{"id":2158,"date":"2019-03-03T16:28:48","date_gmt":"2019-03-03T23:28:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/?p=2158"},"modified":"2019-03-03T16:28:51","modified_gmt":"2019-03-03T23:28:51","slug":"1kings_7_1-51","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/1kings_7_1-51\/","title":{"rendered":"Seek God’s Kingdom First and Everything Else You Need and More Will Be Added"},"content":{"rendered":"

1 Kings 7:1-51\u00a0\u00a0Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today’s passage is 1 Kings 7:1-51.\u00a0 Let’s go!<\/p>\n

1 Kings 7:1 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n1\u00a0<\/span><\/sup>It took Solomon thirteen years, however, to complete the construction of his palace.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 1-12:\u00a0 Whereas it took Solomon 7 years to complete the construction of the temple, it took him 13 years to complete the construction of his own palace.\u00a0 What does that tell us?\u00a0 One theory is that at this time in Solomon’s life, the kingdom of God was more important than his own kingdom.\u00a0 So when it came to deciding which should take priority — God’s temple or Solomon’s palace — Solomon chose to work first on God’s temple. The fact that the building of Solomon’s own palace is sandwiched in between two long passages about Solomon work on the temple further supports the theory that for Solomon, his first priority was the house of God.\u00a0 As a result, the house of God was blessed, and Solomon’s own house was blessed.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0Seek God’s kingdom and the building of God’s house first, and God will add everything you need for the building of your own house (Matthew\u00a06:33).<\/strong><\/p>\n

1 Kings\u00a07:21\u00a0(NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n21\u00a0<\/span><\/sup>He erected the pillars at the portico of the temple. The pillar to the south he named Jakin and the one to the north Boaz.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 13-22:\u00a0 Solomon assigns the task of building all the bronze temple furnishings to a skilled craftsman called Huram.\u00a0 Among the various items Huram built are two bronze pillars, which Huram names Jakim and Boaz.\u00a0 Jakim means “Yahweh establishes” and speaks of security.\u00a0 Boaz means “in Yahweh is strength”, and is also the name of Solomon’s great grandfather.\u00a0 Whenever the Israelites would enter the temple to worship the Lord, it was a reminder that their security and their strength were in God.\u00a0 Similarly,\u00a0our security and strength don’t come from ourselves, our accomplishment or our backgrounds, but from God.<\/strong><\/p>\n

1 Kings 7:23-24 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n23\u00a0<\/span><\/sup>He made the Sea of cast metal, circular in shape, measuring ten cubits from rim to rim and five cubits high. It took a line of thirty cubits to measure around it.
\n24\u00a0<\/span><\/sup>Below the rim, gourds encircled it–ten to a cubit. The gourds were cast in two rows in one piece with the Sea.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 23-39: The bronze Sea (which was a large pool of water) and the ten stands with their basins were Solomon’s system for ensuring that the priests had easy access to water so that they could clean their hands and feet as they entered the presence of God.\u00a0\u00a0Today, in the church, Jesus our King and great high priest has an even more effective and efficient system for ensuring that his priests (us) are clean as we enter the presence of God.\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0That is, through our faith in Him, Jesus gives us constant, unlimited access to His blood, which cleanses us from all our sin.\u00a0 Because of Jesus’ shed blood, we can enter the presence of God without shame or fear of punishment, for we have been made clean and are totally forgiven.<\/p>\n

1 Kings\u00a07:40\u00a0(NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n40\u00a0<\/span><\/sup>…So Huram finished all the work he had undertaken for King Solomon in the temple of the LORD:\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 40-51:\u00a0 Here both Huram (v40) and King Solomon (v51) are said to have finished the work that they had been given on the temple.\u00a0 Paul in the New Testament had a similar mindset. He said,\u00a0“<\/span><\/sup>However, I consider my life worth nothing to me,\u00a0if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me<\/em><\/u>–the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.” (Acts\u00a020:24)\u00a0\u00a0Like Huram, Solomon and Paul, may we be intent on finishing the race and completing the task Jesus has given us to do on this earth.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Lord Jesus, thank You that it is Your blood that constantly cleanses me from sin.\u00a0 Thank You that I find my stability and strength in You.\u00a0 Your Word and Your Holy Spirit are the pillars of my life.\u00a0 Thank You for Your blood which constantly cleanses me so I can enter Your presence at all times.\u00a0 May I finish the race and complete the task You gave me.\u00a0 In Jesus’ name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today’s passage is 1 Kings 7:1-51.\u00a0 Let’s go!<\/p>\n

1 Kings 7:1 (NIV)\u00a0
\n1\u00a0It took Solomon thirteen years, however, to complete the construction of his palace.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On verses 1-12:\u00a0 Whereas it took Solomon 7 years to complete the construction of the temple, it took him 13 years to complete the construction of his own palace.\u00a0 What does that tell us?\u00a0 One theory is that at this time in Solomon’s life, the kingdom of God was more important than his own kingdom.\u00a0 So when it came to deciding which should take priority — God’s temple or Solomon’s palace — Solomon chose to work first on God’s temple. The fact that the building of Solomon’s own palace is sandwiched in between two long passages about Solomon work on the temple further supports the theory that for Solomon, his first priority was the house of God.\u00a0 As a result, the house of God was blessed, and Solomon’s own house was blessed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2159,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2158","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2158","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2158"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2158\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2160,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2158\/revisions\/2160"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2159"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2158"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2158"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2158"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}