[Ohio-Communities-of-Faith] DONNIE DAILY GEMS FOR SATURDAY APRIL 30

[Donnie Parrett]

DONNIE DAILY GEMS FOR SATURDAY APRIL 30

DAILY BIBLE READING

2 Chronicles 4-6 New King James Version
Furnishings of the Temple
4 Moreover he made a bronze altar: twenty cubits was its length, twenty
cubits its width, and ten cubits its height.

2 Then he made the [a]Sea of cast bronze, ten cubits from one brim to the
other; it was completely round. Its height was five cubits, and a line of
thirty cubits measured its circumference. 3 And under it was the likeness of
oxen encircling it all around, ten to a cubit, all the way around the Sea.
The oxen were cast in two rows, when it was cast. 4 It stood on twelve oxen:
three looking toward the north, three looking toward the west, three looking
toward the south, and three looking toward the east; the Sea was set upon
them, and all their back parts pointed inward. 5 It was a handbreadth thick;
and its brim was shaped like the brim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It
contained [b]three thousand baths.

6 He also made ten lavers, and put five on the right side and five on the
left, to wash in them; such things as they offered for the burnt offering
they would wash in them, but the [c]Sea was for the priests to wash in. 7
And he made ten lampstands of gold according to their design, and set them
in the temple, five on the right side and five on the left. 8 He also made
ten tables, and placed them in the temple, five on the right side and five
on the left. And he made one hundred bowls of gold.

9 Furthermore he made the court of the priests, and the great court and
doors for the court; and he overlaid these doors with bronze. 10 He set the
Sea on the right side, toward the southeast.

11 Then Huram made the pots and the shovels and the bowls. So Huram finished
doing the work that he was to do for King Solomon for the house of God: 12
the two pillars and the bowl-shaped capitals that were on top of the two
pillars; the two networks covering the two bowl-shaped capitals which were
on top of the pillars; 13 four hundred pomegranates for the two networks
(two rows of pomegranates for each network, to cover the two bowl-shaped
capitals that were on the pillars); 14 he also made carts and the lavers on
the carts; 15 one Sea and twelve oxen under it; 16 also the pots, the
shovels, the forks-and all their articles Huram his [d]master craftsman made
of burnished bronze for King Solomon for the house of the Lord.

17 In the plain of Jordan the king had them cast in clay molds, between
Succoth and [e]Zeredah. 18 And Solomon had all these articles made in such
great abundance that the weight of the bronze was not determined.

19 Thus Solomon had all the furnishings made for the house of God: the altar
of gold and the tables on which was the showbread; 20 the lampstands with
their lamps of pure gold, to burn in the prescribed manner in front of the
inner sanctuary, 21 with the flowers and the lamps and the wick-trimmers of
gold, of purest gold; 22 the trimmers, the bowls, the ladles, and the
censers of pure gold. As for the entry of the [f]sanctuary, its inner doors
to the Most Holy Place, and the doors of the main hall of the temple, were
gold.

The Ark Brought into the Temple
5 So all the work that Solomon had done for the house of the Lord was
finished; and Solomon brought in the things which his father David had
dedicated: the silver and the gold and all the furnishings. And he put them
in the treasuries of the house of God.

The Ark Brought into the Temple
2 Now Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the
tribes, the chief fathers of the children of Israel, in Jerusalem, that they
might bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord up from the City of David,
which is Zion. 3 Therefore all the men of Israel assembled with the king at
the feast, which was in the seventh month. 4 So all the elders of Israel
came, and the Levites took up the ark. 5 Then they brought up the ark, the
tabernacle of meeting, and all the holy furnishings that were in the
tabernacle. The priests and the Levites brought them up. 6 Also King
Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel who were assembled with him
before the ark, were sacrificing sheep and oxen that could not be counted or
numbered for multitude. 7 Then the priests brought in the ark of the
covenant of the Lord to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the
[g]temple, to the Most Holy Place, under the wings of the cherubim. 8 For
the cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim
overshadowed the ark and its poles. 9 The poles extended so that the ends of
the poles of the ark could be seen from the holy place, in front of the
inner sanctuary; but they could not be seen from outside. And [h]they are
there to this day. 10 Nothing was in the ark except the two tablets which
Moses put there at Horeb, [i]when the Lord made a covenant with the children
of Israel, when they had come out of Egypt.

