Good Monday to you my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
When you think of magnificent palaces or cathedrals, I wonder what picture of opulence comes into your mind? Yesterday I left you at the construction site of a building whose architect was God Himself! The Holy Spirit of God had given to King David the architectural drawings for the great Temple of God to be constructed in Jerusalem.
King David had entrusted those plans to his son Solomon as he assumed the throne. King David and King Solomon both amassed huge amounts of building materials, and Solomon rallied a small army of workers to prepare and assemble all the materials needed, and then a remarkable group of skilled craftsmen to actually build the Temple on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem.
This remarkable construction project required 7 years to accomplish. (1 Kings 6:37,38) More than 180,000 men were involved in preparing and transporting the materials for this huge project! (1 Kings 5:13-18)
Yesterday, as we watched the construction project, we took note of a remarkable statement in 1 Kings 6:7 “In building the Temple, only blocks dressed at the quarry were used, and no hammer, chisel or other iron tool was heard at the Temple site while it was being built.”
Now if you’ve ever been to a large construction site, the concept of a quiet construction project is almost beyond comprehension, isn’t it? And the precision of preparing stone and wood to fit together without the sound of an iron tool simply amazes me. But this effort was made as a reflection of the high respect King Solomon and the Israelites working on the project had for the Almighty, Holy God of Israel.
The Temple itself was relatively small, as compared to huge temples in our day. 1 Kings 6:2 says: “The Temple that King Solomon built for the LORD was 60 cubits long, twenty wide and thirty high.” A ‘cubit’ was about 18 inches thus this Temple was 90ft long by 30ft wide by 45ft high.
It was divided into two rooms. The ‘Holy Place’ was two thirds of the building and the ‘Most Holy Place’ was one third. This description helps us understand the fine craftsmanship: “Solomon lined the interior walls with cedar boards from the floor of the temple to the ceiling and covered the floor of the temple with planks of pine…no stone was to be seen inside the Temple.” (1 Kings 6:14-18) You may recall King David had collected a vast amount of gold for this project and the record says: “King Solomon covered the inside of the temple with pure gold.” (1 Kings 6:21)
In the “Most Holy Place” of the Temple God’s architectural plans called for three things and only three things: the Ark of the Covenant and two sculptured cherubim. “In the “Most Holy Place” Solomon made a pair of sculptured cherubim and overlaid them with gold. The total wingspan of the two cherubim was 20 cubits. One wing of the first cherub was five cubits long and touched the Temple wall, while its other wing, also five cubits, touched the wing of the other cherub. Similarly, the one wing of the second cherub was five cubits long and touched the other wall of the Temple, and its other wing, also five cubits, touched the wing of the first cherub. The cherubs stood on their feet, facing the main hall.” (2 Chronicles 3:10-12) 1 Kings 6:23 tells us these two cherubs, made of olive wood, each stood 15 feet tall! Can you envision what these golden images of winged angels looked like and how they filled the ‘Most Holy Place’ with an amazing sense of heaven and the angels around the throne of God?
‘Cherubim’ are identified in the Bible as two winged angels which reside in heaven with God and may be sent to earth, by God, on a specific mission. Genesis 3:24 introduces cherubim to us: “After God drove Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden, God placed cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.” Could we conclude that the purpose of these gold covered cherubim in the “Most Holy Place” of the Temple, would be to remind the High Priest, or any who would ever enter here, that this room is a very holy place because of the Presence of God?
The only other thing to be placed in this “Most Holy Place” was the Ark of the Covenant. Moses had received the specifications for the fabrication of this Ark directly from God. (Exodus 25:10-22) And within the Ark was to be kept the tablets of stone, the “Testimony”, bearing the 10 Commandments, which had been engraved by the finger of God, and which Moses had brought down from Mount Sinai. (Exodus 34:29)
The other room of this great Temple of God, the “Holy Place“, also had specific contents which were detailed in the plan God had prepared and given to King David. Three things were to be in this “Holy Place”:
1. The Altar of Incense. (2 Chron. 4:19) Moses had received these detailed plans from God and this Altar had been fabricated for use in the Tabernacle constructed at Mount Sinai. (Exodus 30:1-10)
Do you remember it was at this Altar, many years later, that the priest Zechariah was praying in the Temple, when the angel Gabriel appeared to him instructing him that God had heard his prayers and that he and his wife Elizabeth would bear a son in their old age and call him John. (Luke 1:5-20) This was John the Baptist who fulfilled the closing prophecy of the Old Testament. (Malachi 3:5,6) John was the announcer of the Messiah, Jesus. Remember that in John 1:29-34?
2. While Moses was instructed to make one, elaborate, six branched golden lampstand for the Tabernacle, (Exodus 25:31-40) God’s plans called for King Solomon to have his craftsmen fabricate 10 of these exquisite lampstands for the Temple. (2 Chronicles 4:7)
Five of these magnificent lampstands were to be placed on the south side and five on the north side of the “Holy Place” inside the Temple. As with the Tabernacle, they were tended daily by the priests and only a very special olive oil was used in these lamps to light the Temple “Holy Place”.
3. While Moses was instructed to make one very special table for the Tabernacle and on this table would be placed the ‘bread of the Presence’. (Exodus 25:23-30)
God’s plans called for King Solomon to have his craftsmen fabricate 10 of these tables, again five on the south side and five on the north side of the ‘Holy Place’ of the Temple. (2 Chronicles 4:8,19)
It should not be difficult for us to imagine from this description, that whenever a priest would enter this great Temple immediately their eyes would be overwhelmed by the magnificent beauty, and a great sense of the majesty of God would captivate their soul as they worshiped in this holy place.
May I ask, with what attitude of soul do you and I enter your times of worship? How does the Holy Spirit of God help us prepare our hearts for worship of Almighty, Holy God? In the places where you and I worship, how does the environment awaken in our souls a strong sense of the majesty, the splendor, the holiness of God? May I invite us to worship right now and here’s a song, with choir and orchestra, to help us…
Today’s Scripture: 2 Chronicles 3, 4 & 1 Kings 5-7.
Choose below to read or listen.
2 Chronicles 3-4 2 Chronicles 3
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2 Chronicles 4
1 Kings 5-7 1 Kings 7
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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