Psalm 132:6-10
6 Behold, we heard of it in Ephrathah;
we found it in the fields of Jaar.
7 “Let us go to his dwelling place;
let us worship at his footstool!”
you and the ark of your might.
9 Let your priests be clothed with righteousness,
and let your saints shout for joy.
10 For the sake of your servant David,
do not turn away the face of your anointed one
Bethlehem "house of bread" is a town, near which Jacob buried Rachel, then known as Ephrath (Gen 35:19; 48:7). It is also called Bethlehem, Ephrathah (Micah 5:2)
Micah 5:2
But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,
who are too little to be among the clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
one who is to be ruler in Israel,
whose coming forth is from of old,
from ancient days
Daniel 7:22
until the Ancient of Days came and pronounced judgment in favor of the holy people of the Most High, and the time came when they possessed the kingdom.
When my oldest son was in preschool, we sent him to a very expensive parochial school. They sent home letters saying children learn, not just from musical lessons, language lessons & sports, but from free time.
The Psalms are unique. It isn't just the history of the Scriptures, but David expressing how close he became to the Father. David spent his time looking out for his flocks in the fields of Bethlehem and Jaar. He became anointed of God.
1 Samuel 16: 7
But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart."
When we compare the First and Second Temple - we see important similarities, but vast differences.
There isn't a lot of archaeology left of the First Temple, but we have the descriptions of Solomon's Temple from the Bible. No description of a Temple mound.
Amazingly, the Temple Tools were the same built at the time of Moses. 3 different kings reigned over Babylon during the Babylonian captivity, but the Temple Tools returned with the now free slaves back to rebuild the Second Temple, for about 600 years.
Notice the walls around the First Temple are built on the level ground.
The Temple was always beautiful. Below - Court of Priests with Sacrificial Altar.
Look at the size of the Menorah. Built by the Temple Institute waiting for the 3rd Temple.
The Second Temple was almost always, for 600 years, in a state of improvement. See how the walls are now a complex mount.
Alec Gerrard, a 78 year old retired farmer, from the United Kingdom, spent 3 years researching his 1:100 scale model of the Bais Hamikdash, 33,000 hours to date and measures 20' x 12'. Mr Gerrard hand painted every clay brick and tile and sculpted all of the 4,000 half inch, correctly dressed figures to populate his creation.
'It's now recognised as the most authentic version of the temple in the world." His version is so impressive that some of the world's top archaeologists and experts from the British Museum have come to view it.
The Second Temple with 600 years of building, re-building, becomes a more impressive architectural building. The Second Temple always was missing the Ark of the Covenant. Probably because God's sorrow over people who'd lost their genealogy were excluded and the Samaritans, the remnant keeping the services worshiping God, were excluded. DNA studies later proved the Samaritans were 3 of the 12 tribes of Israel. The Ark of the Covenant was hidden by Jeremiah, recorded in 2 Maccabees 2:4-9.
Yet God's Son only visits the Temple during His lifetime to worship and teach. God could have chosen His child to be born anywhere, He chose the tiny town of Bethlehem. Israel had the same formidable enemies during the reign of David as the problems ending the 1st Temple and the 2nd Temple. The same problems facing Israel today with the revolt in Egypt.
We can see Jesus' point that we are God's Temple.
Isn't it interesting to our faith - God chose the Shepherd boy with faith. Over the Temple. The boy who grew in the Lord. Same problems with different variations for each generation; with faith there was - and is - a different result.
Isaiah 7:9
If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.
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