It sounds like Solomon is clear that his father couldn’t
build the temple because he didn’t have enough peace in the kingdom to do
so. Well, that and the fact that the
Lord told him he wasn’t to do so. Hiram,
king of Tyre, sends to Solomon to wish him well and Solomon tells of his desire
to build a temple, now nearly five hundred years after they have come out of
Egypt. Hiram is glad to be of assistance
in providing the lumber for the temple, a deal is struck and the work is
engaged. Did you count up all the
numbers involved in the building of the temple?
There were over 180,000 men enumerated in various roles in the building
of this edifice! That was on the Israeli
side alone, not to mention the men Hiram employed to cut and dress the
timber. Solomon wasn’t going to do
anything half way.
Isn’t it amazing that right after Jesus prophesies Peter’s
denial He then takes Peter as part of His small group for prayer in the Garden
of Gethsemane? Even though Jesus has
just told Peter he isn’t the man he thinks he is, Jesus wants him to be part of
that little group that has always included him.
I always wonder how the other disciples felt about being excluded from
that group. Did they resent both Jesus
and John, James and Peter? Certainly in
churches I have pastored and been part of as a lay person I have seen
resentment over the leader being closer to some people in the church. Jesus didn’t seem a bit concerned about that
though and it was always the same group of three, never once does it vary. On Passover night, Jews were commanded to
keep watch and the festival of Passover became a time of staying up all night,
keeping watch. In the original Passover,
they were commanded to remain indoors all night, no one was to go out before
morning. That is because the time of the
destroyer, wickedness, was at night, darkness was its domain. The covenant for that night required both
Yahweh and the nation to do something, Israel kept watch and because she did,
the Lord watched over Israel, kept it safe from harm, delivered it from the
destruction. Here, on that night, Jesus
tells the three most trusted disciples to keep watch and they fail for weakness
of the flesh. The Passover observance
ends in a household when someone can’t be easily awakened and here that is
true, the time has come for wickedness to have its way.
Most people believe in something like karma whether they
call it that or not. The people of Malta
immediately conclude that Paul is a murderer because of the viper which comes
out of the fire and latches onto his hand.
This, they believe, is the death sentence and that justice wouldn’t
allow him to live because of his crime and so, in this unusual way, justice
will have its way. That actually
describes how too many Christians think as well. We want grace but we often believe in karma
and what goes around comes around. The
people of Malta are wrong about that but then they are also wrong about Paul
being a god because he doesn’t die. Our
categories are wrong and as Christians we have to continually be reminded of
grace. Solomon received much grace
though God knew he would fall away.
Peter received grace though he would deny Jesus. Paul received grace even though he had
persecuted the church. If we recall the
grace we have received perhaps we will remain faithful to the one who gave it,
as Paul did. We have received no less
than he.
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