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We are going to start this study with a most important scripture.
Then Solomon determined to build a temple for the name of the Lord, and a royal house for himself.
2 Chronicles 2:1
A footnote in my Amplified Bible explains it like this, “The ‘Name’ of God is equivalent to His gracious presence in passages such as this one. The place where God put His Name is the place where the Lord Himself chooses to dwell.”
4 Behold, I am building a temple for the name of the Lord my God, to dedicate it to Him, to burn before Him sweet incense, for the continual showbread, for the burnt offerings morning and evening, on the Sabbaths, on the New Moons, and on the set feasts of the Lord our God. This is an ordinance forever to Israel.
5 And the temple which I build will be great, for our God is greater than all gods. 6 But who is able to build Him a temple, since heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain Him? Who am I then, that I should build Him a temple, except to burn sacrifice before Him?
7 Therefore send me at once a man skillful to work in gold and silver, in bronze and iron, in purple and crimson and blue, who has skill to engrave with the skillful men who are with me in Judah and Jerusalem, whom David my father provided. 8 Also send me cedar and cypress and algum logs from Lebanon, for I know that your servants have skill to cut timber in Lebanon; and indeed my servants will be with your servants, 9 to prepare timber for me in abundance, for the temple which I am about to build shall be great and wonderful.
2 Chronicles 2:4-9
The house that Solomon would build must be great because it is for our God who is greater than all gods. All other gods! That means that Our God is greater than the god of the temple to self that people have erected all over the world. God is greater than the god of luxury. God is greater than the god of money. God is greater than the god of stuff. God is greater than the god of lifestyle. God is greater than the god of convenience. God is greater than the god of vacations. God is greater than the god of wasting time or scrolling on our phones. God is greater than the god of entertainment.
I could go on and on. The point is that none of the little ‘g’ gods that are worshipped so boldly in our world can compare to the true greatness of the One True God.
4 And the vestibule that was in front of the sanctuary was twenty cubits long across the width of the house, and the height was one hundred and twenty. He overlaid the inside with pure gold. 5 The larger room he paneled with cypress which he overlaid with fine gold, and he carved palm trees and chainwork on it. 6 And he decorated the house with precious stones for beauty, and the gold was gold from Parvaim. 7 He also overlaid the house—the beams and doorposts, its walls and doors—with gold; and he carved cherubim on the walls.
8 And he made the Most Holy Place. Its length was according to the width of the house, twenty cubits, and its width twenty cubits. He overlaid it with six hundred talents of fine gold. 9 The weight of the nails was fifty shekels of gold; and he overlaid the upper area with gold. 10 In the Most Holy Place he made two cherubim, fashioned by carving, and overlaid them with gold.
14 And he made the veil of blue, purple, crimson, and fine linen, and wove cherubim into it.
2 Chronicles 3:4-10, 14
According to Jerusalem Post, the gold alone in the temple was worth the equivalent in today’s money to $9.6 billion. God’s temple truly was great!
But You are holy,
Psalm 22:3
Enthroned in the praises of Israel.
God is enthroned on the praises of His people Israel as well as the Christian church who is grafted into the Israelite vine.
If the temple had to be exquisite because God’s Name inhabits it, then our praise must be equally as exquisite… valuable, costly, precious, and beautiful.
The word “Worship” is a compound word that combines the word “Worth” meaning valuable or worthy with the word “Ship” meaning to build.
When we worship, we are to build or craft a vessel that is worthy for God to inhabit. Let me be clear, this is not about talent.
41 Now Jesus sat opposite the treasury and saw how the people put money into the treasury. And many who were rich put in much. 42 Then one poor widow came and threw in two mites, which make a quadrans. 43 So He called His disciples to Himself and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the treasury; 44 for they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all that she had, her whole livelihood.”
Mark 12:41-44
The Hebraic perspective sees sacrifice to God like the poor widow made NOT as giving something up but as DRAWING NEAR TO GOD! To most Christians, sacrifice is all about giving something up. Something powerful could happen if we could just shift our perspective from giving up to drawing near to God.
The widow woman gave the least money, but she gave the most because she gave it ALL! She gave all she had.
Likewise, our praise becomes most valuable when we COMPLETELY empty ourselves and give ALL that we have to God. Praise Him with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength.
The value of our praise is not in our talent nor is it in our effort. The value of our praise is determined by our EMPTINESS! We must become empty to ourselves. We must become empty to our flesh. This is how we draw near to God.
5 And from the throne proceeded lightnings, thunderings, and voices. Seven lamps of fire were burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.
6 Before the throne there was a sea of glass, like crystal. And in the midst of the throne, and around the throne, were four living creatures full of eyes in front and in back. 7 The first living creature was like a lion, the second living creature like a calf, the third living creature had a face like a man, and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle. 8 The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying:
“Holy, holy, holy,
Lord God Almighty,
Who was and is and is to come!”9 Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever,
Revelation 4:5-9
They do not rest day or night. They never stop. It’s continuous! That means that God never gets bored with our genuine praise… EVER! We get bored. We get tired. We are ready to move on… to the next song… to the next thing… to the next part of the service… to another activity… on and on. God never tires of hearing our genuine praise.
Now, let’s look at what the creatures symbolize. The calf/ox symbolizes sacrifice and serving. This is the sacrifice of praise as well as praising God through service to Him. The ox can represent praise when you don’t feel like praising. The man is the everyday and mundane praise. He represents how we incorporate praise into our everyday lives such as in the commute, while doing chores, while getting ready, or before bed. The eagle represents our victorious praise. The eagle can be seen when we praise God after a promotion, new job, new client, prosperity, or even a clean bill of health. The lion symbolizes praise during the battle and praise as a weapon.
We need to take our eyes off of our circumstances and put our eyes firmly on the One Who holds our future.
None of those four forms of worship are specifically church worship, but… You can come to church during your battle, and use praise as a weapon. You can come to church after a victory, and offer victorious praise. You can come to church broken and down to your last two mites, and offer the sacrifice of praise. Just like every other mundane Sunday, you can come to church and choose to completely empty yourself on the altar. You can pour everything that is within you onto the altar and draw near to God.
And Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.”
Genesis 22:5
If you’re familiar with the law of first mention, then you know that the very first time a word is mentioned in the Bible gives us a little more depth of meaning to the word. Genesis 22:5 is the first mention of worship in the Bible. When Abraham said that the lad (Isaac) and I will go worship, he intended to sacrifice Isaac on an altar.
Worship isn’t singing. You can worship God through singing, but worship is sacrifice. Worship is more about what we bring to the altar, what we pour out on the altar, and what we leave at the altar than it is about entertaining God.
Sometimes, in the natural, I’m hitting the right notes, singing the right words, and doing my part, BUT, in the spirit, I just slapped a couple of boards together and called it a temple. My vessel of praise isn’t worthy to be an old outhouse much less a temple for God to inhabit. My heart isn’t in it. My focus isn’t on God but on musical perfection or lunch as the case may be.
The truth is that I know when I am cheating God of His rightful praise. It’s not about talent. It’s not about effort. It’s about emptiness. Praise that costs me nothing is worth nothing.
God is worthy of a vessel of praise that is exquisite, valuable, beautiful, precious, and that COSTS ME EVERYTHING!