A High Point in History

High Point of History

1 Kings 5-7

Turn in your Bibles to 1 Kings chapter 5

David wanted to build a temple for the LORD - but God said, “The time isn’t right. You battle your enemies and establish Israel’s borders. When there’s peace on every side, then Solomon, your son will build the temple for My name.”

In 1 Kings chapter 5, Solomon is in the fourth year of his reign, there’s peace on every side and now it’s temple building time.

READ 1 Kings 5:1-7; 13-18.

Solomon doesn’t just have peace on every side – he has respect from other world leaders – like Hiram, king of Tyre. Hiram’s kingdom includes Lebanon. Lebanon is famous for its majestic, mighty cedar trees and Solomon makes a deal with Hiram to get a supply of all the cedars he needs. Then he drafts almost 200 thousand men to work on the construction project. And the work begins.

1 THE PROMISE OF A TEMPLE

In the book of 1 Kings - there are 10-11 chapters that focus on the life of King Solomon. Out of those chapters - 4 of them are devoted to his building of the Temple of God in Jerusalem. So, almost half of the life of Solomon is focused on a building project. Why do you think that so much time would be taken up by THAT?!

At first glance, these may be a few chapters that seem to have very little relevance to your life today.

I mean, we are talking building dimensions, materials, layout, decor, furniture. Sure, some people are right into interior design and construction, but - a building that was constructed 3 THOUSAND years ago?

And what about the majority who aren’t wired with a natural interest in Pinterest or binge-watching ‘Fixer Upper’? Is this going to have anything for us?!

Well, if you’re tempted to tune out right about now and tell yourself that you’ll focus on coming back next week for a more interesting ‘story’ from Solomon’s life .... let me encourage you to hang in there with expectation that the Lord has something for you .... HERE.

First of all - remember that the Bible’s narratives are concise. The book of Genesis covers thousands of years in 50 chapters. So, if the story of the wisest man who ever lived until Jesus, is half-consumed with one building project … this is one important building project.

In fact, you may not realize it, but we are coming to the high point of the entire Old Testament. This is one of THE most important moments in the history of the world.

You get a sense of what a big deal this temple is, from the very first verse of chapter 6.

1 Kings 6:1: “In the four hundred and eightieth year after the people of Israel came 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, he began to build the house of the LORD.”

If I were to ask you what was the most significant event in the history of Israel up until the time of our passage … what would you say?

There are so many important events - so many to choose from. But there is no more important event for the people of God in the Old Testament - than the Exodus from Egypt. That’s when the nation of Israel was born.

You remember the story: the family of Jacob ends up as refugees in Egypt during a famine - because God rescues them through their brother Joseph. Joseph is the one, so hated by his brothers, that they were going to kill him - but decided to sell him to slave traders instead. They thought they had seen the last of him - told their father he was dead.

But Joseph is the one who, by God’s powerful control of history - took him from slavery to prison, to the throne of Prime Minister of all Egypt. And it’s from that position of power that he can save the lives of the people of Egypt … and the lives of his own family.

The family moves in and starts a new life in Egypt as landed-immigrant farmers. But they end up as slaves. FOUR HUNDRED years of torment - crying out to the LORD for rescue.

Rescue is exactly what God does. Pharaoh is holding on to his Israelite slaves with an iron grip. By His overwhelming power, God breaks Pharaoh’s arm through plague after devastating plague. God fights for His people and leads Israel on a pathway through a parted sea - to freedom.

What does He do when He gets them out of slavery? Turn to Exodus 19:4, “You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself.”

This mighty act of God’s grace in rescuing His people - is the very foundation of Israel’s knowledge about God and relationship WITH God. Look ahead to the very next chapter in Exodus. Chapter 20 is where God gives Israel the 10 commandments. And you may think: “Yep - that’s what a relationship with God is like - He gives you His commands, you obey them. And, if you obey them well enough … then He will care about you - hear your prayers … maybe even answer one or two.”

But you can’t understand the 10 commandments without understanding how they begin. Exodus 20:2,3 - “I am the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt - out of the house of slavery … you shall have no other gods before Me.”

Don’t miss the order here: “I AM the LORD who rescued you … saved you out of slavery .... In other words, “I AM THE ONE WHO ALREADY LOVES YOU AND HAS ALREADY SAVED YOU. So, because of my relationship of love with you … this is how I want you to live - for my honour and your joy.”

You need to hear that as we prepare to look at this Temple. Because this temple in Jerusalem is a place of worship. And you recognize - “Israel needed to worship God. I need to worship God. That must be the relevance for me.” And yes - it’s true - there’s application here about worship.

