House of Peace or House of Cards?

“There is a place in the heavens, a place of intimacy.
There are windows to this home, in the eyes of you and me.”

King David, Solomon’s father, was said to be a man “after God’s own heart.”¹  Not so much after His mind, His purpose, His plans, but His heart.  There’s something passionate in this that I can’t shake. David was a visionary for the central part of God, the part that makes Him tick and from which everything flows.  One of the ways David expressed this was in a desire for God to have a permanent place to call ‘home.’

Psalm 132:4, “I will not enter my house or go to my bed, I will allow no sleep to my eyes or slumber to my eyelid until I find a place for the Lord, a dwelling for the Mighty One of Jacob.”

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It is interesting that despite the fact that God is Spirit and never had been, nor ever will be contained in a house of stone made with hands,² God was touched by David’s request.  For like His creation, God has always had a desire, and a plan in fact, to have a home.  Only it was to be made up of “living stones,” and built on love. He wanted to carry a Bride over the threshold of His house.
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Listen to the romantic way God “turned the tables” on David’s desire to build Him a house. “I will provide a place for my people, and will plant them so that they can have a home of their own and no longer be disturbed…[yes] the LORD Himself will establish a house for you.” 2 Sam 7:10-11
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Later we see the fulfillment of this in Jesus, who on His way to the cross comforts His disciples, “I go to prepare a place for you…” John 14:3
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But until the fullness of time came for His Son to be revealed, God allowed a parable to be built in a temporary, physical temple; but only that David was not to build it.  David later told his son Solomon the reason why.

“My son, I had it in my heart to build a house for the Name of the LORD my God. But this word of the LORD came to me: ‘You have shed much blood and have fought many wars. You are not to build a house for my Name, because you have shed much blood on the earth in my sight. But you will have a son who will be a man of peace and rest… and I will grant Israel peace and quiet during his reign.’” 1 Chron 22:7-9

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Division, striving, unrest.  This wasn’t to be the background for building God’s house, and it still isn’t.  Is it not remarkable then that the name Solomon or Shelomoh in Hebrew, comes from ‘Shalom’ meaning peace, rest, safety?  And the name Shulamite comes from “Shalam” which is a feminine play on the word “Shalom”?   The picture is breathtaking, that in ceasing from our works and entering into the rest of Christ together, we are granted the blessing of being a part of the building of God’s house and the resulting “intimate kingdom.’
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In fact, according to Psalm 127 below, Solomon may have understood this more than we realize!
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“A Song of Ascents. Of Solomon.
Unless the LORD builds the house, the builders labor in vain.
Unless the LORD watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain.
In vain you rise early and stay up late, to eat the bread of toil.
For He grants His beloved sleep.
Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, offspring a reward from Him.
Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one’s youth.
Blessed are those whose quiver is full of them.
They will not be put to shame when they contend with their opponents in court.”

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It is interesting that the offspring of one’s youth, or as it were, fruit that is born out of first love, is mentioned in this Psalm as coming out of a place of rest.  It would seem that Solomon’s lesson for us was that this is the definition of home, and in the end only the relationships that are heaven-born are the ones that will “have our backs.”
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Thank you to a friend for recently reminding me that under the Old Covenant newlywed men were not to go to war, but to remain home and “be happy with, and make happy his wife.”³  So it is in the setting of Solomon’s reign of peace that the fertile “first love” lovemaking of the Song takes place with the Shulamite, and perhaps not to discount the meaning of the concubines he had as well.  It was out of this kingdom that profound wisdom, creativity, and prosperity flowed, the great temple was being built, and to Solomon many children were born.  All of this, spiritually speaking, is what the Ekklesia should look like!  Keeping in mind that as to the multiplication of Christ’s life, it only takes two – and there He is in the midst – if the relationship is sourced and maintained in the Spirit, not the flesh.  The math changes to division, however, when instead of fully nurturing the “two in the Spirit”, there is an undiscerning and indiscriminate loving of “many foreign women,” spiritually speaking.  We know from history that this is how Solomon was entangled. ⁴

“Come out of her, My people, [mystery Babylon, the mother of harlots] that you fellowship not in her sins and receive of her plagues.”  Rev.18:4

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Sadly at the end of Solomon’s life the religious compromises and complications he brought upon himself relationally divided the kingdom, and tore down what he worked so hard to build.  The lessons for us in this are valuable. Jesus must be Lord of Relationship or we are playing with fire, the wrong fire.  The only fire that is safe to play with is the fire of “first love,” which is Christ. Rev.2:4
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The matter is quite simple, and delightful too.  Jesus is building His Home, and all He desires for us to do is be discerning of what He is doing, and enter into that.  This is a place of rest and of fruitfulness for the children of God!
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Won’t you come home?
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In the end, (as the following song hauntingly expresses) love will be all that mattered.

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1 1 Sam.13:14,   ² 1 Kings 8:27,   ³ Deut. 24:5,   ⁴ 1 Kings 11:1-13

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