Solomon Builds the Temple (1Kings 6)

What were David’s two greatest sins? Most people would reply, “His adultery with Bathsheba and his taking a census of the people,” and their answers would be correct. As a result of his sin of numbering the people, David purchased property on Mount Moriah where he built an altar and worshiped the Lord. David married Bathsheba and God gave them a son whom they named Solomon. Now we have Solomon building a temple on David’s property on Mount Moriah! God took the consequences of David’s two worst sins—a piece of property and a son—and built a temple! “But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more” (Rom. 5:20, NKJV). This isn’t an encouragement for us to sin, because David paid dearly for both of those transgressions, but it is an encouragement to us go on serving God after we’ve repented and confessed our sins. Satan wants us to think that all is lost, but the God of all grace is still at work.

I. The outer structure (vv. 1–10)

And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of the LORD. 2 Now the house which King Solomon built for the LORD, its length was sixty cubits, its width twenty, and its height thirty cubits. 3 The vestibule in front of the sanctuary of the house was twenty cubits long across the width of the house, and the width of the vestibule extended ten cubits from the front of the house. 4 And he made for the house windows with beveled frames. 5 Against the wall of the temple he built chambers all around, against the walls of the temple, all around the sanctuary and the inner sanctuary. Thus he made side chambers all around it. 6 The lowest chamber was five cubits wide, the middle was six cubits wide, and the third was seven cubits wide; for he made narrow ledges around the outside of the temple, so that the support beams would not be fastened into the walls of the temple. 7 And the temple, when it was being built, was built with stone finished at the quarry, so that no hammer or chisel or any iron tool was heard in the temple while it was being built. 8 The doorway for the middle story was on the right side of the temple. They went up by stairs to the middle story, and from the middle to the third. 9 So he built the temple and finished it, and he paneled the temple with beams and boards of cedar. 10 And he built side chambers against the entire temple, each five cubits high; they were attached to the temple with cedar beams.

A. The temple had three levels of rooms attached to outer walls of the temple.

The common cubit was used for the temple, which means that the structure was ninety feet long, thirty feet wide, and forty-five feet high. The ancient world had a “short cubit” or “common cubit” of almost eighteen inches and a “long cubit” of almost twenty-one inches.

A porch thirty feet wide and fifteen feet deep stood at the front of the temple, and a courtyard for the priests surrounded the sanctuary. It was separated from an outer courtyard by a wall composed of stone blocks and wood. The doors of the temple faced east, as did the gate of the tabernacle.

B. The tabernacle was a portable shrine, but the temple reflects permanence.

These rooms attached to the outer walls of the temple were on the south, west, and north walls. Each chamber was seven and a half feet high. The walls that supported these chambers were constructed like three stair steps, and the chambers stood on wooden supports that rested on these stairs. The rooms on the upper level were ten and a half feet wide, on the second level nine feet wide, and on the lowest level seven and a half feet wide. These chambers were probably used for storage.

At the middle of the south wall of the temple was a door leading to the lowest level of rooms and to a spiral stairway leading to the middle and top floors. On each level there must have been a narrow passage connecting the rooms. In the north and south walls, above the third level of rooms, were narrow windows that let in a small amount of light (v. 4). There were no windows in the tabernacle of Moses. However, the light necessary for ministry in the holy place came from ten lampstands, five along the north wall and five along the south wall. Of course, so large and heavy a structure required a strong foundation.

II. A divine message (vv. 11–13)

11 Then the word of the LORD came to Solomon, saying: 12 “Concerning this temple which you are building, if you walk in My statutes, execute My judgments, keep all My commandments, and walk in them, then I will perform My word with you, which I spoke to your father David. 13 And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will not forsake My people Israel.”

A. We don’t know who brought this message.

It was probably a prophet, but the Lord sent His Word to the king at a time when he was either discouraged with the building program or (more likely) starting to become proud of what he was accomplishing.

The Lord reminded Solomon, as He must constantly remind us, that He’s not impressed with our work if our walk isn’t obedient to Him. Solomon must obey God’s word. Only then can the temple have lasting significance, and only then can the nation as a whole enjoy God’s favor.

B. God wants is an obedient heart.

God would fulfill His promises to David and Solomon, not because Solomon built the temple but because he obeyed the Word of the Lord. A similar warning was included in the covenant God gave Moses in, so it was not a new revelation to Solomon.

