3240.) 1 Kings 13

“Jeroboam Offering Sacrifice for the Idol” by Jean-Honore Fragonard

1 Kings 13   (NIV)

The Man of God From Judah

¹ By the word of the LORD a man of God came from Judah to Bethel, as Jeroboam was standing by the altar to make an offering. ² By the word of the LORD he cried out against the altar: “Altar, altar! This is what the LORD says: ‘A son named Josiah will be born to the house of David. On you he will sacrifice the priests of the high places who make offerings here, and human bones will be burned on you.’” ³ That same day the man of God gave a sign: “This is the sign the LORD has declared: The altar will be split apart and the ashes on it will be poured out.”

⁴ When King Jeroboam heard what the man of God cried out against the altar at Bethel, he stretched out his hand from the altar and said, “Seize him!” But the hand he stretched out toward the man shriveled up, so that he could not pull it back. ⁵ Also, the altar was split apart and its ashes poured out according to the sign given by the man of God by the word of the LORD.

Since the prophecy of the man from Judah about the birth of Josiah would not be fulfilled for over three hundred years, God gave an immediate sign to prove his word. The altar did, in fact, split apart and the ashes were poured out, as the man had said. Such a direct rebuke to the idolatry going on at that altar! And God also struck Jeroboam for his violence against a man of God. Anyone present that day should have clearly seen the truth — including King Jeroboam!

⁶ Then the king said to the man of God, “Intercede with the LORD your God and pray for me that my hand may be restored.”

Funny — why didn’t Jeroboam pray to the golden calf ???

So the man of God interceded with the LORD, and the king’s hand was restored and became as it was before.

God did this, “Partly, to assure him that the stroke was from God; partly, because he repented of that violence which he intended against the prophet, for which God inflicted it; and partly, that the goodness of God to him might have led him to repentance; or if he continued impenitent, leave him without all excuse” 

— Matthew Poole

⁷ The king said to the man of God, “Come home with me for a meal, and I will give you a gift.”

⁸ But the man of God answered the king, “Even if you were to give me half your possessions, I would not go with you, nor would I eat bread or drink water here. ⁹ For I was commanded by the word of the LORD: ‘You must not eat bread or drink water or return by the way you came.’” ¹⁰ So he took another road and did not return by the way he had come to Bethel.

¹¹ Now there was a certain old prophet living in Bethel, whose sons came and told him all that the man of God had done there that day. They also told their father what he had said to the king. ¹² Their father asked them, “Which way did he go?” And his sons showed him which road the man of God from Judah had taken. ¹³ So he said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” And when they had saddled the donkey for him, he mounted it ¹⁴ and rode after the man of God. He found him sitting under an oak tree and asked, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?”

“I am,” he replied.

¹⁵ So the prophet said to him, “Come home with me and eat.”

¹⁶ The man of God said, “I cannot turn back and go with you, nor can I eat bread or drink water with you in this place. ¹⁷ I have been told by the word of the LORD: ‘You must not eat bread or drink water there or return by the way you came.’”

¹⁸ The old prophet answered, “I too am a prophet, as you are. And an angel said to me by the word of the LORD: ‘Bring him back with you to your house so that he may eat bread and drink water.’” (But he was lying to him.)

What kind of prophet lies to another prophet? This is just wrong, and things will go wrong . . .

¹⁹ So the man of God returned with him and ate and drank in his house.

²⁰ While they were sitting at the table, the word of the LORD came to the old prophet who had brought him back. ²¹ He cried out to the man of God who had come from Judah, “This is what the LORD says: ‘You have defied the word of the LORD and have not kept the command the LORD your God gave you. ²² You came back and ate bread and drank water in the place where he told you not to eat or drink. Therefore your body will not be buried in the tomb of your ancestors.’”

Death and the wrong place for burial! It strikes me as a strict punishment for what was more a misunderstanding born out of deceit, rather than disobedience. Really, it was only some bread and water (or for Eve, an apple), for crying out loud! — Then I realize, that is exactly how I rationalize my own sins, too. Not really a “sin”  — not that big of a deal — he/she made me do it — given the circumstances I really had no other choice . . . May the Lord grant us all eyes to see what is true (and obedient) and what is false (and disobedient) in our own lives.

Psalm 119:5-7 (CEV)

I don’t ever want to stray

from your laws.

Thinking about your commands

will keep me from doing

some foolish thing.

I will do right and praise you

by learning to respect

your perfect laws.

²³ When the man of God had finished eating and drinking, the prophet who had brought him back saddled his donkey for him. ²⁴ As he went on his way, a lion met him on the road and killed him, and his body was left lying on the road, with both the donkey and the lion standing beside it. ²⁵ Some people who passed by saw the body lying there, with the lion standing beside the body, and they went and reported it in the city where the old prophet lived.

“The Disobedient Prophet” by Benjamin West, 1793 (National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.)

²⁶ When the prophet who had brought him back from his journey heard of it, he said, “It is the man of God who defied the word of the LORD. The LORD has given him over to the lion, which has mauled him and killed him, as the word of the LORD had warned him.”

²⁷ The prophet said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me,” and they did so. ²⁸ Then he went out and found the body lying on the road, with the donkey and the lion standing beside it. The lion had neither eaten the body nor mauled the donkey. ²⁹ So the prophet picked up the body of the man of God, laid it on the donkey, and brought it back to his own city to mourn for him and bury him. ³⁰ Then he laid the body in his own tomb, and they mourned over him and said, “Alas, my brother!”

³¹ After burying him, he said to his sons, “When I die, bury me in the grave where the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones. ³² For the message he declared by the word of the LORD against the altar in Bethel and against all the shrines on the high places in the towns of Samaria will certainly come true.”

Such an odd and disturbing story!  “Though he lied to him, led him into sin, and prophesied judgment against him, the prophet from Bethel still respected the man of God from Judah. Perhaps he understood that the word he spoke against Jeroboam required a courage he did not have; therefore he confirmed the word of the man of God against Jeroboam and the altar at Bethel.”

–David Guzik

³³ Even after this, Jeroboam did not change his evil ways, but once more appointed priests for the high places from all sorts of people. Anyone who wanted to become a priest he consecrated for the high places. ³⁴ This was the sin of the house of Jeroboam that led to its downfall and to its destruction from the face of the earth.

Jeroboam set a pattern that virtually all of the kings of the Northern Kingdom followed.  We will read over and over again:

He did evil in the eyes of the LORD, following the ways of Jeroboam and committing the same sin Jeroboam had caused Israel to commit.

_________________________

Music:

Reading these chapters that show people so flagrantly disobeying the Lord inspires me to cling more tightly to Christ, to “delight in your will and walk in your ways.”  HERE  is Willie Nelson and “Where He Leads Me, I Will Follow.”

“Nelson (b. 1933 in Texas) is widely recognized as an American icon. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1993, and he received the Kennedy Center Honors in 1998. In 2011, Nelson was inducted to the National Agriculture Hall of Fame for his labor in Farm Aid and other fund risers to benefit farmers. In 2015 Nelson won the Gershwin Prize, the lifetime award of the Library of Congress. He was included by Rolling Stone on its 100 Greatest Singers and 100 Greatest Guitarists lists.”

–wikipedia

_________________________

New International Version (NIV) Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2010 by Biblica

Images courtesy of:

Fragonard.   http://www.lib-art.com/imgpainting/0/7/10170-jeroboam-offering-sacrifice-for-the-jean-honore-fragonard.jpg

King Josiah.    http://www.eden.co.uk/images/300/9780758614537.jpg

apple with a bite out of it.    https://dwellingintheword.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/apple-with-bite.jpg

West.   https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.63051.html

follow the leader.   http://fc05.deviantart.net/images/i/2002/43/6/1/Follow_the_Leader.jpg

3239.) 1 Kings 12

After Solomon’s death, the northern tribes revolt and form the Northern Kingdom.  Since they were larger, they kept the name Israel.  The Southern Kingdom, with only two tribes, went by the name of the larger tribe, Judah.  This map shows the Divided Kingdom and the surrounding nations.

1 Kings 12   (NIV)

Israel Rebels Against Rehoboam

¹ Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel (that is, the entire kingdom, all twelve tribes) had gone there to make him king. ² When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard this (he was still in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon), he returned from Egypt. ³ So they sent for Jeroboam, and he and the whole assembly of Israel went to Rehoboam and said to him: ⁴ “Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but now lighten the harsh labor and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you.”

⁵ Rehoboam answered, “Go away for three days and then come back to me.” So the people went away.

The negotiation at Shechem:

Although prophets, acting on instructions from God, might anoint individuals as kings, the authority of any persons so anointed had to be publicly acclaimed by those over whom they ruled, as in the case of Saul (1 Samuel 11:14-15), David over Judah (2 Sam. 2:4-7), David over all the tribes (2 Sam. 5:1-5), and Solomon (1 Kings 1:39-40). The northern tribes were ready to acclaim Rehoboam as their king, but only if he agreed to certain general conditions. The text has a clear critical slant, and makes Rehoboam look foolish, thereby justifying the establishment of the Northern Kingdom.

–Ziony Zevit, The Jewish Study Bible

⁶ Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who had served his father Solomon during his lifetime. “How would you advise me to answer these people?” he asked.

⁷ They replied, “If today you will be a servant to these people and serve them and give them a favorable answer, they will always be your servants.”

Off to a good start!  Rehoboam goes first to his father’s wise men in the conference room, and they give him sound advice. But . . .

