11 Chronicles Chapter 3

Solomon Builds the Temple

2Chronicles 3:1 Then Solomon began to build the house of the LORD at Jerusalem in mount Moriah, where the LORD appeared unto David his father, in the place that David had prepared in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite.
2 And he began to build in the second day of the second month, in the fourth year of his reign.

The temple was being built on the exact same place that Abraham was about to sacrifice his own son but an angel stopped him. God had prepared a ram to offer instead knowing the supreme final sacrifice would be His own Son to pay the price for the sins of the world. We know Him now as Jesus (Yeshua). His name is Jesus. Wonderful, counselor, prince of peace. Genesis 22:2 is where Abraham we find that story.

This place chosen for the temple is also where David saw the angel that commanded David to build an altar because he had sinned in numbering Israel. 2 Samuel 24. Also 1 Chronicles 21.

2Chronicles 3:3 Now these are the things wherein Solomon was instructed for the building of the house of God. The length by cubits after the first measure was threescore cubits, and the breadth twenty cubits.

The length was 90 by 30 wide feet if we used the measurements we use today.

2Chronicles 3:4 And the porch that was in the front of the house, the length of it was according to the breadth of the house, twenty cubits, and the height was an hundred and twenty: and he overlaid it within with pure gold.

1 Kings 6 says it was 30 cubits which was 45 feet high. It was overlaid with gold. Nothing was too good for a house of the Lord. Remember this house was not required for by the Lord. This is what God allowed to be done because it was in the heart of David to do so. Freewill offerings from the people in David and Solomon's time contributed to this great building.

2Chronicles 3:5 And the greater house he cieled with fir tree, which he overlaid with fine gold, and set thereon palm trees and chains.
6 And he garnished the house with precious stones for beauty: and the gold was gold of Parvaim.

The house was made of fir wood and the stones mentioned here was gathered previously by David. 1 Chronicles chapter 29 mentions this.

2Chronicles 3:7 He overlaid also the house, the beams, the posts, and the walls thereof, and the doors thereof, with gold; and graved cherubims on the walls.
8 And he made the most holy house, the length whereof was according to the breadth of the house, twenty cubits, and the breadth thereof twenty cubits: and he overlaid it with fine gold, amounting to six hundred talents.
9 And the weight of the nails was fifty shekels of gold. And he overlaid the upper chambers with gold.
10 And in the most holy house he made two cherubims of image work, and overlaid them with gold.

The was the holy of holies where the ark of God was placed. The Ark of the Covenant. They covered many things with gold that most of us today have never seen in our lifetime. At least not me.

2Chronicles 3:11 And the wings of the cherubims were twenty cubits long: one wing of the one cherub was five cubits, reaching to the wall of the house: and the other wing was likewise five cubits, reaching to the wing of the other cherub.
12 And one wing of the other cherub was five cubits, reaching to the wall of the house: and the other wing was five cubits also, joining to the wing of the other cherub.
13 The wings of these cherubims spread themselves forth twenty cubits: and they stood on their feet, and their faces were inward.

These figures of cherubims were both facing the ark. Their wings spread out

2Chronicles 3:14 And he made the vail of blue, and purple, and crimson, and fine linen, and wrought cherubims thereon.
15 Also he made before the house two pillars of thirty and five cubits high, and the chapiter that was on the top of each of them was five cubits.
16 And he made chains, as in the oracle, and put them on the heads of the pillars; and made an hundred pomegranates, and put them on the chains.
17 And he reared up the pillars before the temple, one on the right hand, and the other on the left; and called the name of that on the right hand Jachin, and the name of that on the left Boaz.

Jachin means, God will establish. Boaz means God is strength. Perhaps this was a way of saying that God would establish His temple with strength.

This temple was torn down and a lot of these riches were carried away by Nebuchadnezzar to Babylon after Israel sinned against God but right at this time everything was holy. They were in their first love. We see that sin causes all these things to be lost. Another temple was built after the captivity of Babylon was over but that temple was also destroyed in 70 AD by the Romans a few years after the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus.

So I'm thinking the temple that is built when Jesus reigns on the earth will be even greater than this one. There is a another temple that is built before or during the future great tribulation or time of Jacob's trouble that will probably be torn down because of the defilement of the man of sin or antichrist that mocks God by sacrificing a pig on the altar, similar to what Antiochus Epiphanes did in the prophecies of Daniel found in Daniel chapter 11.

So we see that sin steals, kills and destroys if we allow ourselves to move away from God and substitute idolatry.

It is sad to think about. This is why we all need Jesus and be filled with the Holy Spirit. Mankind is too weak to overcome sin by themselves. We need a savior, a healer, which was God coming in the flesh to take our place as one that did resist sin. He died for a penalty of one that deserves to die because of their sin even though Jesus lived His whole life without sin. That way all who receive Him will be saved and inherit eternal life. He was our substitute. He paid for our sin so that we could be saved eternally. It only counts though for those that believe in Jesus and accept what He did on our behalf. Glory be to God for offering us a way out of sin and the salvation of our souls. -DJC

11 Chronicles Chapter 4