1 ¶ Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of
God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they
consider not that they do evil. 2 Be not
rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before
God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few.
3 For a dream cometh through the
multitude of business; and a fool’s voice is known by multitude of words.
Solomon warns the faithful to be careful of their attitude
when engaging in religious worship. It must be remembered that Solomon’s
religion, the religion of the Jews, was a physical, temporal thing that
revolved around a building, the temple, where worship was maintained, where God
would meet with man. There was a sacred place set apart by God. The worship was
physical revolving around hundreds of standards set down by God in the Law
given to Moses for the Hebrews. The house of God in this context is a physical
location.
Numbers 17:4 And thou shalt lay them up in the tabernacle
of the congregation before the testimony, where I will meet with you.
2Chronicles 7:1 ¶ Now when Solomon had made an end of praying,
the fire came down from heaven, and consumed the burnt offering and the
sacrifices; and the glory of the LORD filled the house. 2 And the priests could not enter into the
house of the LORD, because the glory of the LORD had filled the LORD’S house.
There are no sacred spaces in Christianity except in the
believer’s heart. The Bible-believing Christian does not come to the church
building to meet with God. He has God’s Spirit residing in him and his or her
body is the temple of the Holy Ghost.
John 14:23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man
love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come
unto him, and make our abode with him.
1Corinthians 6:19 What? know ye not that your body is the
temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not
your own?
The three parts of God abide in us by the Spirit which He
has provided.
Romans 8:9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the
Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not
the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
The house of God in that context then is not a physical
location as in one place where Christians meet. The definition of the house of
God then is the family of God, the body of Christ. When the church, the called
out believers meet together, wherever it is, there is the house of God.
Here is an Old Testament definition of house as family or
dynasty.
Exodus 1:21 And it came to pass, because the midwives
feared God, that he made them houses.
Genesis 46:27 And the sons of Joseph, which were born him
in Egypt, were two souls: all the souls of the house of Jacob, which came into
Egypt, were threescore and ten.
Now, in the New Testament.
1Timothy 3:15 But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know
how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of
the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.
1Peter 4:17 For the time is come that judgment must begin
at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them
that obey not the gospel of God?
Notice Peter says, “us,” not it. We must remember that we set the church building apart, a
building that did not exist in the physical world when the New Testament was
lived and written, and it is special to us because we meet there to worship
God. We can call it the house of God and talk about going to church rather than
meeting with the church but we must always be careful of what we are thinking
and also we must not confuse new believers with error based on the convenience
of thought. Wherever the church meets, in a church building or a store front or even in a home, there the
house of God is.
It is not uncommon for us to say, “let God come down and
walk among the pews,” but we must be aware that if God is not already in us
then we are as lost as a goose in a horse race. More than walking among the
pews (pews were a medieval creation) I would rather have God fill me with His
Spirit which already abides in me.
Solomon says for those Jews of his day that when they go to
the temple they should be more willing to listen than to speak rashly and
foolishly, as that is evil. They were to come with an open heart and a closed
mouth. This is applicable today in many ways. We should come to meet with the
church with our minds attentive to what God wants to give us through the worship
and the sermon. Face it, you often sit in front of the preacher with your mind
filled with almost anything but what he is saying. We should ponder and
consider what we hear and pray for guidance from God and not be too quick to
speak and promise and demand.
Jesus Himself warns of repetitive, long-winded prayers that
sound like so much pagan drivel. Before He gives His disciples an example, a
model prayer, He says the following;
Matthew 6:7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions,
as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much
speaking. 8 Be not ye therefore like
unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask
him.
It is very disturbing to hear what is supposed to be a
heartfelt appeal to or praise of God sound like a sermon to the congregation.
Jesus spoke directly while speaking reverentially to God the Father without
sounding like a lot of Christians sound, like a politician making an appeal for
votes or an employee pleading for a raise or time off from work.
Solomon points out that we often have dreams because
our minds are filled with unfinished business and the prayer of a fool sounds
much like the confusing dream we have in the night, littered with so much
mental rubbish. Sounds like he’s heard some really long-winded prayers that left
him wondering what the point was. They may have been spoken because the king
was present and the priest or petitioner wanted to sound spiritual to impress
him. It didn’t work. Many Christians do the same today.
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