We turn again to 1 Kings and
we read at the very end of chapter 6 regarding the building of the
temple that Solomon was 7 years in building it. We go on to read
in chapter 7 that Solomon was building his own house 13 years
and he finished all his house. He built also the house of the
forest of Lebanon. The length thereof was of 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. And it was covered with cedar
above the beams that lay on forty-five pillars, fifteen 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 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. 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, whom he had taken to wife, like unto this
porch. All these were of costly stones,
according to the measures of huge 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. above were costly stones after
the measures of huge stones and cedars and the great court roundabout
was with three rows of huge 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 Solomon was building his own house 13 years and he
finished all his house finished all his house now this passage
at the beginning of chapter 7 is as it were something of a parenthesis
inserted into the account in these chapters of Solomon's building
of the temple and of the house of God. For after verse 12 from
verse 13 we go on to read of the furnishing of the temple. All the things that Hiram helped
Solomon craft and build within the temple and then all the things
that were prepared by David to be brought into the temple were
then brought in before in chapter 8 we read of the dedication of
the temple. But here in these first 12 verses
in chapter 7 we have as it were a parenthesis, a pause in which
we hear of The other houses that Solomon built, his house, the
king's house, the house for his bride, Pharaoh's daughter, and
a third house, the house of the forest of Lebanon. Now many when they read these
passages See, little beyond what is recounted on the surface.
The fact that in addition to the building of the temple, Solomon
also built himself a house and he built these other two houses. And there's little more recorded
by many than that which is found on the surface of the scriptures.
But as we know from Christ in the New Testament, all the scriptures
concern him, all point in one way or another unto him. So in this parenthesis, in this
account of these three other houses built, there is in reality
much more to be seen than simply the fact that Solomon as a king
built himself a house, built his bride a house, built a house
of the forest of Lebanon. and spent 13 years doing so. Many would home in on the fact
that Solomon built the house of the Lord the Temple in seven
years and then spent 13 years building his own house and either
find fault with Solomon or commend Solomon depending on how they
view this. But in so doing, the meaning
of the passage really is missed. Here we have in addition to the
house of the Lord, the temple in Jerusalem, we have three other
houses built nearby in relation to it. We have in the midst the
temple, the Lord's house. And then we have these three
other houses, Solomon's house, the king's house, the house of
the forest of Lebanon, and the house built for Pharaoh's daughter. These three houses are significant
in their meaning and in their relationship to the Lord's house. We have the king's house. We
have the house of the forest of Lebanon, the trees, and we
have the bride's house. We see here a house for the king,
the bride, and the trees. One great house in the midst
of the city, the temple, the Lord's house, with three houses
relation to it. In the main numbers we see a
triune connection. We see a reminder that one God is in three persons. There is
one house of the Lord in his city with three other
houses nearby. There's a triune connection between
these houses. But there is also great meaning
in the houses which were built. The king's house, the house of
the forest, and the bride's house. We read at the end of chapter
6 that Solomon was seven years in building the temple, in building
the Lord's house. He built it as we have seen before
in type and figure, in perfection. It was built in seven years,
it was God's house. And rightly so, it was built
in seven years in perfection. we go on to read that Solomon
was building his own house 13 years. Now the word but is a
choice of the translators there it could just as well have said
and but the use of the word but tends to draw in a contrast which
has led many to to criticize Solomon as though he spent much
longer building his own house than he did building the Lord's
house. As though Solomon's heart was
more intent on spending time building his own house than in
building the Lord's house. They would take a lesson in demonstrating
that Solomon, as we all are, is but a man full of sin. And of course that is true. But others would take the complete
opposite point of view from this fact to point out that Solomon
built the Lord's house first before he went on to build these
other houses. And Solomon gathered all the
resources that the Lord gave him, all the workforce in Israel
and with great urgency built the Lord's house. He desired
that the Lord should have a great house and it was built to perfection
in seven years whereas when he came to build his own house and
his others there was less urgency about it, less need and it took
longer. So really the fact that it took
longer to build these three other houses means nothing. Some would
