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1 Kings Chapter 7
Solomon Builds His Palace
- 1Kings 7:1 But
Solomon was building his own house thirteen years, and he
finished all his house.
- 2 He built also the
house of the forest of Lebanon; the length thereof was an
hundred cubits, and the breadth thereof fifty cubits, and the
height thereof thirty cubits, upon four rows of cedar pillars,
with cedar beams upon the pillars.
- 3 And it was covered
with cedar above upon the beams, that lay on forty five pillars,
fifteen in a row.
- 4 And there were
windows in three rows, and light was against light in three
ranks.
- 5 And all the doors
and posts were square, with the windows: and light was against
light in three ranks.
- 6 And he made a
porch of pillars; the length thereof was fifty cubits, and the
breadth thereof thirty cubits: and the porch was before them:
and the other pillars and the thick beam were before them.
- 7 Then he made a
porch for the throne where he might judge, even the porch of
judgment: and it was covered with cedar from one side of the
floor to the other.
It took his time building his own house
I notice when the temple was put up in haste showing his desire to
have the temple built first and be in place before making his own
house. Solomon had a special place set up for his throne and a place
where he administered judgment.
- 1Kings 7:8 And his
house where he dwelt had another court within the porch, which
was of the like work. Solomon made also an house for Pharaoh's
daughter, whom he had taken to wife, like unto this porch.
- 9 All these were of
costly stones, according to the measures of hewed stones, sawed
with saws, within and without, even from the foundation unto the
coping, and so on the outside toward the great court.
- 10 And the
foundation was of costly stones, even great stones, stones of
ten cubits, and stones of eight cubits.
- 11 And above were
costly stones, after the measures of hewed stones, and cedars.
- 12 And the great
court round about was with three rows of hewed stones, and a row
of cedar beams, both for the inner court of the house of the
LORD, and for the porch of the house.
I personally don't know what I would do
with a house like that all my own. It was a different day and age it
seems but I sometimes drive past large homes in my area and think to
myself, I would hate to have to clean all those rooms. I'm sure
though that they had others do that for them. I wonder what the
wives did to keep busy and not be bored. One writer said that his
was a place for his harem however, it looks to me like it was built
just for the daughter of the king of Egypt. Sort of a political
marriage. Perhaps she was use to having a fine house.
The Temple Furnishings
- 1Kings 7:13 And king
Solomon sent and fetched Hiram out of Tyre.
- 14 He was a widow's
son of the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre,
a worker in brass: and he was filled with wisdom, and
understanding, and cunning to work all works in brass. And he
came to king Solomon, and wrought all his work.
This was a different Hiram than the
king of Tyre. This Hiram who was of the tribe of Naphtaili whose
father was from Tyre. He was skilled in working with brass. Solomon
wanted the best.
- 1 Kings 7:15 For he
cast two pillars of brass, of eighteen cubits high apiece: and a
line of twelve cubits did compass either of them about.
- 16 And he made two
chapiters of molten brass, to set upon the tops of the pillars:
the height of the one chapiter was five cubits, and the height
of the other chapiter was five cubits:
- 17 And nets of
checker work, and wreaths of chain work, for the chapiters which
were upon the top of the pillars; seven for the one chapiter,
and seven for the other chapiter.
- 18 And he made the
pillars, and two rows round about upon the one network, to cover
the chapiters that were upon the top, with pomegranates: and so
did he for the other chapiter.
- 19 And the chapiters
that were upon the top of the pillars were of lily work in the
porch, four cubits.
- 20 And the chapiters
upon the two pillars had pomegranates also above, over against
the belly which was by the network: and the pomegranates were
two hundred in rows round about upon the other chapiter.
- 21 And he set up the
pillars in the porch of the temple: and he set up the right
pillar, and called the name thereof Jachin: and he set up the
left pillar, and called the name thereof Boaz.
- 22 And upon the top
of the pillars was lily work: so was the work of the pillars
finished.
