1 Chronicles 28

1 Chronicles 28:1

DAVID’S FINAL MESSAGEIn the last two chapters of 1 Chronicles, David calls together all the leaders in Israel. It is a great meeting, and it will be one of his last because he has come to the end of his life. He will have a message for Israel and a message for Solomon that the nation will hear. This is a wise move on David’s part. These are the men who are responsible for the leadership of the nation.

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Despite his age, he forces himself to stand as he delivers this important and final message to his people.

1 Chronicles 28:3

David will not get away from this position of frank confession to the people. He gives the reason God will not allow him to build the temple: he has been a bloody man.

1 Chronicles 28:5

David makes it clear that God had chosen and commissioned Solomon. He turns over all the responsibility for Solomon to God. This gives the impression that Solomon was not David’s choice.

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David’s heart and soul were in the preparation for building the temple. God would not permit him to build it himself, and he acquiesced to the will of God. However, he made every preparation of material and workmen, and he encourages Solomon to build. Now David gives the blueprint to Solomon.

1 Chronicles 28:11

Just as Moses had been given the blueprint for the tabernacle, it was David (not Solomon) who had been given the blueprint for the temple. Many models of the temple have been made, and they are very impressive. Obviously, they are not as the temple really looked. However, in the new section of Jerusalem there is a new, exclusive hotel called the Holyland Hotel. On the grounds of that hotel is a model of the city of Jerusalem. This is not a little cheap thing that has been thrown together, or something made by a person who doesn’t really know what he is doing. But it was made after years of research by Jews in that land.

They have made a model of the entire city. I was thrilled to see how it looked. The fact of the matter is, I took pictures of it myself. They say that they have it looking as it did in the days of Herod. Well, the days of Herod are the days of Christ. It is the way it looked in the days of our Lord and in New Testament times.

And, my friend, it just doesn’t look like the models we have had in the past. I believe it is probably nearer to how it really looked than any other model which has been made before. The model is built in the spacious gardens in the rear of the hotel. The scale Isaiah 1:50 (2 centimeters equal 1 meter; 1/4 inch equals 1 foot). As you walk around it, it gives you a real conception of how Jerusalem looked (see reproductions on pages 120 and 153). The model of the temple has a simplicity about it, and I believe that is how it actually was. Yet the details in Kings and Chronicles seem very complicated. It is not as simple as the tabernacle was, yet there is a simplicity about it. It was neither the architecture nor the size that was impressive, but the beauty and wealth that was bestowed upon it. Although the floor plan of Herod’s temple was the same as God gave to David, it was not nearly as expensive as David’s temple. Herod built the temple to gratify man, while David lavished the wealth of his kingdom upon it to glorify God. David said to Solomon, “You don’t need to stint. I have gathered enough material to make it magnificent.” It was ornate, covered with gold and silver and precious stones. It has always been my feeling that a church building should correspond to the neighborhood in which it is located. I do not like to see great cathedrals erected in poor communities and slum areas. In a rich neighborhood, you would want a building commensurate with the homes. However, today the emphasis should not be upon buildings because our bodies are the temple of God. Of course David had no notion of making a temple for God to live in. God does not live in a box! Solomon in his prayer of dedication very frankly said, “…behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded?” (1Ki_8:27). The whole created universe cannot contain God. How could a little house contain Him? The temple was to be a meeting place. God met with man there. And the temple was for the glory and honor of God. Today God does neither dwell nor meet you in a building. He dwells in individuals by the Holy Spirit. David assigned the proportionate weight of gold or of silver that was to go into the articles of furniture and instruments of service.

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The thought here is that there was to be no stinting. There was nothing parsimonious about the temple. It was a great expanse and expenditure of the wealth of the kingdom of David. Keep in mind that David did this in order to honor God.

1 Chronicles 28:19

This is a remarkable verse. The pattern of the temple was from God just as much as the pattern of the tabernacle was from God. God gave the pattern, the blueprint; God selected the sitethe threshingfloor of Ornan; God inspired and encouraged David but would not allow him to do the actual building.

1 Chronicles 28:20

David is enthusiastic and excited about the temple, and he is doing all he can to stimulate Solomon. He wants Solomon to get busy on it.

1 Chronicles 28:21

You see, David had everyone in the kingdomthe priests, the workmen, the princes, the Levitesall stimulated and stirred up to do this. All Solomon had to do was to carry out his orders and follow the plans David had set up for him.