1 Then said Solomon, The Lord hath said that he would dwell in the thick darkness. 2 But I have built an house of habitation for thee, and a place for thy dwelling for ever.
(NT church ... God dwells in the heart of the believer by HIS Spirit and the body of the believer in NT church is the temple of the Holy Spirit. I Cor. 6... Where two or three gather together, there, Jesus says, Am I in the midst of thee. Mt. 18:20 ... Therefore we could be gathered together by phone, or in the living room, or on the lawn. The place is no longer important. What is critical is that we have the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, in us. And Jesus said: Jn. 4 ... 23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth:for the Father seeketh such to worship him. 24 God is a Spirit:and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.)
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II Chronicles 6
3 And the king turned his face, and blessed the whole congregation of Israel:and all the congregation of Israel stood. 4 And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who hath with his hands fulfilled that which he spake with his mouth to my father David, saying, 5 Since the day that I brought forth my people out of the land of Egypt I chose no city among all the tribes of Israel to build an house in, that my name might be there; neither chose I any man to be a ruler over my people Israel:6 But I have chosen Jerusalem, that my name might be there; and have chosen David to be over my people Israel. 7 Now it was in the heart of David my father to build an house for the name of the Lord God of Israel. 8 But the Lord said to David my father, Forasmuch as it was in thine heart to build an house for my name, thou didst well in that it was in thine heart:9 Notwithstanding thou shalt not build the house; but thy son which shall come forth out of thy loins, he shall build the house for my name.
10 The Lord therefore hath performed his word that he hath spoken:for I am risen up in the room of David my father, and am set on the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised, and have built the house for the name of the Lord God of Israel. 11 And in it have I put the ark, wherein is the covenant of the Lord (The Word of God), that he made with the children of Israel.
12 And he stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands:13 For Solomon had made a brasen scaffold, of five cubits long, and five cubits broad, and three cubits high, and had set it in the midst of the court:and upon it he stood, and kneeled down upon his knees before all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven, 14 And said, O Lord God of Israel, there is no God like thee in the heaven, nor in the earth; which keepest covenant, and shewest mercy unto thy servants, that walk before thee with all their hearts:15 Thou which hast kept with thy servant David my father that which thou hast promised him; and spakest with thy mouth, and hast fulfilled it with thine hand, as it is this day.
16 Now therefore, O Lord God of Israel, keep with thy servant David my father that which thou hast promised him, saying, There shall not fail thee a man in my sight to sit upon the throne of Israel; yet so that thy children take heed to their way to walk in my law, as thou hast walked before me.
17 Now then, O Lord God of Israel, let thy word be verified, which thou hast spoken unto thy servant David.
18 But will God in very deed dwell with men on the earth? behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house which I have built!
19 Have respect therefore to the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplication, O Lord my God, to hearken unto the cry and the prayer which thy servant prayeth before thee:
20 That thine eyes may be open upon this house day and night, upon the place whereof thou hast said that thou wouldest put thy name there; to hearken unto the prayer which thy servant prayeth toward this place.
21 Hearken therefore unto the supplications of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, which they shall make toward this place:hear thou from thy dwelling place, even from heaven; and when thou hearest, forgive.
(In the OT, when they prayed, the prayed "toward" Jerusalem. Muslims do this today as they pray toward Mecca... devils copy things of God ... But in NT, we pray in the Spirit of God, with our heart toward God, not toward a physical place on this present earth.)
22 If a man sin against his neighbour, and an oath be laid upon him to make him swear, and the oath come before thine altar in this house; 23 Then hear thou from heaven, and do, and judge thy servants, by requiting the wicked, by recompensing his way upon his own head; and by justifying the righteous, by giving him according to his righteousness.
24 And if thy people Israel be put to the worse before the enemy, because they have sinned against thee; and shall return and confess thy name, and pray and make supplication before thee in this house; 25 Then hear thou from the heavens, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel, and bring them again unto the land which thou gavest to them and to their fathers.
26 When the heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against thee; yet if they pray toward this place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin, when thou dost afflict them; 27 Then hear thou from heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of thy people Israel, when thou hast taught them the good way, wherein they should walk; and send rain upon thy land, which thou hast given unto thy people for an inheritance.
