We're going to 1 Kings chapter
7, and it's a long chapter. Actually, these chapters in 1
Kings are long chapters, and it's interesting just to see
how long they are, some of them. But we will read a few verses
from the beginning of this chapter, and then I'll fill in some of
the details that come from the rest of the chapter. So we will
read the first 12 verses because this tells us about Solomon's
building of his palace. We could say palaces because
they seem to have been a number of buildings that were built
at this time, but perhaps his palace complex is a way to think
about it. And here we are in 1 Kings chapter
7 reading from verse 1. But Solomon was building his
own house thirteen years, and he finished all his house. He
built also the house of the forest of Lebanon. The length thereof
was 100 cubits, and the breadth thereof 50 cubits, and the height
thereof 30 cubits, upon four rows of cedar pillars with cedar
beams upon the pillars. And it was covered with cedar
above upon the beams that lay on 45 pillars, 15 in a row. and there were windows in three
rows, and light was against light in three ranks. And all the doors
and posts were square with the windows, and light was against
light in three ranks. And he made a porch of pillars,
the length thereof was 50 cubits, and the breadth thereof 30 cubits,
and the porch was before them, and the other pillars and the
thick beam were before them. 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. And his house, where he dwelt,
had another court within the porch, which was of the like
work. Solomon made also a house for
Pharaoh's daughter, which he had taken to wife, like unto
this porch. And 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. And the foundation
was of costly stones, even great stones, stones of ten cubits
and stones of eight cubits. And above were costly stones,
after the measures of hewed stones and cedars. 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. Amen. May the Lord bless this
reading to us. After Solomon had completed the
building of the temple for the Lord, which took him seven years,
he turned to building a palace for himself. And this took him
13 years. So he was 20 years in building,
seven for the temple, 13 for his palace. And it is commendable that Solomon
honoured the Lord by prioritising the building of the temple first. The fact that it took him so
much longer to build his own house doesn't mean that he took
much more care in doing it. It rather suggests that he was
more assiduous in getting the house of the Lord done properly
and first. So that he honoured the Lord
by building the temple first. For it seems as if that only
when the temple was completed did he consider his own accommodation. And no doubt Solomon was able
to employ the builders and the craftsmen with their knowledge
and their experience and all their expertise for building
his own palace that they had gleaned, that they had gained
in building the temple of the Lord. And I think that this is
quite interesting because it highlights an important point
Solomon was able to dedicate so much time, seven years and
13 years. You know, we'll come to it in
time. I might have mentioned it already.
Solomon reigned for 40 years. So in the first 40 years of his
reign, the first half of it, 20 years, was involved in this
building. And he was able to dedicate so
much time, so much money, so much labor to these building
tasks because there was peace in the land and there was an
absence of war. War is expensive and it's expensive
in many ways. It's expensive in time. It's
expensive in money. It's expensive in people and
it's expensive in blood. War breaks things down. while
times of peace and stability lend themselves to building up,
to forging trade, and to general prosperity. And Solomon knew
this. given the events of recent days
and the troubles that we are beginning to see with violence
and various nations going to war with one another. It's interesting
to note what Solomon wrote concerning this in Ecclesiastes chapter
nine and verse 18. He tells us there, wisdom is
better than weapons of war. but one sinner destroyeth much
good. And this is true of nations.