⁸ But Rehoboam rejected the advice the elders gave him.

. . . then he goes out for pizza and beer with his buds. Guess which advice will appeal to our young Rehoboam.

Then he consulted the young men who had grown up with him and were serving him. ⁹ He asked them, “What is your advice? How should we answer these people who say to me, ‘Lighten the yoke your father put on us’?”

¹⁰ The young men who had grown up with him replied, “These people have said to you, ‘Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but make our yoke lighter.’ Now tell them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist. ¹¹ My father laid on you a heavy yoke; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.’”

¹² Three days later Jeroboam and all the people returned to Rehoboam, as the king had said, “Come back to me in three days.” ¹³ The king answered the people harshly. Rejecting the advice given him by the elders, ¹⁴ he followed the advice of the young men and said, “My father made your yoke heavy; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.” ¹⁵ So the king did not listen to the people, for this turn of events was from the LORD, to fulfill the word the LORD had spoken to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah the Shilonite.

¹⁶ When all Israel (that is, the northern ten tribes only) saw that the king refused to listen to them, they answered the king:

“What share do we have in David,
what part in Jesse’s son?
To your tents, Israel!
Look after your own house, David!”

Here’s how The Message has this verse:

When all Israel realized that the king hadn’t listened to a word they’d said, they stood up to him and said,
Get lost, David! We’ve had it with you, son of Jesse! Let’s get out of here, Israel, and fast! From now on, David, mind your own business.

So the Israelites went home. ¹⁷ But as for the Israelites who were living in the towns of Judah, Rehoboam still ruled over them.

Rehoboam says — “I’ll do it my way!’
We could ask — “How’s that working for you?!”

¹⁸ King Rehoboam sent out Adoniram, who was in charge of forced labor, but all Israel stoned him to death. King Rehoboam, however, managed to get into his chariot and escape to Jerusalem. ¹⁹ So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.

²⁰ When all the Israelites heard that Jeroboam had returned, they sent and called him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel. Only the tribe of Judah remained loyal to the house of David.

It looks as if Jeroboam got the better deal — more land and more people. BUT (and this is hugely important!) Rehoboam has the Temple in Jerusalem, the center of Jewish life. It will stand the Southern Kingdom in good stead for several centuries.

_________________________

We come to the idea of leadership again.

Rehoboam shows himself a poor leader by not taking the good advice he was given by people who knew both him and the situation very well. And Jeroboam sets up a way to keep his kingdom in good shape in the short term, while losing its true direction in the long term. Think of how many times you have seen these very same mistakes in leaders, both in the church and in the world. Christ showed us the best way to lead:  by doing the Father’s will, by being a true servant, by giving His life for others.

²¹ When Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he mustered all Judah and the tribe of Benjamin—a hundred and eighty thousand able young men—to go to war against Israel and to regain the kingdom for Rehoboam son of Solomon.

²² But this word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God: ²³ “Say to Rehoboam son of Solomon king of Judah, to all Judah and Benjamin, and to the rest of the people, ²⁴ ‘This is what the LORD says: Do not go up to fight against your brothers, the Israelites. Go home, every one of you, for this is my doing.’” So they obeyed the word of the LORD and went home again, as the LORD had ordered.

Golden Calves at Bethel and Dan

King Jeroboam sets up two idols in the Kingdom of Israel, one far north in Dan, the other far south in Bethel.

²⁵ Then Jeroboam fortified Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and lived there. From there he went out and built up Peniel.

²⁶ Jeroboam thought to himself, “The kingdom will now likely revert to the house of David. ²⁷ If these people go up to offer sacrifices at the temple of the LORD in Jerusalem, they will again give their allegiance to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah. They will kill me and return to King Rehoboam.”

²⁸ After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves. He said to the people, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.” ²⁹ One he set up in Bethel, and the other in Dan. ³⁰ And this thing became a sin; the people came to worship the one at Bethel and went as far as Dan to worship the other.

Holy cow!!  Choices and convenience for the people of Israel!

³¹ Jeroboam built shrines on high places and appointed priests from all sorts of people, even though they were not Levites. ³² He instituted a festival on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, like the festival held in Judah, and offered sacrifices on the altar. This he did in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves he had made. And at Bethel he also installed priests at the high places he had made. ³³ On the fifteenth day of the eighth month, a month of his own choosing, he offered sacrifices on the altar he had built at Bethel. So he instituted the festival for the Israelites and went up to the altar to make offerings.

Such a telling phrase — “a month of his own choosing”:  To think that we can determine what is right in God’s eyes!

From the 1985 book Habits of the Heart:  Individualism and Commitment in American Life, by Robert N. Bellah, et al :

Sheila Larson is a young nurse who has received a good deal of therapy and describes her faith as “Sheilaism.” This  suggests the logical possibility of more than 235 million American religions, one for each of us. “I believe in God,” Sheila says “I am not a religious fanatic. [Notice at once that in our culture any strong statement of belief seems to imply fanaticism so you have to offset that.] I can’t remember the last time I went to church. My faith has carried me a long way. It’s Sheilism. Just my own little voice.” Sheila’s faith has some tenets beyond belief in God, though not many. In defining what she calls “my own Sheilaism,” she said:  “It’s just to try to love yourself and be gentle with yourself. You know, I guess, take care of each other. I think God would want us to take care of each other.”

This reminds me of that infamous verse in Judges:  “Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” You know this strategy will not have a happy ending, for Jeroboam or for the Sheilas of the world. Praise God that while we are wandering, he seeks us out!

_________________________

Music:

HERE  is a better way than the ones chosen by Rehoboam, Jeroboam, the Israelites who worshiped the golden calves, Shiela, etc. “O Love that Will Not Let Me Go”  by Indelible Grace. I have read that this was the favorite hymn of Oswald Chambers (author of My Utmost for His Highest).

_________________________

New International Version (NIV) Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2010 by Biblica

Images courtesy of:

map of the Divided Kingdom.    http://www.solarnavigator.net/geography/geography_images/Middle_East_Levant_map.png

crown.   https://dwellingintheword.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/ja15694_hat_full_king_crown.jpg

Corona Typewriter Company board meeting, 1912.   http://www.typewritermuseum.org/_ills-library/_photos/_arc/corona_board_meeting_1912.jpg

guys drinking.   http://www.jclimonow.com/uploads/4/8/1/2/48123893/2977621_orig.jpg

leadership.    http://psychologyataglance.blogspot.com/2013_12_21_archive.html

map of Northern Kingdom.   http://www.rapturechrist.com/mapisrael3g.gif

“Holy Cow!”  Photograph by John Lund.     http://www.johnlund.com/ArticleImages/Artcl15-cows/holycow2cp.jpg

My Way Way.    http://www.schteingart.com/MyWay.jpg

3238.) 1 Kings 11

“The Idolatry of Solomon” by Frans Francken II, 1622 (Getty Museum)

1 Kings 11   (NIV)

Solomon’s Wives

We are back in the Old Testament and at a critical time. David’s son King Solomon is finessing his legacy before his death, and it is not a pretty sight. Because of his unfaithfulness, there will soon be calamitous change for the nation of Israel.

¹ King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh’s daughter—Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites. ² They were from nations about which the LORD had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.” Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love. ³ He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray.

Deuteronomy 17:17 (New Living Translation)

The king must not take many wives for himself, because they will turn his heart away from the Lord.

Solomon Sore Lips
by Calvin Miller

King Solomon of Israel
Had seven hundred wondrous wives,
And when he kissed them all good night
He puckered seven hundred times.

Although he kissed them at the rate
Of two-o-three-point-five per hour,
It still took three-point-four long hours—
Before his last wife was in bed,
And Solomon was nearly dead,
Overwhelmed by halitosis,
Lip-fatigued by puckerosis!

When Solomon first married them
He really didn’t have a clue
(Although it made an awful racket
When the great horde said, “I do!”)
All seven hundred nagging wives
Meant just as many pairs of jaws
And several million gripes and groans
And quite a lot of mom-in-laws!

At first he kissed frenetically,
But soon just alphabetically.
He’d kiss his way from Abigail
To Zelpha of Judea,
Taking two ten-minute breaks
At Bilpah and at Leah.

He mostly hated Thursdays,
For that was “concu-night.”
That night besides his hordes of brides
He had to kiss the concubines.
While “concues” were less favored,
He owned two hundred fifty-one,
So kissing them required an hour
If he kissed them on the run.

As Solomon grew very old,
He left his alphabet technique
And tried a different way to go
That he believed was quite unique.
And started with the ugliest
(To get the worst out of the way).
Then he kissed the sick ones
(Who had been in bed all day).
And then he kissed the ones with colds
And those with nasal hair,
Smooching rapidly along
Until he gladly reached the fair.

But kissing all the wives goodnight
Gave Solomon his greatest strain:
He kissed and kissed and kissed and kissed
Until his whole mouth felt the pain!

Each evening when his job was done,
Somewhere near three o’clock a.m.,
He always went straight to his bed,
Because he had to wake at five
To kiss them all good morn again.

I’ve heard that when he finally died
And went up to his home on high,
His welcome wasn’t quite divine;
It made a chill run down his spine
To see a thousand concubines,
Standing puckered in a line.
He cried, “I’m doomed, alas, poor me!
I wish I’d married sensibly!”

⁴ As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father had been. ⁵ He followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molek the detestable god of the Ammonites. ⁶ So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the LORD; he did not follow the LORD completely, as David his father had done.

⁷ On a hill east of Jerusalem, Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable god of Moab, and for Molek the detestable god of the Ammonites. ⁸ He did the same for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and offered sacrifices to their gods.

“Solomon Sacrifices to Idols” by Sebastien Bourdon (The Louvre, Paris)

⁹ The LORD became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice. ¹⁰ Although he had forbidden Solomon to follow other gods, Solomon did not keep the LORD’s command. ¹¹ So the LORD said to Solomon, “Since this is your attitude and you have not kept my covenant and my decrees, which I commanded you, I will most certainly tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your subordinates. ¹² Nevertheless, for the sake of David your father, I will not do it during your lifetime. I will tear it out of the hand of your son. ¹³ Yet I will not tear the whole kingdom from him, but will give him one tribe for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen.”

God promised the entire kingdom of Israel to the descendants of David forever, if they only remained obedient. David reminded Solomon of this promise shortly before his death (1 Kings 2:4). Yet they could not remain faithful even one generation.

–David Guzik

_________________________

Music:

HERE  is “Find Us Faithful”  by Steve Green.

_________________________

Solomon’s Adversaries

Two foreign adversaries . . .

¹⁴ Then the LORD raised up against Solomon an adversary,

In 1 Kings 5:4, Solomon says to King Hiram, who is helping him build the temple, “But now the LORD my God has given me rest on every side, and there is no adversary or disaster.” Yet here we read, “the LORD raised up an adversary.” God will try various methods to get our attention when we stray away from his ways. Heavenly Father, help us follow you in all things.

Hadad the Edomite, from the royal line of Edom. ¹⁵ Earlier when David was fighting with Edom, Joab the commander of the army, who had gone up to bury the dead, had struck down all the men in Edom. ¹⁶ Joab and all the Israelites stayed there for six months, until they had destroyed all the men in Edom. ¹⁷ But Hadad, still only a boy, fled to Egypt with some Edomite officials who had served his father. ¹⁸ They set out from Midian and went to Paran. Then taking people from Paran with them, they went to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt, who gave Hadad a house and land and provided him with food.

¹⁹ Pharaoh was so pleased with Hadad that he gave him a sister of his own wife, Queen Tahpenes, in marriage. ²⁰ The sister of Tahpenes bore him a son named Genubath, whom Tahpenes brought up in the royal palace. There Genubath lived with Pharaoh’s own children.

²¹ While he was in Egypt, Hadad heard that David rested with his ancestors and that Joab the commander of the army was also dead. Then Hadad said to Pharaoh, “Let me go, that I may return to my own country.”

²² “What have you lacked here that you want to go back to your own country?” Pharaoh asked.

“Nothing,” Hadad replied, “but do let me go!”

²³ And God raised up against Solomon another adversary, Rezon son of Eliada, who had fled from his master, Hadadezer king of Zobah. ²⁴ When David destroyed Zobah’s army, Rezon gathered a band of men around him and became their leader; they went to Damascus, where they settled and took control. ²⁵ Rezon was Israel’s adversary as long as Solomon lived, adding to the trouble caused by Hadad. So Rezon ruled in Aram and was hostile toward Israel.

Jeroboam Rebels Against Solomon

. . . and an Israelite adversary.

²⁶ Also, Jeroboam son of Nebat rebelled against the king. He was one of Solomon’s officials, an Ephraimite from Zeredah, and his mother was a widow named Zeruah.

²⁷ Here is the account of how he rebelled against the king: Solomon had built the terraces and had filled in the gap in the wall of the city of David his father. ²⁸ Now Jeroboam was a man of standing, and when Solomon saw how well the young man did his work, he put him in charge of the whole labor force of the tribes of Joseph.

²⁹ About that time Jeroboam was going out of Jerusalem, and Ahijah the prophet of Shiloh met him on the way, wearing a new cloak. The two of them were alone out in the country, ³⁰ and Ahijah took hold of the new cloak he was wearing and tore it into twelve pieces.

“Jeroboam” by Gabriel Picart.  In Who’s Who in the Bible”(1994). Reader’s Digest.

³¹ Then he said to Jeroboam, “Take ten pieces for yourself, for this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘See, I am going to tear the kingdom out of Solomon’s hand and give you ten tribes. ³² But for the sake of my servant David and the city of Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, he will have one tribe. ³³ I will do this because they have forsaken me and worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Molek the god of the Ammonites, and have not walked in obedience to me, nor done what is right in my eyes, nor kept my decrees and laws as David, Solomon’s father, did.

³⁴ “‘But I will not take the whole kingdom out of Solomon’s hand; I have made him ruler all the days of his life for the sake of David my servant, whom I chose and who obeyed my commands and decrees. ³⁵ I will take the kingdom from his son’s hands and give you ten tribes. ³⁶ I will give one tribe to his son so that David my servant may always have a lamp before me in Jerusalem, the city where I chose to put my Name.

The image of a lamp becomes a special metaphor for David and for the continuity of his line.

Psalm 132:17 (Amplified Bible)

There will I make a horn spring forth and bud for David; I have ordained and prepared a lamp for My anointed [fulfilling the promises of old].

³⁷ However, as for you, I will take you, and you will rule over all that your heart desires; you will be king over Israel. ³⁸ If you do whatever I command you and walk in obedience to me and do what is right in my eyes by obeying my decrees and commands, as David my servant did, I will be with you. I will build you a dynasty as enduring as the one I built for David and will give Israel to you. ³⁹ I will humble David’s descendants because of this, but not forever.’”

What a magnificent and astonishing opportunity is knocking at Jeroboam’s door! He can follow the Lord, and God promises to make him an illustrious dynasty, like that of David! (Now guess what he will actually do . . .)

⁴⁰ Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam, but Jeroboam fled to Egypt, to Shishak the king, and stayed there until Solomon’s death.

Solomon’s Death

⁴¹ As for the other events of Solomon’s reign—all he did and the wisdom he displayed—are they not written in the book of the annals of Solomon? ⁴² Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years. ⁴³ Then he rested with his ancestors and was buried in the city of David his father. And Rehoboam his son succeeded him as king.

_________________________

New International Version (NIV) Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2010 by Biblica

Images courtesy of:

Francken.    http://www.getty.edu/art/gettyguide/artObjectDetails?artobj=656&handle=li

kisses.   http://clipart-library.com/clipart/562040.htm

Bourdon.    http://www.culture.gouv.fr/Wave/image/joconde/0002/m503604_91de2069_p.jpg

I will give one tribe.   https://ocbf.ca/2019/1kings_1_1-14/

Picart.    http://www.gabrielpicart.com/english/illustration.htm

ancient Canaanite lamp.    http://www.victorie-inc.us/images/Oil-Lamps/CananiteOilLamp.jpg

Opportunity knocking.     https://dwellingintheword.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/b1251-opportunity_knocking.jpg

3 kings.    http://images.slideplayer.com/20/5991929/slides/slide_3.jpg

3237.) 1 Kings 10

In December 1959 Hollywood released the movie “Solomon and Sheba,” starring the Italian actress Gina Lollobrigida and a young Yul Brynner.

1 Kings 10   (New International Version)

The Queen of Sheba Visits Solomon

¹ When the queen of Sheba

Ancient Sabea is modern-day Yemen.

heard about the fame of Solomon and his relationship to the LORD, she came to test Solomon with hard questions. ² Arriving at Jerusalem with a very great caravan—with camels carrying spices, large quantities of gold, and precious stones—

_________________________

Music:

HERE  is “The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba”  from the oratorio Solomon (written in 1749) by George Frideric Handel.

_________________________

she came to Solomon and talked with him about all that she had on her mind. ³ Solomon answered all her questions; nothing was too hard for the king to explain to her.

“The hard questions were not just riddles, but included difficult diplomatic and ethical questions . . . The test was not an academic exercise but to see if he would be a trustworthy business party and a reliable ally capable of giving help.”

–Donald J. Wiseman

⁴ When the queen of Sheba saw all the wisdom of Solomon and the palace he had built, ⁵ the food on his table, the seating of his officials, the attending servants in their robes, his cupbearers, and the burnt offerings he made at the temple of the LORD, she was overwhelmed.

Solomon and the Bees

by John Godfrey Saxe

When Solomon was reigning in his glory,
Unto his throne the Queen of Sheba came;
(So in the Talmud you may read the story)
Drawn by the magic of the monarch’s fame,
To see the splendours of his court, and bring
Some fitting tribute to the mighty King.

Nor this alone:  much had Her Highness heard
What flowers of learning graced the royal speech;
What gems of wisdom dropped with every word;
What wholesome lessons he was wont to teach
In pleasing proverbs; and she wished in sooth
To know if rumor spake the simple truth.

Besides, the Queen had heard (which piqued her most)
How through the deepest riddle he could spy;
How all the curious arts which women boast
Were quite transparent to his piercing eye;
And so the Queen had come—a royal guest—
To put the Sage’s cunning to the test.

And straight she held before the monarch’s view
In either hand a radiant wealth of flowers;
The one, bedeckt with every charming hue,
Was newly culled from Nature’s choicest bowers.
The other, no less fair in every part,
Was the rare product of divinest art.

“Which is the true, and which the false?” she said.
Great Solomon was silent.  All amazed,
Each wondering courtier shook his puzzled head;
While at the garlands long the Monarch gazed,
As one who sees a miracle, and fain,
For very rapture ne’er would speak again.

