and the oath comes before your altar in this house; 23 Then hear from heaven, and do, and judge your servants, by punishing the wicked, by bringing his way on his own head; and by justifying the righteous, by giving him according to his righteousness. 24 And if your people Israel are defeated before the enemy, because they have sinned against you; and return and confess your name, and pray and make humble appeal before you in this house; 25 Then hear from the heavens, and forgive the sin of your people Israel, and bring them again to the land that you gave them and their fathers.

1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

26 When the heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against you; if they pray toward this place, confess your name, and turn from their sin, when you afflict them; 27 Then hear from heaven, and forgive the sin of your servants, and of your people Israel, when you have taught them the good way, in which they should walk; and send rain on your land that you have given to your people for an inheritance.

In sin, we are out of the place where God can bless us.
Remember that God is life and blessing.
Affliction can bring us back into the place of life and blessing.
God has offered something way beyond a piece of land to those who overcome evil by faith, those who trust in what God has said.

Revelation 21:7 He that overcomes will inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he will be my son.

28 If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence, if there is blight, or mildew, locusts, or grasshoppers; if their enemies besiege them in the cities of their land; whatever plague or whatever sickness there is: 29 Then whatever prayer or humble appeal will be made by any man, or by all your people Israel, when every one knows his own affliction and his own pain, and spreads out his hands toward this house: 30 Then hear from heaven, your dwelling place, forgive, and render to every man according to all his ways, whose heart you know; (for only you know the hearts of the children of men:) 31 That they may fear you, to walk in your ways, as long as they live in the land that you gave to our fathers. 32 Moreover concerning the foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, but has come from a far country for your great name’s sake, and your mighty hand, and your stretched out arm; if they come and pray in this house; 33 Then hear from the heavens, Your dwelling place, and do according to all that the foreigner calls to you for; that all people of the earth may know your name/person, and fear you, as do your people Israel, and may know that this house which I have built is called by your name.

God knows all the hearts of all the people, ever.
The word name also means person.
Psalm 145:3 Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable.

34 If your people go out to war against their enemies by the way that you send them, and they pray to you toward this city that you have chosen, and the house that I have built for your name; 35 Then hear their prayer from the heavens and their humble appeal, and maintain their cause. 36 If they sin against you, (for there is no man that does not sin,) and you are angry with them, and deliver them over before their enemies, and they carry them away captives to a land far off or near; 37 if they bring back to their heart to you in the land where they are carried captive, and turn and pray to you in the land of their captivity saying, We have sinned, we have done iniquity, and acted wickedly; 38 If they return to you with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, where they have carried them captives, and pray toward their land, which you gave to their fathers, and toward the city that you have chosen, and toward the house which I have built for your name: 39 Then hear their prayer from the heavens, your dwelling place, and their humble appeals, maintain their cause, and forgive your people that have sinned against you. 40 Now, my God, I beg you, let your eyes be open, and let your ears be attentive to the prayer that is made in this place. 41 Arise, O LORD God, to your resting place, You, and the ark of Your strength: let Your priests, O LORD God, be clothed with deliverance, and let Your godly ones rejoice in what is good. 42 O LORD God, do not turn away the face of your anointed: remember the love of David Your servant.

God desires to dwell in our hearts.
After sins were paid for and man’s heart cleansed, the Holy Spirit comes to live in the hearts those who believe.
Revelation 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hears my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will feast with him, and he with me.
John 14:23 Jesus answered and said to him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our abode with him.
Ephesians 3:17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; 19 And to know the love of Christ, which passes knowledge, that you might be filled with all the fullness of God.

2 Chronicles 7

1 When Solomon ended praying fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the LORD filled the house. 2 And the priests could not enter the house of the LORD, because the glory of the LORD had filled the LORD’s house.

