"...then use it to repair any damage found in the temple." (2 Kings 12:5 NIV)
I was reading along in 2 Kings the other day when I tripped over this verse. Why was the temple in disrepair? What had happened? Searching backwards in scripture, I couldn’t find any evidence of an outright attack on the temple. Yet, here in 2 Kings, only 130 years after it was built, God’s house was in bad condition, in deep need of major renovations. Why? And what are the implications for us?
Temples fall into disrepair when they are not honored, when they are neglected, when their beauty and holiness is called into question. If we page back to Solomon’s dedication in 1 Kings 8, we recall that the Temple was central to Jewish life. It was the place on earth where God’s eyes were ever turned. The Temple was designed as the hub of prayer, worship and atoning sacrifice. Yet, between trickle-down indifference and the ravages of time, the temple had fallen into ruin.
"Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies." (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)
In the New Testament, our frames are the temple. As post-Pentecost believers, we understand that God dwells within us. And while we tend to our physical frame, the spiritual house is of far greater value. It’s condition is more subtle: only the Lord can truly assess the level of care and honor we’re investing. Eventually, the internal dilapidation will be revealed externally, but neglect can begin years beforehand.
"For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for bot the present life and the life to come." (1 Timothy 4:8 NIV)
I’m still sitting with my pause app each day and lately, John Eldredge has been presenting God’s desire to restore our temple (our heart) to it’s original Edenic conditions.
"I will make rivers flow on barren heights, and springs within the valleys. I will turn the desert into pools of water, and the parched ground into springs. I will put in the desert the cedar and the acacia, the myrtle and the olive. I will set junipers in the wasteland, the fir and cypress together, so that people may see and know, may consider and understand, that the hand of the Lord has done this, that the Holy One of Israel has created it." (Isaiah 41:18-20 NIV)
Careful tending to our temple with the Lord’s help makes such restoration possible. And experiencing restoration on this side of heaven makes sense: when our heart is whole, we can show others the way toward wholeness. Healed people are passionate about healing people!
The truth is, we neglect what we don’t appreciate. The line of kings following Solomon lost sight of what God had done for His people. They failed to recall how He had freed them from the slave drivers of Egypt and parted the waters for their safe passage. The forgot about the manna and quail in the desert and the water from the rock at Meribah. The temple became commonplace and then it fell into disrepair.
It’s true for us, too. We minimize the value of our souls when we forget the price He paid to set us free. If we’ll slow down long enough to sit in the tangle of our hearts and invite His presence, we’ll begin to remember. We’ll work through our mess of feelings and offenses and He’ll begin to restore our temple to it’s original beauty. And God will receive the glory.
Lord, please forgive us for neglecting Your temple. We forget the price You paid to meet with us. Today we are reminded of the cost of closeness and the privilege of proximity. May we prioritize our time with You. Restore Eden in our hearts as we commit to rightly maintain this sacred space. Amen.