1 Kings 6: 1 – 38
National treasure
6 And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of the LORD. 2 Now the house which King Solomon built for the LORD, its length was sixty cubits, its width twenty, and its height thirty cubits. 3 The vestibule in front of the sanctuary of the house was twenty cubits long across the width of the house, and the width of the vestibule extended ten cubits from the front of the house. 4 And he made for the house windows with beveled frames. 5 Against the wall of the temple he built chambers all around, against the walls of the temple, all around the sanctuary and the inner sanctuary. Thus, he made side chambers all around it. 6 The lowest chamber was five cubits wide, the middle was six cubits wide, and the third was seven cubits wide; for he made narrow ledges around the outside of the temple, so that the support beams would not be fastened into the walls of the temple. 7 And the temple, when it was being built, was built with stone finished at the quarry, so that no hammer or chisel or any iron tool was heard in the temple while it was being built. 8 The doorway for the middle story was on the right side of the temple. They went up by stairs to the middle story, and from the middle to the third. 9 So he built the temple and finished it, and he paneled the temple with beams and boards of cedar. 10 And he built side chambers against the entire temple, each five cubits high; they were attached to the temple with cedar beams. 11 Then the word of the LORD came to Solomon, saying: 12 “Concerning this temple which you are building, if you walk in My statutes, execute My judgments, keep all My commandments, and walk in them, then I will perform My word with you, which I spoke to your father David. 13 And I will dwell among the children of Israel and will not forsake My people Israel.” 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.
The idea of national treasure, like national epics and national anthems, is part of the language of romantic nationalism, which arose in the late 18th century and 19th centuries. Nationalism is an ideology which supports the nation as the fundamental unit of human social life, which includes shared language, values and culture. Thus, national treasure, part of the ideology of nationalism, is shared culture.
National treasure can be a shared cultural asset, which may or may not have monetary value; for example, skilled musicians like the Beatles would be a Living National Treasure. Or it may refer to a rare cultural object, such as the Declaration of Independence.
You might be wondering why I selected this term for today’s topics. Well today we are going to talk about the building of the ‘Temple’. So, you then might say, ‘Oh, I see it, the Temple is going to be National Treasure of Israel.
To this statement I would say yes and no. You see as we have seen in preceding chapters our Great and Holy God did not want a Temple built. Because He loved David and knew that his thoughts were right towards Him the outcome of building an earthly building for our Holy God will lower His Honor and Glory that He Is deserving. Without knowing it David is going to display for future generations – God in a box. This is not right and we will point out in this chapter why this statement which I have just made is right on point.
One outstanding feature of Solomon’s Temple was that it was coated with gold. It was a display of Solomon’s great wealth. It is, however, an interesting indication of Solomon’s lack of spiritual perception that he did not follow the pattern laid down for the Tabernacle whereby the closer men came to the Most Holy Place, the more precious the metal that was in use. That indicated to men, as they moved from bronze, to silver, to gold, that they were, as it were, moving gradually out of their mundane world closer into His presence until at last they approached the very curtain behind which was the Ark of YHWH. It was a reminder that man was what he was, earthly and mundane, and that God was the God of Heaven, and that a purifying process must take place before we could come face to face with Him. But in Solomon’s Temple all was gold. God had simply become a ‘national treasure’. Yes, He was valued. But enclosed in His own little box.
6 And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of the LORD.
But we must then ask, why was the matter seen as being of such importance that such dating was required? The answer would appear to lie in the emphasis that is earlier laid on the fact that the Temple was being built by Solomon because at long last the land was at rest, with all its enemies having been dealt with. It was an indication that the period of wandering, and of having a temporary, travelling sanctuary, was over. Thus the ‘four hundred and eighty years’ indicated the period that had passed between the first deliverance from Egypt and the time at which Israel could say, ‘now at last we are permanently settled in the land and at rest, with all our enemies subdued.’ It was a moment of great satisfaction.
2 Now the house which King Solomon built for the LORD, its length was sixty cubits, its width twenty, and its height thirty cubits.
The dimensions of the Temple were now given. It was double the size of the Tabernacle in all dimensions. Thus, the building was about ninety feet long, thirty feet wide, and forty five feet high. It was divided up into the main sanctuary (the Holy Place), and an inner sanctuary (the Most Holy Place), with a porch in front of the main sanctuary. It was thus adequate but not huge, and dwarfed by the House of the Forest of Lebanon (7.2-3). We may feel that had David built it he would have ensured that it was larger than his own palace.
