6:1 And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of the Lord.
6:2-10 Details of the temple are given.
Then the word of the Lord came to Solomon, saying: “Concerning this temple which you are building, if you walk in My statutes, execute My judgments, keep all My commandments, and walk in them, then I will perform My word with you, which I spoke to your father David. And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will not forsake My people Israel.”
Faith without works is dead, James 2:14-26. This temple is lovely but if the people in it and around it are not living righteously, it does not compensate for faith. In other words: it is not enough to just exalt God. For to truly love Him, we must walk His ways. Our love for Him must be alive. Our faith must work justly, compassionately, righteously in order to be alive. God is alive in His children, what we do for others we do for him (Matthew 25:40) and therefore to exalt Him means not necessarily to build an ostentatious physical temple for Him but to provide a beautiful sanctuary for His children as well. Sanctuary in friendship. Leadership. Influence. Opportunity. Support. Love. Honesty. Forgiveness. Mercy.
6:14-36 Details of the temple's inner sanctuary are given. God does not bless us because we worship him. We do not need to build this opulent temple (though the gesture is sweet). We need to build this opulent inner-sanctuary inside of ourselves. For it is representative of our faith. We must create an environment of faith within ourselves, a space wide and deep and tall. Beauty in the details... an intimate moment-by-moment relationship with God. After all, 1 Corinthians 3:16 reveals that our faith is the temple of God within us.
6:37-39 Solomon has the temple built over seven years. In the Bible, seven is God's number of spiritual completeness. This temple would provide hundreds of thousands an official place and opportunity to contemplate and further their faith. To worship and learn. To step outside of life and into spirituality.
