One Year Bible, July 21

2 CHRONICLES 4:1 - 6:11                                                                                               
THE TEMPLE:  The NT Greek word, "hieron" refers to the physical building, and it was not used again after the book of Acts, with one exception in 1 Co 9:13, which referred to the physical building.  The word used after that is "naos", which means "to dwell".   God will never again dwell in a Temple built with hands. We, His people are being built into a Temple for God's dwelling-place - the Church.  " What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?" (1Cor 6:19)  Moreover, Solomon was instructed to use only the best materials, the most precious materials, to be set in place in a specific manner - because everything in this Temple is a type of the spiritual Temple.

FULL OF HIS GLORY:  120 trumpets, cymbals, tambourines, psalteries, harps, singers - all dressed in pure white - all sounding together as one! They sang, "God is good and His mercy endures forever." The Temple filled with God's glory cloud so that the priests could not continue to minister.

The ARK represents:
God's Throne on Earth
Presence of God
Glory of God
Government of God
Fullness of God
Total and Complete Victory of Jesus over all enemies
The Glorious Church
Kingdom of God in Power

DEDICATION OF THE TEMPLE:  "God said that He would dwell in thick darkness."  To the natural man, God appears to be obscure. The Temple was a "habitation" for Jehovah.

RESPONSE:   Will God's glory be poured out on individual Temples? Or only the corporate Temple? If I am God's Temple, then I was made for Him to dwell in. I was meant to be filled with worship and praise and music. I was meant to be precious. Without the worship, I have no purpose at all for being!

ROMANS 7:1-13                                                                                                                
ONE WIFE, TWO HUSBANDS:   My first husband, with the first claim on me, is THE LAW.  My second husband, whom I can't claim until the first marriage is dissolved, is CHRIST.  The Law is ETERNAL, therefore I MUST DIE TO THE LAW.  Now I am free to marry Jesus and produce HOLINESS (fulfillment of the Law IN ME).

MARRIAGE TIES: The purpose of marriage is to produce an heir. The marriage ties are only dissolved by death.  The Law is holy, just, good, spiritual, perfect. Man is unholy, unjust, evil, carnal, imperfect. The problem is in man, not the law. Deliverance from the Law is necessary to be free from sin. After our Romans 6 experience, we set out to know and do the will of God, and discover we cannot and we don't want to!

BODY OF DEATH:  Sins give me a body full of sin. In trying to do the will of God, my failure brings death. Chapter 7 is the struggle of every believer in his own strength. As soon as I try to please God in the flesh, this is my experience. It is as I try to DO something that my sinfulness comes to light. The Law makes my weakness (death) manifest.

SIN:  "sin took occasion" - found a place to start trouble in me. I was fine until God asked me to do/not to do something.  That commandment stirred up my own human lust.  Sin uses forbidden things to stir up lust.   At the same time, forbidden things (the Law) exposes us for what we really are - rebels from God.  Sin uses the Law against us.  But SIN, NOT THE LAW, brings death.

COVETEOUSNESS is the root. "Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:" (Col 3:5)  The word "covet" here is the same as the word "lust".  Once the commandment against covetousness was given, it stirred up sin - "lust of the flesh" in this case, and I was doomed.   Even if I could keep all the other 9 commandments, this one would get me because that's where sin originates in me - the lust of the flesh (Jam 1:14-15).

RESPONSE:   It's a good thing Paul wrote all this!  Wouldn't it be frustrating if he left us with just this much?  The Law - which is "thou shalt not......"  is how most of us try to change.  We make new rules for ourselves, resolutions, promises to God and to each other.  Willpower is a work of the flesh, and as such, is tainted with sin and deception.   That's why it doesn't work. The heir - Jesus formed in me - can only be produced by God.  The harder I try, the worse I am. The Law showed me how weak and helpless I really am. (in trying to be good)  I cannot trust Bible study or prayer for victory.  It is only to be found in Christ.  This whole chapter makes me feel cornered with no way out but Jesus!  I think that was the intention!

PSALM 17:1-15                                                                                                               
My VINDICATION comes from God's Presence.  That means that sometimes He and I are the only ones who know I am righteous.   God has "proved"(examined and scrutinized) my heart, "visited"(probed my motives) me in the night, "tried"(melted me, refined by fire, purged away) me .

HEBRAIC SAYINGS?  "They are enclosed in their own fat." - They are spiritually callused.
"keep me as the apple of the eye." - The part most carefully guarded from external attack.
"hide me under the shadow of Thy wings." - Hide me in the Holy of Holies - God's Presence in the Mercy seat where the angel wings touched.

SATISFIED: Is literally "fully satisfied" - sated, enriched, to have one's fill.  Sinners can be satisfied by seeing their own likeness in their children.  The righteous are satisfied by God's likeness being seen in themselves.

PROVERBS 19:22-23                                                                                                      
Speaking of being SATISFIED.  "The Life", referred to as "eternal life" in the NT is characterized by contentment.   There is nothing that can diminish us - because we are connected to the Infinite Source.  We can give freely, not just material things, but also the intangibles like forgiveness and appreciation.  "The fear of the Lord" is an acute awareness of God's power that produces respect. Trembling awareness that life has meaning, and my choices have consequences. This is a basis of "the Life".

RESPONSE: "Men of the World" have their portion "in this life" - which we know to be really short in the light of eternity.  The righteous have their portion in God - giving Him glory is satisfying to US.  Knowing that we have a place in God is our treasure.  We have peace and joy and righteousness - no one can take it from us.  In addition, no one can reach the real person in us.  We are hidden in God's Presence.   We are secure there - because our portion is intangible and can't be touched.