Time Span - Saturday August 29, 2015
In the four hundred and eightieth year after the people of Israel came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, which is the second month, he began to build the house of the Lord. 1 Kings 6:1 ESV
What a time span! Let that sink in: 480 years after the Israelites left Egypt, Solomon built the temple. Solomon became the king of Israel around 970 BC, so the fourth year of his reign would be around 966 BC. And 480 years before that would be around 1446 BC!
King David had wanted to build a temple for God, but God said no. However, God allowed David's son Solomon to build it. The temple would go on to become the national and religious center of Israel. This is clearly seen in the prominence of the temple in Jesus' life. His parents dedicated him there as an infant. As a man, he traveled there for a number of religious feasts. Jesus cleared the temple of the money changers and taught there many times.
But for 480 years the nation of Israel had no temple! Today it is 2015; so, 480 years ago would be 1535. That is a long time ago. We declared our independence from Great Britain only 239 years ago. Imagine if in the year 2256 we built our nation's capitol in Washington, DC!
God's timetable is totally different from ours. We pray for something for a month or a year, and it doesn't get answered. So we stop praying. But when I read this verse, I was encouraged. I should never stop praying, even if it takes God decades to answer my prayers. That is true faith-to keep praying for something, even if God tarries in His answers!
Submitted by:
Josh Whitney
The Rock Church
Taylorsville, Utah
One-Year Reading Plan:
Job 31:1-33:33
2 Corinthians 3:1-18
Psalms 43:1-5
Proverbs 22:8-9
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SCRIPTURE REFERENCB-ES: Unless otherwise identified, Scripture quotations are from the New American Standard Bible B) The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are from the Holy, Bible, New International Version, copyright B) 1973, 1978, 1984 by InternaB-tional Bible Society; (NKJV) are from New King James Version B) 1982 by Thomas Nelson; (NLT) are from the New Living Translation, B) 1996, Tyndale House Publishers; (ESV) are from English Standard VersionB., B) 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers; (TM) are from The Message B) 1993 by NavPress Publishers.