Study Desk

Araunah said to David, "Take this threshing floor. You are my lord and king, so do whatever you want. Look, I will also give you cattle for the burnt offering. You can have the wooden threshing tools to burn for the fire on the altar. And I will give the wheat for the grain offering. I will give all this to you."

So David gave Araunah about 15 pounds of gold for the place.

David built an altar for worshiping the Lord there. David offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. He prayed to the Lord . The Lord answered David by sending fire down from heaven. The fire came down on the altar of burnt offering.

David said, "The Temple of the Lord God and the altar for burning offerings for the Israelites will be built here."

David gave an order for all foreigners living in Israel to be gathered together. He chose stonecutters from that group of foreigners. Their job was to cut stones ready to be used for building God's Temple.

David got iron for making nails and hinges for the gate doors. He also got more bronze than could be weighed

David said, "We should build a very great Temple for the Lord , but my son Solomon is young and does not yet have enough experience to know how to do it well. It should be so great and beautiful that it will be famous among all the nations. So I will prepare what is needed to build it." So before David died he prepared everything needed to build a great Temple.

Then David called for his son Solomon and told him to build the Temple for the Lord , the God of Israel.

David said to Solomon, "My son, I wanted to build a temple for the name of the Lord my God.

But the Lord said to me, ‘David, you have fought many wars and you have killed many people. So you cannot build a temple for my name.

Solomon will build a temple for my name. He will be my son, and I will be his Father. I will make his kingdom strong, and someone from his family will rule Israel forever!'"

David also said, "Now, son, may the Lord be with you. May you be successful and build the Temple for the Lord your God, as he said you would.

And you will have success, if you are careful to obey the rules and laws that the Lord gave Moses for Israel. Be strong and brave. Don't be afraid.

"Solomon, I have worked hard making plans for building the Lord 's Temple. I have given 3750 tons of gold and about 37,500 tons of silver. I have given so much bronze and iron that it cannot be weighed. And I have given wood and stone. Solomon, you can add to them.

Now give your heart and soul to the Lord your God, and do what he says. Build the holy place of the Lord God. Then bring the Box of the Lord 's Agreement and all the other holy things into the Temple built for the Lord 's name."

4000 will be gatekeepers, and 4000 will be musicians. I made special musical instruments for them. They will use them to praise the Lord ."

Amram's sons were Aaron and Moses. Aaron was chosen for a special work. He and his descendants were chosen to always be the ones to do this special work—to prepare the holy things for the Temple service. They were the ones to burn the incense before the Lord , to serve him as priests and give blessings to the people in his name forever.

David's last instructions for the Israelites were to count the descendants from the tribe of Levi. They counted the Levite men who were 20 years old and older.

The Levites had the job of helping Aaron's descendants in the service of the Lord 's Temple. They also cared for the Temple courtyard and the side rooms in the Temple. And they made sure all the holy things were kept pure. It was their job to serve in God's Temple.

They were responsible for putting the special bread on the table in the Temple and for the flour, the grain offerings, and the bread made without yeast. They were also responsible for the baking pans and the mixed offerings. They did all the measuring.