1 Kings 6:1 also records the exact day the temple building project began, but from a different perspective.
The temple was built on Mount Moriah (aka Mount Zion, the mountain range surrounding Jerusalem) starting in the spring of 966 B.C. The Lord had appeared to David on this mountain (1). The meeting was not a pleasant one. 70,000 men died of a plague, and the Lord had sent an angel to destroy Jerusalem (1 Chron. 21) because David had counted the fighting men.
The angel (who is identified as the LORD here) had paused before he continued into the city. His pause was long enough for David and the city officials to go to the place where the angel stopped. I imagine that the LORD had paused because he was hovering over the place where Abraham almost offered his son Isaac many centuries earlier (Gen. 22). The Lord remembered Abraham’s faith, hope, and love for him, and so did David and the city officials.
God does not forget his people’s faith, hope, and love. They are the greatest gifts, the only gifts we can give to him. The impact lasts for generations in ways I cannot even begin to imagine. The world believes these acts are nothing. Even I wonder, “Will a descendant of mine know how important my faith in Jesus has been? Will they also have the same faith?” The LORD Jesus knows.
