Samuel Thru Solomon: Lesson 36-2 Chronicles 2:1-4:22 and 1 Kings 5:1-7:51

Transcription

1 Samuel Thru Solomon Lesson 36-2 Chronicles 2:1-4:22 and 1 Kings 5:1-7:51 In the last lesson we studied how Solomon first made offerings at the Tabernacle in Gibeon. At that time the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream and the LORD told him to "ask for whatever you want." What Solomon asked for was wisdom and knowledge to govern and discernment in administering justice. The LORD was pleased to give him. We noted that the "wisdom" that was given Solomon was intellectual capacity. It did not mean that Solomon would follow the "wisdom" of God. As it turned out, he didn't. Then we noted all the ways that Solomon started to violate the Law's commands for the King given in Deuteronomy. He acquired great numbers of horses, took many wives (who were also unbelievers), and accumulated large amounts of silver and gold. Then we saw the famous story of Solomon's dealing with the two mothers who both claimed that a small infant was theirs. He showed his insight into human motivation in discovering which of the women was the real mother. We then studied 1 Kings 4:1-28 which gave a description of the administrative leaders and practices of Solomon's kingdom. We noticed that he endeavored to break down the old tribal loyalties and organization and make them more dependent on the center, the King. We also noticed that the nation enjoyed a period of great material prosperity and political power. Finally, in 1 Kings 4:29-30 we saw the breadth and depth of Solomon's intellectual attainments. Sadly enough, all of his intellect did not translate to Godly wisdom, as the habits of his life violated nearly all the Proverbs in the Book that he had mainly collected from the Godly wisdom of men who had gone before him. 1 / 24

2 In this next section we shall encounter Hiram. He was King of Tyre, the strongest of the Phoenician city states on the coast north of Israel. The country of the Phoenicians stretched along north and south along what is today Lebanon. Along the coast there was a narrow coastal plain and in the interior were two well watered mountain ranges of some altitude separated by the Bekaa valley. Their economy was based on two things. First, they were the great seafarers of the ancient world, and engaged in extensive trade with the countries on the Mediterranean. Second, their mountains were full of the best timber in the Middle East. To better assess what we will read, we should find out a little more about Hiram and his people. The name "Hiram" means "noble born" or high born." He reigned from 980 BC to 947 BC, succeeding his father was Abibaal, whose name means "Baal is my father." Hiram was succeeded as king of Tyre by his son Baal-Eser I, whose name means "Baal is pre-eminent." The Phoenician people were Canaanites and worshipped a pantheon of many gods, including Baal. Their religious practices included forced prostitution and human sacrifice. In the Old Testament, the "King of Tyre" became a figure for Satan. Isaiah 28:11-19 "The word of the LORD came to me: Son of man, take up a lament concerning the king of Tyre and say to him: This is what the Sovereign LORD says: You were the model of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone adorned you: ruby, topaz and emerald, chrysolite, onyx and jasper, sapphire, turquoise and beryl. Your settings and mountings were made of gold; on the day you were created they were prepared. You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained you. You were on the holy mount of God; you walked among the fiery stones. You were 2 / 24

3 blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you. Through your widespread trade you were filled with violence, and you sinned. So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God, and I expelled you, O guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones. Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth; I made a spectacle of you before kings. By your many sins and dishonest trade you have desecrated your sanctuaries. So I made a fire come out from you, and it consumed you, and I reduced you to ashes on the ground in the sight of all who were watching. All the nations who knew you are appalled at you; you have come to a horrible end and will be no more.'" Previously, in the history of David, Hiram is mentioned when David was building his palace: 2 Samuel 5:11 "Now Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, along with cedar logs wood and carpenters and stonemasons, and they built a palace for David." Evidently, Hiram's relationship with David had been primarily of a commercial nature. Correspondence between Solomon and Hiram Solomon's first letter 3 / 24

