“He erected the pillars at the portico (porch) of the temple. The pillar to the south he names Jakin and the one to the north Boaz.”
The entire Bible is the word of God and I read every word of it every year, but I have to admit that some parts of it are more exciting than others. Take for example the building of Solomon’s temple in Jerusalem in 1 Kings. We are told all of the materials that Huram (the builder) used. In fact, we are given a blow-by-blow account of the construction of the temple. But I have discovered that if I don’t read all of it, I will surely miss a treasure that God has for me in the passage. This was true this morning when I read 1 Kings 7:21. This was surely not the first time that I have read this verse, but this morning two words jumped out at me – "Jakin" and "Boaz." Huram built two pillars on the porch of the temple. Pillars are built to hold the structure up. The two pillars were given appropriate names, and were reminders of who the temple belonged to and the purpose of the temple. These two names are what I am calling “Unexpected Treasure.” These treasures were not a surprise to me, but this time I remembered their significance. Let’s start with Jakin. Jakin means “He establishes.” On the front of the temple on the porch, this pillar was a reminder of the God of the temple. The temple was to stand through the years as a reminder to Israel that their nation was established by God. Israel was not chosen and established because of their goodness, but because God in His mighty grace called them out and established them as His people. When the people looked at the temple, they saw “Jakin” and they were reminded that their establishment was God’s work and this temple stood as a reminder of God’s work. We need to remember this in our own lives as well. We no longer have a temple like the temple in Jerusalem. In fact, we are told that, because the Holy Spirit lives in us, we are God’s temple. But we need to be reminded of Jakin, because, like Israel, we are not God’s temple, or God’s people, because of our innate goodness, but because of the grace of the Almighty God, who has established us in His Son. As Jakin held up the porch of the temple, so Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, holds our lives up. We are never independent of Him, because He is a vital part of our lives. Let’s just conclude that we have a “Jakin” that holds our lives up, and that is the Holy Spirit, who establishes us in the faith. Ephesians 4:30 reminds us of this: “And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby you are sealed until the day of redemption." The next word is Boaz. This name means “in Him is strength.” Boaz stood as a reminder to Israel that they were not established because of their own strength, but by the strength of God. All they had to do was to think back over their history, and they would remember that it was God who got them through the Red Sea. It was God who enabled them to stay together through their wilderness wanderings. The Bible reminds us over and over again that we cannot live the Christian life on our own strength. As we face all of the issues of life, we are reminded that we can face them because we have God’s strength to keep us going. When we try to do God’s work, or live our lives on our own strength, we find that we do not have the strength to do it. Boaz stands as a reminder to us of the strength of our Lord, and of our need for His strength every day that we live. There is a neat reminder of our dependence on God’s strength in Nehemiah 8:10: “Then he (Nehemiah) said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto the Lord: neither be ye sorry; For the joy of the Lord is your strength.” Rejoice! Claim Jakin and Boaz for your life today, for, in Jesus, you have them. Again I say, "rejoice!" Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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