So may God give us wise leaders for our nations. It is also true
in our own relationships. And it is true in the church
of God as well. Sin in our relationships. and fighting in our relationships
and sin and fighting in the church of God destroys those relationships
and breaks the peace. It is good for us to live in
peace with one another and especially to let peace rule in our fellowship. Paul says in Philippians chapter
two, let nothing be done through strife or vain glory, but in
lowliness of mind, with humility, let each esteem the other better
than themselves. When we live like this, our souls
enjoy peace and prosperity with the Lord and with our brethren. When we read these verses, and
I think there's over 50 verses in this one chapter, we've read
the first 12, but you see how detailed, once again, the measurements
and the numbers and the materials are explained to us in this passage
concerning Solomon's policies. There's a lot of detail supplied,
the dimensions, the design, the decoration. in these various
different rooms and the practical purposes that they had. There
were areas in this complex for Solomon and his family's personal
accommodation. There were judgment rooms. There
were ornate throne rooms. There were spacious reception
rooms. And the entrance halls were made
for each of them. And this has encouraged people
to try to reconstruct or paint or produce videos or make replicas
of these palace buildings, just like they've done for the temple
buildings that were so carefully described in the previous chapter. But interesting as all these
dimensions might be, and I'm not denying that they are, I
personally find the archaeology of these sites very interesting. Like when they can dig down,
although there's no archaeology done on the Temple Mount any
longer, as far as I understand. But when the archaeologists go
in and find the foundations of these ancient buildings, I always
find that very interesting. Nevertheless, it should be remembered
that there's nothing intrinsically holy or special about these places
except what God made them by His presence. What is more important,
what is much more important is that we each, one of us, come
to learn about the Lord's presence, not in some faraway building,
not in some faraway temple, but in our own lives. And we learn
about his residence in our soul. When the Lord Jesus Christ died
at Calvary or Golgotha, He opened the way for all the Lord's people
to enjoy a close personal experience with God by faith. And it is really quite amazing. to think about what John tells
us in Revelation 3 and verse 20. He says there, speaking about
the Lord Jesus, he says, Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice and
open the door, I will come in to him and will sup with him
and he with me. Our Saviour is no longer a God
afar off, but He is a God near at hand. And we are told that the Lord
Jesus Christ is closer than a brother to those who trust in Him. so that there is a closeness
in relationship to those who have faith in the Lord Jesus
Christ. And indeed the Lord tells us
that he lives in our lives and we live in him. most of this
chapter, long as it is, is an account of the furnishings that
were made and placed in the temple. So that from chapter 13 down
to, I think, as I said, in 51, is it? from chapter 13 down to verse 51, there is a long
list of all the things that were made to furnish the temple. So the first 12 verses were to
do with the construction of the palaces for Solomon and then
the remaining verses of the chapter have to do with the furnishings
that went into the temple. And we learn in the rest of these
verses that the Lord, just as he had provided skilled craftsmen
to build the tabernacle, a man called Bezalel and Aholiab in
the Old Testament passages of Exodus concerning the building
of the tabernacle. So he gave Solomon a particular
engineer, an artificer called Hiram, or Huram is another name
that he has. This was not Hiram, King of Tyre,
but another Hiram. And this Hiram, this was a man
of mixed race who was also a skilled craftsman that the Lord provided
to adorn the buildings of the temple. And I only mention the
fact that he was of mixed race because, again, it shows us,
as we were making the point last week, how the Gentiles were involved
in the temple's construction and its appointment. It seems as if the writers of
the Old Testament wanted to recognise the involvement of the nations
around about in the building of the temple. This reminds us how the Lord
calls and equips men and women and boys and girls to serve his
purpose and accomplish his will in this world. You and I might
not think that we have very much to offer the Lord. But the Lord
uses means. By that, I mean He uses us. He uses men and women. He uses
people to do His bidding. You can speak to people that
I will never speak to. You can influence people that
I will never influence. You can be an example to the
people around about you who will never know anything about me.
And so the Lord puts certain people in certain places to fulfill
his will, to do his purpose that only we can do. He employs his church in the
service of worship and of testimony and of preaching the gospel. And you may tell the Lord that
you don't have very much to offer him, being so young or maybe
being so old, but tell him this as well. that he is welcome to
use you as he pleases to accomplish his purpose. And it may surprise
you the way that he employs you in his kingdom and to do his
will. The furnishings of this temple
that this man, Hiram, was able to build were many. And there
were ornaments, there were tools, there were implements, there
were facilities that were needed to conduct the worship of God. There were levers for washing,
there was a pool for cleansing, there was an altar for sacrifice,
there were lots of bowls and plates. Many of the items were
simply replicated from the tabernacle of Moses' day, such as the levers
for washing and the candlesticks. Although we do discover that
the numbers of the items were sometimes multiplied by 10. And I think that's notable as
well because I think that that is another picture. You know
how I'm always telling you that there are pictures to be found
in these Old Testament examples for gospel times. And I think
that might be another one of these pictures that The Old Testament
people were being shown how that under the rule of the Messiah,
under the rule of Christ to which the temple worship pointed, Christ would put an end to the
animal sacrifice because he was the one true sacrifice for sin
for all time that would never need to be repeated. but that
the multiplication, the additional wash basins and candlesticks
signified how that the true gospel worship with cleansing from sin
and spiritual light would now be greatly multiplied because
the apostles would carry the gospel message into all the world. And if that's right, that that's
an aspect of this picture, then we might see that even in the
days of Solomon, spiritual men and women amongst the Jews were
given a picture by this enlargement of the temple A picture, a glimpse
in type of an expansion of faith under the reign of Messiah, when
the true Lamb of God had come. So these pictures were all there,
and I don't know how many of them were seen and understood
and recognised, but I'm sure many were. if not at the immediate
time, then in times following. Because what we discover is that
when the Lord Jesus Christ did come, there were many in Jerusalem
who were waiting expectantly for him and anticipating the
coming of the Messiah based on these Old Testament prophecies
and Old Testament pictures. Let me just mention, a few of
the memorable things from the design and furnishing of the
temple that stand out to me. Again, I say it's a big chapter.
