When We Build
Notes
Transcript
Greeting/Prayer
Greeting/Prayer
Building Cross with Sam Brenize
Building Cross with Sam Brenize
In Building the Saw with Sam We had to Plan/Prepare/ and then Jump into the Process!
I spent several weeks drawing up plans for this cross, adjusting the design, the base
We had to prepare by pulling out the boards.
This week we jumped right into the process of making a cross and stand. by God’s grace we will have it completed by next week.
Transition: You might be wondering, why I am sharing about this process today. Well this morning we are going to look at Solomon’s build of the temple, although the Temple is way bigger than the cross, 1 Kings talks about the same three steps as I shared in the cross. They are Plan, Prepare, and Process.
Transition: Lets look at these three steps in the scripture text. if you have your Bible’s please turn to 1 Kings Chapter 5 and Follow along as I read from the NIV. 1 Kings 5:1-5
When Hiram king of Tyre heard that Solomon had been anointed king to succeed his father David, he sent his envoys to Solomon, because he had always been on friendly terms with David. Solomon sent back this message to Hiram:
“You know that because of the wars waged against my father David from all sides, he could not build a temple for the Name of the Lord his God until the Lord put his enemies under his feet. But now the Lord my God has given me rest on every side, and there is no adversary or disaster. I intend, therefore, to build a temple for the Name of the Lord my God, as the Lord told my father David, when he said, ‘Your son whom I will put on the throne in your place will build the temple for my Name.’
Plan
Plan
Here We see the King layout his Plan
Contacts Hiram, There is evidence that there is a previous relationship between Solomon and Hiram, that might extend back to David
Solomon Explains his situation and background info. He says I intend to build a temple.
Solomon clearly Communicates his need. I need wood and alot of it! and its in verse 7, where we see a glimpse into their relationship. Hiram was pleased to hear this news, not that he would be getting a big paycheck but that the Lord gave David a wise Son.
Lets turn back to scripture to see how King Solomon Prepared for the Temple to Be built. I am picking up at verse 6 and encourage you to read in your own Bibles.
“So give orders that cedars of Lebanon be cut for me. My men will work with yours, and I will pay you for your men whatever wages you set. You know that we have no one so skilled in felling timber as the Sidonians.”
When Hiram heard Solomon’s message, he was greatly pleased and said, “Praise be to the Lord today, for he has given David a wise son to rule over this great nation.”
So Hiram sent word to Solomon:
“I have received the message you sent me and will do all you want in providing the cedar and juniper logs. My men will haul them down from Lebanon to the Mediterranean Sea, and I will float them as rafts by sea to the place you specify. There I will separate them and you can take them away. And you are to grant my wish by providing food for my royal household.”
In this way Hiram kept Solomon supplied with all the cedar and juniper logs he wanted, and Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand cors of wheat as food for his household, in addition to twenty thousand baths, of pressed olive oil. Solomon continued to do this for Hiram year after year. The Lord gave Solomon wisdom, just as he had promised him. There were peaceful relations between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a treaty.
King Solomon conscripted laborers from all Israel—thirty thousand men. He sent them off to Lebanon in shifts of ten thousand a month, so that they spent one month in Lebanon and two months at home. Adoniram was in charge of the forced labor. Solomon had seventy thousand carriers and eighty thousand stonecutters in the hills, as well as thirty-three hundred foremen who supervised the project and directed the workers. At the king’s command they removed from the quarry large blocks of high-grade stone to provide a foundation of dressed stone for the temple. The craftsmen of Solomon and Hiram and workers from Byblos cut and prepared the timber and stone for the building of the temple.
Prepare
Prepare
In this section we see Solomon get everything ready for the Temple’s construction from the Materials to the Laborers.
Let’s Talk about Laborers.
Solomon conscripts thirty thousand laborers from Israel; these are not slaves but men who give their services as tribute (free labor). Now the Text Doesnt tell us How to interpret this, But can anyone think of another King that had the people of Israel build him buildings without pay?
If we look later on in 1 Kings 9:20-21 The situation gets even more Grim.
There were still people left from the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites (these peoples were not Israelites). Solomon conscripted the descendants of all these peoples remaining in the land—whom the Israelites could not exterminate—to serve as slave labor, as it is to this day.
These laborers are forced to do the heavy work of carrying materials and cutting stone in the mountains. So not only does Solomon have is own people build the temple without pay, he does exactly what Pharoh did by using foreigners as slaves.
What this teaches us, is HOW you do something is just as important as what you are doing! Solomon is building a HOLY temple. A place that is supposed to be set apart and diffferent from the rest of the world. and Yet, Solomon looks more like the rest of the world as He builds this temple. I think that is an important thing to note.