And Israel is going to worship at this temple by seeking God, calling on Him and by offering sacrifices for sin.

But if you think that this temple is a place where the people tried to get God’s attention by their sacrifices - that this was the place where they jump up and down and try to persuade Him to care .... then you aren’t understanding this temple. And you aren’t understanding worship of the one TRUE GOD.

The fact that our text puts the building of this temple in historical context and points back to the last, biggest event in Israel’s history - as if this is the fulfillment of what started back there .... that it culminates in this place … well, it’s a reminder to us:

This is the place to worship the God who has already proven that He loves His people and Has brought them into relationship with himself.

Before he died, when Moses was giving his last message to God’s people, perched on the outskirts of the Promised Land – he promised, in Deuteronomy 12:10-11, “When you go over the Jordan and live in the land that the LORD your God is giving you to inherit, and when he gives you rest from all your enemies around, so that you live in safety … THEN to the place that the LORD your God will choose, to make his name dwell there, there you shall bring all that I command you.”

This Place of God’s special presence – was God’s Promise in the first place – Promise made, almost 500 years before. Now it’s a promise kept.

In fact, 1 Chronicles tells us that God designed this place down to the smallest detail - and it was God who gave the plans to David. Solomon isn’t designing this Temple - he’s just the contractor who makes sure it gets done.

Do you wonder whether you can worship God? If you have a longing to worship Him and come to Him by faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ as your only hope – then friend, you can know that it’s only because before you even wanted to worship God … He. Loved. You. So, of course you can worship Him.

2. THE BUILDING DESCRIBED 6:2-38

A THE OUTSIDE

Let me invite you to come with me on a tour of this magnificent House of God. The building is described in three sections. First, vv. 2-14 show us the temple’s exterior; then - in vv. 15-28, we’re taken inside; and third, in vv. 29-36 - we’re shown the furnishings of the temple and court.

As for size, verse 2 of chapter 6 tells us, “the house that King Solomon built for the LORD was sixty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and thirty cubits high”. A cubit was a standard unit of measurement in the Old Testament world - but you may have no idea what in the world a ‘cubit’ is. A cubit is the length of a man’s arm from elbow to fingertip, or about 18 inches – a foot and a half. So the interior of the temple was about 90 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 45 feet high. Roughly speaking, the temple was about the size of a church sanctuary that would seat 250 people, narrow and tall—the height of a four-story building.

Solomon’s temple isn’t very large or impressive by today’s standards. Even in its own day - it was never in the running for one of the wonders of the world. There were other monuments that were bigger or taller or more ornate. But this building was never intended to be the most important thing about the temple. What was really impressive was the God who lived there. This is the place where the One, Sovereign, Creator God and Judge of all the universe has decided to break into this world He created … and LIVE AMONG HIS PEOPLE. That’s stunning – that’s what makes this place special.

And do remember that most buildings were smaller in biblical times. This is bigger and taller than any other building in Jerusalem (except perhaps for the royal palace, once it was completed).

Also, its location – at virtually the highest point of a mountain, near to the very spot where over a thousand years earlier, Abraham, the father of the nation, was prepared to offer up his only, beloved son to the Lord ... This spot – with such historical significance – and overlooking the rest of the city and the surrounding valley – makes it stand out in dominant, commanding presence.

So here we are, standing on the layer of level stone beneath our feet - the foundation of the entire temple complex. Raise your eyes to the building before us and see the pale yellowish-white limestone structure rising high above our heads. We’re greeted by the front porch (also known as the Vestibule), in verse 3. Thirty feet wide - it’s the same width as the temple behind it and juts out 15 feet from the front doors. If you are an Israelite, when you come for worship - when the people gather for a special event - this is the furthest you will ever get in - unless you belong to the professional priesthood and are on duty. You will never set foot through the massive doors in front of you - you will never step inside - never see the interior.

We WILL go inside. But not just yet. Before we do that, let’s step around to the side of the temple. When you do that, you can see a separate wing, three-stories high, built right against the side of the temple itself, joined to it by cedar timbers that are NOT inserted into the temple, but resting on a series of three steps, built into the temple - each floor is a little wider than the floor below and each rising floor rests on an offset built into the temple structure itself.

Now, have you ever lived next door to a building project? If you’ve ever lived in a place where the work trucks start pulling into the property next door and bringing in the heavy-duty equipment to start building - one of the things that makes you grimace is that you know - for the next several months - you are going to be bombarded by construction noise. It’s an inevitable by-product of heavy construction. But not here.

Verse 7, “When the house was built, it was with stone prepared at the quarry, so that neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron was heard in the house while it was being built.” No sound of pounding hammers, no chisels chipping stone … only perfectly sized and prepared stone, being carted in from the quarry and carefully placed in position. Imagine the relative silence of this massive construction site. How fitting for the place where the God of heaven will call His home and meet with His people.

As the prophet Habakkuk would say centuries later, in Habakkuk 2:20, “The LORD is in His holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before Him.”

Verse 8 continues describing the building. But then there’s a sudden interruption in vv. 11-13. God speaks READ vv. 11-13

“About this house you’re building: IF you will walk in my ways … THEN I will dwell – I’ll live among my people.” Doesn’t this seem to come right out of the blue? What does this have to do with temple building?

As this impressive structure goes up – there will be a temptation that also rises – a temptation to think, “Okay, we’ve built our temple … we’ve CAPTURED God now. Here’s our God-box, so that we can have Him as our good luck charm.” It’s the same kind of temptation that everyone who considers himself or herself to be ‘religious’ also faces.

Right up front, God is saying, “Don’t go down that dead-end thought highway.” God is holy, friend. He’s not a buddy, He’s not a genie, He’s not a therapist … He is the King of the Universe - remember that when you come to worship.

So, how amazing is it that when God took on human flesh and broke into the world He had made, in the person of His Son, that He didn’t protect His honour by holding up in a pristine palace - but He walked along seashores and napped in fishing boats and was pressed by crowds of peasants ...

… And - carried his own cross through mocking masses, along narrow streets to His own execution, so that He could do more than just enter your world and talk to you .... but could actually do what you could never do: Save you from your sin and judgment and enter your heart after making you brand new. See the glory of Christ, friend as you let this amazing temple point you forward to the even more amazing Temple of Jesus Christ … the Holy God who doesn’t hide.

B THE INSIDE: VERSES 14-18

When you step through the front door of the temple, into this place where no mere Israelite can ever go - you enter into a divided building. Immediately inside the door is the nave - or ‘holy place’, which is 60 feet long. And straight ahead of you is another room, up a few steps and walled off from the nave - it’s the inner sanctuary, or the most holy place, which is in the shape of a perfect cube: thirty feet long, 30 ft wide and 30 ft high.

As you walk inside the temple, light streaming from a series of small windows, high in the side walls above you, illuminating your steps, one of the first things you notice as you walk into the temple is the smell. You’re overwhelmed by the sweet smell of cedar. READ vv. 14-18.

Inside this temple made of stone – there’s not a stone to be seen. From floor to ceiling – it’s wood. Solomon, “… lined the walls of the house on the inside with boards of cedar. From the floor of the house to the walls of the ceiling, he covered them on the inside with wood, and he covered the floor of the house with boards of cypress.”

This isn’t plain, ordinary wood-panelling. Verse 18: It’s carved in the shape of gourds and flowers. We’re going to notice more of that as we go, but just file that away in your memory for the time being.

Now, even though you smell cedar - cedar isn’t what you see. What you see, inside this temple - is gold. There’s gold everywhere. READ vv. 20-22.

2 Chronicles 3 tells us that Solomon used 45 thousand POUNDS of gold, including gold nails, in lining almost every surface of this house. It’s stunning.

Now we walk through the length of the house to the back – past the golden lampstands, standing sentry against the side walls – five on either side; past the table where the bread of the presence will be laid; past the golden altar of incense that’s placed right in front of the steps up to the doorway in front of us and on to the inner sanctuary, also known as the ‘Holiest place’ or the ‘Holy of Holies’.

As we make our way past the gold chain and the curtain barricading entry through the doorway in the wall - you find yourself in a room with no windows - no source of outside light. It’s only by a candle that you can see anything in here.

And if you CAN see - what hits your eyes right away - are the cherubim - standing guard, wings outstretched.

READ vv. 23-28. Cherubim - 2 of them, made of wood, covered in gold. They’re 15 feet high, wings outstretched to the side - 15 feet from wingtip to wingtip - and standing side by side - the wings of one touching one wall; the wingtip of the other touching the opposite wall. And just below where their wings touch in the middle .... that’s where the ark of the covenant will sit.

You’ve heard of cherubim, haven’t you? Do you remember where? The show up more than once in the Old Testament, but we meet them first in Genesis 3, where they keep Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden after they chose to side with Satan rather than obey God. Cherubim stand guard at the entrance to the garden - blocking the way to the Tree of Life with flaming sword. They are like the Divine Secret Service. Here they will stand guard over the Ark of the Covenant - the symbol of God’s presence on the earth.

See what that means: Here, the very heart of the temple … furthest back from the door and in a place where only one person can EVER go - the high priest alone can enter this room - and that only once a year … here is the very THRONE of God.

We don’t have time to get into more detail about the inside of the temple. But before we leave chapter 6, I want you to notice something that keeps coming up in the description of this place: v. 29, “Around all the walls of the house he carved engraved figures of cherubim and palm trees and open flowers, in the inner and outer room.”

Verse 32, “He covered the two doors of olivewood with carvings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers.” Those are the doors to the Holy of Holies. And the same engraving is done on the massive outer doors to the temple, in v. 36, “on them he carved cherubim and palm trees and open flowers.” Again - there’s the tree and flower motif. Is this just a decorating idea from Israel’s Joanna Gaines? No, it’s more than that. We’ll get back to that in a couple of minutes. But we need to move on to chapter 7.

3 THE FURNITURE, chapter 7

Chapter 7 describes the furniture of the temple. This is the way God always works. It’s the way He works in creation: FIRST comes the form … THEN the fullness. First the sea and sky and dry land … THEN the creatures to fill the spheres. First God forms man out of the dust of the earth … THEN he breathes life into him. It’s the way God works in salvation: FIRST – He makes you a new creation … and THEN He starts shaping you more and more into the image of His perfect Son. And it’s the same here. First we read about the building … then the furniture to fill it.

The description starts in 1 Kings 7:13. Solomon drafts a man named Hiram, a half-Israelite, half-foreigner from Tyre, who also happens to be the Michelangelo of metalwork in his day. He’s an artist. And verse 13 tells us that he’s not just ‘talented’, but … he’s full of ‘wisdom’. Hiram crafts all sorts of pieces for the temple, from carts to serving utensils to shovels and lampstands. I don’t have time to get into the details of all the furniture - but let me point out a couple of highlights.

First thing Hiram does is to cast 2 massive bronze pillars to stand on each side of the temple’s front doors. Each pillar stands 27 feet high and four feet across ... plus the capitals on top, which add another 7 feet-plus.

READ 7:17-20. See the sun glinting off the pillars - and the capitals, shaped like bowls, covered with pomegranates and lilies - hundreds and hundreds of them. There we go again with the fruit and flowers.

Notice v. 21 tells us that these pillars have names. These names could very well have been written on the pillars. And they represent 2 of the great promises of the books of Samuel that come just before Kings The first pillar is name, ‘Jachin’ - and in Hebrew, that name means, “He will establish.” That promise comes in 2 Samuel 7:12, when God tells David, “I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He will build a house for my name, and I WILL ESTABLISH the throne of his kingdom forever.”

“THE LORD WILL ESTABLISH … the throne of His kingdom forever.”

The second pillar is named, ‘Boaz’. ‘Boaz’ in Hebrew means, ‘He will give strength’. And that 1 Samuel 2:10, Hannah prays, ‘The adversaries of the LORD will be broken to pieces; against them He will thunder in heaven. The LORD will judge the ends of the earth … HE WILL GIVE STRENGTH to His king and exalt the horn of His anointed.”

That’s powerful. It was a prayer of a humble nobody, unable to have children - who was celebrating God’s miraculous provision of a son - Samuel. She praises the Lord for the king -when there was no king. HER prayer is now memorialized on this pillar standing guard at the very entrance to the Temple.

Imagine - as an Israelite - every time you stand in the temple courts for worship - and you look at this temple structure - your confidence is directed to God Himself: “Jachin” - “THE LORD WILL ESTABLISH”. And “Boaz” - “THE LORD WILL GIVE STRENGTH.” Do you have that confidence and perspective today? God hasn’t changed, friend.

THE SEA - ONE MORE Piece of furniture I want you to see, this morning. Look at verses 23-26.

This is a massive bowl, 15 feet from one side to the other - 45 feet to walk around it - and 7 and a half feet high - you have to climb steps to get to the 12,000 gallons of water inside that you will use for cleansing. Underneath the brim are two rows of gourds, cast into the bowl.

And the entire thing sat on twelve metal oxen facing out in every direction – three on each side.

Now, the fact that it’s named the sea, may not mean much to you - in fact you may love the idea of the sea - it’s a place where you look forward to going swimming or on a cruise or just to lounge beside on the beach and enjoy. But for an Israelite - there’s nothing fun about the sea. It’s a scary place … a place of chaos that threatens life. You hate the sea – you want to stay as far away from it as possible – for your own safety.

