2 Chronicles

2 Chronicles 8: The house is finished and holy

Begin in prayer

Before you read how Solomon finished the LORD's house and ordered its worship, ask God to show you that He is holy and that He has told us how to come to Him. Ask Him to show you Christ.

Offer to God the sacrifice of thanksgiving. Pay your vows to the Most High.

Psalm 50:14

Father in heaven, please open our eyes as we read Your Word. Show us that Your house is holy and that You ordered Your worship. Help us to see Jesus in it. Make us more like Jesus. And please bless our family as we worship You together. In Jesus' name, Amen.

See where we're going

After twenty years of building the LORD's house and his own, Solomon builds up and fortifies many cities. People left from the nations that Israel did not wipe out do forced labor, but no Israelite is made a servant. Solomon moves Pharaoh's daughter out of David's city, because the places where the ark of the LORD has come are holy. He offers burnt offerings on the LORD's altar every day, as Moses commanded, and at the Sabbaths, new moons and feasts. He sets the priests, Levites and doorkeepers in their divisions, as David his father had ordered. Then the house of the LORD is completed, and Huram's ships bring gold from Ophir.

As you read 2 Chronicles 8, look for the answers:

Reflect together

Key truth

The LORD gave His people the order of His worship, and Solomon kept it in the house he finished.

Chapter 8 jumps ahead twenty years, to the time when Solomon had finished the LORD's house and his own (verse 1). Most of the chapter tells of cities and ships, but its center is the LORD's house. Solomon moved Pharaoh's daughter out of David's city, because places where the LORD's ark has come are holy (verse 11). Holy means set apart for the LORD. He offered burnt offerings every day, and at Sabbaths, new moons and feasts, as Moses commanded (verses 12 and 13). He set the priests, Levites and doorkeepers in their divisions, as David the man of God had commanded (verse 14). So the house was finished, and its worship was kept in the order God had given (verse 16). This matters because worship in Israel was never made up by the king. It shows a holy God who tells His people how to come to Him.

How does 2 Chronicles 8 show us that the LORD gave His people the order of His worship, and that Solomon kept it in the house he finished?

Solomon built cities and set his kingdom in order.

Solomon built up the cities Huram had given him, and he fortified Beth Horon and other cities (verses 2 to 5). People left from the nations Israel had not wiped out were made to do forced labor (verses 7 and 8). Solomon made no Israelite a servant for his work (verse 9). Two hundred fifty chief officers ruled over the people (verse 10).

The LORD's house was holy, because the ark had come there.

Solomon moved Pharaoh's daughter out of David's city to a house built for her (verse 11). He said, “the places where Yahweh’s ark has come are holy” (verse 11). Then he offered burnt offerings on the LORD's altar before the porch (verse 12). The place was holy because of the LORD, and not because of Solomon's work.

Solomon kept the offerings and the priests in order.

The offerings followed the commandment of Moses, on the Sabbaths, the new moons and three feasts (verse 13). The three feasts were unleavened bread, weeks and tents (verse 13). He set the priests, Levites and doorkeepers in their divisions, as David had ordered (verse 14). All the work of Solomon was ready from the foundation until the house was finished (verse 16).

Jesus is the body that the offerings and feasts pointed toward.

Paul says Sabbaths, new moons and feasts are a shadow of things to come (Colossians 2 verse 17). He adds that the body is Christ's. Every daily offering in this chapter was a shadow. Jesus is the real sacrifice, and His one offering was enough for His people.

Memorise

Now all the work of Solomon was prepared from the day of the foundation of Yahweh’s house until it was finished. So Yahweh’s house was completed.

2 Chronicles 8:16

Looking to Jesus in my life

Ask yourself in your heart, who is at the center of my life, and do I need Jesus?

Solomon offered burnt offerings every day and at the set feasts, “according to the commandment of Moses.” Paul says such things are a shadow of what was to come (Colossians 2 verses 16 and 17). Jesus is the One that every offering looked toward.

Every offering reminded Israel of sin. Jesus offered no animal, but gave His own life on the cross for them. By that single sacrifice sin was dealt with once for all, and no daily offering is left to bring. On the third day He rose.

So come to Him. Turn from your sin and put your trust in Jesus. Everyone who trusts Him is forgiven for good.

Parent's note

Tell your children that the LORD's house was finished and kept holy, and that Jesus is the One the offerings pointed toward. Parents, verses 7 to 10 mention forced labor, and you may want to explain this in your own words. Please do not tell them they are saved just because they grew up in a Christian home. Call each child to turn from sin and trust Jesus, and pray that God would give them a new heart.

Pray together

Now please close your time together in prayer. Thank God that He ordered His worship and sent Jesus as the true sacrifice, and bring the heart question to Him. Every child can pray, so let each one say a short prayer if they want to.

Let them praise Yahweh for his loving kindness, for his wonderful deeds to the children of men!

Psalm 107:15

Father, thank You that Your house was finished and Your worship was ordered. Thank You for Jesus, the true sacrifice, who died and rose. Please bring each of us to turn from sin and trust Him, and keep You first this week. Amen.