“Which is the true?”  Once more the woman asked,
Pleased at the fond amazement of the King;
“So wise a head is scarcely to be tasked,
Most learned Liege, with such a trivial thing!”
But still the Sage was silent; it was plain
A deep’ning doubt perplexed his royal brain.

While thus he pondered, presently he sees,
Close by the casement—so the story goes—
A little band of busy bustling bees,
Hunting for honey in a withered rose.
The monarch smiled, and raised his royal head:
“Open the window!”—that was all he said.

The window opened at the King’s command.
Within the room the eager insects flew
And sought the flowers in Sheba’s out-stretched hand;
And so the King and all the courtiers knew
That wreath was Nature’s—and the baffled Queen
Returned to tell the wonders she had seen.

My story teaches (every tale should bear
A fitting moral) that the wise may find,
In trifles light as atoms of the air,
Some useful lesson to enrich the mind—
Some truth designed to profit or to please—
As Israel’s King learned wisdom from the bees.

*                *               *

⁶ She said to the king, “The report I heard in my own country about your achievements and your wisdom is true. ⁷ But I did not believe these things until I came and saw with my own eyes. Indeed, not even half was told me; in wisdom and wealth you have far exceeded the report I heard. ⁸ How happy your people must be! How happy your officials, who continually stand before you and hear your wisdom! ⁹ Praise be to the LORD your God, who has delighted in you and placed you on the throne of Israel. Because of the LORD’s eternal love for Israel, he has made you king to maintain justice and righteousness.”

¹⁰ And she gave the king 120 talents (that is, four and a half tons) of gold, large quantities of spices, and precious stones. Never again were so many spices brought in as those the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.

Isaiah 60:5-7 (NLT)

Your eyes will shine,
and your heart will thrill with joy,
for merchants from around the world will come to you.
They will bring you the wealth of many lands.
Vast caravans of camels will converge on you,
the camels of Midian and Ephah.
The people of Sheba will bring gold and frankincense
and will come worshiping the Lord.
The flocks of Kedar will be given to you,
and the rams of Nebaioth will be brought for my altars.
I will accept their offerings,
and I will make my Temple glorious.

In Christian iconography, Solomon represents Jesus and Sheba represents the gentile Church. Thus Sheba’s meeting with Solomon bearing rich gifts foreshadows the adoration of the Magi.

¹¹ (Hiram’s ships brought gold from Ophir; and from there they brought great cargoes of almugwood and precious stones. ¹² The king used the almugwood to make supports for the temple of the LORD and for the royal palace, and to make harps and lyres for the musicians. So much almugwood has never been imported or seen since that day.)

¹³ King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba all she desired and asked for, besides what he had given her out of his royal bounty. Then she left and returned with her retinue to her own country.

The Queen of Sheba, painted by Rita Ria

Many traditions point to the Queen of Sheba as a black woman.

And here is another interesting tradition! A large part of the history of Ethiopia is centered on the legend of the Queen of Sheba of Ethiopia and King Solomon of Israel. Many Ethiopians believe that the relationship between Sheba and Solomon resulted to a son who founded the Solomonic Dynasty in Aksum. Read more  HERE.

Solomon’s Splendor

¹⁴ The weight of the gold that Solomon received yearly was 666 talents (that is 25 tons), ¹⁵ not including the revenues from merchants and traders and from all the Arabian kings and the governors of the territories.

¹⁶ King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold; six hundred shekels (that is, 15 tons) of gold went into each shield. ¹⁷ He also made three hundred small shields of hammered gold, with three minas (that is, three and three-fourth pounds) of gold in each shield. The king put them in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon.

a model of the ceremonial gold shield of Achilles, the Greek hero of the Trojan War and the central character in Homer’s “Iliad”

These were display models only. Gold is too heavy and too soft to be useful as a shield in battle.

¹⁸ Then the king made a great throne covered with ivory and overlaid with fine gold. ¹⁹ The throne had six steps, and its back had a rounded top. On both sides of the seat were armrests, with a lion standing beside each of them. ²⁰ Twelve lions stood on the six steps, one at either end of each step. Nothing like it had ever been made for any other kingdom. ²¹ All King Solomon’s goblets were gold, and all the household articles in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. Nothing was made of silver, because silver was considered of little value in Solomon’s days. ²² The king had a fleet of trading ships at sea along with the ships of Hiram. Once every three years it returned, carrying gold, silver and ivory, and apes and baboons.

²³ King Solomon was greater in riches and wisdom than all the other kings of the earth. ²⁴ The whole world sought audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom God had put in his heart. ²⁵ Year after year, everyone who came brought a gift—articles of silver and gold, robes, weapons and spices, and horses and mules.

²⁶ Solomon accumulated chariots and horses; he had fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand horses, which he kept in the chariot cities and also with him in Jerusalem. ²⁷ The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar as plentiful as sycamore-fig trees in the foothills. ²⁸ Solomon’s horses were imported from Egypt and from Kue—the royal merchants purchased them from Kue at the current price. ²⁹ They imported a chariot from Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for a hundred and fifty (that is, three and three-fourth pounds). They also exported them to all the kings of the Hittites and of the Arameans.

When we think of Solomon’s great wealth, we also consider that he originally did not set his heart upon riches. He deliberately asked for wisdom to lead the people of God instead of riches or fame. God promised to also give Solomon riches and fame, and God fulfilled His promise.

We also consider that Solomon gave an eloquent testimony to the vanity of riches as the preacher in the Book of Ecclesiastes. He powerfully showed that there was no ultimate satisfaction through materialism. We don’t have to be as rich as Solomon to learn the same lesson.

–David Guzik

_________________________

New International Version (NIV) Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2010 by Biblica

Images courtesy of:

Solomon and Sheba.   http://lh6.ggpht.com/-jo8GFdMEL0g/TjpmvFtz3xI/AAAAAAAAdJQ/7ikJ6B84fZQ/movie_queen_of_sheba2_thumb3.jpg?imgmax=800

bee on a wild rose.    https://deborahsmall.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/rose_bee_xcu_8643.jpg

the three kings and their offerings of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.   http://www.threewisemengifts.com/threekings.htm

Ria.    https://dwellingintheword.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/queensheba.jpg

map of Ethiopia.    http://ichef-1.bbci.co.uk/news/304/media/images/87044000/gif/_87044077_c4e4781e-48f6-44fd-8971-f157bad9d748.gif

gold shield of Achilles.    https://dwellingintheword.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/achilles-gold-shield-flaxmanshield.gif

horse in Egypt.    http://etc-travel.blogspot.com/2008/06/16th-sharkeya-arabian-horses-festival.html

3236.) 1 Kings 9

King Solomon

1 Kings 9   (New International Version)

The LORD Appears to Solomon

¹ When Solomon had finished building the temple of the LORD and the royal palace, and had achieved all he had desired to do,

The task Solomon had had before him the entire time of his reign (commentators say he had ruled 24 years by now) was completed. At last he could relax! But that attitude can be dangerous to one’s faith walk . . .

² the LORD appeared to him a second time, as he had appeared to him at Gibeon. ³ The LORD said to him:

“I have heard the prayer and plea you have made before me; I have consecrated this temple, which you have built, by putting my Name there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.

⁴ “As for you, if you walk before me faithfully with integrity of heart and uprightness, as David your father did, and do all I command and observe my decrees and laws, ⁵ I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised David your father when I said, ‘You shall never fail to have a successor on the throne of Israel.’

Matthew 7:24-25 (NLT)

“Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock.  Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock.”

⁶ “But if you or your descendants turn away from me and do not observe the commands and decrees I have given you and go off to serve other gods and worship them, ⁷ then I will cut off Israel from the land I have given them and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name. Israel will then become a byword and an object of ridicule among all peoples. ⁸ This temple will become a heap of rubble. All who pass by will be appalled and will scoff and say, ‘Why has the LORD done such a thing to this land and to this temple?’ ⁹ People will answer, ‘Because they have forsaken the LORD their God, who brought their ancestors out of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them—that is why the LORD brought all this disaster on them.’”

Matthew 7:26-27 (NLT)

“But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand.  When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.”

Solomon — Which will you choose?

Solomon’s Other Activities

¹⁰ At the end of twenty years, during which Solomon built these two buildings—the temple of the LORD and the royal palace— ¹¹ King Solomon gave twenty towns in Galilee to Hiram king of Tyre, because Hiram had supplied him with all the cedar and juniper and gold he wanted. ¹² But when Hiram went from Tyre to see the towns that Solomon had given him, he was not pleased with them. ¹³ “What kind of towns are these you have given me, my brother?” he asked. And he called them the Land of Kabul (Kabul sounds like the Hebrew for good-for-nothing), a name they have to this day. ¹⁴ Now Hiram had sent to the king 120 talents (that is, about 4 1/2 tons) of gold.

from Peculiar Treasures, A Biblical Who’s Who,
by Frederick Buechner

HIRAM

Hiram, King of Tyre, was in the lumber business, and when Solomon, King of Israel, decided he wanted to build the Temple in Jerusalem, Hiram let him have all the cedar and cypress he needed. He also charged such a cutthroat price for it that in order to pay up, Solomon had to tax his people blind and increase tolls on all the major highways.

Twenty years later, however, when the job was done and Hiram submitted his final bill, Solomon got a little of his own back by paying it in the form not of cash but of twelve Galilean cities whose turn-in value is suggested by the fact that when Hiram saw them, he called the Cabul, which means No Place. According to the historian Josephus, Solomon followed this up by proposing a riddle contest which Hiram lost hands down. As a result he had to give Solomon an enormous prize.

Josephus reports that Hiram bided his time for a while but then got hold of a friend named Abdemon who made hash of Solomon’s riddles in about twenty-five minutes, and at the end of that round it was Solomon who had to cough up an enormous prize for Hiram.

Unfortunately neither Josephus nor the Book of Kings reports what new heights the friendship rose to after that.

¹⁵ Here is the account of the forced labor King Solomon conscripted to build the LORD’s temple, his own palace, the terraces, the wall of Jerusalem, and Hazor, Megiddo and Gezer.

aerial view of Tel Hazor

Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer were three prominently fortified cities in the days of Solomon. “Recent work has demonstrated that these three cities had certain characteristics in common with regard particularly to their fortifications attributable to the Solomonic era . . . Most distinctive are the gate complexes, which are identical in plan and virtually of the same dimensions in all three cities.” (Patterson and Austel)

i. “Hazor was strategically placed in the north (c. three miles north of the Sea of Galilee), being situated at the juncture of the two major highways approaching from the north. It became Israel’s chief bulwark against northern invaders until it was destroyed in the eighth century by Tiglath-pileser III.” (Patterson and Austel)

ii. “Megiddo was the great fortress that controlled on the major passes from the Plain of Sharon on the coast into the Valley of Jezreel through the Carmel range. It figures in prophecy as the staging area for the last great battle (Armageddon) in which Christ will defeat the forces of the Antichrist.” (Patterson and Austel)

iii. “Gezer, on the road from Joppa to Jerusalem, had been a powerful Canaanite city. Though it was included in the tribal territory of Ephraim, it was not occupied by the Israelites until the time of Solomon. Then it was given to Solomon as a wedding gift by Pharaoh to his daughter.” (Patterson and Austel)

–David Guzik

10th century BCE “Solomonic Gate” at Tel Gezer

¹⁶ (Pharaoh king of Egypt had attacked and captured Gezer. He had set it on fire. He killed its Canaanite inhabitants and then gave it as a wedding gift to his daughter, Solomon’s wife. ¹⁷ And Solomon rebuilt Gezer.) He built up Lower Beth Horon, ¹⁸ Baalath, and Tadmor in the desert, within his land, ¹⁹ as well as all his store cities and the towns for his chariots and for his horses—whatever he desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon and throughout all the territory he ruled.

²⁰ There were still people left from the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites (these peoples were not Israelites). ²¹ Solomon conscripted the descendants of all these peoples remaining in the land—whom the Israelites could not exterminate—to serve as slave labor, as it is to this day. ²² But Solomon did not make slaves of any of the Israelites; they were his fighting men, his government officials, his officers, his captains, and the commanders of his chariots and charioteers. ²³ They were also the chief officials in charge of Solomon’s projects—550 officials supervising those who did the work.

²⁴ After Pharaoh’s daughter had come up from the City of David to the palace Solomon had built for her, he constructed the terraces.

²⁵ Three times a year Solomon sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings on the altar he had built for the LORD, burning incense before the LORD along with them, and so fulfilled the temple obligations.

²⁶ King Solomon also built ships at Ezion Geber, which is near Elath in Edom, on the shore of the Red Sea. ²⁷ And Hiram sent his men—sailors who knew the sea—to serve in the fleet with Solomon’s men. ²⁸ They sailed to Ophir and brought back 420 talents (that is, about 16 tons) of gold, which they delivered to King Solomon.

Ophir . . . a true mystery. No one knows where exactly it was in ancient times, although various Biblical scholars, archaeologists, and others have suggested places:  southern Arabia, Africa (Vasco de Gama’s exploring companion thought it was Zimbabwe; John Milton in Paradise Lost placed Ophir in Mozambique), the Solomon Islands (named thus because Alvaro Mendana, who discovered them in 1568, believed them to be Ophir), even Peru or the Philippines or Australia!

_________________________

Music:

I get tired just reading about all the work that Solomon had his people do — building temples and palaces and stables and cities, constructing terraces and city walls, working with wood and stone, laboring in ships and in gold mines —

Think I’ll put my feet up — it is Friday soon, isn’t it??

HERE  are Alan Jackson and Jimmy Buffet, “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere.”

_________________________

New International Version (NIV) Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2010 by Biblica

Images courtesy of:

King Solomon.   https://brentkuhlman.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/king-solomon.jpg

It’s 5:00 somewhere.     https://www.knoxvilleneonusa.com/fullscreen-page/comp-jizau54d/1f989f37-cb52-403d-be09-2ec9e5eb2eb9/8/%3Fi%3D8%26p%3Did1oi%26s%3Dstyle-jizau50s

house built on a rock.    https://dwellingintheword.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/house-on-rock.jpg

house built on the sand.   https://dwellingintheword.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/house-sand.jpg

King Hiram choosing which cedar trees to be cut down.  https://www.chronologicalbibleblog.com/2012/05/page/2/

Tel Hazor.    https://biblepaedia.wordpress.com/2012/07/25/the-book-of-joshua-and-the-destruction-of-hazor-part-4/

Tel Gezer.    https://www.123rf.com/photo_60530103_ancient-remains-in-tel-gezer-israel.html

globe with question mark.  https://crisisboom.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/earth.jpg

3234.) 1 Kings 8:22-66

The Western Wall is the oldest visible portion remaining of Herod’s Temple (from the time of Christ), which was built on the site of Solomon’s temple. No archaeological remains of Solomon’s temple have been positively identified, according to anything I have read. Perhaps as excavations continue!

1 Kings 8:22-66  (New International Version)

Solomon’s Prayer of Dedication

²² Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in front of the whole assembly of Israel, spread out his hands toward heaven

This was a common posture of prayer in Old Testament times. Whereas we close our eyes, fold our hands, and bow our heads, people in the Old Testament would often have lifted their hands to heaven in a gesture of surrender and openness to God.

²³ and said:

“LORD, the God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth below—you who keep your covenant of love with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way. ²⁴ You have kept your promise to your servant David my father; with your mouth you have promised and with your hand you have fulfilled it—as it is today.

²⁵ “Now LORD, the God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father the promises you made to him when you said, ‘You shall never fail to have a successor to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your descendants are careful in all they do to walk before me faithfully as you have done.’ ²⁶ And now, God of Israel, let your word that you promised your servant David my father come true.

²⁷ “But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built!

“Will God really dwell on earth?”  Yes!  Yes!  Yes!

John 1:14 says, “The Word became flesh, and made his dwelling among us.” Matthew 18:20 says, “Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.” And 1 Corinthians 3:16 reminds us that we are God’s temple, and God’s spirit lives in us!

²⁸ Yet give attention to your servant’s prayer and his plea for mercy, LORD my God. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is praying in your presence this day. ²⁹ May your eyes be open toward this temple night and day, this place of which you said, ‘My Name shall be there,’ so that you will hear the prayer your servant prays toward this place. ³⁰ Hear the supplication of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray toward this place. Hear from heaven, your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive.

Now Solomon gives seven examples of what the Lord might hear as prayers from his people:

1.  that God would judge the guilty and acquit the innocent.

³¹ “When anyone wrongs their neighbor and is required to take an oath and they come and swear the oath before your altar in this temple, ³² then hear from heaven and act. Judge between your servants, condemning the guilty by bringing down on their heads what they have done, and vindicating the innocent by treating them in accordance with their innocence.

2.  that God would deliver them from captivity.

³³ “When your people Israel have been defeated by an enemy because they have sinned against you, and when they turn back to you and give praise to your name, praying and making supplication to you in this temple, ³⁴ then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and bring them back to the land you gave to their ancestors.

3.  that God would send good weather for the crops.

³⁵ “When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because your people have sinned against you, and when they pray toward this place and give praise to your name and turn from their sin because you have afflicted them, ³⁶ then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel. Teach them the right way to live, and send rain on the land you gave your people for an inheritance.

4.  that God would deliver them from all kinds of evil — from nature, from enemies, from their own sinful hearts.

³⁷ “When famine or plague comes to the land, or blight or mildew, locusts or grasshoppers, or when an enemy besieges them in any of their cities, whatever disaster or disease may come, ³⁸ and when a prayer or plea is made by anyone among your people Israel—being aware of the afflictions of their own hearts, and spreading out their hands toward this temple— ³⁹ then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Forgive and act; deal with everyone according to all they do, since you know their hearts (for you alone know every human heart), ⁴⁰ so that they will fear you all the time they live in the land you gave our ancestors.

5.  that God would accept the foreigners who come to Israel blessing the Lord’s name.

⁴¹ “As for the foreigner who does not belong to your people Israel but has come from a distant land because of your name— ⁴² for they will hear of your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm—when they come and pray toward this temple, ⁴³ then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your own people Israel, and may know that this house I have built bears your Name.

6.  that God would bless their efforts when God sends them out to war.

⁴⁴ “When your people go to war against their enemies, wherever you send them, and when they pray to the LORD toward the city you have chosen and the temple I have built for your Name, ⁴⁵ then hear from heaven their prayer and their plea, and uphold their cause.

7.  that God would forgive them when they turn away from the Lord.

