Author Archive for: meiling

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 2 Chronicles 6:22-31.  Let’s go!

2 Chronicles 6:24-25 (NIV) 
24  “When your people Israel have been defeated by an enemy because they have sinned against you and when they turn back and confess your name, praying and making supplication before you in this temple, 
25  then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and bring them back to the land you gave to them and their fathers.

On verses 22-31:  Here Solomon continues his prayer to God by describing different challenging situations that he foresees his people going through, including:

When one person wrongs another and needs to take an oath concerning what happened (v22-23)
When God’s people encounter defeat due to sin and they turn back to God (v24-25)
When God’s people encounter famine due to sin and they turn back to God (v26-27)
When disaster strikes for reasons unrelated to the people’s sin and they call on God (v28-31)
In every case, Solomon asks God to hear from heaven and forgive, or to hear from heaven and act. 

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 2 Chronicles 6:12-21.  Let’s go!

2 Chronicles 6:12-13 (NIV) 
12  Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in front of the whole assembly of Israel and spread out his hands. 
13  Now he had made a bronze platform, five cubits long, five cubits wide and three cubits high, and had placed it in the center of the outer court. He stood on the platform and then knelt down before the whole assembly of Israel and spread out his hands toward heaven.

On verses 12-13:  Here Solomon has a platform on which he stands and speaks to the people of Israel.  Similarly, if you have trusted Jesus as your Saviour, God has given you a platform on which you can stand and influence others.  A big part of that platform is the set of spiritual gifts God has given you.  For a list of many of the spiritual gifts God makes available to His children, see Romans 12:6-8; 1 Corinthians 12:1-11, 28-31; and Ephesians 4:11-13.  What spiritual gifts has God given to you?  Be sure to discover, practice, develop and use your spiritual gifts with love, humility, and in unity with your church so that others can be brought near to God and so that God’s kingdom can expand on earth.  As 1 Peter 4:10 says, “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.”  

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 2 Chronicles 6:1-11.  Let’s go!

2 Chronicles 6:1-3 (NIV) 
1  Then Solomon said, “The LORD has said that he would dwell in a dark cloud; 
2  I have built a magnificent temple for you, a place for you to dwell forever.” 
3  While the whole assembly of Israel was standing there, the king turned around and blessed them.
 
On verses 1-2:  Remember that just before Solomon speaks in verse 1, to everyone’s surprise a cloud representing God’s glory has miraculously filled the temple (see 5:13-14).  It’s a glorious, unexpected and possibly scary sight.  As Solomon wants to continue on with the temple dedication service, his segue way is brilliant.  By saying, “The Lord has said that he would dwell in a dark cloud” (v1), Solomon reminds the people how in famous times past God also appeared to Moses in a cloud and thick darkness (Exodus 20:21; Psalm 97:2).  In this way, Solomon reassures the people that God is with them.  He helps them to see that the way God is working in their midst right now is consistent with how God has worked in times past.  Solomon also shows the people the significance of this present moment, as they get to dedicate a temple as God’s new dwelling place (v2).

Hi GAMErs,

2 Chronicles 4:6 (NIV) 
6  He then made ten basins for washing and placed five on the south side and five on the north. In them the things to be used for the burnt offerings were rinsed, but the Sea was to be used by the priests for washing. 

On verses 1-18:  Here the Chronicler describes the equipment that Solomon ordered to be made for the temple, including the altar, the Sea (which was a large bronze pool used for the priests to wash to make themselves ceremonially clean), basins for washing things used for the burnt offerings, lampstands, tables, sprinkling bowls, pots and shovels, among other things.  What can we learn from this?

Most of the equipment we read about here was to facilitate the killing and offering of lambs, bulls and other animals as sacrifices for people’s sins.  I would imagine that the house of God back in Solomon’s time was pretty dirty and probably looked, smelled and felt like your local butchery.   But ever since Jesus Christ sacrificed himself on the cross for our sins, there is no more need to shed the blood of animals.   That’s because Christ our sacrificial lamb gave himself for us.  His shed blood is sufficient to cover all of our failures.  Praise God that we don’t need a Sea or basins anymore because we’ve been washed in the cleansing sea of God’s love, the blood of Jesus.