Solomon's Temple: A Short Thought on Forgiveness, Restoration and Prayer.
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The whole of the eighth chapter of 1 kings presents the plea: 'what prayer...be made by any man....toward this house...then hear thou in heaven...and forgive'

This is repeated a number of times. The sequence is this: prayer said - looking to the temple - God forgiving from heaven. The central figure to this process is - looking towards the temple.

Unless the prayer is accompanied by 'spreading forth the hands toward the house of God', the forgiveness and restoration from God is impossible.

The reason is both simple and profound. The temple was built on mount Moriah where Isaac was offered in Gen 22. In other words, the mount Moriah stood in association with the figure of Christ's death and resurrection*

[*Isaac in Gen 22 presents both Christ death and resurrection. Compare Heb 11:19.]

So each time prayer is addressed to the temple on mount Moriah it showed that man's access to God and forgiveness is founded only on the death and resurrection of Christ.

The Solomon's temple is thus the type of good things to come.

P. Ben

[Dec. 2016]


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