Making the right choice

In 1 Kings 18, Elijah confronts Ahab and the pagan prophets of Israel. In verse 21 (KJV), he issues a famous line,

How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him.

The prophets of Baal were present, but as verse 19 makes clear, so were the prophets of Asherah (called the "grove" in the KJV). As outlined in a previous post, Baal and Asherah were the gods of prosperity and fertility (lust).

So Elijah's message to the people -- and also to us! -- is that we must choose between God or the earthly pleasures and treasures of sin. We can't pursue both.

As if to emphasize the folly of the incorrect path, the prophets of Baal then engage in an elaborate, and embarrassing, ritual aimed at getting a divine demonstration of power from Baal. The predictable outcome (verse 29, KJV),

And it came to pass ... that there was neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any that regarded.

The story then proceeds to a legitimate show of power from God.

So the lesson is clear. We have a choice. One path, despite its shiny appearance, is empty. The other is the path of life.

The temple and forgiveness

Solomon's dedication of the Temple (1 Kings 8:22-53) is a crucial moment in the Old Testament, but it takes on even greater importance in light of events in the New Testament.

First, we must recognize that the Temple, as well as its builder Solomon, both portend the coming of Jesus. Solomon, the literal son of David, builds the earthly house of God. But then Jesus, sometimes called the "son of David" by virtue of being David's direct descendant, would establish a "temple" of far greater importance -- his own body.

For this reason, Christians don't pray at or toward a physical structure, as is common in other religions. In fact, despite the presence of physical churches, those buildings function primarily as gathering places, not holy shrines. Jesus emphasizes this point when, in chapter 4 of John, a woman presses him on whether worship should occur on a mountain in Samaria or in the Temple is Jerusalem, which evidently was a point of dispute in ancient Palestine. Jesus responds (John 4:21,23, KJV),

The hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father ... true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth.

Which brings us back to Solomon's dedication of the Temple. While reading that passage, translate any mention of the Temple into "Jesus" to gain a sense of the full sweep of what the Temple portends. For example, in 1 Kings 8:30 (KJV) Solomon prays to God,

When they shall pray toward this place ... and when thou hearest, forgive.

The point is, when we pray to the "Temple," by which we mean "Jesus," then God is faithful to forgive of sins.