use this against Solomon and some would use it to commend
Solomon. But either way, that is not the point of the timing
that we read of here. Why did it take 13 years to build
these other three houses? Because 13, as we know, is seven and six. It's a combination of
the perfection of seven and the number of man being six. Here
we see three houses built around the Lord's house which have to do with man and
his relationship with God. It has to do with this king,
the bride the trees of the forest which bring them together. These three houses are directly
connected with the Lord's house and directly connected with the
message of salvation of the Lord sending his son the Lord Jesus
Christ the King of Kings into this world. to deliver his people,
his bride, from the captivity of her sin, to ransom his bride,
to redeem her, to wash her clean of all her sin, to take his bride
out of the world, out of captivity, out of Egypt, to take her away from that which
slew her, death, sin, the iniquity within, to cleanse her, to deliver
her and to bring her unto salvation. In these three houses we see
a depiction of the gospel of the king delivering his bride
and doing so by laying down his life upon a cross made of wood. Yes, it took 13 years to build
these three houses and after 13 years and seven years building
the Lord's house, Solomon had finished all his house. He laid the foundations. The
Lord's house was built, it was prepared as heaven's glory is
prepared for Christ's people. And then Christ came from the
glory of God dwelling with the Father. He came into this world
of sin. He came into the darkness here
below. He came in as it were to the
forest where men dwelt. And he came to be crucified. to be nailed to a tree, to deliver
his bride out of Egypt, to deliver the daughter of Pharaoh, to save his people from their
sins. And having done so, he gathered
all his people, he gathered them into his house, one by one each
a stone laid in its place and in the end he finished all his
house. Rightly then Solomon spent seven
years and six years building these three houses in relation
to the temple of God. Perfection, united unto man to
deliver man from his sins and bring him unto God. Solomon was
a man chosen of God. He was the man, the son of David,
the king that God would choose to build his house. He was a
man that God gave great wisdom to, unlike any wisdom seen on
this earth outside of Jesus Christ. He was a man with whom God dwelt. He was a man who knew the grace
of God in salvation. And rightly, his house, and the
house of the forest of Lebanon, and the house of his bride, Pharaoh's
daughter, took seven years and six years to build. Far from this 13 years showing
some selfishness on Solomon's part in building his own house,
and it may, as a man, Truly, it illustrates his desire
first towards his God, that he built the temple first and then
built this. But far more than this, it illustrates
God's purpose in salvation. We have in these three houses
that Solomon went on to build a picture of the church, all
God's people, The bride united unto Christ her Saviour, united
unto the King. Man united to God. Seven years and six years in
the making. We see in these things God in
Eden, walking with his people, walking with Adam and Eve, walking
with the man and his wife, in the midst of the trees. We see
a king and a bride, as it were. We see a man and his wife in
the midst of Eden's trees, in a forest. We're reminded again,
as the temple reminds us, of the origins of life in this world,
in Eden, and of the fall of man in sin. when against the command
of God, Eve and then Adam took of the fruit of the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil and ate of it, seeking to have all
knowledge, seeking to be as gods. And in so doing, that knowledge
slew them. The law condemned them. Sin entered
in death by sin. And that became a tree of death
unto them. They never ate in that garden
of the tree of life, but they ate of a tree which seemed to
appeal because of the knowledge that could be found therein.
And in so doing, death entered into this world. Oh, how great
was the fall of man. But just as the temple, with
its cherubims, and palm trees and open flowers reminded us
of that Eden from which man had been cast out, where the cherubims
guarded the way unto the tree of life and where there was a
flaming sword that prevented man heading back into that garden
except that sword should slay and condemn because of the sin
that man had committed. So in these three houses we have
another reminder. A reminder of the man, the woman,
and the trees. A reminder of the tree which
brought in death. And a reminder of the tree which
would bring life. Yes, all these three things depict
the church. They depict what man was in Eden
and what he had lost and what God will bring in through his
son, Jesus Christ, the second Adam, the second man, the last
Adam, what he will bring in eternally in that kingdom to come, in that
heavenly kingdom where there is a tree of life in the midst,
where the man, the king, will be united with his bride forever. where there will be that reminder
forever of that tree of life that brings salvation and that
tree of death which Christ was nailed to in order to bring his
bride into such a place. We see God here in the midst
of his church there are these three houses in the city the
king's house, the house of the forest, the bride's house, and
there in the midst is the house of God, the temple. We see God