4 1 Kings 5:1-5 When Hiram king of Tyre heard that Solomon had been anointed king to succeed his father David, he sent his envoys to Solomon, because he had always been on friendly terms with David. [a] Solomon sent back this message to Hiram: "You know that because of the wars waged against my father David from all sides, he could not build a temple for the Name of the LORD his God until the LORD put his enemies under his feet. [b] But now the LORD my God has given me rest on every side, and there is no adversary or disaster. I intend, therefore, to build a temple for the Name of the LORD my God, as the LORD told my father David, when he said, Your son whom I will put on the throne in your place will build the temple for my Name.' [c] 2 Chronicles 2:3-6 Solomon sent this message to Hiram king of Tyre: "Send me cedar logs wood as you did for my father David when you sent him cedar to build a palace to live in. Now I am about to build a temple for the Name of the LORD my God and to dedicate it to him for burning fragrant incense before him, for setting out the consecrated bread regularly, and for making burnt offerings every morning and evening and on Sabbaths and New Moons and at the appointed feasts of the LORD our God. This is a lasting ordinance for Israel. "The temple I am going to build will be great, because our God is greater than all other gods. But who is able to build a temple for him, since the heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain him? Who then am I to build a temple for him, except as a place to burn sacrifices before him? This contains the preliminaries outlining the purpose, size, and scope of the project. It contains a few inaccuracies as noted in the footnotes. It does seem to indicate that, at least in the beginning of his reign, Solomon was in awe of the LORD. 4 / 24

5 2 Chronicles 2:7 "Send me, therefore, a man skilled to work in gold and silver, bronze and iron, and in purple, crimson and blue yarn, [d] and experienced in the art of engraving, to work in Judah and Jerusalem with my skilled craftsmen, whom my father David provided. In 2 Chronicles we find out that it was Solomon who first asked Hiram to send a master craftsman to work in Jerusalem supervising the local craftsmen. Evidently, the Phoenicians were known for their skill in such things. 1 Kings 5:6 "So give orders that cedars of Lebanon be cut for me. My men will work with yours, and I will pay you for your men whatever wages you set. You know that we have no one so skilled in felling timber cutting wood as the Sidonians." 2 Chronicles 2:8-10 "Send me also cedar, pine and algum logs wood from Lebanon, for I know that your men are skilled in cutting timber lumber there. My men will work with yours to provide me with plenty of lumber, because the temple I build must be large and magnificent. I will give your servants, the woodsmen who cut the timber, twenty thousand cors of ground wheat, twenty thousand cors of barley, twenty thousand baths of wine and twenty thousand baths of olive oil." 5 / 24

6 I have changed a few words in the NIV translation as warranted by the alternate meanings of the Hebrew words. This is because I believe the people of the ancient world were not dumb. Certainly Solomon wasn't. It would not been wasted efforts and expense to send unfinished logs all the way to Israel. In the same way modern lumber companies do not send unfinished logs to their markets. The logs are cut into lumber close to where the trees are cut down. Hiram's Reply 1 Kings 5:7-9 When Hiram heard Solomon's message, he was greatly pleased and said, "Praise be to the LORD today, for he has given David a wise son to rule over this great nation." So Hiram sent word to Solomon: "I have received the message you sent me and will do all you want in providing the cedar and pine logs woo d. My men will haul them down from Lebanon to the sea, and I will float them in rafts [e] by sea to the place you specify. There I will separate them and you can take them away. And you are to grant my wish by providing food for my royal household." 2 Chronicles 2:11-12 Hiram king of Tyre replied by letter to Solomon: "Because the LORD loves his people, he has made you their king." And Hiram added: "Praise be to the LORD, the God of Israel, who made heaven and earth! He has given King David a 6 / 24

7 wise son, endowed with intelligence and discernment, who will build a temple for the LORD and a palace for himself. We are not to take that these expressions means Hiram was a believer, anymore than you should believe expressions of solidarity and admiration from the car salesman with whom you are doing business. Hiram also seems here to have agreed to the idea of food for lumber. 2 Chronicles 2:13-14 "I am sending you Huram-Abi, a man of great skill, whose mother was from Dan and whose father was from Tyre. He is trained to work in gold and silver, bronze and iron, stone and wood, and with purple and blue and crimson yarn and fine linen. He is experienced in all kinds of engraving and can execute any design given to him. He will work with your craftsmen and with those of my lord, David your father. 1 Kings 7:13-14 King Solomon sent to Tyre and brought Huram, whose mother was a widow from the tribe of Naphtali and whose father was a man of Tyre and a craftsman in bronze. Hiram also gratifies Solomon's wish for a master craftsman. He is smart enough to send him one that is half Israelite. 1 Kings does not mention him in this account of Hiram's letter, but mentions him later in the narrative. As you will note, 2 Chronicles 2:14 says his mother was from Dan, but 1 Kings says she was from the tribe of Naphtali. The first probably refers to the 7 / 24

