Audio Readings
1 Kings 5-6
Preparations for Building the Temple
David always wanted to build a home for God to dwell in, but he never got to do it. But his son, Solomon did get the chance, and today we see the grand scale of this incredible building project. King Hiram from Tyre was a long time favorite of a King David's, and he floated the cedars of Lebanon down the Mediterranean Sea to be used to build the temple. As we all know cedar is one of the best woods to build a house with. In return, Solomon sent King Hiram thousands of bushels of wheat and olive oil. Large blocks of high quality stones were mined from the quarry, and they were shaped by skilled craftsmen to make the foundation for the temple.
Ginzberg relates some of the legends surrounding the building of the temple. “During the seven years it took to build the Temple, not a single workman died who was employed about it, nor even did a single one fall sick. And as the workmen were sound and robust from first to last, so the perfection of their tools remained unimpaired until the building stood complete. Thus the work suffered no sort of interruption” (Ginzberg).
Solomon Builds the Temple
I Kings 6 gives us an inmportant date for figuring out when events happened in the Old Testament. The passage says that the work began on the temple 480 years from the time of the Exodus from Egypt. The Tabernacle had served some 400 years as the place where God dwelt by His Spirit. It also gives us a date for the Exodus.
The date in 1 Kings 6:1 also gives a marking point for the Exodus. As many suppose, the reign of Solomon began in 971 b.c. and ended at 913 b.c. (the temple was begun in 967 b.c.). This means that the Exodus took place in 1447 b.c.
Since we live in 2,200, we might surmise that we are about 3,650 years from the time of the Israelites deliverance from slavery in Egpyt.
We see the massive size of the temple. The temple was 30 yards long and was three stories high.
The dimensions of the temple also tell us that it was built on the same basic design as the tabernacle, but twice as large. This means that Solomon meant the temple to be a continuation of the tabernacle. Guzik
The Temple’s Interior
The entire temple was paneled with wood. Cedar on the walls and ceiling, and cypress on the floors. Importantly Solomon constructed the Most Holy Place in the interior at the far end of the sanctuary. Only the Most High Priest could go in there into the "holy of holies" once a year on the Day of Atonement.
Amidst the building of the temple the Lord reminded Solomon of the promise he gave to his Father, King David
“Concerning this Temple you are building, if you keep all my decrees and regulations and obey all my commands, I will fulfill through you the promise I made to your father, David. 13 I will live among the Israelites and will never abandon my people Israel.” 6:12-13
God was careful not to say that He would live in the temple the way pagans thought their gods lived in temples. He would dwell among the children of Israel. The temple was a special place for man to meet with God. - Guzik
The inner sanctuary, where the Ark of the Covenant would be placed, was inlaid with pure gold. Two cherubim made of olive wood, which were 15 feet tall and their wingspan was also 15 feet were placed there. The two cherubim were covered in gold and represented the angels watching over the Ark of the Covenant in the Most Holy Place.
It must always be remembered that under the Old Covenant, the temple was not for the people of Israel. It was only for the priests to meet with God on behalf of the people. The people gathered and worshipped in the outer courtyard.
When the temple was finished it was a spectacular building. It was easy for Israel to focus on the temple of God instead of the God of the temple. Yet without continued faithfulness to God, the temple’s glory quickly faded. This glorious temple was plundered just five years after the death of Solomon (1 Kings 14:25-27).
After seeing the glory of the first temple it is amazing when St. Paul says that, "Our bodies are a temple of the Holy Spirit." 1 Corinthians 6:19
When we left off yesterday, Stephen's face was shining like the sun, as he looked up to heaven. Today he addressing the Sanhedrin (the ruling body of Israel made up of 70 elders). Stephen gives them a brief history of their people starting with the call of Abraham to leave Mesopotamia and to move to Haran. Then they came to Jerusalem where they now were. God made a promise to Abraham that he eventually would inhabit the land and it would be given to his descendants. The problem was Abraham was childless. But after Issac was born miraculously, circumcision became the sign of the covenant God had made with Abraham and the Israelites. Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of the 12 patriarchs of the 12 tribes of Israel.
With this, Stephen emphasized a relationship with God on the basis of faith and not outward evidences like a temple or the structure of institutional religion and its customs. Guzik
Then he conveyed the story of Joseph, Jacob's favorite son. When his jealous brothers left him for dead, he ended up in Potiphar's household. Through God's sovereign hand, he became the manager of Potiphar's whole household. So when the famine came Joseph had wisely told Potiphar to store extra silos of grain during the years of plenty so they were the only nation which had food. When Jacob heard about this, he sent his sons to Egypt, where they became reunited with the brother they had tried to dispose of. But Joseph realized that what they meant for evil God used for good in the saving of many lives.
Stephen mentioned the story of Joseph because he is a picture of Jesus, in that the sons of Israel rejected Joseph, who later became a savior to them (and the only possible savior). Guzik
After a while there was a Pharoah who didn't know Joseph and the Israelites began to be oppressed and forced into slave labor. But God heard the cries of his people and Moses was born and picked up by Pharaoh's daughter floating down the Nile. He grew up in Pharaoh's household Moses learned many skills from the Egyptians, as he grew up in Pharaoh's household. One day when Moses was 40 years old and he saw an Israelite being mistreated by an Egyptian. He killed the Egyptian and eventually left Egypt to go to Midian where he had two sons.
When Moses offered deliverance to Israel, he was rejected and rejected with spite. Israel denied that he had any right to be a ruler and a judge over them. Stephen’s message was plain: “You have rejected Jesus, who was like Moses yet greater than him, and you deny that Jesus has any right to be a ruler and a judge over you.”
You can only imagine is Stephen is giving these religious leaders this history lesson and building a case against them they are starting to get pretty perturbed.
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