⁴⁶ “When they sin against you—for there is no one who does not sin—and you become angry with them and give them over to their enemies, who take them captive to their own lands, far away or near; ⁴⁷ and if they have a change of heart in the land where they are held captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their captors and say, ‘We have sinned, we have done wrong, we have acted wickedly’; ⁴⁸ and if they turn back to you with all their heart and soul in the land of their enemies who took them captive, and pray to you toward the land you gave their ancestors, toward the city you have chosen and the temple I have built for your Name; ⁴⁹ then from heaven, your dwelling place, hear their prayer and their plea, and uphold their cause. ⁵⁰ And forgive your people, who have sinned against you; forgive all the offenses they have committed against you, and cause their captors to show them mercy; ⁵¹ for they are your people and your inheritance, whom you brought out of Egypt, out of that iron-smelting furnace.

⁵² “May your eyes be open to your servant’s plea and to the plea of your people Israel, and may you listen to them whenever they cry out to you. ⁵³ For you singled them out from all the nations of the world to be your own inheritance, just as you declared through your servant Moses when you, Sovereign LORD, brought our ancestors out of Egypt.”

⁵⁴ When Solomon had finished all these prayers and supplications to the LORD, he rose from before the altar of the LORD, where he had been kneeling with his hands spread out toward heaven.

At some time during the prayer, it would seem that Solomon had fallen to his knees in reverence before the Lord.

Ezra prayed on his knees (Ezra 9:5), the Psalmist called us to kneel (Psalm 95:6), Daniel prayed on his knees (Daniel 6:10), people came to Jesus kneeling (Matthew 17:14, Matthew 20:20, Mark 1:40), Stephen prayed on his knees (Acts 7:60), Peter prayed on his knees (Acts 9:40), Paul prayed on his knees (Acts 20:36, Ephesians 3:14), and other early Christians prayed on their knees (Acts 21:5). Most importantly, Jesus prayed on His knees (Luke 22:41). The Bible has enough prayer not on the knees to show us that it isn’t required, but it also has enough prayer on the knees to show us that it is good.

–David Guzik

⁵⁵ He stood and blessed the whole assembly of Israel in a loud voice, saying:

⁵⁶ “Praise be to the LORD, who has given rest to his people Israel just as he promised. Not one word has failed of all the good promises he gave through his servant Moses.

Isaiah 54:10 (KJV)

For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the LORD that hath mercy on thee.

⁵⁷ May the LORD our God be with us as he was with our ancestors; may he never leave us nor forsake us. ⁵⁸ May he turn our hearts to him, to walk in obedience to him and keep the commands, decrees and laws he gave our ancestors. ⁵⁹ And may these words of mine, which I have prayed before the LORD, be near to the LORD our God day and night, that he may uphold the cause of his servant and the cause of his people Israel according to each day’s need, ⁶⁰ so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD is God and that there is no other. ⁶¹ And may your hearts be fully committed to the LORD our God, to live by his decrees and obey his commands, as at this time.”

The Dedication of the Temple

⁶² Then the king and all Israel with him offered sacrifices before the LORD. ⁶³ Solomon offered a sacrifice of fellowship offerings to the LORD: twenty-two thousand cattle and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep and goats. So the king and all the Israelites dedicated the temple of the LORD.

Enough meat to feed a vast multitude for two weeks!

⁶⁴ On that same day the king consecrated the middle part of the courtyard in front of the temple of the LORD, and there he offered burnt offerings, grain offerings and the fat of the fellowship offerings, because the bronze altar that stood before the LORD was too small to hold the burnt offerings, the grain offerings and the fat of the fellowship offerings.

⁶⁵ So Solomon observed the festival at that time, and all Israel with him—a vast assembly, people from Lebo Hamath to the Wadi of Egypt. They celebrated it before the LORD our God for seven days and seven days more, fourteen days in all. ⁶⁶ On the following day he sent the people away. They blessed the king and then went home, joyful and glad in heart for all the good things the LORD had done for his servant David and his people Israel.

_________________________

Music:

“Better Is One Day in Your Courts” — sung  HERE  by Kutless, a Christian rock band founded in 2000 in Portland, Oregon. Such a singable song!

_________________________

New International Version (NIV) Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2010 by Biblica

Images courtesy of:

Western Wall.    http://www.theodora.com/wfb/photos/israel/western_wall_jerusalem_israel_photo_gov.jpg

Solomon prays.     http://bibleencyclopedia.com/picturesjpeg/Solomon_dedicates_temple_BP-108.jpg

The Lord is faithful.  http://cangi.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/the-lord-is-faithful.jpg

Solomon dedicates the temple.    https://eastdailyoffice.wordpress.com/2021/08/29/morning-prayer-30-8-21-margaret-ward-margaret-clitherow-anne-line-martyrs-1588-1586-1601/solomon-dedicates-temple-seedsoffaith/#main

3233.) 1 Kings 8:1-21

the ark of the covenant and the cloud of Shekinah glory

1 Kings 8:1-21   (New International Version)

The Ark Brought to the Temple

¹ Then King Solomon summoned into his presence at Jerusalem the elders of Israel, all the heads of the tribes and the chiefs of the Israelite families, to bring up the ark of the LORD’s covenant from Zion, the City of David. ² All the Israelites came together to King Solomon at the time of the festival in the month of Ethanim, the seventh month.

The temple was finished in the eighth month, but Solomon had the festival 11 months later, during the seventh month. It could be because at that time the harvest was in and people were more free to come to Jerusalem. Some scholars have also suggested that the seventh month was part of a Jubilee year. At any rate, the temple was not complete until the ark of the covenant was put in place in the Most Holy Place.

So bringing the ark to the temple was a big occasion! Think of a beautiful public spectacle — like the opening ceremony for the Olympic Games!

³ When all the elders of Israel had arrived, the priests took up the ark, ⁴ and they brought up the ark of the LORD and the tent of meeting and all the sacred furnishings in it. The priests and Levites carried them up,

Remember in 2 Samuel 6, when David moved the ark with ordinary people and one of them touched the ark and died? Solomon does not make that mistake! He moves the ark and the temple furnishings the way God commanded them to be moved.

⁵ and King Solomon and the entire assembly of Israel that had gathered about him were before the ark, sacrificing so many sheep and cattle that they could not be recorded or counted.

Solomon went far beyond custom and expectation in his effort to honor and praise God on this great day.

_________________________

Music:

Aren’t we glad that we do not need to bring sheep and cattle to sacrifice as part of worship! Christ’s sacrifice on the cross is all sufficient, so I am grateful to bring my sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving.  HERE  is “We Bring the Sacrifice of Praise”  by the Maranatha! Singers.

_________________________

⁶ The priests then brought the ark of the LORD’s covenant to its place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, the Most Holy Place, and put it beneath the wings of the cherubim. ⁷ The cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark and overshadowed the ark and its carrying poles. ⁸ These poles were so long that their ends could be seen from the Holy Place in front of the inner sanctuary, but not from outside the Holy Place; and they are still there today. ⁹ There was nothing in the ark except the two stone tablets that Moses had placed in it at Horeb, where the LORD made a covenant with the Israelites after they came out of Egypt.

What happened to the container of manna (Exodus 16:33) and Aaron’s rod that budded (Numbers 17:6-11)? These items were formerly in the ark, along with the two stone tablets. The reason is lost to history.

¹⁰ When the priests withdrew from the Holy Place, the cloud filled the temple of the LORD.

This was the cloud of glory, seen often in the Old and New Testaments, sometimes called the cloud of Shekinah glory. It is hard to define the glory of God; we could call it the radiant outshining of His character and presence. Here it is manifested in a cloud.

• This is the cloud that stood by Israel in the wilderness (Exodus 13:21-22)
• This is the cloud of glory that God spoke to Israel from (Exodus 16:10)
• This is the cloud from which God met with Moses and others (Exodus 19:9, 24:15-18, Numbers 11:25, 12:5, 16:42)
• This is the cloud that stood by the door of the Tabernacle (Exodus 33:9-10)
• This is the cloud from which God appeared to the High Priest in the Holy Place inside the veil (Leviticus 16:2)
• This is the cloud of Ezekiel’s vision, filling the temple of God with the brightness of His glory (Ezekiel 10:4)
• This is the cloud of glory that overshadowed Mary when she conceived Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:35)
• This is the cloud present at the transfiguration of Jesus (Luke 9:34-35)
• This is the cloud of glory that received Jesus into heaven at His ascension (Acts 1:9)
• This is the cloud that will display the glory of Jesus Christ when He returns in triumph to this earth (Luke 21:27, Revelation 1:7)

–David Guzik

¹¹ And the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled his temple.

The sense of the presence of the Lord was so intense, the priests could not continue their work! The presence of our holy God is not a “warm and fuzzy” feeling. Men like Peter (Luke 5:8), Isaiah (Isaiah 6:5), and John (Revelation 1:17) felt stricken in the presence of God. This was not because God forced an uncomfortable feeling upon them, but because they simply could not be comfortable sensing the difference between their sinfulness and the holiness of God.

–David Guzik

This glory remained at the temple until Israel utterly rejected God in the days of the divided monarchy. The prophet Ezekiel saw the glory depart the temple (Ezekiel 10:18).

¹² Then Solomon said, “The LORD has said that he would dwell in a dark cloud; ¹³ I have indeed built a magnificent temple for you, a place for you to dwell forever.”

