Now Solomon began to build the house of the Lord at Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to his father David, at the place that David had prepared on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. 2 Chronicles 3:1 NKJV
I had never stopped to consider the spiritual significance of the temple being built on the threshing floor. Have you?
Solomon built the temple on Mt. Moriah where Abraham foreshadowed a Father willing to sacrifice His only Son. Abraham built an altar there and named the place “Jehovah Jirah,” which means “God will provide” (Gen. 22).
King David built an altar of sacrifice on that same mountain. He was interceding to stop a plague that was killing the people of Jerusalem. David’s intercession foreshadows Jesus Christ, who makes intercession for us (Rom. 8:34).
Both of these prophetic events, which occurred on the mountain God chose for His temple, are a beautiful picture of the mercy of God. Altars are places of sacrifice, intercession, and worship. The foreshadowing and the altars are the perfect foundation for God’s house of prayer. But a threshing floor?
The threshing floor was where what is valuable (wheat, barley) was separated from the useless waste (chaff). The stalks were crushed to separate the grain and to break its outer husk. Then the grain was tossed into the air so the wind could blow away the chaff. This process was referred to in Matthew 3:11-12 as the Holy Spirit refining us by fire.
In other words, the threshing floor is where we partner with the Holy Spirit to separate what is useless waste in our lives from that which is truly valuable. Some call this process sanctification; I call it intimacy. God loves a broken and contrite heart (Ps. 51:17) because our prayers allow Him to clear the chaff as He blows on our hearts.
Yes, the threshing floor is the place of brokenness and separation. But it is also where the most valuable things are stored. On an actual threshing floor, that would be the grain that sustains life. On our spiritual threshing floor, our grain (our fruitfulness) is a result of abiding in His presence. His presence sustains our life.
God planned the temple to be built as an object lesson for us. We are the temple of God (2 Cor. 6:16). We are now His house of prayer for all nations. The threshing floor is our foundation.
Is my life built on the threshing floor of intimacy? Am I keeping short accounts with God? Am I interceding for the nations? How about you? What is your foundation?