Is bigger better? A lot of people think so, especially when it comes to buildings. So I’m not sure what to make of 1 Kings 6 and 7, which describe Solomon building the temple, and his palace. The last verse of chapter 6 and the first verse of chapter 7 set the contrast: “The foundation of the temple of the Lord was laid in the fourth year, in the month of Ziv. In the eleventh year in the month of Bul, the eighth month, the temple was finished in all its details according to its specifications. He had spent seven years building it. It took Solomon thirteen years, however, to complete the construction of his palace.”
You see, Solomon’s palace was bigger. The temple was 60 cubits long and 20 wide, but the palace was 100 cubits by 30. Is that important? By today’s standards, it would seem Solomon was putting more importance on himself. Was he? Based on the first part of 1 Kings, he doesn’t seem like he would, but he did show a bent toward excess during his reign.
Does it matter? I don’t know. There’s no hint at all that God was displeased, but then God was satisfied to wait four centuries to move from his tent into a building (metaphorically speaking, of course).
As I think about it, two things occur to me. The first is that God doesn’t seem to begrudge us good things when we earnestly follow after him. Joy and blessing in this life aren’t incompatible with faithful service. God only seems to object when those things divert us from him. That may be why Solomon’s big palace was OK with God.
The other thing is that the opinions of other people are still a key part of my witness. God might be OK with Solomon’s palace but it made me cringe a little bit. What did it communicate to the Israelites? Scripture doesn’t say, but they had moved a long way from the day when Israel had no king, but was ruled more directly by God himself through prophets and judges.
My conclusion is that when God chooses to allow me worldly blessings to give me comfort in my journey, I still have to be careful with how those things appear to my brothers and sisters, and to others who know me to be a Christian.
That’s maybe a lot to read into a few odd details, but it’s where my meditating led me. As with everything related to scripture, it merits further thought.
Interesting...I guess I, too, have come to that conclusion based on experience, but I hadn't tied that to scripture. Do you think this is necessary because of God's creational design and structure or because of our sinful response? Do we question people's success and the way they "spend" that success for godly reasons or for sinful reasons? I guess we know people will question and judge; that seems inevitable. I remember when we bought a different/new car and someone said, "We must be paying those Christian school teachers too much if they can afford new cars." Now there were probably a few reasons that comment was made, but at the time I figured they were all bad/wrong reasons. Perhaps I was wrong. If this is a creational response,perhaps we should take those comments more seriously.
ReplyDeleteThanks for making me think!