¹⁴ While the whole assembly of Israel was standing there, the king turned around and blessed them. ¹⁵ Then he said:

“Praise be to the LORD, the God of Israel, who with his own hand has fulfilled what he promised with his own mouth to my father David. For he said, ¹⁶ ‘Since the day I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I have not chosen a city in any tribe of Israel to have a temple built so that my Name might be there, but I have chosen David to rule my people Israel.’

¹⁷ “My father David had it in his heart to build a temple for the Name of the LORD, the God of Israel. ¹⁸ But the LORD said to my father David, ‘You did well to have it in your heart to build a temple for my Name. ¹⁹ Nevertheless, you are not the one to build the temple, but your son, your own flesh and blood—he is the one who will build the temple for my Name.’

²⁰ “The LORD has kept the promise he made: I have succeeded David my father and now I sit on the throne of Israel, just as the LORD promised, and I have built the temple for the Name of the LORD, the God of Israel. ²¹ I have provided a place there for the ark, in which is the covenant of the LORD that he made with our ancestors when he brought them out of Egypt.”

Out of Egypt, out of the wilderness — there is a sense in which the Exodus is finally finished this day:  in the Promised Land, the Lord has a permanent home among his people.

_________________________

New International Version (NIV) Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2010 by Biblica

Images courtesy of:

the ark of the covenant.    https://dwellingintheword.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/ark_covenant.jpg

contents of the ark.    http://trivialdevotion.blogspot.com/2013_05_12_archive.html

“Tabernacle at Sunset.”    Pat Marvenko Smith, copyright 2000 .  https://revelationillustrated.com/product/the-tabernacle-at-sunset-16×20-print/

Home sweet home.   https://www.posterlounge.co.uk/p/619009.html

3232.) 1 Kings 7

1 Kings 7   (New International Version)

Solomon Builds His Palace

¹ It took Solomon thirteen years, however, to complete the construction of his palace.

Seven years for the temple. But 13 years for his own place.

² He built the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon a hundred cubits long, fifty wide and thirty high (that is, about 150 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high), with four rows of cedar columns supporting trimmed cedar beams. ³ It was roofed with cedar above the beams that rested on the columns—forty-five beams, fifteen to a row.

So much magnificent cedar wood from Lebanon was used to build Solomon’s palace that they called it the House of the Forest of Lebanon. Walking in the richly paneled walls of the palace was like walking in a forest! The forty-five pillars set in the House of the Forest of Lebanon also gave the impression of being in a majestic forest. 1 Kings 10:16-17 mentions 500 gold shields that were hung in the House of the Forest of Lebanon. Isaiah specifically called this building an armory in Isaiah 22:8.

–David Guzik

⁴ Its windows were placed high in sets of three, facing each other. ⁵ All the doorways had rectangular frames; they were in the front part in sets of three, facing each other.

House of the Forest of Lebanon

⁶ He made a colonnade fifty cubits long and thirty wide (that is, about 75 feet long and 45 feet wide). In front of it was a portico, and in front of that were pillars and an overhanging roof.

⁷ He built the throne hall, the Hall of Justice, where he was to judge, and he covered it with cedar from floor to ceiling. ⁸ 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.

⁹ 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 smoothed on their inner and outer faces. ¹⁰ The foundations were laid with large stones of good quality, some measuring ten cubits (about 15 feet) and some eight (about 12 feet). ¹¹ Above were high-grade stones, cut to size, and cedar beams. ¹² 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.

When you travel in old Europe today, you often come to magnificent cathedrals. These amazing building were mostly built hundreds of years ago at great labor and cost to poor people who could never dream of living in such spectacular places. When their most magnificent buildings were churches, it said something about their values. When Solomon made his palace more spectacular than the temple, it said something about his values. Our most magnificent buildings in the modern world — usually given over to business, shopping, or entertainment — say something about our values.

–David Guzik

The Temple’s Furnishings

¹³ King Solomon sent to Tyre and brought Huram, ¹⁴ whose mother was a widow from the tribe of Naphtali and whose father was from Tyre and a skilled craftsman in bronze (which is to say, he had a Jewish mother and a Gentile father). Huram was filled with wisdom, with understanding and with knowledge to do all kinds of bronze work. He came to King Solomon and did all the work assigned to him.

two bronze pillars . . .

Perhaps the pillars were meant to remind Israel of the twin pillars from the Exodus. The pillar of fire by night and the pillar of cloud by day were constant reminders of the presence of God in the wilderness.

¹⁵ He cast two bronze pillars, each eighteen cubits high and twelve cubits in circumference (that is, about 27 feet high and 18 feet in circumference). ¹⁶ He also made two capitals of cast bronze to set on the tops of the pillars; each capital was five cubits (that is, about 7 1/2 feet) high. ¹⁷ A network of interwoven chains adorned the capitals on top of the pillars, seven for each capital. ¹⁸ He made pomegranates in two rows encircling each network to decorate the capitals on top of the pillars. He did the same for each capital. ¹⁹ The capitals on top of the pillars in the portico were in the shape of lilies, four cubits (that is, about 6 feet) high. ²⁰ On the capitals of both pillars, above the bowl-shaped part next to the network, were the two hundred pomegranates in rows all around. ²¹ He erected the pillars at the portico of the temple. The pillar to the south he named Jakin (Jakin probably means he establishes) and the one to the north Boaz (Boaz probably means in him is strength). ²² The capitals on top were in the shape of lilies. And so the work on the pillars was completed.

the Sea and a movable stand . . .

It was used by priests for cleansing their hands and feet and perhaps also to supply water to the standing basins for the rinsing of offerings.

²³ He made the Sea of cast metal, circular in shape, measuring ten cubits from rim to rim and five cubits high. It took a line of thirty cubits (that is, about 45 feet)to measure around it. ²⁴ Below the rim, gourds encircled it—ten to a cubit. The gourds were cast in two rows in one piece with the Sea.

²⁵ 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. ²⁶ It was a handbreadth (that is, about 3 inches) in thickness, and its rim was like the rim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It held two thousand baths (that is, about 12,000 gallons).

²⁷ He also made ten movable stands of bronze; each was four cubits long, four wide and three high (that is, about 6 feet long and wide and about 4 1/2 feet high). ²⁸ This is how the stands were made: They had side panels attached to uprights. ²⁹ On the panels between the uprights were lions, bulls and cherubim—and on the uprights as well. Above and below the lions and bulls were wreaths of hammered work. ³⁰ Each stand had four bronze wheels with bronze axles, and each had a basin resting on four supports, cast with wreaths on each side. ³¹ On the inside of the stand there was an opening that had a circular frame one cubit deep (that is, about 18 inches). This opening was round, and with its basework it measured a cubit and a half (that is, about 2 1/4 feet). Around its opening there was engraving. The panels of the stands were square, not round. ³² 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. ³³ The wheels were made like chariot wheels; the axles, rims, spokes and hubs were all of cast metal.

³⁴ Each stand had four handles, one on each corner, projecting from the stand. ³⁵ At the top of the stand there was a circular band half a cubit (about 9 inches) deep. The supports and panels were attached to the top of the stand. ³⁶ 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. ³⁷ This is the way he made the ten stands. They were all cast in the same molds and were identical in size and shape.

³⁸ He then made ten bronze basins, each holding forty baths (that is, about 240 gallons) and measuring four cubits across, one basin to go on each of the ten stands. ³⁹ 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. ⁴⁰ He also made the pots and shovels and sprinkling bowls.

(I know you can’t read the words, but the cut-away does help give a general idea.)

So Huram finished all the work he had undertaken for King Solomon in the temple of the LORD:

⁴¹ 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;

⁴² 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);

⁴³ the ten stands with their ten basins;

⁴⁴ the Sea and the twelve bulls under it;

⁴⁵ 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. ⁴⁶ The king had them cast in clay molds in the plain of the Jordan between Sukkoth and Zarethan. ⁴⁷ Solomon left all these things unweighed, because there were so many; the weight of the bronze was not determined.

⁴⁸ Solomon also made all the furnishings that were in the LORD’s temple:

2 Chronicles 1:15 (NLT)

The king made silver and gold as plentiful in Jerusalem as stone. And valuable cedar timber was as common as the sycamore-fig trees that grow in the foothills of Judah.

the golden altar;

the golden table on which was the bread of the Presence;

⁴⁹ 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;

⁵⁰ 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.

⁵¹ 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.

_________________________

Music:

HERE,  “How Lovely is thy Dwelling Place.”  The tune “Brother James’ Air” was written around 1915 by James Leith Macbeth Bain, a Scottish healer, mystic, and poet known simply as Brother James. This well known arrangement by Gordon Jacob uses the words of the 23rd Psalm, but here is substituted the text “How Lovely is Thy Dwelling Place” which is a paraphrase of Psalm 84 from the Scottish Psalter circa 1650.

_________________________

New International Version (NIV) Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2010 by Biblica

Images courtesy of:

sketch of outer temple area.   https://thejewishnews.com/2019/03/27/torah-portion-power-and-responsibility/

House of the Forest of Lebanon.  https://prodigalmike.com/the-problem-with-pride/f/tuesday-february-9—1-kings-7-psalm-7-by-michael-anderson

two bronze pillars.   https://dwellingintheword.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/084ff-pillars.jpg

the Sea.    https://davidjlarsen.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/solomon_temple-bronze-sea1.jpg

cut-away of Solomon’s temple.  https://dwellingintheword.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/cutaway-solomons_temple.jpg

silver and gold.   https://dwellingintheword.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/silver-and-gold-collector-coins.jpg

3231.) 1 Kings 6

Of course, no one knows exactly what Solomon’s Temple looked like. Here is one idea.

