What is the most awe-inspiring sight you have ever seen? I’ve been to Niagara Falls, walked through a glacier in Switzerland, and visited the Sistine Chapel. I remember once boarding an aircraft carrier and its size freaked me out. But none of that compares with what happened to Israel at the dedication of Solomon’s temple.
2 Chronicles 5 describes one of the grandest ceremonies ever. After years of construction this magnificent temple now housed the Ark of the Covenant, and all the priests had assembled together to give God glory. Clothed in fine linen they played cymbals, harps, lyres and other instruments. One hundred twenty priests blew trumpets in unison and the singers sang with one voice, praising God.
The temple itself was glorious enough. Beyond its size, the gold, silver, and bronze ornamentation and furnishings were unlike anything these Hebrews had ever seen. But what happened next dwarfed the temple in comparison.
When they praised the Lord saying, “He indeed is good for His kindness is everlasting,” then the house, the house of the Lord, was filled with a cloud, so that the priests could not rise to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of God (2 Chronicles 5:13b-14).
God’s very presence filled the temple, leaving them on their faces, speechless!
But pay attention to their song. They could have sung, “God is sovereign and we are mere worms in His sight!” Or, “Hear us now, O Lord, and spare us from Your wrath!” But they didn’t! The best and highest praise they could give to God was that He is good and He is kind! And in response, God gave His stamp of approval–His presence–declaring, “Correct! I AM good and I AM kind!”
We see this same revelation of God’s goodness throughout the Bible. When He made His unilateral covenant with Abraham, God promised to be Abraham’s shield, to make his descendants great–some of them kings–and to give his descendants the land. Abraham and his lineage neither deserved nor earned this goodness, yet God promised it. Years later God instructed Moses to take Abraham’s descendants back to that land. Insecure, Moses asked God to show him His glory, as an assurance of God’s favor. In response, God promised to show Moses His goodness. God’s glory was revealed in His goodness!
Centuries later, John the Baptist sat in Herod’s prison, wondering if he’d wasted his life. He needed assurance that Jesus, the One to whom he had led everyone, was indeed the Messiah. So he sent messengers to inquire. Jesus replied, “Go and report to John what you hear and see: the blind receive sight and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.” (Matthew 11:4-5). In light of messianic prophecy fulfilled by goodness and kindness, John received incontrovertible evidence. Jesus basically answered, “My deeds are proof positive that I AM the Messiah.”
And what’s the most awesome truth YOU can know? Our good and kind Jesus promises, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).
