Temple-Building: Lessons for the Task of Missions

“Built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.” ( Eph. 2:20-22)

“For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, ‘I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people…’.” (2 Cor. 6:16b quoting Lev. 26:11-12)

“Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take from them a people for his name. And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written, ‘After this I will return, and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen…”. (Acts 15:14-16a quoting Amos 9:11)

“You yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ”. (1 Pet. 2:5)

The task of missions is in part the building up of a great temple for God. A temple made up of countless precious “living stones”. The inclusion of the Gentiles is according to James (in Acts 15) the fulfillment of prophecies concerning the rebuilding of the Temple. Indeed, we “the Israel of God” are “being built up as a spiritual house”, “the temple of the living God”. God tabernacles with us now, and ultimately our eternal abode will be with God as His people in the New Jerusalem.

In light of this explicit NT expansion of and explanation of the importance of the Temple, several lessons for today’s task of world-wide missions can be gleaned from the building of the Temple in the OT.

Revelation and Promise. In 2 Samuel 7, David desires to build God a temple. God then promises that David’s son will build a temple for God’s name. He promises that He “will be to him a father” (7:14) and further promises that His “stedfast love will not depart from him” (7:15). We learn in 1 Chron. 28 that of all David’s sons, God chose Solomon for this task. His father David promised Solomon “If you seek [God], he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will cast you off forever.” (28:9) And he further promised that “the LORD God, even my God, is with you, He will not leave you or forsake you, until all the work for the service of the house of the LORD is finished.” (28:20)

Solomon certainly had many great and wonderful promises to attend him in his task. He even received a detailed plan from David which was “made clear to [him] in writing from the hand of the LORD, all the work to be done according to the plan” (29:19). We too have promises that the gospel “will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come” (Matt. 24:14). Christ promises that He is “with [us] always, to the end of the age” (28:20). We also have the Spirit’s power to accomplish our great task (Acts 1:8), and a blueprint for how to be Christ’s church and reach the world (the Bible).

Abundant Provision. David could not build the Temple, but he certainly provided for it. The tally of the gold, silver, bronze and iron stockpiled for the building of the Temple is absolutely staggering (see 1 Chron. 22:14). David also gave of his own wealth: “Moreover in addition to all that I have provided for the holy house, I have a treasure of my own of gold and silver, and because of my devotion to the house of my God I give it to the house of my God” (29:3). David not only stockpiled materials, but he also organized “an abundance of workmen” and called for the leaders of Israel to help his son, and also contribute materials for the Temple (22:15-19; 29:5b). David also organized the Levites, specifically designing how they would offer continuous praise to God before the Temple. David made instruments and wrote songs to be used for the worship that was to happen in the Temple.

All these provisions were made by David, and it is from the Son of David—Jesus Christ—that all the provisions for our world-wide task of missions come. Jesus purchased everything through his death on the Cross. Jesus sent us the Spirit, and Jesus is the head of the Church. Jesus supplies each joint, nourishing the body (Eph. 4:15-16). Jesus sustains us and provides for the task. It is His Gospel we proclaim and His work we enter into. We need not fear there will not be enough supplies to finish the task; we have only to look to Christ and he will supply all our needs, according to his riches in glory (Phil. 4:19). Indeed, we can “do all things through him who strengthens [us]” (4:13).

Importance of Prayer. One of the most glorious prayers in the Bible comes at the end of David’s exhorting Solomon and all Israel to build the temple. 1 Chron. 29:11-19 records David’s prayer, and there we read: “O LORD our God, all this abundance that we have provided for building you a house for your holy name comes from your hand and is all your own… O LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, our fathers, keep forever such purposes and thoughts in the hearts of your people and direct their hearts toward you. Grant to Solomon my son a whole heart that he may keep your commandments, your testimonies, and your statutes, performing all, and that he may build the palace for which I have made provision.” (29:16, 18-19). We too must be mindful of the place of prayer in our task. We are dependent on God to give us whole hearts and we must ever trust in our God to accomplish his mission through us.

A United Effort. The building of the Temple was a task that Solomon could not do on his own. All the people were exhorted to work together to accomplish the mission. David said to all the leaders of Israel: “Is not the LORD your God with you? And has he not given you peace… Now set your mind and heart to seek the LORD your God. Arise and build the sanctuary of the LORD God…” (1 Chron. 22:18a, 19a). Further, David exhorted all to give willingly to the cause, which they did: “Then the people rejoiced because they had given willingly, for with a whole heart they had offered freely to the LORD” (29:9a). It was not Israel alone who worked on the Temple: 153,000 resident aliens helped with the task (2 Chron. 2:17-18) and Hiram of Tyre supplied workers and wood for the task (2:11-16). So too in the great task of missions, Jew and Gentile band together to accomplish the task. Missionary or not, elder or not, all of us share the responsibility and can work together to contribute willingly to the task. Let us follow David’s advice and “Be strong and do it” (28:10).

A Glorious Completion. There is great encouragement too from the story of the Temple. The work was completed, and on a grand scale! A glorious temple was built to the praise and honor of the LORD! Upon the completion of the work, the shekinah glory of the LORD filled the Temple (2 Chron. 7:1-3), and the people had a glorious 7-day feast celebrating its completion (7:8-10). The glory of God filling the Temple is true even today, as the Spirit fills the living stones which make up the ever growing Temple today. And the joyous feast prefigures the marriage supper of the Lamb which will be celebrated upon the glorious completion of the work to build a Temple great enough and glorious enough for One so great as our God.

Let us take to heart the lessons from the building of the Temple and be encouraged to press on and realize the finishing of the great commission! And truly may we exclaim “[God] is good, for his steadfast love endures forever” (2 Chron. 7:3b).

~~posted by Bob