1 Kings 6   (New International Version)

Solomon Builds the Temple

The subject of 1 Chronicles was King David and that which is a delight to the heart of God- the testimony of Christ prefigured in the Ark of the Covenant and the temple that was to be built as the center of worship in Jerusalem.

In 1 Kings we see the plan of the father (David) realized through the obedience of the Son (Solomon).

This obedience prefigures the obedience of Christ, the Son of God, who said, “I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.” (Matt 16:18)

–David MacAdam

¹ In the four hundred and eightieth year after the Israelites came out of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel,

Israelite time line, in round figures:  40 years wandering in the wilderness, 400 years under the judges, 40 years of ruling for each of the kings of the United Kingdom (Saul, David, and Solomon). Dates are general:  I think of Abraham at about 2000 BCE, Moses/the Exodus at about 1500 BCE, and David at 1000 BCE. 

in the month of Ziv, the second month, he began to build the temple of the LORD.

1 Chronicles 28:11-12 (NLT)

Then David gave Solomon the plans for the Temple and its surroundings, including the entry room, the storerooms, the upstairs rooms, the inner rooms, and the inner sanctuary—which was the place of atonement.  David also gave Solomon all the plans he had in mind for the courtyards of the Lord’s Temple, the outside rooms, the treasuries, and the rooms for the gifts dedicated to the Lord.

² The temple that King Solomon built for the LORD was sixty cubits long, twenty wide and thirty high (a cubit is considered to be about 18- 20 inches, so the temple was about 90 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 45 feet high).

Not that large! 90 x 30 = 2,700 square feet with tall ceilings! For purposes of comparison:  Many of my readers may have been in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome (above). That “temple” is 694 feet long, 451 feet wide (at transepts), and 151 feet high. Or perhaps you have visited Jerusalem:  The Second Temple, as expanded by Herod, was more than twice the size of Solomon’s Temple.

³ The portico at the front of the main hall of the temple extended the width of the temple, that is twenty cubits (that is, about 30 feet), and projected ten cubits (that is about 15 feet) from the front of the temple. ⁴ He made narrow windows high up in the temple walls. ⁵ Against the walls of the main hall and inner sanctuary he built a structure around the building, in which there were side rooms. ⁶ The lowest floor was five cubits (that is, seven and a half feet) wide, the middle floor six cubits (that is, nine feet) and the third floor seven (that is, 11 feet). He made offset ledges around the outside of the temple so that nothing would be inserted into the temple walls.

The Temple is very similar in layout and design to the Tabernacle, but twice as large.

⁷ 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.

A quiet building site!

⁸ 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. ⁹ So he built the temple and completed it, roofing it with beams and cedar planks. ¹⁰ 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.

¹¹ The word of the LORD came to Solomon: ¹² “As for this temple you are building, if you follow my decrees, observe my laws and keep all my commands and obey them, I will fulfill through you the promise I gave to David your father. ¹³ And I will live among the Israelites and will not abandon my people Israel.”

¹⁴ So Solomon built the temple and completed it. ¹⁵ 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 juniper. ¹⁶ 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. ¹⁷ The main hall in front of this room was forty cubits (that is, about 60 feet) long. ¹⁸ The inside of the temple was cedar, carved with gourds and open flowers. Everything was cedar; no stone was to be seen.

a cut-away view of the interior of Solomon’s temple

¹⁹ He prepared the inner sanctuary within the temple to set the ark of the covenant of the LORD there. ²⁰ 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. ²¹ 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. ²² So he overlaid the whole interior with gold. He also overlaid with gold the altar that belonged to the inner sanctuary.

Gold everywhere!  It covered the walls, the floor, the carvings . . .

²³ For the inner sanctuary he made a pair of cherubim out of olive wood, each ten cubits high. ²⁴ One wing of the first cherub was five cubits long, and the other wing five cubits—ten cubits from wing tip to wing tip. ²⁵ The second cherub also measured ten cubits, for the two cherubim were identical in size and shape. ²⁶ The height of each cherub was ten cubits. ²⁷ 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. ²⁸ He overlaid the cherubim with gold.

These cherubim in the Most Holy Place were about 15 feet high with wings that stretched 15 feet from tip to tip! They were magnificent, other-worldly creatures, representing the greatness of God! Hardly the innocuous, pudgy little “cherubs” so commonly seen today.

²⁹ On the walls all around the temple, in both the inner and outer rooms, he carved cherubim, palm trees and open flowers. ³⁰ He also covered the floors of both the inner and outer rooms of the temple with gold.

One idea for the interior of the temple, looking towards the Most Holy Place behind the curtain.

Here is another model, showing the profusion of gold and also the interior of the Holy of Holies.

³¹ For the entrance to the inner sanctuary he made doors out of olive wood that were one fifth of the width of the sanctuary. ³² And on the two olive-wood doors he carved cherubim, palm trees and open flowers, and overlaid the cherubim and palm trees with hammered gold. ³³ In the same way, for the entrance to the main hall he made doorframes out of olive wood that were one fourth of the width of the hall. ³⁴ He also made two doors out of juniper wood, each having two leaves that turned in sockets. ³⁵ He carved cherubim, palm trees and open flowers on them and overlaid them with gold hammered evenly over the carvings.

carved with cherubim, palm trees, and flowers and overlaid with gold

³⁶ And he built the inner courtyard of three courses of dressed stone and one course of trimmed cedar beams.

³⁷ The foundation of the temple of the LORD was laid in the fourth year, in the month of Ziv. ³⁸ 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.

_________________________

Music:

The temple that Solomon built and the Church are two very different things. The temple was a physical structure, but the Church is the Body of Christ, many believers united in our Head, Jesus. The presentation  HERE  of “The Church’s One Foundation” does a lot to show what we mean when we say that WE are the Church.  Brian Moss sings.

_________________________

New International Version (NIV) Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2010 by Biblica

Images courtesy of:

Solomon’s Temple.    http://davidmacadam.blogspot.com/2011/07/solomon-davids-tenth-son-and-completion.html

St. Peter’s.     http://davidphenry.com/Italy/SaintPetersLongView.jpg

floor plan of Solomon’s temple.   https://avande1.sites.luc.edu/jerusalem/views/solomonsTemplePlan.htm

cut-away image of the interior of Solomon’s temple.    http://www.calvaryfullerton.org/Bstudy/11%201Ki/2002/111Ki06-08.htm

gold.    http://cdn.c.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000EZ_VKjiOtug/s/780/Gold-Bricks-from-African-Mine-for-Export.jpg

cherubs.   https://markblord.wordpress.com/two-angels/

interior of the temple, red curtain.    https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/e2/91/55/e29155107f97fb400ad1bbafa076a121.jpg

interior of the temple, gold walls.  https://thesentone.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/templeinside.jpg

walls carved and overlaid with gold.   http://www.mishkanministries.org/viewPicture.php?source=images/templewallpanel1.jpg

3230.) 1 Kings 5

1 Kings 5 (New International Version)

Preparations for Building the Temple

¹ 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. ² Solomon sent back this message to Hiram:

³ “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. ⁴ But now the LORD my God has given me rest on every side, and there is no adversary or disaster. ⁵ 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.’

Solomon declares his intention to “build a temple for the Name of the LORD my God.”

Psalm 138:1-2 (ESV)

I give you thanks, O LORD, with my whole heart;
before the gods I sing your praise;
I bow down toward your holy temple
and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness,
for you have exalted above all things
your name and your word.

_________________________

Music:

HERE  is “Blessed be your name”  by Matt Redman.

_________________________

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 as the Sidonians.”

Throughout antiquity, the cedars of Lebanon were prized above all other trees. Their fine wood was strong, straight, and wonderfully scented. It was the first choice for any temple or palace, and top value in trade was paid for it.

⁷ 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.”

⁸ 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 juniper logs. ⁹ My men will haul them down from Lebanon to the Mediterranean Sea, and I will float them as rafts 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.”

¹⁰ In this way Hiram kept Solomon supplied with all the cedar and juniper logs he wanted, ¹¹ and Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand cors (that is, 3,600 tons) of wheat as food for his household, in addition to twenty thousand baths (that is, 120,000 gallons) of pressed olive oil. Solomon continued to do this for Hiram year after year. ¹² 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.

the star of David at peace with the cedars of Lebanon

¹³ King Solomon conscripted laborers from all Israel—thirty thousand men. ¹⁴ 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. ¹⁵ Solomon had seventy thousand carriers and eighty thousand stonecutters in the hills, ¹⁶ as well as thirty-three hundred foremen who supervised the project and directed the workers. ¹⁷ At the king’s command they removed from the quarry large blocks of high-grade stone to provide a foundation of dressed stone for the temple. ¹⁸ The craftsmen of Solomon and Hiram and workers from Byblos cut and prepared the timber and stone for the building of the temple.

_________________________

New International Version (NIV) Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2010 by Biblica

Images courtesy of:

Proverbs 18:10.   http://dailyverses.net/images/en/NIV/proverbs-18-10.jpg

Blessed be the Name.   http://www.ldsvinyldecals.com/store/images/C014.jpg

snow on the cedars of Lebanon.    https://seifandbeirut.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/lebanon-snow-on-the-cedars1.jpg

Israel-Lebanon peace.   https://dwellingintheword.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/5-israel_lebanon_peace.jpg