Pictured: “Topping Out Bear Stearns, New York City,” image copied from https://millersamuel.com/with-a-flag-an-i-beam-and-a-christmas-tree-the-party-is-just-getting-started/
I grew up in a boomtown. During my childhood, Houston was America’s fastest growing city.[1] One day my friends and I might be in a field flipping over scrap wood to find snakes, and a year later it would be a 10-story IRS building. One day, a field of dewberry vines, next day a Savings and Loan. These overnight transformations were amazing. I would stand over my bike thinking: last year I caught that turtle over there and no one cared—and now that exact spot is a bank vault that I can’t enter. I’m an OUTSIDER now! How did that happen?
When Solomon built Israel’s first temple, the project was immense, requiring over seven years of construction, 1 Kings 6:38. Solomon drafted 30,000 men to work in rotating shifts of 10,000 at a time, 1 Kings 5:13-14. (Imagine it: 10,000 men working at one time.)
The cedar and stone building and its exquisitely crafted contents were covered in enormous quantities of precious stones, gold, silver, and bronze. King David had provided 3,750 tons of gold and 37,500 tons of silver, plus brass and iron in such abundance it was not measured, 1 Chronicles 22:14.
The temple included doors and walls covered in sheets of gold. Inside were columns, candles, altars, tables, and statues of extreme artistry. Out of respect, there were no hammers or ‘power tools’ on site, 1 Kings 6:7. Everything was cut and carved off-site, then transported to the location. It was a quiet workplace, one with a certain reverence.
However, for seven years it remained a construction site. There would have been dirt and dust and men going to and fro with wheelbarrows or carts toting materials here and there. A few might be sitting in the shade taking a break, wiping off the sweat, getting a drink. Talking and laughing in a casual way. After all, it was a construction site. The thing about a construction site—one day it’s just bare land. Then one day, everything changes.
When construction was finished, Solomon made some speeches, praised the Lord, and prayed a prayer of dedication.
“Now, when Solomon made an end of praying, the fire came down from heaven, and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices and the glory of the Lord filled the house. And the priests could not enter into the house of the Lord because the glory of the Lord filled the house.
[Suddenly, the priests have become OUTSIDERS? How does that happen?]
“And when the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of the Lord upon the house, they bowed themselves with their faces toward the ground upon the pavement, and worshipped, and praised the Lord saying For He is good, for His mercy endures forever” 2 Chronicles 7:1-3.
“And Solomon offered a sacrifice of peace offerings … twenty-two thousand oxen and one hundred and twenty-thousand sheep” 1 Kings 8:63. And Solomon feasted the nation of Israel for seven days, 2 Chronicles 7:8.
A transformation had taken place.
For seven years, construction workers climbed all over the place like ants. Now suddenly, the place is holy. The priests can’t even enter. The “Most Holy Place” is actually so holy that only the high priest can enter—and only one day a year. What happened to the casual construction site?
What happened to the common construction materials— wood, stone, and precious metals— that have now become sacred?
The people obeyed God, made sacrifices, performed rituals, God was pleased, and “the glory of the Lord filled the house of God” 2 Chronicles 5:14. That changes everything.
Solomon built the temple according to God’s instructions, and then “the glory of the Lord” filled the place and transformed what had once been common into something sacred.
It is the blessing, the presence, the GLORY OF GOD that makes the ordinary sacred. It is God who takes a wasteland and makes a temple.
Here’s an Unexpected Application
Can you imagine how this temple story applies to marriage?
One day two people have a casual conversation: Hi, how are you? Nice to meet you. Where are you from? Months or years later, the two have fallen in love and want to build a life together.
Is it possible to take common relationship materials—wood, stone, precious metals—and transform them into something sacred? I believe it is. Are you building a temple for the entire nation? No. But a marriage is the inauguration of a new enterprise—a new family. I believe God wants to bless marriages the way he blessed the temple: to fill the home—the couple—with His glory.
How?
Pursue God’s plan every step of the way. Seek Him as if you were the construction foreman building Solomon’s Temple—because that is exactly what you are doing. Your home, your marriage, will be a sanctuary, a temple of sorts, for your family, for your children. Seek God’s plan in the remote, tricky areas such as career, residence, and financial decisions. But also seek him in the more obvious things, such as the fight for Biblical purity both before and during marriage.
Abstinence is a difficult challenge, but it is a training ground for the future. Remember, you are building a family, launching a great institution. It merits seriousness, discipline, and self-control.
In addition, nothing more closely reflects an understanding of Old Testament law and holiness like the struggle for abstinence before marriage, and monogamy during marriage. Where a single man and woman may have once flirted and otherwise encouraged the more benign affections of the opposite sex, the married man and woman have built something sacred. Like the holy temple, outsiders are not allowed into that place.
Married people understand: something changes. You no longer engage in casual teasing and affection with members of the opposite sex. You do not flirt. That part of you is now inside a temple of sorts, protected behind walls (rings) of gold and reserved for only one person.
Is it hard? Of course it’s hard! But when you succeed[2], you will know that you have honored God as Solomon honored him while building the temple. God will bless your holiness by rewarding your marriage with the presence and the blessings and the Glory of God.
The critical moment of both these events–the dedication of the temple and the dedication of a home– is that moment of transformation.
One day you are looking at piles of common construction materials, the next day it is too holy to enter.
So also with a marriage: one day you are looking at two people just having a casual conversation. The next day they are the leaders of an all-new enterprise: a family that never before existed on earth.
That is a holy thing that God ordained long before he allowed Solomon to build him a temple.
God loves marriages and wants to bless them.
May we bring him our very best!
AΩ
[1] Check out this 1981 NY Times article quoting my old friend (my parents’ friend), J.L. Taylor: https://www.nytimes.com/1981/12/16/us/houston-fastest-growing-big-city-showing-signs-of-having-hit-prime.html
[2] Of course, in every failure, there is grace! God is bigger than our biggest sins. Confess it, leave it behind, and move forward in holiness.
Household Words: 