Solomon Blesses the People

 

2 Chronicles 6: 1-11

 

May 20, 2023

 

Solomon Blesses the People

Then Solomon said, “The Lord has said that he would dwell in thick darkness.  But I have built you an exalted house, a place for you to dwell in forever.”  Then the king turned around and blessed all the assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel stood.  And he said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who with his hand has fulfilled what he promised with his mouth to David my father, saying,  ‘Since the day that I brought my people out of the land of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house, that my name might be there, and I chose no man as prince over my people Israel;  but I have chosen Jerusalem that my name may be there, and I have chosen David to be over my people Israel.’  Now it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.  But the Lord said to David my father, ‘Whereas it was in your heart to build a house for my name, you did well that it was in your heart.  Nevertheless, it is not you who shall build the house, but your son who shall be born to you shall build the house for my name.’  Now the Lord has fulfilled his promise that he made. For I have risen in the place of David my father and sit on the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised, and I have built the house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.  

 

What can we learn about Solomon’s blessing of the people, first God chose Jerusalem to build a house for His name.  Not one thing has changed, the people are still His chosen, and Jerusalem is still very special to our Lord.

 

The people of Israel are a stiff-neck people, putting many things before God, and we also who are in Christ, not members of a denomination but have by grace and faith enter into Christ Jesus are not that much different.  Yes, if by God's grace and God's faith that has been given to you, you are a special people, 1 Peter 2:9-10, give us clarity on that truth.  “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.  Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”

 

What if people who are followers of Christ live as Jesus did, and put the will of the Father before self, would this world look different?

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice

 

The Ark Brought to the Temple

                                                              2 Chronicles 5: 2-14

 

May 17, 2023

 

The Ark Brought to the Temple

Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the fathers' houses of the people of Israel, in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the city of David, which is Zion.  And all the men of Israel assembled before the king at the feast that is in the seventh month.  And all the elders of Israel came, and the Levites took up the ark.  And they brought up the ark, the tent of meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the tent; the Levitical priests brought them up.  And King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, who had assembled before him, were before the ark, sacrificing so many sheep and oxen that they could not be counted or numbered.  Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord to its place, in the inner sanctuary of the house, in the Most Holy Place, underneath the wings of the cherubim.  The cherubim spread out their wings over the place of the ark so that the cherubim made a covering above the ark and its poles.  And the poles were so long that the ends of the poles were seen from the Holy Place before the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen from outside. And they are there to this day.  There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets that Moses put there at Horeb, where the Lord made a covenant with the people of Israel when they came out of Egypt.  And when the priests came out of the Holy Place (for all the priests who were present had consecrated themselves, without regard to their divisions,  and all the Levitical singers, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun, their sons and kinsmen, arrayed in fine linen, with cymbals, harps, and lyres, stood east of the altar with 120 priests who were trumpeters;  and it was the duty of the trumpeters and singers to make themselves heard in unison in praise and thanksgiving to the Lord), and when the song was raised, with trumpets and cymbals and other musical instruments, in praise to the Lord,

“For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever,”

the house, the house of the Lord, was filled with a cloud so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of God.

Now that is leadership, doing things God’s way God filled the Temple, and the priests were not able to minister because of the cloud. I can only imagine such a day, and I witnessed the moving of the Spirit, but that was an extraordinary day when the Ark of God was brought into the Temple.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

 

 

 

 

 

The Ark Brought to the Temple

 

 

2 Chronicles 5: 2-9

 

May 17, 2023

 

The Ark Brought to the Temple

Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the fathers' houses of the people of Israel, in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the city of David, which is Zion.  And all the men of Israel assembled before the king at the feast that is in the seventh month.  And all the elders of Israel came, and the Levites took up the ark.   

 

Being a king helped Solomon in this significant leadership role, in that he got full buy-in from the leaders of the fathers.  In the Church today and in my lifetime most pastors did not have these leadership skills.  As a leader, you should prepare the leaders of households to lead out in their families to join you in God’s plan for the home.  

 

We are allowing the world's concepts to control our families, and they have removed God or His Word, and the Word is Jesus from any authority over their lives.

And they brought up the ark, the tent of meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the tent; the Levitical priests brought them up.  And King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, who had assembled before him, were before the ark, sacrificing so many sheep and oxen that they could not be counted or numbered.  Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord to its place, in the inner sanctuary of the house, in the Most Holy Place, underneath the wings of the cherubim.  The cherubim spread out their wings over the place of the ark so that the cherubim made a covering above the ark and its poles.  And the poles were so long that the ends of the poles were seen from the Holy Place before the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen from outside.

 

When you have fathers leading their families under the authority of God's written word, you will see your world moving away from the empty concepts that end in fear and hate of others.  You will see the joy and giving as Solomon did and unity.

 

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

"A Woman"

 "A Woman" 

 

This is written in the Hebrew Talmud, the book 

Where all of the sayings and preaching of 

Rabbis are conserved over time. It says:

 

"Be very careful if you make a woman 

Cry, because God counts her tears. The woman 

Came out of a man's rib. Not from his feet to be 

Walked on. Not from his head to be superior, but 

From the side to be equal. Under the arm to be 

Protected, and next to the heart to be loved." 

 

This should be required reading for all men, it is well said, and this writer would have been a better husband in the early years of marriage if he had taken it to heart.

