Psalm 74:6-7

Psalm 74:6-7

The dwelling place of Your name

So, Solomon built the temple and completed it. He lined its interior walls with cedar boards, panelling them from the floor of the temple to the ceiling, and covered the floor of the temple with planks of juniper. He partitioned off twenty cubits at the rear of the temple with cedar boards from floor to ceiling to form within the temple an inner sanctuary, the Most Holy Place. The main hall in front of this room was forty cubits long. The inside of the temple was cedar, carved with gourds and open flowers. Everything was cedar; no stone was to be seen.”  1 Kings 6:14-18. (A cubit was about 457mm or 18 inches and was meant to be the average distance from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger.) 

Verses 6-7 of Psalm 74 describe the destruction of all that Solomon had made. In came the Babylonian hatchet men with their axes and all that the Lord God had designed was smashed to pieces.  The Temple was then set on fire until nothing, but rubble and ashes, remained. This was the dwelling place of God amongst men, the most holy site on the earth revered and loved by the Jews, and it was now completely destroyed. God does not dwell in buildings made with hands; His glory had departed the Temple because of Israel’s disobedience, but it was still a terrible shock to see their beloved sanctuary in ruins. 

The events here show us how brutal the enemy will be if he can goad men into destroying anything that represents the Lord God on earth. Why, they even did it to His Son! Let’s watch and pray lest they do it to us!

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