Through The Bible in a Year - March 31, 2026

Solomon offered as peace offerings to the LORD 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. So the king and all the people of Israel dedicated the house of the LORD.” – 1 Kings 8:63

142,000 sacrifices to dedicate the temple, plus more burnt offerings in the outer courts.

The ceremony lasted seven days. That’s about 20,000 sacrifices per day. A sacrifice every four seconds. Imagine what that was like:

Confess your sin. Sacrifice a sheep. Confess your sin. Sacrifice an ox. Not enough. Do it again. Again. Again. Again. Again….

The bronze altar designed for the temple sacrifices became too small. The priests had to use the middle court—the place where those who weren’t born Jewish could come for worship. Even where non-Jewish people were ordinarily excluded from worship, sacrifices were made – and God’s mercy extended outward.

The magnitude of the sacrifices made does not only express the magnitude of the sins that needed to be covered, the magnitude of the sacrifices expresses the magnitude of the mercy that God provided to his people.

But here’s the problem: In the fine print of the business deal that funded Solomon’s temple in which sacrifices were made to honor God, there’s a poison pill. Solomon’s contractors used forced labor—slaves—against God’s command. The temple was not an expression of personal devotion as much as an expression of the king’s power and pride. Further, Solomon married Pharaoh’s daughter from Egypt, re-introducing idolatry into Israel. This marriage then became the door through which Solomon decided to marry many wives and introduce many more gods to compete with the One for whom he built a temple.

God knew it. God knew Solomon’s sin would be this awful. He also knew that Solomon’s sacrifices—as many as there were—would never be enough. How many more would be needed? Just One.

Just one more.

The one sacrifice still needed would come from David’s lineage. When that one sacrifice came, glory would again surround God’s provision as angels announced Him. But, then, no more sacrifices would be needed because the angels said, “He will save His people from their sin.” As John the Baptist would declare about this same Jesus, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.”

In Revelation’s new Jerusalem—whose features reflect the Old Testament temple in perfection—there are 144,000 souls made perfect by the blood of this Lamb. We should praise God that John also writes in his vision, “I saw no temple in the city, for the temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb.” As many sacrifices as Solomon had to offer to try to consecrate the temple to make God’s people right with Him, that’s as many souls as the Holy Spirit reveals are covered in heaven by Christ’s one sacrifice. These perfect numbers are symbols to tell us that Christ’s one sacrifice is sufficient for all who need Him and believe in Him.

Respond: Do you grasp the magnitude of what Jesus did? 144,000 sacrifices couldn’t ultimately cover sin. But one sacrifice—by the Lamb of God—covers those and everyone else. The perfect sacrifice; the final sacrifice, the full sacrifice has been made. There is even enough provision for you and me in God’s perfect plan that provided Christ’s perfect sacrifice.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are the perfect sacrifice. What 144,000 animals couldn’t accomplish, You did in one offering. You covered my sin completely. Thank You for being the Lamb that takes away the sin of the world. Thank You for providing enough grace for me. Amen.