“Then Solomon began to build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to David his father, at the place that David had appointed, on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite” (2 Chronicles 3:1 ESV).
Solomon built the Temple on “Mount Moriah” where his father, David, had instructed. This was the place that the Lord had relented from His judgment for David’s sin in taking a census of Israel (2 Sam. 24:16). The Lord had told David to erect an altar on that very place where the Lord had heard David’s prayer and relented, which was the threshing floor of Ornan (Also called “Araunah”). So, David purchased the place and built an altar there.
Centuries earlier, this was the very area where the Lord had instructed Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac: “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you” (Gen. 22:2).
Centuries later, this was also the place where Jesus, Son of David, Son of God was offered as the Lamb of God for our sins. The Lord was merciful on Abraham and on David, yet He poured out the judgment that belonged to us upon His only Son, Jesus. The significance of Mount Moriah is that God chose to provide His Lamb for our sins there.
PRAYER: Dear Father, thank You for Your great love and mercy towards us. We love how Your Word, from Old to New, points to Jesus. May our lives also point to Him, so that we live for Your glory. In Jesus’ name, amen.