Solomon’s prayer of 2 Chronicles 6 was a prayer of dedication of the house that they had built for God.
The fire showed God’s acceptance (1 Kings 18).
God moved into His house.
Ezekiel 1:26-28 describes the glory of the Lord as the fiery amber form of a man flashing forth rainbows.

1 Kings 18:24 you call on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the LORD: and the God that answers by fire, let him be God. And all the people answered and said, It is well spoken.

The LORD is good; His mercy endures forever

3 And when all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of the LORD on the house, they bowed themselves with their faces to the ground on the pavement, worshipped, and praised the LORD saying, He is good; his love endures forever. 4 Then the king and all the people offered sacrifices before the LORD. 5 King Solomon offered a sacrifice of 22,000 oxen, and 120,000 sheep: so the king and all the people dedicated the house of God.

From the beginning every sacrifice showed Christ’s death for our sin.
In each sacrifice God said to His people, “This is how much I love you. I love you enough to die for you.”

Genesis 3:21 To Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.

John 1:29 The next day John saw Jesus coming to him, and said, Behold the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him not perish, but have everlasting life.

6 And the priests waited on their offices: the Levites also with instruments of music of the LORD which David the king had made to praise the LORD, because his love endures forever, when David praised by their ministry; and the priests sounded trumpets before them, and all Israel stood. 7 And Solomon consecrated the middle of the court that was before the house of the LORD: for there he offered burnt offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings, because the bronze altar that Solomon had made was not able to receive the burnt offerings, food offerings, and the fat. 8 At the same time Solomon kept the feast seven days, and all Israel with him, a very great assembly, from the entering in of Hamath to the river of Egypt. 9 And in the eighth day they made a solemn assembly: for they kept the dedication of the altar seven days, and the feast seven days. 10 And on the 23^rd day of the seventh month he sent the people away to their tents, glad and merry in heart for the goodness that the LORD had showed to David, to Solomon, and to his people Israel.

Exodus 34:6 And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth.

Psalm 31:19 Oh how great is your goodness that You have laid up for them that fear you; which You have worked for them that trust in you before the sons of men!

He promised to hear from heaven, forgive, and heal on simple conditions

11 Thus Solomon finished the house of the LORD, the king’s house, and all that came into Solomon’s heart to make in the house of the LORD, and in his own house, he prosperously pushed forward. 12 And the LORD appeared to Solomon by night and said to him, I have heard your prayer, and have chosen this place to myself for a house of sacrifice. 13 If I shut up heaven so that there is no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people; 14 If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves, pray, seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. 15 Now my eyes will be open, and my ears attentive to the prayer that is made in this place. 16 For now have I chosen and sanctified this house that my name may be there forever: and my eyes and my heart will be there perpetually.

The word ‘name’ more importantly means person.
God’s name isn’t there without His person being there.
His person is everywhere (Jeremiah 23:24).

17 And as for you, if you will walk before me, as David your father walked, and do according to all that I have commanded you, and observe my statues and my judgments; 18 Then I will establish the throne of your kingdom, as I have covenanted with your father David saying, You will not fail to have a man as ruler in Israel. 19 But if you turn away, and forsake my statutes and my commandments, which I have set before you, and go and serve other gods, and worship them; 20 Then I will pluck them up by the roots out of my land which I have given them; and this house which I have sanctified for my name, I will cast out of my sight, and will make it to be a proverb and a byword among all nations. 21 And this house, which is high, will stun every one that passes by it; so that he will say, Why has the LORD done this to this land, and to this house? 22 And it will be answered, Because they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold on other gods, and worshipped them, and served them: therefore has he brought all this evil on them.

God is life.
Following another leads to death.

Psalm 96:5 For all the gods of the nations are idols: but the LORD made the heavens.

SUMMARY: 2 Chronicles 5-7

What God sacrificed for us cannot be measured
Our good and merciful God filled His house with glory
There is none like the LORD God
He fills the heavens
The LORD is good; His mercy endures forever
He promised to hear from heaven and heal