Read: 1 Chronicles 28:9-21; 2 Corinthians 6:16
Then David gave Solomon his son the plan of the vestibule of the temple. (1 Chron. 28:11)
In one of the congregations that I served as the pastor, the congregation made plans for a building project. This led to an extensive search for the original blueprints. When they were finally found, we realized the building mostly followed the original plans, but there were alterations during construction.
Chapter 28 picks up the theme from chapter 22. David continues preparations for the kingdom’s transfer to his son Solomon. David gives detailed plans for the building of the temple, and Solomon followed it in every respect. But still, the temple was not known as David’s Temple but rather Solmon’s Temple. Solomon clearly left an imprint on the temple, which indicates he had sufficient freedom to express his creative mind. Furthermore, the Chronicler’s first readers in the fourth century BC did not inhabit Solomon’s Temple (which had been torn down), and the author is not insisting that the new temple conform exactly to the previous temple to fulfill the divine plan.
We sometimes believe that God has an exact blueprint for our lives, and we believe that we’ll be unfaithful if we do not discover that plan and carry it out exactly. But God gives us a basic blueprint, and particular choices are genuinely left to each of us as the “temple builder.” The apostle Paul writes, “We are the temple of the living God” (2 Cor. 6:16).
As you pray, listen for God’s plan for your life and how you will carry it out as the “temple builder.”
About the Author
Kent Fry is a retired pastor and visiting research fellow at the Van Raalte Institute in Holland Michigan.
