Chronicles 7 -When Solomon had finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the Lord filled the temple. [a] 2 And the priests could not enter the house of the Lord, because the glory of the Lord had filled the Lord’s house. 3 When all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of the Lord on the temple, they bowed their faces to the ground on the pavement, and worshiped and praised the Lord, saying:
“For He is good, for His mercy endures forever.” [b] 4 Then the king and all the people offered sacrifices before the Lord. 5 King Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty-two thousand bulls and one hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the people dedicated the house of God.
We are almost at that time of the year, when The Experience, the annual interdenominational gospel event hosted by the House on the Rock Church takes place. Whilst the excitement builds, it is important to answer a few questions which have come to mind ever so often.
Is the Experience just another year-end Christian event? A music concert? Or, an merely an aggregation of various gospel artistes, strutting their talents and abilities on stage? The answer to these is a resounding no! It is neither of those things.
Let me share a true story which you may already be conversant with, about a wise ruler, whose reputation for wisdom had preceded him to the ends of the earth, such that distinguished personalities and royalty came all the way, from far flung nations, to draw from his wisdom.
He was a wealthy, but wise ruler who had invested vast resources in building a magnificent place of worship for his God. The whole kingdom was agog with excitement because finally, a scion of their great and much loved king, had been given the all-clear to build a befitting place of worship – an honor that had been denied his father because of too much blood shed during his reign. Come D-day, the city thronged the new temple of worship with barely concealed excitement to witness this epoch-making occasion. Countless sacrifices were then offered to the Lord by the king and his people, and in an attitude of surrender, this wise sage knelt in adoration to the Great One, raised his hands to the heavens after speaking with his people, and offered up soul-stirring prayers of dedication to the Almighty.
An important point to note in his prayer of dedication, was his acknowledgement that though the remarkable edifice was perhaps the most resplendent architectural masterpiece of that age, his God was, and is, not confined to a mere building! What a sage!