3 The vestibule in front of the sanctuary of the house was twenty cubits long across the width of the house, and the width of the vestibule extended ten cubits from the front of the house.
The porch in front of the Temple was roughly thirty feet in length i.e. going the breadth of the building and four and fifteen feet) in width (from outer door to inner door).
(There were also in fact side-chambers going along the outside of the building (verses 5 and 7), and seemingly an outer and inner court (see verse 36), but the latter are not mentioned in any detail).
4 And he made for the house windows with beveled frames.
The Hebrew words used here are of uncertain meaning, but if the usual ‘guess’, partly supported by grammar and ancient versions, is correct the main sanctuary was lit by small windows near the roof, either of fixed lattice work or embrasure.
5 Against the wall of the temple he built chambers all around, against the walls of the temple, all around the sanctuary and the inner sanctuary. Thus, he made side chambers all around it.
Along the walls on the outside were built side-chambers (which would act as ‘store rooms’ and provide facilities for the priests) which went the whole length of the building, probably built on platforms (‘stories’).
6 The lowest chamber was five cubits wide, the middle was six cubits wide, and the third was seven cubits wide; for he made narrow ledges around the outside of the temple, so that the support beams would not be fastened into the walls of the temple.
These side-chambers were built in three stories with the lowest story just over seven foot six broad, the second story nearly nine foot broad and the top story over ten and a half foot broad. These were thus tiered, and the main building was built in such a way that the tiered walls of the sacred building itself were not pierced but rebated to offer support for the timbers which supported the side-chambers. The sanctuary wall itself was to be kept unpierced, and therefore untainted in any way.
7 And the temple, when it was being built, was built with stone finished at the quarry, so that no hammer or chisel or any iron tool was heard in the temple while it was being built.
It has been made clear that the sanctuary was kept ‘untainted’ by using tiering so that its integrity might not be infringed on, and that now leads on to the fact that it was also kept untainted by not allowing any noise or activity of building work to disturb its peacefulness. We have here a reminder that the Temple was built of stone, but it then very importantly (from their viewpoint) informs us that all the work of dressing the stone from which the Temple was built had been done at the quarry. This prevented any noisy work taking place on the actual site of the sanctuary itself, noise which might defile its peacefulness.
There is a reminder to us here that when we meet for worship we should not allow the atmosphere to be tainted by the intrusion of the outside world. Rather it should only be disturbed by the testimony, praises and worship of God’s people. Unseemly noise should be left outside.
8 The doorway for the middle story was on the right side of the temple. They went up by stairs to the middle story, and from the middle to the third.
The side-chambers were entered by their own door placed on the right-hand side, leading into the middle side-chamber, from where access to the remainder of the rooms could be obtained. These side-chambers probably had multiple uses. They could be used, for example, to house the priests’ portions and skins, the Temple treasure (much of which would, however, be kept in the sanctuary proper), and even possibly the priests themselves when they were on duty, or when they were preparing to partake of their portions of the sacrifices.
9 So he built the temple and finished it, and he paneled the temple with beams and boards of cedar.
The stonework having been completed, and the house built, the whole was then encased in beams and planks of cedar. The idea is that all was made beautiful and a delight to behold.
10 And he built side chambers against the entire temple, each five cubits high; they were attached to the temple with cedar beams.
And the store-rooms which were built against the house, each of them just over seven foot six inches high, rested on cedar beams, which themselves rested on the rebatements made on the walls.
These words are deliberately place in the centre of the description of the building of the Temple, because they went to the heart of what the passage was all about. Into the Temple would be brought the Ark of God containing the tablets of the covenant, and they were a reminder that, unless that covenant was kept at the heart of what was going on in the Temple, the whole would be in vain. Thus, YHWH’s genuine dwelling among them would only continue while they were genuinely faithful to His covenant. God was only too aware that the Temple could so easily become an outward symbol that was unable to move the heart.
11 Then the word of the LORD came to Solomon, saying:
So in the midst of the busyness of building the Temple the voice of YHWH broke through on Solomon, seeking to encourage him, but also in order to remind him that without obedience to His Instruction all that he was building would be futile.