But here, in God’s temple – the sea has been controlled. It’s contained in a bowl and used to refresh. That’s why it’s called the Great Sea. Everywhere you look in this temple, you get the visual reminder: “Don’t be afraid, child of God. Your God is on the throne of the universe – He will strengthen His King – His kingdom will never end … and you have nothing to fear.”

Let me ask – is that how you feel today, in our world?

3. CONCLUSION

As we come to the end of our tour of the temple - I want you to think about what we’ve seen. I want you to especially think about all of the carvings of fruit and gourds and open flowers that mark so many parts of the temple - whether on the walls, or the pillars or the sea … and the animals. Don’t all those pictures remind you of … a garden? With fruit and flowers … add to that the Cherubim - angels standing guard … and do you see that there’s picture being painted for us on purpose. This temple is supposed to suggest a garden to us, alright. But not just any garden this is supposed to remind you of THE garden: The Garden of Eden.

Even the great bronze sea – reminds you of the garden of Eden – Genesis tells us that a river flowed from Eden and watered the earth.

The Garden of Eden is where our human race began … the garden where Adam and Even enjoyed the Lord’s presence – in perfect peace and security – living in the blessing of overflowing abundance and delight. It’s life in this world as we were created to live it.

But Eden is where they were kicked out of for their rebellion. And, ever since our first parents were driven out of the garden - all of human history has been the story of our alienation from God … our longing to be back in that Garden Paradise enjoying the delight of the God who made us and is the fountain of every joy … even while we are running as far from him as we can.

That’s why every attempt to put things right on this earth and fix every problem in the world … always … inevitably fails. We can’t find our way back to God even if we wanted to. So we are born in this world - feeling that something isn’t right. That we aren’t what we should be. That this world isn’t what it should be. That’s where atheism shows its failure - because instinctively we know that there MUST be some design for life - there must be a way that life SHOULD work - and we know … we aren’t enjoying it right now.

If I asked the question this morning: “Does anybody here need to be set free?” I wouldn’t be surprised if every hand went up. We all want to be free - we want to get back into the Garden of Eden. And we can think of so many things that, ‘If I could just get rid of that - I would really be able to live” - I would really enjoy my paradise. But what do you think that paradise looks like? More money so you can live in the paradise of comfort? More romance, so you can live in the paradise of love? A better job - so you can enjoy the paradise of career satisfaction?

But if you really think about your solutions - the things you think would set you free to really live life in this world … the money, the romance, the power … you know that none of them really work. You’ve tasted enough of them to know that there HAS to be more!

Do you remember the first time you ever got lost? LOST IN THE MALL AS A CHILD. No kind person would do … I needed my mom.

C.S. Lewis - C.S. Lewis puts it really well when he says in his famous sermon, Weight of Glory, “Our lifelong … longing to be reunited with something in the universe from which we now feel cut off, to be on the inside of some door which we have always seen from the outside is no mere neurotic fancy, but the truest index of our real situation. […] The sense that in this universe we are … strangers, the longing to … bridge some chasm that yawns between us and reality …”

The point is this: we all long to be back in Eden - more than anything else! We need a place that God himself has designed, where we can enjoy His presence. Where we can bask in His glory and rest in delight. And the glory of Solomon’s temple is that it’s God’s declaration solid as stone and wood and gold - “I am not leaving you alone and alienated. I am coming to live in your midst.” This is a step towards regaining Eden and home.

But it’s not enough. This temple is going to stand for around 400 years before the Babylonians destroy it. Then another temple will be built hundreds of years later … and the Romans will destroy that one, in AD 70. You need more than a building to enjoy God’s presence securely. That’s why God gave us a third temple … Jesus Christ Himself.

“Tear down this temple”, he said - “… and I will build it again in three days.” Do you remember what the living Temple - Jesus Christ said?

John 14:23, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him - and we will come to him and make our home with him.”

Isaiah 57:15, “For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: ‘I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.”

​The unbelievable, amazing message of the Bible is that God has promised to restore what we have lost. Infinitely better than a temple of STONE … He’s given us His ETERNAL SON … God Himself lives among us in a person – a Temple that, unlike stone or gold … cannot be destroyed. And unlike Solomon’s Temple – nobody has to stand outside, barricaded away from the presence of God by protective angels … when Jesus sacrificed Himself to bring us in – at the very moment of death – the curtain in the temple of His day was torn inside – the dividing wall was ripped away – so anyone who belongs to Him has direct access to the Holy God. AND … and when God comes to dwell with you – Paul promises that you become a temple of God, yourself. What staggering truth.