Temples and Palaces

The Dallas Cowboys played their first regular season game in Cowboys Stadium last Sunday. The stadium, which cost over 1 billion dollars to build, is such a marvel that many sportscasters are calling it the “Palace in Dallas”. It is reportedly the largest domed structure in the world with the largest sliding glass doors and the largest video screen to ever hang over a sporting event.

God had the King Solomon and the Israelites build a well known building back in the day known as the temple. Solomon had 70,000 people carrying materials and 80,000 cutting stone with another 3,600 serving as foremen (2 Chronicles 2:18). The foundation, main hall, ceiling beams, doorframes, walls, and doors were all overlaid with gold (2 Chronicles 3-4). The amount of gold to overlay the Most Holy Place was about 21 metric tons (42,000 pounds) of gold. The sea God had Solomon create for the temple held 17,500 gallons of water. There are many other amazing features of the temple, yet God’s people were separated from the Most Holy Place by a curtain of blue, purple, and crimson yarn and fine linen.

A woman said to Jesus “Our fathers worshipped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place we must worship is Jerusalem.” Jesus replied to the woman saying “A time is coming when you will worship your Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.” He also told her that “God is spirit and his worshipers must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4-20-23) After Christ died on the cross for our sins God ripped the temple curtain from top to bottom...symbolizing a new era where God’s people have direct access to Him (Mark 15:38). We are told “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought with a price. Therefore, honor God with your body.” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20) God has given us as Christians the privilege of being temples for the Holy Spirit. Is the next decision you are about to make going to bring honor to God and His temple or desecrate His temple?

Field Trip

You might have heard that all NFL rookies are visiting the pro football hall of fame this year. This field trip was sparked by a suggestion from former Dallas Cowboy Michael Irvin that young players might be less likely to get in trouble if they had the opportunity to see that the game is bigger than them. Other potential benefits of such a trip include gaining an appreciation for the history of the game and committing to put in the work that is required to be truly great.

Have you visited the hall of fame lately? I'm not talking about any sports hall of fame, but instead about faith's hall of fame (Hebrews 11). It is certainly a reminder that 1) God's plan is bigger than any one of us; 2) God rewards those who demonstrate their faith through works; and 3) allows us an opportunity to commit to being faithful to God and allowing Him to show us the great life (maybe not great by the world's standards) that only He can give. Of course, just visiting (or working/volunteering for) a hall of fame doesn't make you a member of it. We have to put into work what we learn from those who have come before us. Let's go take a visit to the hall and then go and try to live up to the great examples laid out before us.