- 23 And he made a
molten sea, ten cubits from the one brim to the other: it was
round all about, and his height was five cubits: and a line of
thirty cubits did compass it round about.
- 24 And under the
brim of it round about there were knops compassing it, ten in a
cubit, compassing the sea round about: the knops were cast in
two rows, when it was cast.
- 25 It stood upon
twelve oxen, three looking toward the north, and three looking
toward the west, and three looking toward the south, and three
looking toward the east: and the sea was set above upon them,
and all their hinder parts were inward.
- 26 And it was an
hand breadth thick, and the brim thereof was wrought like the
brim of a cup, with flowers of lilies: it contained two thousand
baths.
- 27 And he made ten
bases of brass; four cubits was the length of one base, and four
cubits the breadth thereof, and three cubits the height of it.
- 28 And the work of
the bases was on this manner: they had borders, and the borders
were between the ledges:
- 29 And on the
borders that were between the ledges were lions, oxen, and
cherubims: and upon the ledges there was a base above: and
beneath the lions and oxen were certain additions made of thin
work.
- 30 And every base
had four brasen wheels, and plates of brass: and the four
corners thereof had undersetters: under the laver were
undersetters molten, at the side of every addition.
- 31 And the mouth of
it within the chapiter and above was a cubit: but the mouth
thereof was round after the work of the base, a cubit and an
half: and also upon the mouth of it were gravings with their
borders, foursquare, not round.
- 32 And under the
borders were four wheels; and the axletrees of the wheels were
joined to the base: and the height of a wheel was a cubit and
half a cubit.
- 33 And the work of
the wheels was like the work of a chariot wheel: their
axletrees, and their naves, and their felloes, and their spokes,
were all molten.
- 34 And there were
four undersetters to the four corners of one base: and the
undersetters were of the very base itself.
- 35 And in the top of
the base was there a round compass of half a cubit high: and on
the top of the base the ledges thereof and the borders thereof
were of the same.
- 36 For on the plates
of the ledges thereof, and on the borders thereof, he graved
cherubims, lions, and palm trees, according to the proportion of
every one, and additions round about.
- 37 After this manner
he made the ten bases: all of them had one casting, one measure,
and one size.
- 38 Then made he ten
lavers of brass: one laver contained forty baths: and every
laver was four cubits: and upon every one of the ten bases one
laver.
- 39 And he put five
bases on the right side of the house, and five on the left side
of the house: and he set the sea on the right side of the house
eastward over against the south.
- 40 And Hiram made
the lavers, and the shovels, and the basons. So Hiram made an
end of doing all the work that he made king Solomon for the
house of the LORD:
- 41 The two pillars,
and the two bowls of the chapiters that were on the top of the
two pillars; and the two networks, to cover the two bowls of the
chapiters which were upon the top of the pillars;
- 42 And four hundred
pomegranates for the two networks, even two rows of pomegranates
for one network, to cover the two bowls of the chapiters that
were upon the pillars;
- 43 And the ten
bases, and ten lavers on the bases;
- 44 And one sea, and
twelve oxen under the sea;
- 45 And the pots, and
the shovels, and the basons: and all these vessels, which Hiram
made to king Solomon for the house of the LORD, were of bright
brass.
- 46 In the plain of
Jordan did the king cast them, in the clay ground between
Succoth and Zarthan.
In the plain of Jordan was a place that
was good for making shapes from metal. Metal has to be melted and
poured out to make vessels that do not break. This is mind boggling
for me but for builders; they might find this chapter interesting. I
guess being rich and increased with goods is just as much work as
just having a small home and fixing it up ourselves. I'm so glad God
didn't make me rich. I was talking to someone about buying lottery
tickets and told them that the reason I didn't buy lottery tickets
was first that I didn't believe in gambling and second was I was
scared I might accidently win. I wouldn't know what to do with all
that money if the lottery was real big. I wouldn't mind winning a
couple of hundred dollars but millions??? The government takes much
of it back in taxes though so why bother?
