1 Peter 2:1-25

Solomon

As King David neared the end of his career he found in his heart a desire to build a temple for the Lord. He shared this desire with the prophet Nathan who agreed this would be a good this to do; however, afterward the Lord spoke to Nathan and said otherwise. David was not the one to build a temple for the Lord. Instead, David’s son would build a temple for the Lord. This is exactly what was prophesied about David’s son:

“When your days are over and you go to be with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for me, and I will establish his throne forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son. I will never take my love away from him, as I took it away from your predecessor. I will set him over my house and my kingdom forever; his throne will be established forever.” (1 Chronicles 17:11-14)

Solomon came along and he indeed built a glorious temple for the Lord. Solomon was highly honored for his wisdom and had tremendous wealth, but Solomon’s throne was not established forever. In fact, by the time Solomon passed off of the scene he had fallen so far in his position wit the Lord that ten of the twelve tribes were taken away from his son Rehoboam. 

Did God’s word fail? Of course not. Solomon was only a precursor of the One to come. Jesus came and as the Messiah He was the proper heir to the title Son of David. He has been set over God’s House and His kingdom is established forever. But what about the temple?

Peter solves that riddle here in this passage. Christ did not build a temple out of wood and stone; a temple destined to perish. He build a temple never before seen. He built a living temple out of living stones. Through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit we are like living stones which combine together in the church to become a living temple unto God. We are therefore a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation. 

The world has never seen anything like this before. This is not something man made up. Though we submit to the civil authorities of tis world it is not really them to whom we are submitting. We are submitting unto our King who is also te Shepherd and Chief Overseer of our souls. 

Let the world settle for Solomon. We belong to Jesus.