This was the second time God spoke to Solomon about obedience, and He would speak to him about it again after the dedication of the temple. Great kings and great buildings can and will be replaced if disobedience becomes a way of life. On the other hand, eternal blessings will result from consistent obedience. Solomon must not forget these things in the midst of all his busy success.

III. The inner structure (vv. 14–38)

14 So Solomon built the temple and finished it. 15 And he built the inside walls of the temple with cedar boards; from the floor of the temple to the ceiling he paneled the inside with wood; and he covered the floor of the temple with planks of cypress. 16 Then he built the twenty-cubit room at the rear of the temple, from floor to ceiling, with cedar boards; he built it inside as the inner sanctuary, as the Most Holy Place. 17 And in front of it the temple sanctuary was forty cubits long. 18 The inside of the temple was cedar, carved with ornamental buds and open flowers. All was cedar; there was no stone to be seen. 19 And he prepared the inner sanctuary inside the temple, to set the ark of the covenant of the LORD there. 20 The inner sanctuary was twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and twenty cubits high. He overlaid it with pure gold, and overlaid the altar of cedar. 21 So Solomon overlaid the inside of the temple with pure gold. He stretched gold chains across the front of the inner sanctuary, and overlaid it with gold. 22 The whole temple he overlaid with gold, until he had finished all the temple; also he overlaid with gold the entire altar that was by the inner sanctuary. 23 Inside the inner sanctuary he made two cherubim of olive wood, each ten cubits high. 24 One wing of the cherub was five cubits, and the other wing of the cherub five cubits: ten cubits from the tip of one wing to the tip of the other. 25 And the other cherub was ten cubits; both cherubim were of the same size and shape. 26 The height of one cherub was ten cubits, and so was the other cherub. 27 Then he set the cherubim inside the inner room; and they stretched out the wings of the cherubim so that the wing of the one touched one wall, and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall. And their wings touched each other in the middle of the room. 28 Also he overlaid the cherubim with gold. 29 Then he carved all the walls of the temple all around, both the inner and outer sanctuaries, with carved figures of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers. 30 And the floor of the temple he overlaid with gold, both the inner and outer sanctuaries. 31 For the entrance of the inner sanctuary he made doors of olive wood; the lintel and doorposts were one-fifth of the wall. 32 The two doors were of olive wood; and he carved on them figures of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, and overlaid them with gold; and he spread gold on the cherubim and on the palm trees. 33 So for the door of the sanctuary he also made doorposts of olive wood, one-fourth of the wall. 34 And the two doors were of cypress wood; two panels comprised one folding door, and two panels comprised the other folding door. 35 Then he carved cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers on them, and overlaid them with gold applied evenly on the carved work. 36 And he built the inner court with three rows of hewn stone and a row of cedar beams. 37 In the fourth year the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid, in the month of Ziv. 38 And in the eleventh year, in the month of Bul, which is the eighth month, the house was finished in all its details and according to all its plans. So he was seven years in building it.

A. The inside of the temple was the most important part.

It was there that the priests carried out the ministry of the Lord. The interior walls from ceiling to floor were paneled with cedar boards, overlaid with gold, on which were carved open flowers and gourds, and the floor was covered with planks of pine (or fir), also overlaid with gold. A pair of beautifully carved folding doors led into the Holy Place from the court of the priests. Like the cherubim, these doors were made of olive wood covered with gold, and they even had hinges of gold. Golden chains hung across the outside of the doors.

At the west end of the Holy Place, sixty feet from the doors, hung the beautiful veil that marked off the Holy of Holies, also called the Most Holy Place. This created a room that was a cube, measuring thirty feet on every side. The walls of the Holy of Holies were paneled with cedar wood and covered with gold, and the floor was made of gold-plated fir planks. Even the nails used in the Holy of Holies were plated with gold. It was in the Holy of Holies that the Ark of the Covenant was kept.

B. The Ark of the Covenant represented the throne of God.

It was a wooden chest, forty-five inches long, twenty-seven inches wide, and twenty-seven inches high. Because the two tables of the law were in the Ark, it was also called “the Ark of the Testimony”. Across the top of the Ark was a golden “mercy seat,” and at each end was a cherub made of olive wood and covered with gold. The cherubim were fifteen feet high and their wings were fifteen feet across, so that as the Ark sat in the Holy of Holies, the four wings reached from wall to wall.

Once a year, the high priest was permitted to enter the Holy of Holies, sprinkle the blood of the sacrifice on the mercy seat and thus cover the sins of the people for another year. It was God who established their nation and Israel’s faith in God was the source of their strength.