11 And it came to pass when the priests came out of the Most Holy Place (for
all the priests who were present had [j]sanctified themselves, without
keeping to their divisions), 12 and the Levites who were the singers, all
those of Asaph and Heman and Jeduthun, with their sons and their brethren,
stood at the east end of the altar, clothed in white linen, having cymbals,
stringed instruments and harps, and with them one hundred and twenty priests
sounding with trumpets- 13 indeed it came to pass, when the trumpeters and
singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking
the Lord, and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals
and instruments of music, and praised the Lord, saying:

"For He is good,
For His mercy endures forever,"

that the house, the house of the Lord, was filled with a cloud, 14 so that
the priests could not [k]continue ministering because of the cloud; for the
glory of the Lord filled the house of God.

Solomon's Prayer of Dedication
6 Then Solomon spoke:

"The Lord said He would dwell in the dark cloud.
2 I have surely built You an exalted house,
And a place for You to dwell in forever."

Solomon's Speech upon Completion of the Work
3 Then the king turned around and blessed the whole assembly of Israel,
while all the assembly of Israel was standing. 4 And he said: "Blessed be
the Lord God of Israel, who has fulfilled with His hands what He spoke with
His mouth to my father David, saying, 5 'Since the day that I brought My
people out of the land of Egypt, I have chosen no city from any tribe of
Israel in which to build a house, that My name might be there, nor did I
choose any man to be a ruler over My people Israel. 6 Yet I have chosen
Jerusalem, that My name may be there, and I have chosen David to be over My
people Israel.' 7 Now it was in the heart of my father David to build a
[l]temple for the name of the Lord God of Israel. 8 But the Lord said to my
father David, 'Whereas it was in your heart to build a temple for My name,
you did well in that it was in your heart. 9 Nevertheless you shall not
build the temple, but your son who will come from your body, he shall build
the temple for My name.' 10 So the Lord has fulfilled His word which He
spoke, and I have filled the position of my father David, and sit on the
throne of Israel, as the Lord promised; and I have built the temple for the
name of the Lord God of Israel. 11 And there I have put the ark, in which is
the covenant of the Lord which He made with the children of Israel."

Solomon's Prayer of Dedication
12 Then [m]Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all
the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands 13 (for Solomon had made a
bronze platform five cubits long, five cubits wide, and three cubits high,
and had set it in the midst of the court; and he stood on it, knelt down on
his knees before all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands toward
heaven); 14 and he said: "Lord God of Israel, there is no God in heaven or
on earth like You, who keep Your covenant and mercy with Your servants who
walk before You with all their hearts. 15 You have kept what You promised
Your servant David my father; You have both spoken with Your mouth and
fulfilled it with Your hand, as it is this day. 16 Therefore, Lord God of
Israel, now keep what You promised Your servant David my father, saying,
'You shall not fail to have a man sit before Me on the throne of Israel,
only if your sons take heed to their way, that they walk in My law as you
have walked before Me.' 17 And now, O Lord God of Israel, let Your word come
true, which You have spoken to Your servant David.

18 "But will God indeed dwell with men on the earth? Behold, heaven and the
heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this [n]temple which I
have built! 19 Yet regard the prayer of Your servant and his supplication, O
Lord my God, and listen to the cry and the prayer which Your servant is
praying before You: 20 that Your eyes may be open toward this temple day and
night, toward the place where You said You would put Your name, that You may
hear the prayer which Your servant makes toward this place. 21 And may You
hear the supplications of Your servant and of Your people Israel, when they
pray toward this place. Hear from heaven Your dwelling place, and when You
hear, forgive.

