Solomon dedicated the house of the LORD

Note: Devotion taken from last Sunday's sermon on 1 Kings 8.

And Solomon offered a sacrifice of peace offerings, which he offered unto the LORD, two and twenty thousand oxen, and an hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the children of Israel dedicated the house of the LORD (1 Kings 8:63).

Solomon’s dedication of the temple included lavish peace offerings. Notice the vast numbers: 22,000 oxen! And 120,000 sheep! Can you imagine the noise? Have you ever been to a livestock auction and heard the sounds of even a small number of animals. If so, then imagine the fear and death cries of these sacrifices, and the rivers of blood that flowed at the temple dedication!

What an amazing spectacle this dedication of the temple was! It must have been an overwhelming visual, emotional, and spiritual experience.

But this temple was later destroyed (by the Babylonian in 586 BC), rebuilt, and destroyed again (by the Romans in AD 70).

What is there here then for new covenant believers to grasp?

First, we are reminded that God dwells now among us not in the ark of the covenant, but in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Word who was made flesh (John 1:14).

Second, Christ accomplished what the blood of thousands of oxen and sheep could not. Through his death on the cross, the just for the unjust, a once for all sacrifice was made for sin. Christ died for sinners. And three days later he was gloriously raised from the dead, was seen by his disciples, sent them out to make new disciples and ascended into heaven till he comes again.

Every sinner whose heart is changed by the power of God so that he repents of his sin and turns in faith to Christ will be saved.

Third, we now worship not by offering the sacrifices which Solomon did, but by offering spiritual sacrifices.

Hebrews 13:15 exhorts, “let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to his name” (v. 15). And it continues: “But to do good and to communicate (NKJV: to share) forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.”

And consider Paul’s words in Romans 12:1: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”

Paul said we must present our bodies, our whole selves, to God so that we become a living sacrifice to him.

Let us then dedicate our lives to Christ!

Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle