A theme emerged while I was writing my novel about the prophet Daniel. People are people. Ecclesiastes makes this point repeatedly. Nothing new under the sun. Remember that concept.
Imagine a church building committee. Picture the dynamics of the people. Sometimes there’s division. There’s so much thought and effort put into every details.
In 1 Kings, King Solomon takes seven years to build a magnificent temple to God, and in chapter eight, he’s bringing the Ark of the Covenant to its new home.
And the people are ready to celebrate.
1 Kings 8:1 NLT – Then King Solomon summoned into his presence at Jerusalem the elders of Israel, all the heads of the tribes and the chiefs of the Israelite families, to bring up the ark of the Lord’s covenant from Zion, the City of David. 2 All the Israelites came together to King Solomon at the time of the festival in the month of Ethanim, the seventh month.
Everyone and their mom was at this shindig. One commentator wrote, “It was probably on the scale of the large productions in our modern Olympic Games opening ceremonies.”
Imagine the planning committee behind that celebration!
3 When all the elders of Israel had arrived, the priests took up the ark, 4 and they brought up the ark of the Lord and the tent of meeting and all the sacred furnishings in it. The priests and Levites carried them up, 5 and King Solomon and the entire assembly of Israel that had gathered about him were before the ark, sacrificing so many sheep and cattle that they could not be recorded or counted.
Can you feel the planning committee getting itchy? Solomon took charge and made so many sacrifices that they couldn’t be recorded or counted.
Remember that people don’t change? I imagine some man standing in the temple courtyard with a scroll trying to tally the number of sacrifices. He had every good intention. He wanted to document the day, and cell phone cameras and Instagram hadn’t been invented yet. But even he couldn’t keep up.
So, there’s one wrench thrown into the plan.
6 The priests then brought the ark of the Lord’s covenant to its place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, the Most Holy Place.
10 When the priests withdrew from the Holy Place, the cloud filled the temple of the Lord. 11 And the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled his temple.
So, forget the planning committee! Let’s talk about the priests.
Can you imagine the preparation these guys put in for this ceremony? The priesthood was not only their lifelong careers but also their family heritage. And this generation was the one moving into the most glorious temple they could construct. I’m sure they had every step mapped out, practiced, and perfected for months ahead of time.
But this time, God himself threw the wrench into their plan. His glory, which is represented by or described as “a cloud,” filled the temple so that the priests couldn’t perform their service.
Again, I’m picturing this little, ruffled priest standing by the door. Checklist in hand. Desire for everything to go perfectly. This is their once chance in history to do this thing right!
But God…
Next, Solomon prays a long prayer of dedication. He asks God to forgive the people when they sin. He recognizes the massive limitations of this building created by human hands as compared with the glory of heavens, none of which can contain God.
Then there’s another major round of sacrifices, and our little planner friend gets to tally 22,000 cattle and 120,000 sheep and goats. I guess he gave up on the next part, as it just says Solomon offered burnt offerings, grain offerings, and the fat of the fellowship offerings.
Oh, and these happened in the middle of the courtyard in front of the temple because the bronze altar was too small for so many offerings.
Maybe a third wrench? These people were scrambling all day.
65 So Solomon observed the festival at that time, and all Israel with him—a vast assembly, people from Lebo Hamath to the Wadi of Egypt. They celebrated it before the Lord our God for seven days and seven days more, fourteen days in all. 66 On the following day he sent the people away. They blessed the king and then went home, joyful and glad in heart for all the good things the Lord had done for his servant David and his people Israel.
Think about the resolutions or goals you set for yourself in 2023. You’re envisioning a different “you” in January 2024. I firmly believe that if you have no plan, you won’t accomplish much. You can’t just bebop along and hope to stretch yourself to new challenges.
(Writer friends, can you tell I’m a plotter and not a pantser?)
However, God is going to intervene however He wants to, as He did in the temple. And what an incredible experience for those people! His unbelievable glory stopped the ceremony in its tracks. They were so overwhelmed.
So, in addition to plotting and planning, leave space for God to work. I believe God gave me these story ideas for novels. He’ll use this writing however He wishes. I can plan all I like, but do I want to see God work more than anything else?
That needs to be our number one goal for 2023.
What plans do you have for 2023? I’d love to hear about them!