22 "If anyone sins against his neighbor, and is forced to take an oath, and
comes and takes an oath before Your altar in this temple, 23 then hear from
heaven, and act, and judge Your servants, bringing retribution on the wicked
by bringing his way on his own head, and justifying the righteous by giving
him according to his righteousness.

24 "Or if Your people Israel are defeated before an enemy because they have
sinned against You, and return and confess Your name, and pray and make
supplication before You in this temple, 25 then hear from heaven and forgive
the sin of Your people Israel, and bring them back to the land which You
gave to them and their fathers.

26 "When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because they have
sinned against You, when they pray toward this place and confess Your name,
and turn from their sin because You afflict them, 27 then hear in heaven,
and forgive the sin of Your servants, Your people Israel, that You may teach
them the good way in which they should walk; and send rain on Your land
which You have given to Your people as an inheritance.

28 "When there is famine in the land, pestilence or blight or mildew,
locusts or grasshoppers; when their enemies besiege them in the land of
their cities; whatever plague or whatever sickness there is; 29 whatever
prayer, whatever supplication is made by anyone, or by all Your people
Israel, when each one knows his own burden and his own grief, and spreads
out his hands to this temple: 30 then hear from heaven Your dwelling place,
and forgive, and give to everyone according to all his ways, whose heart You
know (for You alone know the hearts of the sons of men), 31 that they may
fear You, to walk in Your ways as long as they live in the land which You
gave to our fathers.

32 "Moreover, concerning a foreigner, who is not of Your people Israel, but
has come from a far country for the sake of Your great name and Your mighty
hand and Your outstretched arm, when they come and pray in this temple; 33
then hear from heaven Your dwelling place, and do according to all for which
the foreigner calls to You, that all peoples of the earth may know Your name
and fear You, as do Your people Israel, and that they may know that [o]this
temple which I have built is called by Your name.

34 "When Your people go out to battle against their enemies, wherever You
send them, and when they pray to You toward this city which You have chosen
and the temple which I have built for Your name, 35 then hear from heaven
their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause.

36 "When they sin against You (for there is no one who does not sin), and
You become angry with them and deliver them to the enemy, and they take them
captive to a land far or near; 37 yet when they [p]come to themselves in the
land where they were carried captive, and repent, and make supplication to
You in the land of their captivity, saying, 'We have sinned, we have done
wrong, and have committed wickedness'; 38 and when they return to You with
all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity,
where they have been carried captive, and pray toward their land which You
gave to their fathers, the city which You have chosen, and toward the temple
which I have built for Your name: 39 then hear from heaven Your dwelling
place their prayer and their supplications, and maintain their cause, and
forgive Your people who have sinned against You. 40 Now, my God, I pray, let
Your eyes be open and let Your ears be attentive to the prayer made in this
place.

41 "Now therefore,
Arise, O Lord God, to Your resting place,
You and the ark of Your strength.
Let Your priests, O Lord God, be clothed with salvation,
And let Your saints rejoice in goodness.

42 "O Lord God, do not turn away the face of Your Anointed;
Remember the mercies of Your servant David."

Footnotes
2 Chronicles 4:2 Great laver or basin
2 Chronicles 4:5 About 8,000 gallons; two thousand, 1 Kin. 7:26
2 Chronicles 4:6 Great basin
2 Chronicles 4:16 Lit. father
2 Chronicles 4:17 Zaretan, 1 Kin. 7:46
2 Chronicles 4:22 Lit. house
2 Chronicles 5:7 Lit. house
2 Chronicles 5:9 Lit. it is
2 Chronicles 5:10 Or where
2 Chronicles 5:11 consecrated
2 Chronicles 5:14 Lit. stand to minister
2 Chronicles 6:7 Lit. house, and so in vv. 8-10
2 Chronicles 6:12 Lit. he
2 Chronicles 6:18 Lit. house
2 Chronicles 6:33 Lit. Your name is called upon this house
2 Chronicles 6:37 Lit. bring back to their hearts