- 1Kings 7:47 And
Solomon left all the vessels unweighed, because they were
exceeding many: neither was the weight of the brass found out.
- 48 And Solomon made
all the vessels that pertained unto the house of the LORD: the
altar of gold, and the table of gold, whereupon the shewbread
was,
- 49 And the
candlesticks of pure gold, five on the right side, and five on
the left, before the oracle, with the flowers, and the lamps,
and the tongs of gold,
- 50 And the bowls,
and the snuffers, and the basons, and the spoons, and the
censers of pure gold; and the hinges of gold, both for the doors
of the inner house, the most holy place, and for the doors of
the house, to wit, of the temple.
- 51 So was ended all
the work that king Solomon made for the house of the LORD. And
Solomon brought in the things which David his father had
dedicated; even the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, did
he put among the treasures of the house of the LORD.
This magnificent temple and the golden
vessels became one of the things that enticed the king of Babylon to
desire to take these riches for himself to Babylon. Here is the
account of that in 2 Kings:
- 2Kings 20:12 At
that time Berodachbaladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon,
sent letters and a present unto Hezekiah: for he had heard that
Hezekiah had been sick.
- 13 And Hezekiah
hearkened unto them, and shewed them all the house of his
precious things, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and
the precious ointment, and all the house of his armour, and all
that was found in his treasures: there was nothing in his house,
nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah shewed them not.
- 14 Then came
Isaiah the prophet unto king Hezekiah, and said unto him, What
said these men? and from whence came they unto thee? And
Hezekiah said, They are come from a far country, even from
Babylon.
- 15 And he said,
What have they seen in thine house? And Hezekiah answered, All
the things that are in mine house have they seen: there is
nothing among my treasures that I have not shewed them.
- 16 And Isaiah
said unto Hezekiah, Hear the word of the LORD.
- 17 Behold, the
days come, that all that is in thine house, and that which thy
fathers have laid up in store unto this day, shall be carried
into Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith the LORD.
- 18 And of thy
sons that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt beget, shall
they take away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the
king of Babylon.
This happened years later after the death of
Hezekiah. The pride of showing off one's riches brings envy but I'm
wondering of perhaps the king of Babylon at that time bought
presents to Hezekiah for the purpose of spying out the golden
vessels and things in the temple because the vessels were taken by
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon in later years under the reign of
Jehoiachin, king of Judah in a time when all of Judah had gotten
away from the Lord and no longer had God's hand of protection upon
them. This was in 2 Kings 24.
- 2Kings 24:12 And
Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon,
he, and his mother, and his servants, and his princes, and his
officers: and the king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of
his reign.
- 13 And he
carried out thence all the treasures of the house of the LORD,
and the treasures of the king's house, and cut in pieces all the
vessels of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the
temple of the LORD, as the LORD had said.
After 70 years of captivity these same
vessels became a snare to the last king of Babylon to oppress the
land of Judah when King Belshazzar the grandson of Nebuchadnezzer,
brought out the vessels to use for a drunken party. After that the
kingdom of the Medes and Persians took over the kingdom eventually
allowing the Jews to return home under during their reign.
God doesn't mind if one is rich and uses them
for good but if our heart is set on thise things we end up losing
them in the long run. That is why Jesus says, not to lay up
treasures on earth but have our treasure in Heaven.
- Matthew 6:19 Lay
not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust
doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
- 20 But lay up
for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust
doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
- 21 For where
your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
In saying all that I don't want to take away
from the glorious reign of Solomon in the earlier years. He wanted
the best for the temple of the Lord. The two tribes of Israel and
Judah were united. It changed after Solomon's death but when he was
living, he was at peace with other nations and things were good.
Knowing Jesus Christ and being filled with
His Holy Spirit is the real treasure for here and now. This is the
true riches that we need to seek and trust God to provide for
necessary things. God may
bless some with riches and good businesses but our real treasure is
still awaiting in Heaven for the future and for now our treasure is
knowing Him as our Lord and savior. DC
1 Kings Chapter 8
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