2 CHRONICLES 6 (NOTES OF A READING)
2 CHRONICLES 6 (NOTES OF A READING)
CAC The Spirit of God in causing these scriptures to be written evidently had in mind something very much greater than was possible in Solomon’s day. He speaks more than once of things being fulfilled. In verse 4, “Who ... hath with his hands fulfilled it”, and verse 15, “And hast fulfilled it with thy hand as at this day”; that is the matter connected with the house being built, and the system inaugurated was fulfilled typically though not actually. There was no actual fulfilment of anything that was in the mind of God; it all looked forward to the present time. We are by God’s wondrous grace in the time when things are fulfilled, and the house, the place chosen for God’s name, is built and God’s name is set there. It is all a subsisting reality now; it was only a shadow then. God would have all His people to be aware of this. I think the king turning his face in verse 3 and blessing the whole congregation of Israel was typical of the present attitude of Christ. Blessing the Lord God of Israel was the response Godward, but there must be first the blessing manward.
Ques Would it be like the Lord blessing with His hands outstretched and in that attitude of blessing taken up into heaven?
CAC Yes. That is, the attitude of Christ to the whole congregation is one of blessing, and the thought of the heart of Christ in taking it up that all the saints should come into the thought of the house of God, the place, and the blessed name that is there, which were shadows in Solomon’s day, but are substance today.
Rem In Acts 7: 47 Stephen says, “Solomon built him a house. But the Most High dwells not in places made with hands”. Then it goes on to say that he “saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God”.
CAC That very much confirms what was in my mind. The building of the house in a real sense depended on the incarnation of Christ and His death and His ascension, His glorification and the Holy Spirit sent down. There could not be in any real sense a dwelling place for God until then. The tabernacle and temple were shadows. It is not an empty house now, it is a house of habitation, that is, God is there. The common thought is that God is in heaven. The Lord Jesus Christ would have all His saints to understand that God is dwelling on the earth. He has a house here. Solomon understands that the house God is occupying is not great enough. He felt rightly the inadequacy of it. But things are not inadequate now, but a divine reality. It would change the whole outlook of christians if they apprehended this fact. It is as clear as noonday in Scripture.
Rem “Whose house are we”.
CAC The chief interest of God at this time is His house where He dwells and where He has put His name. And the chosen place is important, because Jerusalem was the chosen place. In Deuteronomy, as we all know, God had spoken of the place where He would set His name, and where the passover was to be kept. But you do not get it till now, for in this chapter the thing is reached. We want to reach a system of things where God dwells. It should be the holy desire of every saint upon earth to be where His name is.
Rem It would be connected with resurrection and in true Solomon character.
CAC That is so. All this is connected with David, who is typical of Christ as the One who accomplished God’s will. And now Solomon has taken the place of David, representing Christ as the Son of the Father’s love, glorified in heaven. Not a single stone could be laid until Christ was glorified at God’s right hand. The Spirit could not come, and there could be no house.
Rem To Timothy Paul speaks of how one ought to conduct oneself in the house of God and then he outlines the mystery of piety as great.
CAC Yes, showing the house in actuality is here now. It was only typically before as Stephen takes pains to say, “The Most High dwells not in places made with hands”. And all christians ought to be anxious to find the place where God has set His name; there cannot be any worship without it.
Ques What was Solomon’s temple?
CAC It was the figure in the time then present of what has now become a reality. God had waited long, He waited until His time came for choosing the house, a place where He could set His name. If christians are brought into this, they are clear of what is of man and become absorbed with what is of God. You cannot touch the house of God without having done with what is of man. It is what answers to Jerusalem which was the one centre to which all Israel could come. It represents God’s universal thoughts of blessing in Christ. It is a subsisting thing, but we have come to it. God has brought a character of blessing for all saints — blessing in Christ. God puts His name there.
Rem “Ye have come ... to the city of the living God, heavenly Jerusalem” (Hebrews 12: 22). It is a heavenly thought while it is reached down here.
CAC Quite so. We must worship God according to the way in which He is revealed and according to His name. It covers all that God would have to be known as a matter of testimony, all He is in grace and love, and all He has purposed to be known in Christ — that is God’s name, His renown.
Ques Would you say more about Jerusalem and His name, as a universal thought?
CAC Typically it represents what is common to all the people of God. There are certain great things that are common to all saints. That is, what we are as blessed in Christ is common to all saints and is the very essence of christianity. His name stands connected with these universal thoughts of blessing in Christ. So we are all unified. We must take all the saints in. If we only take in some, we cannot take in the house of God at all.