28 If there be dearth in the land, if there be pestilence, if there be blasting, or mildew, locusts, or caterpillers; if their enemies besiege them in the cities of their land; whatsoever sore or whatsoever sickness there be:29 Then what prayer or what supplication soever shall be made of any man, or of all thy people Israel, when every one shall know his own sore and his own grief, and shall spread forth his hands in this house:30 Then hear thou from heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, and render unto every man according unto all his ways, whose heart thou knowest; (for thou only knowest the hearts of the children of men:) 31 That they may fear thee, to walk in thy ways, so long as they live in the land which thou gavest unto our fathers.
32 Moreover concerning the stranger, which is not of thy people Israel, but is come from a far country for thy great name's sake, and thy mighty hand, and thy stretched out arm; if they come and pray in this house; 33 Then hear thou from the heavens, even from thy dwelling place, and do according to all that the stranger calleth to thee for; that all people of the earth may know thy name, and fear thee, as doth thy people Israel, and may know that this house which I have built is called by thy name.
34 If thy people go out to war against their enemies by the way that thou shalt send them, and they pray unto thee toward this city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name; 35 Then hear thou from the heavens their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause.
36 If they sin against thee, (for there is no man which sinneth not,) and thou be angry with them, and deliver them over before their enemies, and they carry them away captives unto a land far off or near; 37 Yet if they bethink themselves in the land whither they are carried captive, and turn and pray unto thee in the land of their captivity, saying, We have sinned, we have done amiss, and have dealt wickedly; 38 If they return to thee with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, whither they have carried them captives, and pray toward their land, which thou gavest unto their fathers, and toward the city which thou hast chosen, and toward the house which I have built for thy name:39 Then hear thou from the heavens, even from thy dwelling place, their prayer and their supplications, and maintain their cause, and forgive thy people which have sinned against thee.
(NT Church ... II Peter 3 ... 13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.)
40 Now, my God, let, I beseech thee, thine eyes be open, and let thine ears be attent unto the prayer that is made in this place. 41 Now therefore arise, O Lord God, into thy resting place, thou, and the ark of thy strength:let thy priests, O Lord God, be clothed with salvation, and let thy saints rejoice in goodness.
42 O Lord God, turn not away the face of thine anointed:remember the mercies of David thy servant.
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Comments by Joan Boney
There are some things in OT which are exactly same as NT church. There are many things in OT which present a type of "symbol" but are not the way we do in NT church which operates in the Spirit rather than with visual objects. (though some churches today do OT rather than NT and even pervert OT, but they look more like OT in their acts than NT church.)
In John. 4, the woman came to Jesus asking where they should worship. She said: 20 Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.
21 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. 22 Ye worship ye know not what:we know what we worship:for salvation is of the Jews.
23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth:for the Father seeketh such to worship him. 24 God is a Spirit:and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
In NT church, our relationship with God is "in Spirit" and certainly it must be in truth.
We do not use physical images to conjure emotional feeling of God as some fleshly church groups do.
God dwells in us by HIS Spirit, the Holy Spirit. This changes everything. The power we witnessed in David in OT was because God gave David HIS Spirit. But not all in OT had God's Spirit.
In NT all believers have been given the Spirit of God and are sealed with the Spirit of God and are taught by God HIMSELF through HIS Spirit.
Eph. 1 ... 10 That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. 13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation:in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, 14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
I Jn. 2 ... 27 But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you:but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.
Jn. 14 ... 26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
Jn. 16 ... 13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth:for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak:and he will shew you things to come.
Therefore we no longer worship a visual object. A visual object cause some people to have an emotional experience which they think is spiritual but it is only emotional. For example: A man who was once in our little church group went to some religious meeting and he came back and told me how "wonderful" it was. I asked him what was so wonderful. He said, "They had these very large crosses covered with flowers." He thought that was a spiritual thing when all it was doing was causing an emotional feeling which has no spiritual substance. Spiritual substance is through the Word of God by the Spirit of God. Anything other than this is very questionable and is usually of no real substance ... We have the Spirit of God in us and we worship in Spirit and in truth.
As we read OT it is wonderful and strongly shows God working.
We must keep it straight however between OT and what the church is like after Jesus paid for us with HIS own blood and gave us HIS Spirit to dwell in us.
The experiences they had in OT are often very faith building and also show the judgment of God which should cause us to have a proper fear of the Lord. It is very important to us and helpful to read these OT examples.
I Cor. 10 ... 1 Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; 2 And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; 3 And did all eat the same spiritual meat; 4 And did all drink the same spiritual drink:for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them:and that Rock was Christ. 5 But with many of them God was not well pleased:for they were overthrown in the wilderness.
6 Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. 7 Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. 8 Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand. 9 Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents. 10 Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer.
11 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples:and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.
12 Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.