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Where is God's Temple on Earth?

Part 6 of the Uncategorized Series

1) 1Kings 8:1 - 13, 27 - 29 NKJV

¹ Now Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the chief fathers of the children of Israel, to King Solomon in Jerusalem, that they might bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord from the City of David, which is Zion. ² Therefore all the men of Israel assembled with King Solomon at the feast in the month of Ethanim, which is the seventh month. ³ So all the elders of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark. ⁴ Then they brought up the ark of the Lord, the tabernacle of meeting, and all the holy furnishings that were in the tabernacle. The priests and the Levites brought them up.

⁵ Also King Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel who were assembled with him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing sheep and oxen that could not be counted or numbered for multitude. 6 Then the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the Lord to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the temple, to the Most Holy Place, under the wings of the cherubim. ⁷ For the cherubim spread their two wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim overshadowed the ark and its poles.

⁸ The poles extended so that the ends of the poles could be seen from the holy place, in front of the inner sanctuary; but they could not be seen from outside. And they are there to this day. ⁹ Nothing was in the ark except the two tablets of stone which Moses put there at Horeb, when the Lord made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt.

¹⁰ And it came to pass, when the priests came out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the Lord, ¹¹ so that the priests could not continue ministering because of the cloud; for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord. ¹² Then Solomon spoke: "The Lord said He would dwell in the dark cloud. ¹³ I have surely built You an exalted house, And a place for You to dwell in forever."

²⁷ "But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this temple which I have built! ²⁸ Yet regard the prayer of Your servant and his supplication, O Lord my God, and listen to the cry and the prayer which Your servant is praying before You today: ²⁹ that Your eyes may be open toward this temple night and day, toward the place of which You said, 'My name shall be there,' that You may hear the prayer which Your servant makes toward this place.

a. Why did God choose Solomon over his father David to build His temple? Why is this important to us?

b. There were furnishings in the temple. What were they, and where were they located?

c. What was the only item in the Most Holy Place?

d. Why couldn't the priests minister in God's temple?

e. Where does God dwell?

f. Solomon prayed that when he or the people prayed toward the temple that God would answer. What would focusing on the temple during prayer mean to us today?

2) 1Corinthians 6:12 - 20

¹² All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any. ¹³ Foods for the stomach and the stomach for foods, but God will destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. ¹⁴ And God both raised up the Lord and will also raise us up by His power.

¹⁵ Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? Certainly not! ¹⁶ Or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her? For "the two," He says, "shall become one flesh." ¹⁷ But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.

¹⁸ Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. ¹⁹ Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? ²⁰ For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.

a. What is the temple of the Holy Spirit today?

b. What does it mean that all things are lawful but not all helpful?

c. Who is our body made for, and why does the writer link the resurrection of Jesus with this?

d. Who are our bodies members of? What is the significance of that?

e. What are the negative ramifications for having immoral sexual relations with another?

f. Does the Holy Spirit leave us when we have improper sexual relations?

g. Does the Holy Spirit leave us when we sin, even though He hates sin?

3) See the diagram of Solomon's temple below:

a. What was the bronze altar for, and what does it symbolize in the new covenant?

b. What was the bronze laver used for, and what is it symbolic of today?

c. What does the first veil separate?

d. What are the furnishings in the Holy Place? What do they symbolize?

e. What is the Holy Place symbolic of?

f. What does the second veil separate?

g. What is in the Holy of Holies or the Most Holy Place, and what does it symbolize?

h. Is the veil between the Holy of Holies and the Holy Place still intact? Why is this important?