Discover His heart: He is our firm foundation
It’s always troubling to watch television news reporting on the mudslides that seem to occur every year in California or similar places. We see homes literally sliding down the hillside, sometimes into the coastal waters below. As the furnishings and memories of a lifetime are swallowed up in mud and debris, I often wonder if the magnificent ocean views their homes afford them is worth the devastation. There’s nothing like building on a firm foundation.
@2 Chronicles 3
Whether building a home, a marriage, a church or a family, we want to make something that will last, something that will survive the storms of life. David had chosen such a place for his son to build God’s temple. “So Solomon began to build the Temple of the Lord in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to David, his father. The Temple was built on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite, the site that David had selected.” (1) Solomon’s Temple on Mount Moriah was built on a firm foundation, both in structure and in history, and the history is intriguing.
Mount Moriah was a place of faith: Mount Moriah was first mentioned in Genesis 22:1-2,9-11, “Sometime later, God tested Abraham’s faith. ‘Take your son, your only son—yes, Isaac, whom you love so much—and go to the land of Moriah. Go and sacrifice him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains’… Abraham built an altar there and laid the wood in order. He bound his son Isaac, and laid him on the altar…Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to kill his son. But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, and said, ‘Abraham, Abraham!’” Is whatever we are building in our lives based on faith in God, is He the sure foundation? As with Abraham, God may give us an opportunity to demonstrate faith during our building process to be sure that it will stand.
Mount Moriah was a place of sacrifice: Because of David’s sin of taking a census, the hand of God was set to destroy Israel, but the angel from God halted its destruction at the threshing floor of Araunah when David repented. This special place where God would spare His people was Mount Moriah. David went to purchase the land, but the owner, Araunah, wanted to give it to him – David would have none of it. “No, I insist on buying it for the full price. I will not take what is yours and give it to the Lord. I will not present burnt offerings that have cost me nothing!’” (I Chronicles 21:2-4) It will cost us something to build on a firm foundation. Careful planning, diligence and countless hours are just a few of the sacrifices that go into building a marriage and home or anything that will last.
Mount Moriah was a place of worship: Solomon completed the beautiful and ornate Temple for the Ark of the Covenant to dwell, the presence of God. May all that we build be a place of worship to God, where His presence dwells. Solomon’s Temple was constructed with careful planning and the very best quality of supplies and furnishings – it was built to last forever. However, 400 years later it lay in ruins.
The Temple had a firm foundation – it was built on faith in God, it was a place of sacrifice to God, and it was a place of worship to God. Should it not have lasted forever? Although the foundation was good, the structure lost its function when the Israelites left the Temple and put their faith in other gods, sacrificed to other gods and worshiped them in others places. They abandoned the very principles on which the Temple was built, and God allowed pagans from other countries to demolish it.
From this sad history, we learn not only to build our lives on faith in the Lord, but also to hold fast to those principles that guided us from the very beginning. The world will forever attempt to seduce us with many other areas to place our faith, to offer our sacrifices and to bow our knee to worship, but it never ends well for us. What we build will last when we build on the Lord, our sure foundation, and we stand firm.
Moving Forward: On Christ the Solid Rock I stand!
Tomorrow@Psalms 111-113
Phyllis Benigas 