Temple Obligations

1 Kings 9; 2 Chronicles 8; Psalms 136; Romans 5 

“The Lord appeared to him a second time, as he had appeared to him at Gibeon. The Lord said to him: ‘I have heard the prayer and plea you have made before me…;’Three times a year Solomon sacrificed burnt offerings…and so fulfilled the temple obligations.”

1 Kings 9:2, 3, 25

The Lord God himself appeared and spoke to Solomon a second time, twenty years after his first meeting with Solomon which had been early in his tenure as king. After Solomon had built the temple and palace and engaged in other projects, God’s word to him re-affirmed his promises to David. It also emphasized God’s warnings and judgments for disobedience. God’s promises were not without responsibilities. There is no recorded response by Solomon to this word from the Lord. He fulfilled the minimal sacrificial requirements at the temple, but he did not pursue a relationship with the Lord.

How would our relationship with the Lord be described?

Are we, like Solomon, merely fulfilling our “temple obligations”? The consequences of this were evident when the next generation abandoned the Lord.

Or, are we pursuing intimacy and love in our relationship with God?

“Lord God, I repent for thinking religious requirements are the same as intimacy with you. Fill me with your love, for your glory.”