Let’s continue with the nity gritty deatails of the process that we find in the next chapter. Lets Dive deep into the process of Building the Temple.
In the four hundred and eightieth year after the Israelites came out of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, the second month, he began to build the temple of the Lord.
The temple that King Solomon built for the Lord was sixty cubits long, twenty wide and thirty high. The portico at the front of the main hall of the temple extended the width of the temple, that is twenty cubits, and projected ten cubits from the front of the temple. He made narrow windows high up in the temple walls. Against the walls of the main hall and inner sanctuary he built a structure around the building, in which there were side rooms. The lowest floor was five cubits wide, the middle floor six cubits and the third floor seven. He made offset ledges around the outside of the temple so that nothing would be inserted into the temple walls.
In building the temple, only blocks dressed at the quarry were used, and no hammer, chisel or any other iron tool was heard at the temple site while it was being built.
Process:
Process:
There are a few things that I want to point out in the process that are important for our understanding of this temple. First, how many of you wondered why there was no hammer, chisel or iron tool used at the Temple site? Well I did and its a part of the process!
The use of undressed stones taken directly from the quarry conforms to the requirement that no iron tools were to be used on stones for altars used in worship (Ex. 20:25; Deut. 27:5–6), though dressed stones are used for the courts and the palace (cf. 1 Kings 6:36; 1 Chron. 22:2). The prohibition of dressed stones is another way of distinguishing an Israelite place of worship from the Canaanite shrines, which were often adorned with sculpted images of the gods. Israelite altars are to be unadorned, made of earth or unhewn stones and without steps (Ex. 20:24–26). The temple symbolizes the divine rule but in no sense the actual image of a king, not even in the construction of the building itself.
Solomon was intentional in the process to make this truly a place that Glorified God. And God even interupts the building process to Give his two cents if you will. look at verses 11-13.
God’s Presence in the Process.
Often when we are building things, we can forget about God’s presence in the process, but here God reminds solomon that it is the King’s heart and love that He desires.
My hope for our building process is that we would remember God’s presence in the process too. Church, never forget about this God’s promise that He will never leave us or forsake us. In fact, He is here even now.
Lets Jump down to verse 23 for a moment. 1 Kings 6:23-28
For the inner sanctuary he made a pair of cherubim out of olive wood, each ten cubits high. One wing of the first cherub was five cubits long, and the other wing five cubits—ten cubits from wing tip to wing tip. The second cherub also measured ten cubits, for the two cherubim were identical in size and shape. The height of each cherub was ten cubits. He placed the cherubim inside the innermost room of the temple, with their wings spread out. The wing of one cherub touched one wall, while the wing of the other touched the other wall, and their wings touched each other in the middle of the room. He overlaid the cherubim with gold.
The Cherubium are important here!
1 & 2 Kings ((2) The Interior of the Temple)
Cherubs were a distinguishing feature of thrones in ancient Mesopotamia, Syria, and Canaan. Keel provides numerous examples of cherub thrones comparable to those of Solomon’s temple. They were composite creatures (a bull, a lion, an eagle, and a human head), signifying union of the highest powers of strength, speed, and sagacity. Reproductions of ancient Egyptian temples found in Phoenicia show the throne of the deity supported by two animals.30 The sides of ancient Canaanite thrones were commonly shaped as a cherub. The cherubs of Solomon’s temple (vv. 23–28) are distinct because they are not designed to serve as a human throne. They are attached to the ark, which serves as a footstool to the throne (cf. 1 Chron. 28:2), with the wings touching in the middle and extending to the walls of the throne room. There is no actual seat to the throne, since none is necessary.
What this is saying is that Solomon wants everyone to know that there is no other King on the throne of this Temple other than God.
Solomon also does something similar in verse 29 with Palm Trees and Open Flowers! They point to something greater than themselves. The Temple points back to relationship with God in Eden, listen to what one commentator notes.
1 & 2 Kings Bridging Contexts
The lush appearance of the palm with its green leaves provides rich images of prosperity and becomes a symbol for the righteous followers of the covenant who remain vital and virile even into old age.
The righteous will flourish like a palm tree,
they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon;
planted in the house of the LORD,
they will flourish in the courts of our God.