walking in the midst of his people. God walked in the midst of the
garden with Adam until Adam sinned and the woman and the man were
cast out. But now God walks in the midst
of his people, the church. He's amongst them. He's one with
them. And he will lead them into eternal
glory. He walks amongst the people who
are likened in the scriptures unto trees of righteousness,
we read in Isaiah 61. They are as trees, they are like
a forest in which the king dwells. They are likened in Psalm 91,
92 to cedars of Lebanon. Hence Solomon built as a picture
a house of the forest of Lebanon. This is God's people with their
God in their midst. And we see here a house for a
king and a house for his bride. The righteous shall flourish
like the palm tree. He shall grow like a cedar in
Lebanon. God does not dwell alone. Christ
does not dwell alone. He came into this world to save
sinners. He came into the darkness and
the evil of this world, to seek out his lost sheep, to save his
people from their sins. He came to bring his bride from
afar and bring her back to his father. He came to seek her out
and to unite her unto himself. In so doing, this savior, this
king, finished all his house. Solomon the king built this house
for the king, a house for his bride, and a house of the forest
of Lebanon as a picture of what his king, the Lord Jesus Christ,
would do for him and all his people, that Christ in coming
into this world, in offering up his life upon the cross, in
being slain upon a tree of death, that he might be a tree of life
for his people, in delivering Pharaoh's daughter from the captivity
and evil of Egypt below, and bringing her under his father
in salvation from afar off, in building his house he finished
all his house. Perfection 7 came to where man
6 dwelt and united himself with sinners. He united himself with
his people washing them, cleaning his blood It took 13 years to
build this house. Houses for the king, his bride
in a forest. Solomon 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 were 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 free ranks. Oh, the light that shone in this
house built of cedar. Oh, that God would give us light
to see Christ in the midst of his people, to see the trees,
to see the wood, to see his righteousness. The house of the forest of Lebanon. Oh, the wood that we read of
here, and the trees. A reminder, as we've said, of
Eden, of the two trees in Eden. A reminder of the man and his
wife, and the king and his bride. These trees remind us of what
divided man from God. We sought to be as it were gods,
we sought to be on our own throne, we sought our own glory, we sought
our own wisdom and knowledge and in our own wisdom we went
and we each in Adam and each in our own hearts went and took
of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. We've all done
the same. We all think we know what's right. We all think we know what is
the right path. But we will not come unto God.
And that which is right unto a man, that way that seemeth
right unto a man, leads unto destruction. Oh, the destruction
that came. when Adam ate of that tree. Sin
entered and death by sin and death passed upon all men. We
are all dead in trespasses and sins. We're all blind to the
truth. We're all in darkness. We can hear the gospel. We can
hear of these two trees. We can hear of the king and his
salvation. We can hear of Christ. crucified
for sinners. We can hear of his blood that
was shed. We can hear of his cries from
the cross. And we can walk away, unmoved,
uncaring, dead in our sins, blind to the truth. What an enmity there is in man's
heart against his savior, against God, his maker. Oh, what darkness
and blindness engulfs us all. Oh, how that tree has slain us. But this house of the forest
of Lebanon, this house of trees,
reminds us also of that which unites God with man that which
brings salvation that which delivers us from the darkness that which
makes us to see and makes the deaf to hear and makes the dead
to live it reminds us of another tree a tree upon which Christ
was nailed tree which brought life but which to him was a tree
of death. Yes that tree of the knowledge
of good and evil that law to which we turned to make ourself
just before God to live in our own righteousness to work to
walk by our own deeds and our own works and our own will that
tree cursed man forever But Christ came in the place of His people,
and He took that tree. He took the curse. He took the
law. He took the condemnation. He
took the wrath of God upon Himself. And when He was nailed to that
tree, the cross, and lifted up, and God laid upon Him the sins
of all His people, He was cursed in their place. The fires of God's wrath poured
down upon his sacrifice, the Lamb of God, in the place of
sinners. That tree became a tree of death
under him. Oh, how he suffered. My God,
my God, why hast thou forsaken me? how the people looked on, how
they mocked, how they railed against him, how you and I have,
every time we've heard of him, every time we've heard of the
gospel and passed by, every time our thoughts have wandered another
way, every time we've looked aside unbelieving, uncaring,
Every time we've continued it in our own belief and continued
with our own desires and continued in our own works with our own
will, we've walked by unmoved. That man upon the tree calls
out, whose sorrows are like unto my sorrows. Is it nothing to
you all ye that pass by? Yet as he hung, he took away
every sin, every transgression, all the iniquity of his people.