Rem There is no speciality.
CAC And everything we can boast of is shared with all the saints. What I cannot share with them is not worth a thought.
Rem “Whither the tribes go up, the tribes of Jah, a testimony to Israel, to give thanks unto the name of Jehovah” (Psalm 122: 4).
CAC Yes indeed. Everything in the city speaks of God’s renown. This delivers us from all sectarianism, all divisions and various parties. You drop all that at once when you come to God’s thought, you cannot divide about that. As the blessing in Christ is entered into by the saints, there is a dwelling for God. What is of God fills every heart, and you cannot possibly have any discord; you cannot possibly have any sects then.
Ques Why is it Jerusalem that is chosen?
CAC It is God’s rest and it is expressive of God. His name excludes every other name.
Ques What is meant by, “Who hath with his hands fulfilled”?
CAC The thing is fulfilled by His power. That is so now, the thing is actually brought into being. God is now attracting souls by an order of things that is entirely of Himself. Saints should be thankful to get away from what is of man and be absorbed with what is of God. Do we wish for anything else?
Rem The saints are said to be narrow.
CAC They are the broadest and largest people in the world. There is no human system great enough for those who love God; they must get into the house of God and the largeness of His blessing in Christ, and that is infinite. The house is composed of those who have the Spirit of sonship; Christ is the Son of the Father’s love and everything has come in through Him. That is the One in whom we are blest.
Ques Why is it, “Jehovah the God of Israel”?
CAC It takes the saints to bring out what God is. If He had no saints there would be nothing to set forth His name. This wonderful system exists. If I do not know it, I must see what God says as to saints being blest in Christ and get away from what they are as in the flesh. Paul says, “I speak humanly on account of the weakness of your flesh” (Romans 6: 19). There is that side, but it has no place in the house of God. We must look at the saints as God does, and see what He says. Now the Spirit of God would lead us into all that. Everything in His house is rightly representative of God, and anything else has no right to be there.
Rem It presents practical difficulties.
CAC We do not see them looking like what Scripture says. There is a remedy for that. If I see what saints are in Christ, I do my level best to bring all saints to see it too. Our labour is to bring them to see it. Paul says, I labour to make every man perfect in Christ. Then they will all become unified; you will not hear any more about sects and divisions then. If I have anything that does not belong to all saints, the sooner I drop it the better; it is not worth holding on to.
The system is inaugurated in the early part of the chapter, but we must keep steadily before us that it is only in shadow. But now it is in reality in blessing in Christ, and it is for everyone to find it. It is there. God is before the soul, and the common blessing of God in Christ fills the soul. We have to think as God thinks, and speak as God speaks. It is a reality. It is God’s name that everyone is absorbed with. It is the largest place of fellowship and communion that can be found. Then what comes out is that this system of things can only be maintained by prayer. The maintenance of it and the practical value of it is only secured by prayer. The whole prayer of Solomon shows he contemplated the continuance of this on the principle of dependence.
Rem The brazen platform would suggest dependence universally, and the number five weakness and divine grace.
CAC It makes one think of the Lord’s utterance in John 17. In speaking to the Father, He speaks of having manifested the Father’s name “to the men whom thou gavest me out of the world”. It has all been manifested in Jesus. And then He speaks of making it known — “I have made known to them thy name, and will make it known”. His name is, as it were, set amongst His disciples. That is the chosen place where it is set. And in the previous chapters how many references there are to prayer, and to the Father’s readiness to answer anything asked in Christ’s name. There is no shortage of power there; everything can be secured through that name. Christ as the ark of the covenant is the very centre of the whole system in His nearness to the heart of God. All that God purposed for Israel was secured in the ark. Christ is there personally and representatively; and He secures all the purposes of God for us. “In my Father’s house there are many abodes” is a distinct reference to the temple. “I go to prepare you a place; and if I go and shall prepare you a place, I am coming again, and shall receive you to myself, that where I am ye also may be”. That is, His blessed place of nearness to God and the Father is for all saints. That is our place — He is the very centre of the whole system of blessing where God dwells. It is delightful to God and He dwells there.
Ques Would you say “I go to prepare you a place” was present, not future?
CAC It will result in His coming and receiving us to Himself. Solomon’s prayer is an indication to us that this great system of the house is maintained on the principle of dependence through prayer. And it is just the lack of that which has caused the departure and the giving up of the ministry of Paul and John; saints must have failed to pray. They dropped right down and the idea arose that the house of God was a building of stone. People with bibles in their hands should never think the house of God is a stone building. It is a structure composed of living spiritual material where God dwells.