12 “Concerning this temple which you are building, if you walk in My statutes, execute My judgments, keep all My commandments, and walk in them, then I will perform My word with you, which I spoke to your father David. 13 And I will dwell among the children of Israel and will not forsake My people Israel.”
As I have pointed out to you the Temple was not on our Holy God’s list of ‘things to do’. This was all David’s idea and our Holy Father loved this guy so much He agreed to its construction. Please note the absence of ‘My’ “Concerning this house which you are building.” This was hardly the warmest way of describing the Temple, and in a sense, it was a disclaimer of responsibility. This was not what YHWH had had in mind when He had made His covenant with David (2 Samuel 7.5-7), and He wanted it to be recognized that its success would depend on faithfulness to His covenant, and obedience to His ways. It was only on such terms that He would ‘establish’ the covenant that he had made with David and would dwell among His people and not forsake them. He wanted it recognized that the Temple itself would be no guarantee of His presence. What would guarantee His presence would be their faithful walk with Him. Without that He would desert both the house and the people.
14 So Solomon built the temple and finished it.
All the stonework was now complete. Next we are now provided with brief details of how the building was embellished, which emphasizes the wealth that was poured into it.
The work proceeded as follows:
• The lining of the building with woodwork and the dividing off of the Inner Room to contain the Ark of the Covenant of YHWH (verses 16-19).
• The overlaying of the various parts with gold (verses 20-22).
• The making and erection of the cherubim in the Inner Room (verses 23-28).
• The decorating of the whole (verses 29-30).
• The making of the various doors (verses 31-35).
• The building of the inner court (verse 36).
• the work was completed (verse 37).
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.
Have you ever smelled a hope chest? It is a box for brides to store some personal items for their upcoming wedding and the cedar smell is awesome. The whole inside of the building from top to bottom was covered with boards of cedar, and the floor was covered with pine wood. These walls would later be carved with carved figures of cherubim, palm trees and open flowers, which would be covered in gold. The whole intention was probably that it would, with its glory and beauty, convey the idea of creation, especially as seen in the Garden of Eden.
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.
A separate Inner Room was then divided off at the rear of the building to form the Most Holy Place. This was built of cedar wood in the form of a perfect cube with dimensions of thirty feet.
17 And in front of it the temple sanctuary was forty cubits long.
As a consequence of the separation of the Inner Room, the Outer Room, or Holy Place, was made up of what remained, being sixty feet 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.
It is then stressed that all the stonework was hidden behind cedar wood, which was carved with wild fruits and open flowers, the whole together indicating beauty, life and fruitfulness.. It was symbolic, not of dead stone, but of the living creation, and was thus suitable for the worship of, and reminder about, the God of creation.
19 And he prepared the inner sanctuary inside the temple, to set the ark of the covenant of the LORD there.
The Inner Room, already described in verse 16, was for housing the Ark of the Covenant of YHWH. It was the Most Holy Place, the Holiest of all, which could only be entered by the High Priest, and that only once a year on the Day of Atonement. It indicated the invisible presence of their covenant God, YHWH, ever ready to meet with His people, continually expectant of their obedience (the covenant tablets were within), and open with the offer of mercy (the propitiatory or ‘mercy seat’ was above).
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.
The whole of the inner room was covered with pure gold. However, we will see next that Solomon’s error was to overlay the whole of the Temple 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.
Not only the Most Holy Place, but also the Holy Place, was overlaid with gold, and at the same time the altar of incenses, which had been covered with cedar, was now overlaid with gold. There may have been a distinction between the thickness of the gold applied to the Holy Place in comparison with the Most Holy Place, which would explain the reason for the distinction being made. As mentioned before God Is Holy which means separate due to His unique pureness in His being. In the Tabernacle He established this Holy Otherness needed to be respected by sinful humans. Therefore, when you look at the overall design of the Tabernacle you first see the brazen altar where sacrifice of judgment had to be done. Then as you the approach gets nearer to our Holy Master and Creator you recognize more value as silver represents until you reach the Holy Place where His presence dwells in gold. In his biblical ignorance Solomon made the everything gold and diminished and insulted the ‘Holy Otherness and Purity of our Majestic Ruler’.
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.
The two cherubim were made of olive-wood (prior to being placed in the Temple) and were each ten cubits fifteen feet high, each with wings extended sideways which were each seven and a half feet long, including the width of the body.