If you want, you can read it yourself another time. It's quite
a heavy chapter to read, truth be told. But let me tell you
one or two of the things that stand out for me. Here's the
first one. We're told that Hiram forged
two huge pillars. of brass. Now this brass is maybe
copper. That's another, another subject
for another day, but it's brass or copper and these two huge
pillars stand at the door of the temple and Solomon gave these
pillars names. It's a kind of strange thing
to do but these two large pillars stood at the entrance to the
temple and Solomon gave them names. He called one Jachin and
the other Boaz. Now Jachin means he that strengthens
and makes firm and Boaz means speed. Now no doubt they were
figurative of God's presence there in the temple. And so,
figurative of the Lord Jesus, who said, I am the door, by me
if any man enter in, he shall be saved. In Christ and by Christ,
we have access into the presence of God with our worship. Here's another thing that stands
out in this chapter for me. Hiram also made a huge circular
brass or brazen pool. They called it the brazen sea. And it was to contain water. It stood on the back of 12 brass
bullocks. And three of those bullocks faced
north, and three of them faced south, three of them faced east,
and three of them faced west. And then this great big bowl
stood on their back. And this was a supply of water
for cleansing and for washing. It was called the Molten Sea. It is easy to understand that
this is a fine symbol of the gospel of Christ, or the blood
of Christ, the gospel message of the blood of Christ that cleanses
us from sin. And that message of the blood
of Christ, the gospel message, being born on the shoulders of
the 12 apostles as they carried it to the ends of the earth. Again it's a picture of gospel
days and though most people would only look and wonder at this
large pool of brass or copper and the 12 bulls that it stood
upon, I'm sure that those who enjoyed true faith discerned
pictures of the Messiah and his work and his kingdom in these
symbolic items. And finally, one more and then
we're done today. There were lots, I mentioned
this already, there were lots of functional tools that were
made in addition to the pillars and this brazen sea with the
bullocks. Pots and bowls and shovels and
basins. and lavers on bases all made
of brass. There were tables of cedar. There
was an altar of cedar wood covered in gold. There were censers.
There were snuffers. There were even hinges for the
door. And everything was brought into
the temple for worshipping God. No expense was spared. Great
care and attention was given to this important activity of
worship and building a house for God. And that's a solemn
thing for us to realize. How much more ought we to approach
the worship of God with care and attention knowing that we
can do so spiritually only because the Lord Jesus Christ has laid
down his life to open the way to God. And I want to just pause
on this point for a moment. Whether you're old or whether
you're young or whether you're somewhere in between, I'm going
to ask you to think carefully and seriously about coming into
that place where we worship the Lord. Let us be circumspect. Let us be thoughtful. Let us be serious. Let us be
humble. Let us be careful as we come
into the worship of the Lord. Let us do so with ears that are
attentive to hear the gospel message. Let us be looking for
the Lord Jesus Christ in what is set before us. and let us
come with a prayer of faith that the Lord would speak to our hearts
and the hearts of our brothers and sisters and that he would
lead us more particularly into his truth. You will give your
attention to your teacher tomorrow at school. You will give your
attention to your employer tomorrow at work. You will give your attention
to your customers or to those to whom you are responsible in
some capacity or another. Let us make sure that we give
our attention to the Lord when he speaks. These men and women
worshipped as best they understood, given the dimness of the light
that they had been given. We have been given greater light
through seeing Christ, who is the light of the world, seeing
him come and die in our place. Paul says, being justified by
faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
by whom we have access by faith, not into the temple, but into
this grace wherein we stand and rejoice in hope of the glory
of God. May the Lord bless these thoughts
to us today. Amen.