All Hail King Jesus I

“(For they shall hear of thy great name, and of thy strong hand, and of thy stretched out arm;) when he shall come and pray toward this house.”

1 Kings 8:42

Picture a fledgling nation, not yet in their 200th year. A hazy October afternoon finds the urban streets and alleys crowded with all kinds of people. Shepherds and carpenters mix with scribes and musicians, and no one seems to care about who they rub shoulders with. The crowd is slowly drawing to the courtyard of a very special place.

Their king is there, but this is not his palace. He climbs onto the scaffolding, but he is not there to mandate. The king ascends, and then he kneels. All ears are intensively focused on what he will say. Suddenly, a luminous cloud enfolding the glory of Jehovah himself descends. All heads bow. Every eye closes. Every knee bends as they await what will happen next.

Indeed, all of human history hangs on what happened next.

1 Kings 8 records the dedication of the first temple, King Solomon’s Temple. God had been working to restore His presence with His people since Adam’s fall in the Garden of Eden. On that day, in this account, it appeared as though that would happen.

1 Kings 8 is one of only 3 chapters in the Bible with 66 verses. The Bible itself, an “economy of words” as Evangelist George Griffis puts it, contains exactly 66 books. This ‘coincidence’ is not without significance. Each verse magnifies a theme, or sub-theme of each corresponding book of the Bible.

Since “the tabernacle of God is with men” (Revelation 21:3) is the final result of human history, it stands to reason that this first, fixed temple is at least a picture of mankind’s ultimate end, and the course through which God prepared His dwelling.

As I studied this chapter, I determined not to read into the numbers, after all, it is words that are important and eternal. However, several verses stood out as being undeniably linked to the book number they matched. So, after meditating on each verse, I scanned each book for similarities, and noted the main verses. These thoughts were then able to be grouped in a way that will make the reading of 1 Kings 8 an unforgettable experience.

The Gospels, containing the first advent of Christ at the beginning of the New Testament strike a contrast where they appear in the Old Testament. (Yes, they do appear several times in direct prophecy or prophetic type.) At the end of our calendar year, we tend to turn our attention to them, especially Luke.

The 3rd book of the New Testament, written by a physician to a ‘lover of God’ (Theophilus), is the 42nd book of the Bible. In my study of 1 Kings, it came in the 7th section, entitled: Preparing the People of the Earth for the King. Luke reveals an Illuminated People, as they get to see, hear, and handle the Word made flesh. As Luke puts it: “That thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed.” (Luke 1:4)

Luke also contains the account of the first time any human ever heard the Name above all names. Mary was visited by Gabriel before Joseph, and she learned the news of the impact of her first baby boy by His name:

“And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.
He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:
And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.”

Luke 1:31-33

Now how could Solomon know that Christ would have a GREAT name that would be recorded in the 42nd verse of his record AND the 42nd book of the Bible?

As a gift to my readers, I’m making available the study of all 66 verses. Click the link below to download it.

Thank you for subscribing and reading. May Spiritual Reload bring you closer to our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.