They will still bear fruit in old age,
they will stay fresh and green,
proclaiming, “The LORD is upright;
he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him.” (Ps. 92:12–15)
The association of the cherub with the palm is a powerful symbol of the source of vitality for creation. The cherubs guarding the tree of life in the Garden of Eden make the cherubs facing the tree a poignant motif in the temple of Solomon
Finding the Why:
Finding the Why:
I want to read one final section of text that Reveals the Pinacle of the Process for Solomon’s temple. Would you turn with me to 1 Kings 8:1-21
Then King Solomon summoned into his presence at Jerusalem the elders of Israel, all the heads of the tribes and the chiefs of the Israelite families, to bring up the ark of the Lord’s covenant from Zion, the City of David. All the Israelites came together to King Solomon at the time of the festival in the month of Ethanim, the seventh month.
When all the elders of Israel had arrived, the priests took up the ark, and they brought up the ark of the Lord and the tent of meeting and all the sacred furnishings in it. The priests and Levites carried them up, and King Solomon and the entire assembly of Israel that had gathered about him were before the ark, sacrificing so many sheep and cattle that they could not be recorded or counted.
The priests then brought the ark of the Lord’s covenant to its place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, the Most Holy Place, and put it beneath the wings of the cherubim. The cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark and overshadowed the ark and its carrying poles. These poles were so long that their ends could be seen from the Holy Place in front of the inner sanctuary, but not from outside the Holy Place; and they are still there today. There was nothing in the ark except the two stone tablets that Moses had placed in it at Horeb, where the Lord made a covenant with the Israelites after they came out of Egypt.
When the priests withdrew from the Holy Place, the cloud filled the temple of the Lord. And the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled his temple.
Then Solomon said, “The Lord has said that he would dwell in a dark cloud; I have indeed built a magnificent temple for you, a place for you to dwell forever.”
While the whole assembly of Israel was standing there, the king turned around and blessed them. Then he said:
“Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, who with his own hand has fulfilled what he promised with his own mouth to my father David. For he said, ‘Since the day I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I have not chosen a city in any tribe of Israel to have a temple built so that my Name might be there, but I have chosen David to rule my people Israel.’
“My father David had it in his heart to build a temple for the Name of the Lord, the God of Israel. But the Lord said to my father David, ‘You did well to have it in your heart to build a temple for my Name. Nevertheless, you are not the one to build the temple, but your son, your own flesh and blood—he is the one who will build the temple for my Name.’
“The Lord has kept the promise he made: I have succeeded David my father and now I sit on the throne of Israel, just as the Lord promised, and I have built the temple for the Name of the Lord, the God of Israel. I have provided a place there for the ark, in which is the covenant of the Lord that he made with our ancestors when he brought them out of Egypt.”
In this section we find the most important question!
When We build We must ask Why!
For Solomon: He was building for the Lord’s Glory, but also to provide a place for the Lord’s Presence among his people.
The church building is a place for the church people to meet. In the Old Testament, the actual temple building isn’t a place where the congregation meets for worship. You could say it is a kind of shrine, though the Old Testament doesn’t use a word like that to describe it; it doesn’t even call it a temple. When the word temple comes in English translations, it renders either the ordinary Hebrew word for a house or the one for a palace, the word you would use for a splendid royal residence. The temple is a house for God, a palace for the divine King. It’s a house because it’s a dwelling. It’s a palace because it’s paneled with cedar and decorated with carvings and covered in gold (some hyperbole may be assumed here). That same word for “palace” is also used for the main “hall” of the building.
That is Solomon’s Why!
The Why is the defining factor of the Text. But its also the defining Factor of Everything we Do.
In the Beginning of the Sermon I shared that Sam and I were building a cross. I didnt share why, but that is the most important part. I am building a cross for my very Good friend who is getting married next Saturday.
As We begin our conversation about Church Rennovation’s we must also ask Why? What is our vision for this project? Why has God placed this on our hearts now?
I want to close with a quote that connects the building of the Temple with the “Church”. It answers the Question: Why does the Church exist? or Why the Church?
The mark of the church is an expanding witness of the presence of God, first to our families, then to our communities and country, and ultimately to the whole earth. “The Church is to be God’s temple, so filled with his glorious presence that we expand and fill the earth with that presence until God finally accomplishes the goal completely at the end of time.”122 It is said that a small shark kept captive will stay a size proportionate to the aquarium in which it is confined. A shark turned loose in the ocean will reach a size of over twenty feet. The church must not be kept captive in a fishbowl or aquarium. Rather, the church must manifest the presence of Christ and his temple so the glory of God is manifest in the entire earth (Ps. 8:1, 9). The earth must be “full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea (Isa. 11:9; cf. Hab. 2:14). Only then can they fulfill the promise of the temple for the new heavens and new earth, in which everyone worships before God (Isa. 66:22–23).’
Would you Join me in Prayer?