8 region she lived, while the second refers to her lineage. The tribal lands of Naphtali were not far south of Dan. Both were on the border of the lands controlled by Tyre. Certainly, there is no doubt that the marriage of Huram's parents was forbidden by the Law of Moses. 2 Chronicles 2:15-16 "Now let my lord send his servants the wheat and barley and the olive oil and wine he promised, and we will cut all the logs from Lebanon that you need and will float them in rafts by sea down to Joppa. You can then take them up to Jerusalem." In this first reply, Hiram agreed to Solomon's offer of twenty thousand cors of ground wheat, twenty thousand cors of barley, twenty thousand baths of wine and twenty thousand baths of olive oil. Evidently, in the final contract it was reduced. The Final Contract 1 Kings 5:10-12 In this way Hiram kept Solomon supplied with all the cedar and pine logs he wanted, and Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand cors of wheat as food for his household, in addition to twenty thousand baths of pressed olive oil. Solomon continued to do this for Hiram year after year. The LORD gave Solomon wisdom, just as he had promised him. There were peaceful relations between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a treaty. 8 / 24

9 As you can see, the final contract was absent the wine and the barley. Probably because the amount of labor Solomon found he had to supply to get the work done. It was considerable. The Labor Force 1 Kings 5:13-18 King Solomon conscripted laborers from all Israel--thirty thousand men. He sent them off to Lebanon in shifts of ten thousand a month, so that they spent one month in Lebanon and two months at home. Adoniram was in charge of the forced labor. Solomon had seventy thousand carriers and eighty thousand stonecutters in the hills, as well as thirty-three hundred [f] foremen who supervised the project and directed the workmen. At the king's command they removed from the quarry large blocks of quality stone to provide a foundation of dressed stone for the temple. The craftsmen of Solomon and Hiram and the men of Gebal cut and prepared the timber and stone for the building of the temple. 2 Chronicles 2:1-2 Solomon gave orders to build a temple for the Name of the LORD and a royal palace for himself. He conscripted seventy thousand men as carriers and eighty thousand as stonecutters in the hills and thirty-six hundred as foremen over them. 9 / 24

10 2 Chronicles 2:17 Solomon took a census of all the aliens who were in Israel, after the census his father David had taken; [g] and they were found to be 153,600. He assigned 70,000 of them to be carriers and 80,000 to be stonecutters in the hills, with 3,600 foremen over them to keep the people working. This Temple was built mainly with the conscript or slave labor of the aliens in Israel. This is what the Law of Moses commands about aliens: Deuteronomy 27:19 "Cursed is the man who withholds justice from the alien, the fatherless or the widow." Exodus 23:9 "Do not oppress an alien; you yourselves know how it feels to be aliens, because you were aliens in Egypt." Leviticus 15:15-16 "The community is to have the same rules for you and for the alien living among you; this is a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. You and the alien shall be the same before the LORD: The same laws and regulations will apply both to you and to the alien living among you." 10 / 24

11 This was also contrary to the pattern that God had established in the building of the tabernacle where all labor was to be voluntarily given. Exodus 35:20-22 "Then the whole Israelite community withdrew from Moses' presence, and everyone who was willing and whose heart moved him came and brought an offering to the LORD for the work on the Tent of Meeting, for all its service, and for the sacred garments. All who were willing, men and women alike, came and brought gold jewelry of all kinds: brooches, earrings, rings and ornaments. They all presented their gold as a wave offering to the LORD. " 1 Chronicles 28:21 "The divisions of the priests and Levites are ready for all the work on the temple of God, and every willing man skilled in any craft will help you in all the work. The officials and all the people will obey your every command." The Construction of the Temple The Outside of the Temple 11 / 24

12 1 Kings 6:1-10 In the four hundred and eightieth year after the Israelites had come out of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, the second month, he began to build the temple of the LORD. [h] The temple that King Solomon built for the LORD was sixty cubits long, twenty wide and thirty high. The portico at the front of the main hall of the temple extended the width of the temple that is twenty cubits, and projected ten cubits from the front of the temple. He made narrow clerestory windows in the temple. Against the walls of the main hall and inner sanctuary he built a structure around the building, in which there were side rooms. The lowest floor was five cubits wide, the middle floor six cubits and the third floor seven. He made offset ledges around the outside of the temple so that nothing would be inserted into the temple walls. In building the temple, only blocks dressed at the quarry were used, and no hammer, chisel or any other iron tool was heard at the temple site while it was being built. The entrance to the lowest floor was on the south side of the temple; a stairway led up to the middle level and from there to the third. So he built the temple and completed it, roofing it with beams and cedar planks. And he built the side rooms all along the temple. The height of each was five cubits, and they were attached to the temple by beams of cedar. 2 Chronicles 3:1-4 Then Solomon began to build the temple of the LORD in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, [i] where the LORD had appeared to his father David. It was on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite, the place provided by David. He began building on the second day of the second month in the fourth year of his reign. The foundation Solomon laid for building the temple of God was sixty cubits long and twenty cubits wide (using the cubit of the old standard). The portico at the front of the temple was twenty cubits long across the width of the building and twenty cubits high. He overlaid the inside with pure gold. This gives the dimensions of Solomon's temple. It was sixty cubits long, twenty wide and thirty high, or 90 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 45 feet high. The Tabernacle had been 45 feet long, 14 feet wide, and 15 feet high. In other words, the Temple was twelve times as large as the 12 / 24

13 Tabernacle. See the diagram and picture below: Contrast to the Tabernacle I can't help reflecting how more apt the Tabernacle of Skins was to represent the first advent of Jesus Christ. You can see the humility of Christ written all over it. It is no accident that when the Book of Hebrews wants to illustrate the Christ typology of the Old Testament worship it does not refer to the Temple, but to the Tabernacle (Hebrews 8 and 9). However, David and the people wanted a Temple of Stone. Unfortunately when the cornerstone of the Temple came, they rejected Him. Psalms 118:22 "The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone." 13 / 24

14 Jesus talking in Matthew 21:42-44 "Have you never read in the Scriptures: The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone." The LORD's Promise to Solomon. 1 Kings 6:11-13 The word of the LORD came to Solomon: "As for this temple you are building, if you follow my decrees, carry out my regulations and keep all my commands and obey them, I will fulfill through you the promise I gave to David your father. And I will live among the Israelites and will not abandon my people Israel." This doesn't tell us how God spoke to Solomon, but we know it was not in person. Evidently, it was through a prophet. Scripture records that the LORD spoke to Solomon personally only twice and this was not one of those times (1 Kings 11:9). The promise made to David referred to here, was that through him, a son would be raised up who would build the Temple. If Solomon had fulfilled his end, Christ would have been descended through Solomon. Instead, Solomon's line died out with Jehoiachin, and the biological line of Christ came through the line of Nathan, Solomon's younger brother (Luke 3:31). The Interior of the Temple 14 / 24

15 1 Kings 6:14-36 So Solomon built the temple and completed it. He lined its interior walls with cedar boards, paneling them from the floor of the temple to the ceiling, and covered the floor of the temple with planks of pine. He partitioned off twenty cubits at the rear of the temple with cedar boards from floor to ceiling to form within the temple an inner sanctuary, the Most Holy Place. The main hall in front of this room was forty cubits long. The inside of the temple was cedar, carved with gourds and open flowers. Everything was cedar; no stone was to be seen. He prepared the inner sanctuary within the temple to set the ark of the covenant of the LORD there. The inner sanctuary was twenty cubits long, twenty wide and twenty high. He overlaid the inside with pure gold, and he also overlaid the altar of cedar. Solomon covered the inside of the temple with pure gold, and he extended gold chains across the front of the inner sanctuary, which was overlaid with gold. So he overlaid the whole interior with gold. He also overlaid with gold the altar that belonged to the inner sanctuary. [j] In the inner sanctuary he made a pair of cherubim of olive wood, each ten cubits high. One wing of the first cherub was five cubits long, and the other wing five cubits--ten cubits from wing tip to wing tip. The second cherub also measured ten cubits, for the two cherubim were identical in size and shape. The height of each cherub was ten cubits. He placed the cherubim inside the innermost room of the temple, with their wings spread out. The wing of one cherub touched one wall, while the wing of the other touched the other wall, and their wings touched each other in the middle of the room. He overlaid the cherubim with gold. On the walls all around the temple, in both the inner and outer rooms, he carved cherubim, [k] palm trees and open flowers. He also covered the floors of both the inner and outer rooms of the temple with gold. For the entrance of the inner sanctuary he made doors of olive wood [l] with five-sided jambs. And on the two olive wood doors he carved cherubim, palm trees and open flowers, and overlaid the cherubim and palm trees with beaten gold. In the same way he made four-sided jambs of olive wood for the entrance to the main hall. [m] He also made two pine doors, each having two leaves that turned in sockets. He carved cherubim, palm trees and open flowers on them and overlaid them with gold hammered evenly over the carvings. And he built the inner courtyard of three courses of dressed stone and one course of trimmed cedar beams. 1 Kings 6:37-7:12 moved to end of section 15 / 24

16 1 Kings 7:13-51 King Solomon sent to Tyre and brought Huram, whose mother was a widow from the tribe of Naphtali and whose father was a man of Tyre and a craftsman in bronze. Huram was highly skilled and experienced in all kinds of bronze work. He came to King Solomon and did all the work assigned to him. He cast two bronze pillars, each eighteen cubits high and twelve cubits around, by line. He also made two capitals of cast bronze to set on the tops of the pillars; each capital was five cubits high. A network of interwoven chains festooned the capitals on top of the pillars, seven for each capital. He made pomegranates [n] in two rows encircling each network to decorate the capitals on top of the pillars. He did the same for each capital. The capitals on top of the pillars in the portico were in the shape of lilies, four cubits high. On the capitals of both pillars, above the bowl-shaped part next to the network, were the two hundred pomegranates in rows all around. He erected the pillars at the portico of the temple. The pillar to the south he named Jakin [o] and the one to the north Boaz. [p] The capitals on top were in the shape of lilies. And so the work on the pillars was completed. He made the Sea [q] of cast metal, circular in shape, measuring ten cubits from rim to rim and five cubits high. It took a line of thirty cubits to measure around it. Below the rim, gourds encircled it--ten to a cubit. The gourds [r] were cast in two rows in one piece with the Sea. The Sea stood on twelve bulls, [s] three facing north, three facing west, three facing south and three facing east. The Sea rested on top of them, and their hindquarters were toward the center. It was a handbreadth in thickness, and its rim was like the rim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It held two thousand baths. He also made ten movable stands of bronze; [t] each was four cubits long, four wide and three high. This is how the stands were made: They had side panels attached to uprights. On the panels between the uprights were lions, bulls and cherubim--and on the uprights as well. Above and below the lions and bulls [u] were wreaths of hammered work. Each stand had four bronze wheels with bronze axles, and each had a basin resting on four supports, cast with wreaths on each side. On the inside of the stand there was an opening that had a circular frame one cubit deep. This opening was round, and with its basework it measured a cubit and a half. Around its opening there was engraving. The panels of the stands were square, not round. The four wheels were under the panels, and the axles of the wheels were attached to the stand. The diameter of each wheel was a cubit and a half. The wheels were made like chariot wheels; the axles, rims, spokes and hubs were all of cast metal. Each stand had four handles, one on each corner, projecting from the stand. At the top of the stand there was a circular band half a cubit deep. The supports and panels were attached to the top of the stand. He engraved cherubim, lions and palm trees on the surfaces of the supports and on the panels, in every available space, with wreaths all around. This is the way he made 16 / 24

17 the ten stands. They were all cast in the same molds and were identical in size and shape. He then made ten bronze basins, each holding forty baths and measuring four cubits across, one basin to go on each of the ten stands. He placed five of the stands on the south side of the temple and five on the north. He placed the Sea on the south side, at the southeast corner of the temple. [v] He also made the basins and shovels and sprinkling bowls. So Huram finished all the work he had undertaken for King Solomon in the temple of the LORD: the two pillars; the two bowl-shaped capitals on top of the pillars; the two sets of network decorating the two bowl-shaped capitals on top of the pillars; the four hundred pomegranates for the two sets of network (two rows of pomegranates for each network, decorating the bowl-shaped capitals on top of the pillars); the ten stands with their ten basins; the Sea and the twelve bulls under it; the pots, shovels and sprinkling bowls. All these objects that Huram made for King Solomon for the temple of the LORD were of burnished bronze. The king had them cast in clay molds in the plain of the Jordan between Succoth and Zarethan. [w] Solomon left all these things unweighed, because there were so many; the weight of the bronze was not determined. Solomon also made all the furnishings that were in the LORD's temple: the golden altar; the golden table on which was the bread of the Presence; the lampstands of pure gold (five on the right and five on the left, in front of the inner sanctuary); the gold floral work and lamps and tongs; the pure gold basins, wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls, dishes and censers; and the gold sockets for the doors of the innermost room, the Most Holy Place, and also for the doors of the main hall of the temple. When all the work King Solomon had done for the temple of the LORD was finished, he brought in the things his father David had dedicated--the silver and gold and the furnishings--and he placed them in the treasuries of the LORD's temple. 2 Chronicles 3:5-4:22 He paneled the main hall with pine and covered it with fine gold and decorated it with palm tree and chain designs. He adorned the temple with precious stones. And the gold he used was gold of Parvaim. He overlaid the ceiling beams, doorframes, walls and doors of the temple with gold, and he carved cherubim on the walls. He built the Most Holy Place, its length corresponding to the width of the temple--twenty cubits long and twenty cubits wide. He overlaid the inside with six hundred talents of fine gold. [x] The gold nails weighed fifty shekels. He also overlaid the upper parts with gold. In the Most Holy Place he made a pair of sculptured cherubim and overlaid them with gold. The total wingspan of the cherubim was twenty cubits. 17 / 24

18 [y] One wing of the first cherub was five cubits long and touched the temple wall, while its other wing, also five cubits long, touched the wing of the other cherub. Similarly one wing of the second cherub was five cubits long and touched the other temple wall, and its other wing, also five cubits long, touched the wing of the first cherub. The wings of these cherubim extended twenty cubits. They stood on their feet, facing the main hall. He made the curtain of blue, purple and crimson yarn and fine linen, with cherubim worked into it. In the front of the temple he made two pillars, which [together] were thirty-five cubits long, each with a capital on top measuring five cubits. He made interwoven chains and put them on top of the pillars. He also made a hundred pomegranates and attached them to the chains. He erected the pillars in the front of the temple, one to the south and one to the north. The one to the south he named Jakin and the one to the north Boaz. He made a bronze altar twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide and ten cubits high. [z] He made the Sea of cast metal, circular in shape, measuring ten cubits from rim to rim and five cubits high. [aa] It took a line of thirty cubits to measure around it. Below the rim, figures of bulls encircled it--ten to a cubit. The bulls were cast in two rows in one piece with the Sea. The Sea stood on twelve bulls, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south and three facing east. The Sea rested on top of them, and their hindquarters were toward the center. It was a handbreadth in thickness, and its rim was like the rim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It held three thousand baths. He then made ten basins for washing and placed five on the south side and five on the north. In them the things to be used for the burnt offerings were rinsed, but the Sea was to be used by the priests for washing. He made ten gold lampstands according to the specifications for them and placed them in the temple, five on the south side and five on the north. He made ten tables and placed them in the temple, five on the south side and five on the north. He also made a hundred gold sprinkling bowls. He made the courtyard of the priests, and the large court and the doors for the court, and overlaid the doors with bronze. He placed the Sea on the south side, at the southeast corner. He also made the pots and shovels and sprinkling bowls. So Huram finished the work he had undertaken for King Solomon in the temple of God: the two pillars; the two bowl-shaped capitals on top of the pillars; the two sets of network decorating the two bowl-shaped capitals on top of the pillars; the four hundred pomegranates for the two sets of network (two rows of pomegranates for each network, decorating the bowl-shaped capitals on top of the pillars); the stands with their basins; the Sea and the twelve bulls under it; the pots, shovels, meat forks [bb] and all related articles. All the objects that Huram-Abi made for King Solomon for the temple of the LORD were of polished bronze. The king had them cast in clay molds in the plain of the Jordan between Succoth and Zarethan. All these things that Solomon made amounted to so much that the weight of the bronze was not determined. Solomon also made all the furnishings that were in God's temple: the golden altar; the tables on which was the bread of the Presence; the lampstands of pure gold with their lamps, to burn in front of the inner sanctuary as prescribed; the gold floral work and lamps and tongs (they were solid gold); the pure gold wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls, dishes and 18 / 24

19 censers; and the gold doors of the temple: the inner doors to the Most Holy Place and the doors of the main hall. It is worth noting that except for the Ark of the Covenant and the seven branched lampstand, everything that had been in the Tabernacle was replaced by Solomon. Both of those were already pure gold. As for the Ark of the Covenant, we will see in the next lesson, that when they looked in it that its contents were now different, the gold pot of manna, and Aaron's rod the budded were no longer there. I have placed these next passages last in this lesson and next to each other because they seem to make a comment about how Solomon's priorities changed with time. 1 Kings 6:37-38 The foundation of the temple of the LORD was laid in the fourth year, in the month of Ziv. [cc] In the eleventh year in the month of Bul, the eighth month, the temple was finished in all its details according to its specifications. He had spent seven years building it. [dd] 1 Kings 7:1-12 It took Solomon thirteen years, however, to complete the construction of his 19 / 24

20 palace. [ee] He built the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon a hundred cubits long, fifty wide and thirty high, [ff] with four rows of cedar columns supporting trimmed cedar beams. It was roofed with cedar above the beams that rested on the columns--forty-five beams, fifteen to a row. Its windows were placed high in sets of three, facing each other. All the doorways had rectangular frames; they were in the front part in sets of three, facing each other. He made a colonnade fifty cubits long and thirty wide. In front of it was a portico, and in front of that were pillars and an overhanging roof. He built the throne hall, the Hall of Justice, where he was to judge, and he covered it with cedar from floor to ceiling. And the palace in which he was to live, set farther back, was similar in design. Solomon also made a palace like this hall for Pharaoh's daughter, whom he had married. All these structures, from the outside to the great courtyard and from foundation to eaves, were made of blocks of high-grade stone cut to size and trimmed with a saw on their inner and outer faces. The foundations were laid with large stones of good quality, some measuring ten cubits and some eight. Above were high-grade stones, cut to size, and cedar beams. The great courtyard was surrounded by a wall of three courses of dressed stone and one course of trimmed cedar beams, as was the inner courtyard of the temple of the LORD with its portico. The Temple was finished in the 11 th year of Solomon's reign, but after he finished that, he couldn't stop building. It fed his ego, and impoverished his people. He comments on it in the bitterness of his old age when he realized nothing he had spent his life chasing was anything but folly. Ecclesiastes 2:4, 11 "I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards. --- Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun." [a] Relationship with the royal house of Tyre and Sidon was eventually to have disastrous consequences for the family of Solomon in the persons of Jezebel and Athaliah. 20 / 24

21 [b] This was not the reason David had not built the Temple. The LORD had told David that only a son / descendant of his could build the Temple (1 Chronicles 17:12, 2 Samuel 7:13). [c] This also was not what God had told David. [d] These are the same colors used in the Tabernacle. It seems to me likely that blue stood for Jesus incarnation, as he came down from Heaven (blue). The purple stands for his life as the King (purple). The crimson/scarlet stands for Jesus' death and identification with our sin. Isaiah 1:18 " Come now, let us reason together,' says the LORD. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.'" Also, the red in "red as crimson" is the word Adamah from which the name "Adam" is derived. [e] This is the only time in the Bible this word Ö¼Ö¹ Ö Ö¹ ª {då ver ä'} occurs. Translated "rafts" and "floats." Could be something like a barge. [f] Evidently a transcription error, as the number 3600 in 2 Chronicles adds up to 153,600. [g] The census David took resulted in a curse. [h] This is an important marker in the Chronology of the Bible. With other markers in Genesis and Exodus, it gives us an exact number of years from Adam to Solomon. [i] Mt. Moriah is mentioned just twice in Scripture. The other place is Genesis 22:2. [j] The altar of incense. It "belonged" to the inner sanctuary because it was in front of the entrance to it. 21 / 24