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.
It is then emphasized that both cherubim were identical in both size and shape, both being ten cubits high.
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.
Once it was completed the two cherubim were set within the Most Holy Place, seemingly standing alongside each other with wings outstretched, so that one wing of one cherub touched one wing of the other, with, in both cases, their other wing reaching out to the wall. Between them would be placed the Ark of the Covenant of YHWH. Unlike the cherubim on the Ark, who would, of course shortly join these two cherubim, these two looked out towards the curtain behind which was the Holy Place, presumably watching to ensure that no one dared to come through the curtain.
28 Also he overlaid the cherubim with gold.
Both Cherubim were overlaid with gold in the same way as everything else in the Most Holy Place. They shared in the holiness of the inner Sanctuary.
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.
We were informed in verse 18 about the carvings on the cedar wood where it was described as carved with wild flowers and open flowers. Here are added carvings of cherubim, and palm trees. Once again, the writer is trying to give the impression of step by step progression. First the outline features, now the central features. The palm trees and the Cherubim would alternate around the wall. They probably symbolized the heavenly garden, possibly including the idea of the tree of life which the Cherubim had been set to guard. The way back to God was to be possible through the presenting of blood before the Ark.
30 And the floor of the temple he overlaid with gold, both the inner and outer sanctuaries.
Not only were the walls and ceiling overlaid with gold, but the floor as well, both within the Inner Room and outside it.
31 For the entrance of the inner sanctuary he made doors of olive wood; the lintel and doorposts were one-fifth of the wall.
The way into the inner room was not only to be guarded by the curtain, but also by two doors of olive wood covering four fifths of the space, the other fifth being occupied by the lintels and the door posts.
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.
These two doors of olive wood again had on them carvings of Cherubim, palm trees and open flowers, and both the doors and the carvings were also overlaid with gold.
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.
Similarly, doors were made to cover the entrance into the outer sanctuary. These were made of pine wood, and the door posts of olive wood. The door posts took up a quarter of the space, and two doors, which folded in two, covered the remainder of the space.
35 Then he carved cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers on them, and overlaid them with gold applied evenly on the carved work.
And on these also were carved Cherubim and palm trees and open flowers. And these also were overlaid with gold. Thus, anyone who approached the sanctuary would be made aware of Cherubim guarding the way, and palm trees and open flowers reminding them of how once their ancestor had walked in the garden of God. And the priests who entered would find themselves surrounded by these on all sides as they sought to maintain the access of the people into God’s mercy.
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.
The Temple clearly had an Inner court, and therefore presumably an Outer court. The Inner court would be where people brought their offerings, and it would contain the bronze altar and the bowls of water where the priests washed their hands and feet prior to entering the Holy Place. Jeremiah calls it ‘the upper court’ which suggests that it was higher than the Outer court (Jeremiah 36.10). The Outer court would be a place for worshippers to gather and may well at this time have also incorporated within it the king’s palace.
The building of the Temple took seven years and six months. The fact that it took ‘seven years’ would have been a good sign. It was the divinely perfect period. Ziv means ‘flowers’ (spring time) and Bul means ‘moisture’ (the rainy season). We need not doubt that the building of it was a genuine act of worship, but as we have already seen it revealed the shallowness of Solomon’s religious awareness. It lacked in obedience. It revealed man’s view of God, not what God had revealed Himself to be.
I mentioned that Solomon was granted great ‘wisdom’ from Yahweh God. In seeing the development of the ‘Temple’ we see the worldly wisdom finely displayed but what was tremendously lacking is any spiritual wisdom.
Please again take note that the building has a lot of engravings to remind the people of the Garden of Eden. I see here sadly the loving permissive will of our Holy God being given to us humans. In the Garden our Holy God would walk in the coolness of the day and fellowship with Adam and Eve. With their choice to take and eat of that which was forbidden this wonderful interaction was forfeited. It had to take a whole bunch of sacrifices just to come and be able to spend some time with our Holy God but at a distance from His Holy Presence.
The building of the Temple was doing the same thing. It would further separate our Holy God from us. In all its manmade brilliance Solomon enclosed God in a box stuck away from His people where only the High Priest can go near Him and that is only once a year.
The Temple that our Lord designed and would be fulfilled was never considered. He said our bodies are temples and that He would come and dwell within us. Stop and think how fantastic this is!
