A HOUSE AND A TEMPLE. 1st Kings 7 Solomon's palace was not just a house but a dwelling place for him and his family. There were three stories of the palace and other buildings around it. The ground floor had the great hall where government business would be conducted, and Solomon's throne was probably there. In that building, there was also an armory where shields, swords, and other weapons would be kept. The Palace of the Forest of Lebanon had four rows of cedar columns that extended 150 feet from one end to the other. These held up the cedar beams that held the roof of the building.
The building complex included Solomon's place of living, a house for Pharaoh's daughter, and likely the harem. The Porch of Judgment (Hall of Justice), the great courtyard, the hall of pillars, and whatever other buildings were needed would have made that area an impressive seat of government. It was a massive building project that took nearly twice as long as it did to build the temple for the Lord. The whole complex would have been beautiful and impressive, but it did not have the beauty of the temple.
Some of the limestone in that area could be cut with saws into the size the builders wanted. Some kinds of limestone get harder when exposed to the sun and elements. The intelligence of people in ancient times was such that they could create great architectural wonders without all of the equipment we have at our disposal today, and we believe the equipment is necessary to make such buildings. Even the ark built by Noah over a thousand years before the temple was a marvelous work of construction that looks pretty sophisticated in its design.
When God asks for something to be done, he gives the ability and wisdom to do it. We are not left high and dry to do the will of God. The human mind will not develop nor deteriorate because of the passing of time. The most worrisome happening in present-day society is the moral deterioration that leads people to ruin their God-given intelligence with moral and chemical abuse. Sound doctrine and the principles relating to living the Christian life protect and preserve the testimony and life of the house of God. We are built on the sound foundation of "the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone." What was important to God then is important to Him now. To a certain extent, the decline in morality negatively affects the ability of those who engage in promiscuous living to accomplish what should be generally expected of them.
Solomon did his most remarkable and most significant work in the early years of his reign. The book of Ecclesiastes reads like the musings of a jaded old man who looked at life through jaundiced eyes. Solomon didn't even live to old age because he got away from what was important to God and lived for what was important to him. Details in the last part of this chapter are given about the temple furnishings that indicate these were not just arbitrarily made to suit the artistic ability of Hiram.
Everything had a purpose and design suited for the temple and temple worship. Hiram's mother was from the city of Dan in northern Israel and was from the tribe of Naphtali by way of her first husband. Her son, Hiram, was from Tyre, where he learned the skills needed by Solomon to do the work to which he was assigned. The results of that labor were quite spectacular as they followed God's directions.
When we are doing things for our own benefit and pleasure or are doing a project related to our business, we can do it our way. When our labor, service, and worship are for God, we must do it His way. We need to know and follow God's instructions in our spiritual life. To contradict, add to, or take away from what God says would be rebellious and insulting to Him. In the Christian life, we should not overlook the small things and consider them unimportant. Every person and every gift must properly function to make the house of God the kind of place of worship the Lord intends.
Two twenty-seven-foot pillars around eighteen inches through were made for the temple entrance with chapiters set on top like a crown. In front of the temple was a laver big enough to hold around 12,000 gallons of water. There were movable basins made out of bronze on wheels. Tools for the service of the temple were made, and each would have been useful and a work of art in itself.
Ten golden tables, five on each side of the Holy Place, were made and placed there to hold the Bread of Presence. Ten gold lampstands, five on each side of the Holy Place in the main hall, were also made. The temple and its furnishings were priceless works of art, but more importantly, they were made for God.
The house of God, of which we are a part in a local church, is also priceless. God takes each individual and puts them where He wants to be used as He wants. The exercise of the heart of each one enables the glory of the house to bear witness to angels (like the cherubim) and to people that God is in this place. When the temple was completed, all the treasure David had accumulated and stored was brought into the temple and was there for the glory of God.
Some people know a lot but don’t like to work, and others want to work but have limited skills. The most challenging work can be initiated when wisdom and understanding come together with motivation and ambition. Skill may come from carefully watching others use their knowledge for good purposes. Repeating a task carefully over and over makes the resulting effort come out as it should. Skill may initially be slow and easily discouraged, but when skill is coupled with experience, we feel real satisfaction when the result is seen. The laborer can have justified pride and enjoy knowing he had a hand in that finished work.
God uses what we are and can give us what we need to finish the work He gives us for His glory. Not knowing exactly what will be in the end, we begin to work in faith, trusting Him, who knows the end of the project and the whole story behind it. It is only fitting that I rise each day with a sense of duty to do some work for Him, whether to labor as a steward or learn some way to deal with sin or how to present truth in an understandable way.
Hiram was known as a man of great skill in building and molding beautiful objects with the best possible workmanship. I know men skilled in the Word and can almost overwhelm us with their ability to interpret the scriptures. My place is that of a laborer with experience in the field, using that experience and a little bit of skill for my Lord. I know at least some of my limitations – maybe most of them. I need to be content with what I can do and encourage those more skilled to use it well. They may need the benefit of my experience sometimes, and I need wisdom on how to pass on what I know for the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ.