180.    THE TEMPLE OF SOLOMON

"The house which I build is great: for great is our God above all gods."

David, Israel's greatest king, had desired to build a temple unto the name of Yahweh. This was not allowed by God and it was the privilege of Solomon, whose name means peace and whose kingdom was noted for Us peace, to construct the glorious building which stood for over 350 years before being destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar.

The early part of Solomon's reign was spent in consolidating his kingdom. Once peace had been established he began the preparatory work for constructing the temple.

1 Kings 4-8; 2 Chronicles 2-7.

GOD BLESSES ISRAEL UNDER SOLOMON. 1 Kings 4.

Solomon using his God-given wisdom, established a sound government which brought happiness and contentment to the people.

Solomon's kingdom stretched from the River Euphrates to the border of Egypt. Solomon had peace on every side for we read that "Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig tree" (1 Kings 4:25). Compare the words of Micah (Micah 4:1-5) where he uses these same words to describe the Kingdom that Jesus Christ will establish.

SOLOMON'S WISDOM RECORDED FOR US. 1 Kings 4:29-34.

Solomon's wisdom not only gave him an understanding of the ways of God, but also of the things God created. He spoke of trees, animals, rep­tiles, birds and fish. "He spoke 3,000 proverbs and of his songs were 1005" (v.32). Many of these sayings have been recorded for us in the books of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon. These sayings are written so that "we may receive his words and hide his commandments With us so that we may incline our ear unto wisdom and apply our heart to understanding" (Prov. 2:1-2).

SOLOMON PREPARES MATERIALS FOR CONSTRUCTION. 1 Kings 5; 2 Chronicles 2.

Solomon was very blessed, for much of the treasure and material to be used in the Temple had already been collected by David years before (c.f. 1 Chronicles 22:14-16). David was also responsible for another blessing which was of immense value to Solomon in the construction. We learn from 1 Kings 5:1 that Hiram, King of Tyre was "ever a lover of David" find so was delighted when Solomon requested cedar trees from Lebanon. A. league, or treaty of peace, was made between Hiram and Solomon, and hence a supply of timber was guaranteed. Solomon was to supply labour, and a workforce of 30,000 men was organised for this purpose. To ensure that the men would be happy in their work Solomon arranged that gangs of 10,000 men at a time would spend one month away in Lebanon and then two months at home before their next turn.

Beside the 30,000 men, a further 70,000 were involved in bearing various burdens and another 80,000 were engaged in hewing stone out of the mountains near Jerusalem. These 150,000 men came from the strangers that dwelt in the nation and so, coupled with the workmen of Tyre, a great many Gentiles were involved in the building of the Temple to Israel's God (c.p. 2 Chronicles 2:17).

The 3,300 overseers were Solomon's own officers (1 Kings 5:16). Thus a staggering total of 183,300 men were employed in the work of building a house to the glory of Yahweh's Name.

THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE TEMPLE AND ITS DESCRIPTION 1 Kings 6:7; 2 Chronicles 3; 4.

The site chosen for the Temple was Mount Moriah where Yahweh had appeared to David. Construction began in the second month of Solomon's fourth year and was completed in the eighth month of his eleventh year. Seven and one-half years were therefore spent in building. The Temple was not large compared with buildings of surrounding na­tions, but the liberal use of gold, which lined the entire interior and the many treasures which were placed inside, gave it great glory and majesty.

Like the Tabernacle before it, the structure of the Temple, its fur­niture, and priestly services taught the same spiritual lessons which we learned from our previous lessons on the Tabernacle. In its layout, the Temple was proportional to the Tabernacle, with greater dimensions and richer ornamentation.

The building consisted of a front porch twenty cubits long and ten cubits wide, the Holy Place twenty cubits wide and forty cubits long, and the Most Holy Place again twenty cubits square.

In the outer court were (1) the brasen altar, on which the sacrifices were offered; (2) a molten sea supported by twelve oxen, which was used for the washing of the priests; (3) ten lavers of brass, which were used to wash the offerings.

In front of .the Holy Place stood two pillars of brass, one named "Jachin" ("He shall establish"), and the other, "Boaz" ("strength"). These two pillars represented man strengthened and established by the spiritual influences of God's Word.

In the Holy Place stood, (1) ten lampstands of gold, five on each side; (2) ten tables of gold, five on each side, for the shewbread; (3) the golden altar of incense, which most probably was placed in front of the veil before the Most Holy Place.

The veil, which separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy, represented the atonement as achieved by God in Christ, and was of blue, purple and crimson, made of fine linen with wrought cherubim.

In the Most Holy Place, which stood for perfection, were two cherubim of gold which faced the veil and whose wings were outstretch­ed, so that they touched one another and the side walls. On entering the Most Holy Place, the high priest would face the cherubim with their wings stretching right across the chamber. Beneath the outstretched wings of the cherubim was placed the ark, containing only the two tables of stone with their commandments.

Beside the Temple and its furniture various other necessary objects were made, such as pots, shovels, fleshhooks, snufflers, basins and spoons. These items were made by Hiram of Tyre, who was a skilled worker in brass.

A special Bible-insert has been prepared. It features three dimensional views of Solomon's Temple, and the text alongside explains the elaborate spiritual parable of its architecture and appointments. Every scholar should obtain a copy.

THE TEMPLE OPENED. 1 Kings 8, 2 Chronicles 5.

Now after seven and a half years of building, the Temple was ready to be opened. Solomon and all the elders of Israel gathered to witness the wonderful scene of the Ark being brought up into its resting place in the Temple. It was in the seventh month at the feast of Tabernacles when the priests took the Ark and all the Holy vessels that were in the Tabernacle and brought them to the Temple. Solomon and the people sacrificed a great number of sheep and oxen to Yahweh. Then the Ark was taken into the Most Holy Place, where it was placed beneath the wings of the cherubim. Inside there were only the "two tables of stone which Moses put there at Mount Horeb" (1 Kings 8:9).

Then all the singers and musicians on cymbals, psalteries, and harps and 120 priests with trumpets praised Yahweh saying, "For He is good, for his mercy endureth forever" (2 Chron. 5:12-13). Then the Temple became filled with a cloud, and the priests could not see because of the cloud, "for the glory of Yahweh had filled the house of God" (v.14).

SOLOMON'S PRAYER AT THE CONSECRATION OF THE TEMPLE. 1 Kings 8, 2 Chronicles 6.

Solomon's heart was full of joy as he offered a prayer of dedication. He knelt in humility and stretched his arms towards heaven and said "O Yahweh God of Israel, there is no God like thee in the heaven, nor in the earth which keepest covenant and shewest mercy unto thy servants" (2 Chron. 6:14). Solomon went on to say that God in His mercy had allow­ed them to build this great Temple. He knew that God could not be con­tained in a small building (v.18), but he appealed to God to always look upon the house built for His name (v.19-21).

He asked God to hearken to the prayers of His people in prosperity or adversity. Solomon feared that the people one day would turn away from Yahweh as they had done in the past, so he prayed for forgiveness in such circumstances.

It is very significant that in his prayer Solomon made special mention of the stranger who desires to worship the God of Israel (v.32-33). He was anxious that the whole world might learn of Yahweh and worship Him in Truth.

Finally he appealed to God to hear all the prayers made in that place and to safeguard the throne of David (v.40-42).

To Solomon the dedication of the Temple was but a prefiguring of the more glorious day when Yahweh's glory will fill the earth and His saints will rule in peace.

GOD'S ACCEPTANCE OF SOLOMON'S PRAYER AND THE PEOPLE'S DEDICATION. 2 Chronicles 7:1-11.

When Solomon had made an end of praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the sacrifices. God was showing Solomon and the people that his prayer had been accepted. The people bowed down in worship and praised Yahweh, saying, "for He is good; for his mercy endureth forever" (v.3).

It was during the feast of Tabernacles that the Temple was opened. A vast number of people would have been present to watch the opening ceremony of the house of prayer. A great number of sacrifices were of­fered by Solomon and the people. Solomon alone offered 2,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. There was much joy and gladness and Solomon "sent the people away into their tents, glad and merry in heart for the goodness that Yahweh had shewed unto David and Solomon and to Israel His peo­ple" (v.10).

GOD'S SOLEMN WARNING TO SOLOMON. 1 Kings 9:1-9; 2 Chronicles 7:12-22.

God had indicated His acceptance of Solomon's prayer with fire from heaven. He later appeared to Solomon by night with words of comfort and warning. He re-affirmed His promise to bless Israel if they would turn to Him in truth. God promised that His eyes would always be open and His ears attentive to their prayer. If Solomon would walk before God as David his father had done then God would indeed be with him, "Then I will establish the throne of thy kingdom upon Israel forever as I promis­ed to David thy father, saying, 'There shall not fail thee a man to sit upon the throne of Israel' " (1 Kings 9:5). On the other hand, if Solomon turn­ed away from Yahweh and forsook the statutes and commandments, ser­ving other gods and worshipping them, then not only would the glorious Temple become desolate, but also Israel would be driven from the land and become a "proverb and a byword among all nations" (v.7-9) (cp. Deut. 28:36, 37).

But despite this warning, Solomon in later years departed from the ways of Yahweh.

LESSON FOR US:

The Temple of Solomon must have been a glorious edifice. But it meant nothing if the heart of Solomon and Israel was not right in God's eyes. We too, as young people of God, must recognise our individual at­titude is what is important in God's eyes. There is the danger of putting value in external appearance, whereas God looks upon the heart. "For thus saith the high and lofty one that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy, I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the contrite ones" (Isaiah 57:15).

REFERENCE LIBRARY:

"Story of the Bible" (H.P. Mansfield)—Vol. 4, No. 8.

"Law and Grace" (W.F. Barling)—Chapter 5.

"Law of Moses" (R. Roberts)—pages. 95-154.

PARAGRAPH QUESTIONS:

1. When the Ark was brought to its resting place in the temple how did God show His presence?

2. How did God show Solomon that He had accepted his prayer?

3. What was the important warning Yahweh gave to the King Solomon and to us today?

ESSAY QUESTIONS:

1. Describe Solomon's Temple and its furniture. Explain how the three divisions of the Temple and their furnishings teach us how to accep­tably approach God.

2. Describe the opening ceremony of Solomon's Temple.