In the 480th year after the Israelites left Egypt under Moses' leadership, the Israelites began construction of the temple to house the ark of the covenant. This signals a conversion of sorts--from a nomadic tribe to a settled people; from a nation surrounded by hostile enemies to a powerful nation at peace. Solomon oversees construction of a glorious temple to honor God, and then supervises the building of an opulent palace to reflect his earthly power.
God reminds Solomon and the Israelites again and again during this period that what He asks, what He expects and demands is their obedience:
If you observe my statutes, carry out my ordinances, keep and obey all my commands, I will fulfill toward you the promise I made to your father David. I will dwell in the midst of the Israelites and will not forsake my people.
When the temple is completed and appropriately furnished, Solomon leads a grand ceremony to install the ark in the holy of holies, giving it, finally, a resting place. Solomon offers a long, moving prayer to the Lord, which begins:
Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth below; you keep your covenant of kindness with your servants who are faithful to you with their whole heart.
Later during the ceremony, Solomon prays:
May [God] draw our hearts to himself, that we may follow him in everything and keep the commands, statutes, and ordinances which he enjoined on our fathers.
I love that imagine of God drawing our hearts to Him. How often I have felt that pull. How many times I have ignored it, tried to escape it. Yet in love, at least, God is relentless. He doesn't give up on us. Thankfully, he doesn't make it easy to walk away from Him.
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