The books of Chronicles were written after the Babylonian exile when the rebuilding of the temple was the big issue for the regathered Jews. So, the Chronicler gives an expanded account of the establishment of the temple emphasising the role of David in the preparations. The idea is that, in contributing to the rebuilding of the temple, the post-exilic Jews would be following David’s example of devotion to God. It is interesting to note that God would not allow David to build him a house, because he had shed much blood in battle (22:8). The conquest of the land had to be completed, but it was nevertheless a ‘necessary evil’ that God did not delight in. God wanted his house built by a man of peace, not a man of war. This, I think, is an indication of how God wanted his ultimate temple, his church, to be built. It would not be built by a man of war, but by a man of peace. That man is Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace. The temple that Jesus built is not a temple of wood and stone but one consisting of people. Both the Old Testament temple and the New Testament church represent the peace that God is establishing on the earth (Zechariah 9:9-11). We Christians today are to be God’s instruments of peace in the world. God wants us to build a church (i.e. a temple) that will be a sanctuary of peace in the midst of a world of turmoil and conflict. Become a man or woman of peace.
Ask God to make you an instrument of his peace in situations of conflict.
Read 1 Chronicles 22
