THE BUILDING OF THE HOLY HOUSE.
“O Lord our God, all this store that we have prepared to build thee an house for thine holy name cometh of thine hand, and is all thine own. I know also, my God, that thou triest the heart, and hast pleasure in uprightness. As for me, in the uprightness of mine heart I have willingly offered all these things; and now have I seen with joy thy people, which are present here, to offer willingly unto thee. O Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, our fathers, keep this forever in the imagination of the thoughts of the heart of thy people, and prepare their heart unto thee.”—David. One night after “the Lord had given him rest round about from all his enemies,” David sat in his house. Near him sat Nathan, the aged prophet. And David said to Nathan, “See now, I dwell in an house of cedar, but the ark of God dwelleth within curtains.” To this Nathan replied: “Go, do all that is in thine heart; for the Lord is with thee.” In these few words is wrapped the secret as to why Christ came of the line of David. David himself dwelt in a beautiful palace, but as yet no temple had been built for the Lord. To be sure, David knew that God “dwelleth not in temples made with hands,” and that “the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee.” But more than this, he knew that there was no house on earth, especially consecrated to the teaching of God’s holy principles of truth. It was such a house as this that David thought to build, and it was because of David’s secret thought to do this thing that the Lord established His throne forever, and caused Christ to come of his line. “And it came to pass that night, that the word of the Lord came unto Nathan, saying, Go and tell my servant David, Thus saith the Lord, Shalt thou build me an house for me to dwell in? Whereas I have not dwelt in any house since the time that I brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt, even to this day, but have walked in a tent and in a tabernacle. In all the places wherein I have walked with all the children of Israel spake I a word with any of the judges [margin] of Israel whom I commanded to feed my people Israel, saying, Why build ye not me an house of cedar?” “Now therefore so shalt thou say unto my servant David, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, I took thee from the sheepcote, from following the sheep, to be ruler over my people, over Israel: and I was with thee whithersoever thou wentest, and have cut off all thine enemies out of thy sight, and have made thee a great name, like unto the name of the great men that are in the earth. Moreover I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own, and move no more; neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more, as beforetime, and as since the time that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel, and have caused thee to rest from all thine enemies. Also the Lord telleth thee that He will make thee an house. And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build an house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the stripes of the children of men: but my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee. And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established forever before thee: thy throne shall be established forever.” In these verses the Lord distinctly states that He had never openly and outwardly said to the children of Israel or to any of their judges, “Why build ye not me an house of cedar?” Much as God would have been pleased to have such a house and much as the Lord desired such a place, He never spoke a word to any of the princes of the people of Israel telling them to build it for Him. In all the inspired books of the chosen people, not one word of command was written telling them to build a house for God. To build this house was the thought of David. True, the erection of the temple was but a physical task. It was not what, in our narrowness, we are sometimes pleased to call “a spiritual task,” but to David it was a spiritual act; and because he thought to do it, the Lord sent His prophet to tell David, saying, “The Lord telleth thee that He will make thee an house;” and again He spoke of Solomon, David’s son, saying, “He shall build an house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.” David himself was not to build the Lord’s house, he was to stop with the gathering of the material. He tells us that he prepared with all his might for the house of the Lord, and gathered immense amounts of material to enter into its composition. After everything was ready, in his old age, he141called the congregation together, and told them what he had done. Please read 1 Chron. 29: 1-18. This was the crowning act of David’s life. In the uprightness of his heart he had willingly offered, and had seen with joy God’s people offer willingly unto God. His closing prayer upon this occasion is one of the most touching of his many recorded prayers. “O Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, our fathers, keep this forever in the imagination of the thoughts of the heart of thy people, and prepare their heart unto thee.” David asked God to keep this scene of willing offering and giving forever before His people. They had willingly brought their offerings for the building of “the holy house.” To him it was the greatest scene in all his life; for it was the culmination, as far as he was concerned, of his thought to build a house for the Lord. It was because of this thought and the deeds of gift and offering which followed it, that God established His house forever, and caused Christ to come of the line of David. It was, then, the desire to build “an holy house” that put David in the place of ancestor of Jesus Christ. This reward was not given to him because of any great prayer which he had made, or any sermon which he had preached, but simply because he thought to build a house for the Lord his God. David never built the house himself, but he and his people brought and gave their offerings. They made the gifts which made the building of “the holy house” a possibility. And for his conception of this plan, and for the bringing of the offerings of gold and silver and precious stones and marble in abundance, God bestowed upon him a place in the peerage of heaven which had justly been coveted by all the families of Israel before his time. The sequel of this story and the lesson in it for those upon whom the ends of the world are come, can be read in the recent sad loss of our Sanitarium buildings. The buildings have been destroyed by the flames, but the principles which built the buildings still remain. The principles of our health work are sacred and holy, and a precious boon to every Seventh-day Adventist family. They have changed our lives and our method of living, and by them the lives of many have been prolonged. The health reform principles form an integral part of the very life of the Seventh-day Adventist denomination. Without them we would be minus our right arm. Divorced from them, we would be separated from that “entering wedge,” which so many times has cleaved its way betwixt prejudice and passion into the innermost realms of hard and stubborn hearts. By them a way has been made into many souls through which all the precious principles of truth given to this people have followed. And now, on account of the loss of these buildings, shall we allow this work to droop and die? There is only one answer: Never! never! At the last General Conference it was decided that the old Battle Creek College property should in the future be used for a medical college. At that meeting this property was set aside, and in a certain sense consecrated, to be “a holy house,” in which the precious principles of our medical and health work should be taught. It was also voted at that meeting that the money necessary to pay for this property, so as to give it free of debt to the medical work, should be raised by means of the Missionary Acre Fund. If there ever was a time when the medical work needed this property and needed it free from debt and all incumbrances, it is now. If there ever was a time when buildings were necessary in which to train young men and women to go into the harvest field of the world and teach our health principles, that time is to-day. Now, brethren and sisters, one and all, shall we not unite, as did the people of Israel in the olden day under the leadership of David, and willingly bring our offerings for this “holy house”? Not only because the brick and mortar is different from any other, but because of the heaven-born principles which will be taught within its walls. As they did, shall we not also offer willingly, knowing that “all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee”? Will not each one pledge between himself and God during this year to plant and raise something for the Lord, or give a certain sum in lieu of this for a freewill offering to the Lord for His “holy house”? Shall not this missionary acre offering be to us as was the offering of the first fruits in those olden days, when the blessed light of God illuminated the countenances of the chosen people of Israel? In the ancient days gifts of many kings were brought to God for the building of the house, and accepted by Him. Some brought gold, and some brought silver, and others precious stones. But David not only called for gifts, he also asked, ‘Who then is willing to consecrate his service this day unto the Lord?’ In the consecration of a certain portion of the produce of the land or of the increase of the cattle to the Lord, for the purpose of securing the old Battle Creek College buildings for a school in which our medical principles can be taught, we are doing as Israel did—consecrating our service unto the Lord. The same is equally true of the one who sets apart a portion of his salary. Now as never before can loyalty be shown to the medical work. The undersigned will be glad to hear from all who will take hold and willingly offer for this ‘holy house.’ Financial Secretary, S. D. A. Gen. Conf.,
Berrien Springs, Mich.