May 24 - 1 Kings 8:54-66 | 2 Chronicles 7:1-10 | 1 Kings 9:1-9 | 2 Chronicles 7:11-22 | 1 Kings 9:10-14

Good morning everyone,

We begin our reading this morning with Solomon finishing up his prayer for the temple at which time, we’re told, “fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offerings and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple.” Now, in your mind’s eye, picture yourself at this celebration. Will you? You’re all caught up in this prayer and out of nowhere, BOOM!, fire comes down from heaven and, not just burns but, consumes all the sacrifices and also … also, the glory of the Lord is so thick that the priests could not enter the temple. Friends, can you see this? Can you put yourself there? I’m thinking, “the best pyrotechnics display, ever!” Right? What a staggering experience that would have been, and, even better yet, having the presence of God so close, so very, very close. Oh my word. Psalm 97:5 says, “The mountains melt like wax at the presence of the Lord.” Yea … of course! No doubt about it! I too would have been on my knees praying, “He is good”, while wondering if I was still alive. Seriously. How about you? I get excited reading that, I imagine that’s how heaven is going to be. Our Lord, our Abba Father, right there, all of the time and we will forever be in the blissful state of His majestic presence singing, “Holy, holy, holy. Lord God Almighty.” I say, “Come Lord Jesus, come!”

Now, as long as you are there in your mind’s eye, will you imagine, will you please picture, what one, run of the mill, average cow, looks like? You’ve all seen them, maybe in a field somewhere, or at a fair, at the very least in a picture. They’re a pretty good sized animals, averaging five to six hundred pounds. Now envision, if you will, ten of these cows. How manageable is that? How about a hundred? Getting a little more crazy? Well, we’re told they brought in and sacrificed twenty-two thousand cows, and one hundred-twenty thousand sheep and goats. Yikes! Are you seeing this? Can you feel the dust landing on your arms and face, as it is being stirred up from the shuffling of the hooves. Can you hear the mooing, and the neighing, growing louder, probably getting more and more anxious, more desperate, each animal struggling to get away as their turn draws nearer. Now, can you see the bronze alter where each one of these one hundred forty-two thousand animals will be sacrificed, the blood pouring down in rivers; the smell pungent and undeniable. The smoke rolling in thick plumes into the sky. I am about almost choking. You?

Well, (come on out of your mind’s eye now :-) ) the bottom line here is, that, as wonderful and elaborate as the dedication program for the temple was, and as glorifying as the praises were, they could not replace the sacrifices that needed to be made. God still had to be honored through blood sacrifice, both for atonement for sins and as a demonstration of fellowship with God. It is the same today, in as much as ,the price for atonement is still blood, however, the difference is, our debt has been paid in full. It is the the blood of Jesus Christ that honors God, for all who live, for all time. Jesus is not merely a Messiah, oh no! He is so much more than that. He is THE Messiah, the only one who could pay for the sins of the world. Our, as we can read in Genesis 22, Jehovah-Jireh. The Lord who sees, the Lord who provides. The only One who is fully able to meet my needs, to meet your needs, in just the right time. So lets all sing, “Jehovah Jireh, My provider, His grace is sufficient for me, for me, for me.” Amen?

I pray you have a really good day, to God be the glory.

God bless you all …