As he was nailed to that tree, a tree of death, he brought in
everlasting righteousness for his own. He looked upon them
in love. He looked down upon his accusers,
down upon those who hated him. and said father forgive them
they know not what they do. He looked down upon his people
in mercy in love and in grace and to them he became a tree
of life. A tree of life. Oh has God brought
you into this city to see the king's house to see the Lord's
house, to see the house of the forest of Lebanon. Have you beheld
your saviour nailed to a tree? If you have, then you will know
that this king who was nailed to that tree on your behalf also
took you and made you a house. He made you a house. He built a house for Pharaoh's daughter. For Pharaoh's daughter. Solomon made also a house for
Pharaoh's daughter whom he had taken to wife like unto this
porch. She deserved it not Why did Solomon take to wife
Pharaoh's daughter when he might condemn him for this union with
a heathen, with a pagan? What sort of a bride was this
for this king? Pharaoh's daughter, a pagan,
a heathen from Egypt. That place from whence the people
of Israel were delivered at Moses' hand, why is he going back to
Egypt? Why is he marrying this sinner? Because in this, Solomon is presented
to us as a picture of Christ the Saviour, who came into the
Egypt of this world to seek out his bride, as it were, Pharaoh's
daughter. to find her in her filth, in
her iniquity, in her sin, in her rebellion, and to bring her
into her house and his house to dwell forevermore, to wash
her clean, to save her, to redeem her, to set his love upon her, to
give her life. Oh, what mercy that Christ should
come and to such a place, and to such undeserving sinners,
pagans, heathens, the lost, the guilty, the vile, and wash them
clean and make them perfect in his blood. But it cost him. It took the cross. It took the
death upon that tree to unite this woman, this bride, with
her King, her Savior, with Christ. We go on here to read of how
these houses were built of stones, fine stones. And we're reminded in Pharaoh's daughter of Moses. Because years before, another
daughter of Pharaoh took Moses as her son. This child born and raised in
Egypt, delivered from death at his birth, raised up in Pharaoh's
house that God raised up to deliver his people from Egypt. He was
spared death at his birth when that command of Pharaoh went
out to slay all the newborn children, all the sons, the firstborn sons. He was spared death. put into
the bulrushes, discovered by Pharaoh's daughter, raised in
the house of the king. But then he was sent forth of
God to deliver his people from bondage. And having brought them
out of Egypt, he went up into the Mount of God. And God gave
him that law, the Ten Commandments, written on tablets of stone,
a law which found out man's sin. a law which revealed unto us
just what we are as sinners, a law which man broke, tablets
of stone that man broke, a law which condemned each and every
one of us, a law which brought down judgment. Oh, what a reminder the stones
are of that law which you and I have broken in every jot and
every tittle. But what a reminder of that judgment
which came down upon the king in the place of his bride upon
the tree. For the stones of that judgment
rained down upon Christ when he took the sinner's place. When he went to that tree of
justice, when he stood in the sinner's place under the judgment
of God. When God sat upon his throne
of judgment and said the sinner must die and he poured down his
wrath upon the sinner. When Christ stood in the sinner's
place and said, judge me, not them. When he took their sins,
their guilt, their condemnation, their curse, when he was made
sin, then God sat on a throne of judgment and judged his own
son. In the midst of the account of
these houses that Solomon made, the king's house, the bride's
house, and the house of the forest of Lebanon. We read in that house
that Solomon 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. In order that the bride
might be united to the king, there was a throne of judgment
before which she must be brought. A throne of judgment which was
covered with cedar from one side of the floor to the other. A
throne of judgment in which we see the wood of the
trees upon which that judgment would be exacted. This is the throne before which
Christ as the saviour of his people was brought. This porch
with cedar wood from one side of the floor to the other, this
place where he was brought, where he was taken and nailed to a
tree, this place of judgment was where the King of Kings,
Christ himself, was nailed. in order that he might deliver
his bride, Pharaoh's daughter, from her sins, from judgment,
from condemnation, out of Egypt and bring her into another house,
the house of God, into the temple, into Christ himself, who dwells
forever. Is this you? Has Christ come
by this way of judgment unto you? Did he suffer in your place? Are you Pharaoh's daughter here? Are you the sinner for whom he
died? Did he shed his blood for you? Has he built a house for you? Is he bringing you, washed in
his blood, perfected from head to toe? one whom he sought, one
whom he loves, one unto whom he has shown mercy, one upon
whom he pours out his grace. Is he bringing you into his father's
house wherein are many mansions prepared afore for his people?
Is he bringing you through these three houses into that one house
of God to dwell with him forever? Yes, we read that Solomon finished
all his house because Christ himself has finished all his
house. When he cried out upon the cross,
it is finished. He had paid the price for the
sins of every one of His people. Everyone who will hear this Gospel,
everyone who will hear this message, every stone that will be taken
and laid in His temple, every lost sinner who will be gathered
in, and when the last one is heard and the last one believes
and the last one is brought under faith, then it will be done. It will be finished. He will
have finished His house. and we will go to dwell with
Him forevermore. O may God give us grace to see
through all the Scriptures Christ our Saviour who came into this
world to save sinners, sinners like you and I, sinners for whom
He gave His all, sinners whom He loved in laying down His life. nailed to a tree, crucified for
their sins, that they in him might be made the righteousness
of God. Yes, Christ finished all his
house. Amen.