I Kings 4-6

“In the four hundred and eightieth year after the Israelites came out of Egypt ... [Solomon] began to build the temple of the Lord” (6:1). Nearly five hundred years after being rescued from Egypt, given the Law, and entering the Promised Land, Israel was ready for a temple. God had kept his promise: “I will walk among you, and I will be your God” (Lev 26:12). Abraham’s descendants had not always been faithful, but God was.

“And I will live among the Israelites and will not abandon my people Israel” (6:13). God’s willingness to present among his people at the temple was a shadow of good things to come (Hebrews 8:5): the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.