The Day God spoke to me from a piece of Wood

 

The Day God spoke to me from a piece of Wood

 

In the back of our new home is a dry creek and a greenbelt that goes all over the neighborhood.  Last weekend, I talked Jan into going exploring with me and I found a large piece of a tree that had broken off and was beginning to rot in some areas.  When we were clearing the property, I had cut a large cedar with the intent of making a cross, I took the tree to a sawmill had it cut, and began to work on the cross.  The cross was finished and it came to my mind that a sign with the following; (All Praise to Jesus, who is risen and at the Father's right hand) would be a good testimony. 

 

So, with that in mind, I picked up this part of a tree and carried it home.  It is the 25^th of November and I began to work on the piece of wood.  As I began to inspect the wood it became clear that I had my work cut out, that the front part that I would write on was good wood and yet the ends and back had a lot of bad wood.  That is when I began to think this can be a lot of work or it can be easy.  If you are familiar with me at all, you know Easy would be my first choice.  It was at that point; that thoughts came into my mind that I did not believe were mine.  I am very simple and do not have these kinds of thoughts, so I am going to tell you I believe it was God speaking to me.

 

This is how it began, Bob you have every right to make the sign any way you desire, but is your purpose to honor Me.  My thoughts were, “Yes, Lord my heart desires to honor You with this sign.”  And that is when God began to explain that much of my life, I had chosen to do with my life what I was now thinking about doing with the wood.  Just clean up the outside and put a good finish so it would appear good.  But it became clear, that it would not last and my time would be wasted.  I chose to begin removing the rot, and once more I had thoughts that I contributed to God.

 

It went like this; this wood is full of rot, and it seems like the rot is below the surface and hard to remove.  Once more thoughts came to my mind, Yes, Bob, that wood is a very good example of your life, when I found you full of self and rot.  As you keep digging into the wood you will find all kinds of grubs and bores and other things eating the life of that wood.  I found all kinds of pollution in you and rot and the only way to remove it was to cut out the bad wood.  I’ve seen that often you have hit your hand while removing the deep rotten wood and the hammer hurts, it was also painful and I found no pleasure in removing the rot in your life.  But I never forgot the goal, to conform you to the image of my Son.

 

I’ve also noticed that after much work sometimes the rot goes too deep and it pains you to remove or break off a piece that you had worked on for such a long time.  I will always break off the areas of your life that are polluted, for my desire is to have a vessel that is usable in my kingdom.  As you discover the grubs eating away at the rotten wood, I also have had to dig deep into your heart to remove wrong thoughts and plans that were not in your best interest and would only bring you harm.  

 

Bob, only My Holy Spirit can teach you truths from this piece of wood, but if you listen, I will show you how to change a rotten piece of wood into something that will bring honor to my Name and glory to my Son. 

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice

David Offering

  

2 Chronicles 5:1

 

May 16, 2023

 

Thus, all the work that Solomon did for the house of the Lord was finished. And Solomon brought in the things that David his father had dedicated and stored the silver, the gold, and all the vessels in the treasuries of the house of God.

Often it is easy to read past verses like, David dedicated to the house of God, but Scripture gives us the facts, “Moreover, because I have set my affection on the house of my God, I have given to the house of my God, over and above all that I have prepared for the holy house, my own special treasure of gold and silver: three thousand talents of gold, of the gold of Ophir, and seven thousand talents of refined silver, to overlay the walls of the houses; the gold for things of gold and the silver for things of silver, and for all kinds of work to be done by the hands of craftsmen. Who then is willing to consecrate himself this day to the Lord? (1 Chronicles 29:2-5).  I read the following; 

Let’s examine the figures:

1-Three thousand talents. If this was a regular talent, measured at 75.39 lb. the amount of gold gathered by David would thus be about 113 tons (102 metric tons). However, we cannot be certain of the precise value of ancient weight standards.

2-Seven thousand talents. Based on a talent weighing 75.39 lb., the amount of silver given would be about 263 tons or 239 metric tons.

One may say David was all in, he gave what he could not keep, to gain what he could not lose, to honor his God.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Two Kings allowing God's leadership

  

 

2 Chronicles 4: 11-22

 

May 15, 2023

 

Hiram also made the pots, the shovels, and the basins. So, Hiram finished the work that he did for King Solomon on the house of God:  the two pillars, the bowls, and the two capitals on the top of the pillars; and the two latticework to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the top of the pillars; and the 400 pomegranates for the two latticework, two rows of pomegranates for each latticework, to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the pillars.  He made the stands also, and the basins on the stands, and the one sea, and the twelve oxen underneath it.  The pots, the shovels, the forks, and all the equipment for these Huram-abi made of burnished bronze for King Solomon for the house of the Lord.  In the plain of the Jordan, the king cast them, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zeredah.  Solomon made all these things in great quantities, for the weight of the bronze was not sought.

So, Solomon made all the vessels that were in the house of God: the golden altar, the tables for the bread of the Presence, the lampstands, and their lamps of pure gold to burn before the inner sanctuary, as prescribed; the flowers, the lamps, and the tongs, of purest gold; the snuffers, basins, dishes for incense, and fire pans, of pure gold, and the sockets of the temple, for the inner doors to the Most Holy Place and for the doors of the nave of the temple were of gold.

It is amazing what man can do under the direction of our God.  Why does that surprise us, we find this about Jesus in 1 John 1:1-3, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was with God in the beginning.  Through him all things were made; without him, nothing was made that has been made.”   Many years later, the apostle John wrote 1 John1:1-3, giving us more insight into the word of God.  “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us— that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us, and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.”

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice