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THE TEMPLE and GOD’S CHARACTER. I Kings 6:14-38. 5/22/2022. #15.
1 Kings 6:14-38
New King James Version
14 So Solomon built the temple and finished it. 15 And he built the inside walls of the temple with cedar boards; from the floor of the temple to the ceiling he paneled the inside with wood; and he covered the floor of the temple with planks of cypress. 16 Then he built the twenty-cubit room at the rear of the temple, from floor to ceiling, with cedar boards; he built it inside as the inner sanctuary, as the Most Holy Place. 17 And in front of it the temple sanctuary was forty cubits long. 18 The inside of the temple was cedar, carved with ornamental buds and open flowers. All was cedar; there was no stone to be seen. 19 And he prepared the inner sanctuary inside the temple, to set the ark of the covenant of the Lord there. 20 The inner sanctuary was twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and twenty cubits high. He overlaid it with pure gold, and overlaid the altar of cedar. 21 So Solomon overlaid the inside of the temple with pure gold. He stretched gold chains across the front of the inner sanctuary, and overlaid it with gold. 22 The whole temple he overlaid with gold, until he had finished all the temple; also he overlaid with gold the entire altar that was by the inner sanctuary. 23 Inside the inner sanctuary he made two cherubim of olive wood, each ten cubits high. 24 One wing of the cherub was five cubits, and the other wing of the cherub five cubits: ten cubits from the tip of one wing to the tip of the other. 25 And the other cherub was ten cubits; both cherubim were of the same size and shape. 26 The height of one cherub was ten cubits, and so was the other cherub. 27 Then he set the cherubim inside the inner room; and they stretched out the wings of the cherubim so that the wing of the one touched one wall, and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall. And their wings touched each other in the middle of the room. 28 Also he overlaid the cherubim with gold. 29 Then he carved all the walls of the temple all around, both the inner and outer sanctuaries, with carved figures of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers. 30 And the floor of the temple he overlaid with gold, both the inner and outer sanctuaries. 31 For the entrance of the inner sanctuary he made doors of olive wood; the lintel and doorposts were one-fifth of the wall. 32 The two doors were of olive wood; and he carved on them figures of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, and overlaid them with gold; and he spread gold on the cherubim and on the palm trees. 33 So for the door of the sanctuary he also made doorposts of olive wood, one-fourth of the wall. 34 And the two doors were of cypress wood; two panels comprised one folding door, and two panels comprised the other folding door. 35 Then he carved cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers on them, and overlaid them with gold applied evenly on the carved work. 36 And he built the inner court with three rows of hewn stone and a row of cedar beams. 37 In the fourth year the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid, in the month of Ziv. 38 And in the eleventh year, in the month of Bul, which is the eighth month, the house was finished in all its details and according to all its plans. So he was seven years in building it.
1. Of wood and gold
a. This passage describes the temple
a1. Unlike most temple representations
a2. Far more elaborate than the tabernacle
b. The value of the material is beyond comprehension
a1. Not artificially assign meaning to each item
a2. Quality, durability, and beauty all represent the nature and essence of God
c. 5 main materials:
a1. Stone (polished limestone or granite) – hard, durable, and costly
a2. Cedar wood – makes up the walls (resistant to decay, long lasting, beautiful)
a3. Cypress – used for flooring and doors (harder than cedar and more durable; used in ship building; resistant to splitting or splintering)
a4. Olive wood – doorposts and frame (a wood that bears fruit)
a5. Gold – overlays walls, floors, and doors (no wood or stone are showing; gold is app.
$1800/oz. today)
d. Precious stone is covered by precious cedar and Cyprus and cedar which in turn is covered by even more precious gold
a1. God is all precious and glorious throughout his being
a2. Comprehensive: stone is from the minerals of the earth bonded with water and earth;
wood is of life nourished by water and earth; gold is a precious metal from the earth
2. Decorations of the temple
a. Notice that God loves depictions of his creation
a1. These are not graven images (not for worshipping, but for honoring creator)
a2. Flowers, palms, vines, etc.
b. Cherubim = not like depicted in pictures
a1. 2 cherubim = each 15’ high with 15’ wingspan, standing side by side with one wing of each cherub touching a wall and the other wing touching the wing of the other cherub
a2. These cherubim are different than the cherubim on top of the ark of the covenant
c. If the cherubim were standing in front of the ark, the priest would have to pass under the adjoining wings to approach the ark (as the covering cherubim stands before God in heaven – Ezk. 1)
3. Nothing to compare with it
a. Solomon took 7 years to build the temple (from the 4th year of his rule to the 11th year
b. There were larger structures in the ancient world (the pyramids, Temple of Diana, Hanging Garden of Babylon, etc.), but none more glorious
c. Nothing could compare with grandeur of temple
a1. Nothing can compare with God
a2. The temple reflected the glory of God