22 [k] Probably modeled on the Cherubim on the curtains of the Tabernacle. [l] Evidently there were two doors that somehow functioned along with the curtain that still covered the entrance to the Holy of Holies (2 Chronicles 3:14). If we go by the diagram, the curtain only covered part of the outer wall. Since we know that the poles of the Ark were said to have protruded underneath the curtain, (1 Kings 8:7) we can be certain that the gold clad cedar planking did not cover the entire eastern wall of the Holy of Holies. [m] The outer sanctuary. [n] In the original design of the Tabernacle of Moses, pomegranates were only in evidence on the hem of the High Priest's garment (Exodus 28:33-35) [o] The meaning or symbolism of Jakin is problematical. The only Jakin in the history was one of the sons of Simeon. This could have been the descent of Solomon on his mother, Bathsheba's side. [p] Why Boaz? We know that the Great-grandfather of David was Boaz who married Ruth. [q] This was to take the place of the bronze basin in the Tabernacle. It had evidently been very simple. Exodus 30:18 "Make a bronze basin, with its bronze stand, for washing. Place it between the Tent of Meeting and the altar and put water in it." Exodus 38:8 "They made the bronze basin and its bronze stand from the mirrors of the women who served at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting." [r] Gourds were nowhere in evidence in the Tabernacle. [s] About 250 years later, in about 720 BC, the bulls were replaced by a stone base in the 22 / 24

23 time of Ahaz (2 Kings 16:18). [t] Barnes' Notes on the Bible - Ten bases of brass - These were for the ten lavers (1 Kings 7:38. See 2 Chronicles 4:6). In general terms the bases were square stands, 6 feet each way, and 4½ feet high, elaborately ornamented on their four sides, and resting upon four wheels, 2¼ feet in diameter. Each stand supported a laver 6 feet high, which contained 40 baths 1 Kings 7:38, or about 340 gallons. [u] The addition of the figures of lions and bulls is worth noting. They were not in the tabernacle which had only the figures of cherubim. The same could also be said of the Temple in Ezekiel, only cherubim. It is also worth noting that lions and bulls are sometimes used in Scripture as symbols of Satan. [v] This was in contrast to the Tabernacle where the basin was between the altar and the Tent of Meeting. [w] The lower Jordan River Valley. [x] A talent is about 65 pounds, or 1040 ounces. At today's price per oz. of about $1,000 this would be worth about $600 million. These 600 talents just to overlay the inside of the Temple compared with 29 talents of gold used in the entire Tabernacle (Leviticus 38:24). Thirty three years later became an irresistible temptation to the Egyptians, who marched into Jerusalem, invaded the Temple and broke up the cedar planking and burned it so they could carry the gold away (Psalms 74:3-6, Antiquities of the Jews, by Flavius Josephus, BOOK VIII, CHAPTER 10, Verses 2b-3a). This amount of gold did not include that used for all the other gold furnishings for the Temple: the golden altar; the tables of the bread of the Presence,; the ten gold lampstands, the gold floral work and lamps and tongs, the pure gold wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls, dishes and censers. These last were portable and along with the Ark of the Covenant seemed to have been successfully hidden from the Egyptians when they looted the Temple. [y] In other words, these two golden angels lined up side by side faced the east from the inside of the Most Holy Place. Presumably the Ark stood before them. They were immense, nearly fifteen feet wide and probable at least as tall. 23 / 24

24 [z] The old bronze altar of the Tabernacle was three cubits high; it was square, five cubits long and five cubits wide (Exodus 38:1) or 75 cubic cubits. The new one was 4000 cubic cubits or 53 times as large. [aa] The dimensions of the bronze basin of the Tabernacle are not given, but evidence indicates it was very small in comparison. It probably did not hold more than a barrel of water, where as this one has been calculated to hold 300 barrels. [bb] The meat forks (more often translated flesh hooks) were the means by which the sacrifices were suspended over the fire of the altar. The sacrifices were thus pierced and hung in a manner which evokes the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, the real sacrifice to which all these sacrifices pointed. [cc] The second month. [dd] More precisely seven years and six months. [ee] It is clear from 1 Kings 9 that as soon as Solomon finished the Temple, he started building his palace. 1 Kings 9:10 "At the end of twenty years, during which Solomon built these two buildings--the temple of the LORD and the royal palace," [ff] This was over four times the size of the Temple. 24 / 24