Undoubtedly if a poll of all Christians were taken it would be a very small percentage, if any, who would disagree with the statement, “Christians are supposed to live IN the world, not OF the world”. And yet there is a striking paradox in the Western church today. Living in a consumer-driven society, it appears that the incorporation of consumerism into the church is one its leading problems. No longer possessing the influence to change society’s values more into conformance with God’s Word and ways, the church is allowing society’s values to change it from within.
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Beware of those who will hold up Solomon as some kind of proof that God will make you rich and successful. The false money preachers are quick to trot out examples of people in the Bible who experienced wealth and prosperity without qualifying for you the true conditions that led to such occurrences. In Solomon’s case, you can only be like him if, like him, God SAYS this is what He’s going to do in your life as a witness to the world. This verse isn’t a promise of earthly wealth and riches to anyone and everyone, but a confirmation that what God originally promised Solomon specifically was fulfilled in every detail.
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At the end of the day, an individual Christian and even an entire Christian organization has to be set apart and visibly different. There are many charities in the world that do the same kind of work to help people, and likewise there are individuals whose desire to go do good and treat their fellow man is indistinguishable from those who undertake the same in the name of Christ. The Queen of Sheba came and saw an earthly king who had all the things that one would expect an earthly king to have. But she was transformed by the fact that he was visibly and measurably different in how he used and treated them. To non-believers, God’s people are distinguished by the fact that what they achieve is obviously not of their own power and making, but the evidence of God Himself at work in them.
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I don’t want to take something obviously “positive” and twist it into an evil opposite of itself, but consider all of the implications that God’s “eyes will be open” and “ears attentive” to His temple, especially the fact that it is now WE who are His temple. I’m not sure I truly live each and every minute in the full knowledge that He’s watching and listening to me in any and every single thing. True, this is comforting in times of duress, but I’m finding a little discomfort with myself for the likelihood of discounting this blessing in the course of more routine things.
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In Solomon’s closing summary of his prayer of dedication for the temple, we find all the essential elements of the salvation experience which are confirmed by both Testaments. While we will come to understand that the blood of the Old Testament sacrifices was but a temporary covering until the permanent atonement afforded by the blood of Christ, the essential components of the process remain the same: our prayer, God’s response, and a new life according to God’s grace.
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Over and over again in 2 Chronicles 6, Solomon provides examples of how to be reconciled with God. Although in each case he mentions someone coming to the temple or it coming to their thoughts, he never mentions the sacrifices, the offerings, or the celebrations documented in the Law of Moses. This should be elegant proof both on the theological and plain-language levels that the Old Testament rituals were intended as the END of the process, a visible testimony of what first took place in the heart. Personal acknowledgment of sin and sincere repentance from the heart are the very first and literal steps that were to be taken before even thinking about traveling to the temple to offer a sacrifice.
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A very interesting period of Israel’s history comes to an end here. For reasons not fully explained, the Ark of the Covenant — the central fixture that was supposed to reside in the Holy of Holies — and the tabernacle containing the Holy of Holies, were separated. The Ark had been temporarily lost to the Philistines when taken out of the tabernacle when it was still in Shiloh. But upon its return, it was never reunited with the tabernacle which moved to Nob and then Gibeon. David himself moved the Ark to Jerusalem into its own tent. And now with the building of the first temple, the Ark is finally placed back into the Holy of Holies, everything back together again for the first time in a very long time. The essential symbol of God’s Word and that of worship, were united again.
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