Finding Reverence

Opening prayer:  

Bowring family, Ava was in ICU

Announcements:

- Men’s Breakfast this Saturday – Sign up online

- 3 tables left after our time today

- Others?

Warm-Up

TOV:  One gift from God you actually enjoyed this week.

- Something simple.

- Something real.

RAH:  One place this week where you:

- Spoke too quickly

- Felt anxious about money, work, or provision

- Chased something and still felt unsatisfied

Prime the pumps:

Title: Finding Reverence

What is “reverence”? Dictionary definition: A feeling of profound awe and respect and often love.

Gary Hamrick (Pastor in Maryland area) Defines Reverence:

- Living a life of respect toward God

- Living a God-ward life

Visible when Solomon starts Ecclesiastes Chapter 5.

1. Opens with a visual of the Temple.  This is our context “House of God”

a. Previously we had

i. Tabernacle – a mobile command center

b. Now we have a brick and mortar, rooted House of God.

i. Solomon built the temple

ii. King David his father has the architectural plans, but his hands were soiled by blood from war, so the construction was passed to his son

iii. Over 183,000 men

iv. 7 years to construct

v. Stone quarried from elsewhere and brought onsite “so that neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron was heard in the house while it was being built.” (1 Kings 6:7)

c. That is REVERENCE.  This is the context.  It matters. 

d. First verse:  “Guard your steps when you go to the House of God.”

i. Foreshadowing of the list of “guards” he’s about to discuss

1. Don’t rush in

2. Don’t talk too much – listen more than you speak; quick to listen—slow to speak

3. Don’t make impulsive vows

a. Bargain prayer?  Quid pro quo….you give me this, I’ll give you that

4. Don’t treat worship casually

ii. Later those words were less metaphorical: in the 2nd Temple period during expansion, Heron had steps up to the south gates (Huldah Gates) constructed with 35” and 12” steps—forcing us to SLOW DOWN

🏗️ How Many Men Built the Temple?

According to 2 Chronicles 2:17–18, Solomon counted:

70,000 burden bearers (laborers)

80,000 stonecutters in the hill country

3,600 overseers

That equals:

153,600 workers directly involved

Additionally, 1 Kings 5:13–14 tells us Solomon conscripted:

30,000 forced laborers from Israel

Sent to Lebanon in shifts (10,000 per month)

If you include them in the broader workforce supporting the effort:

Total workforce involved: ~183,600 men

So yes — your number is accurate.

⏳ How Long Did It Take?

1 Kings 6:38 states:

It took seven years to complete the Temple.

Construction began in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign and finished in the eleventh year.

Destroyed by Babylon in 586 BC