#474 Houses

It took Solomon thirteen years, however, to complete the construction of his palace. 2 He built the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon a hundred cubits long, fifty wide and thirty high,[a] with four rows of cedar columns supporting trimmed cedar beams. 3 It was roofed with cedar above the beams that rested on the columns—forty-five beams, fifteen to a row.4 Its windows were placed high in sets of three, facing each other. 5 All the doorways had rectangular frames; they were in the front part in sets of three, facing each other.[b]

6 He made a colonnade fifty cubits long and thirty wide.[c] In front of it was a portico, and in front of that were pillars and an overhanging roof.

7 He built the throne hall, the Hall of Justice, where he was to judge, and he covered it with cedar from floor to ceiling.[d] 8 And the palace in which he was to live, set farther back, was similar in design. Solomon also made a palace like this hall for Pharaoh’s daughter, whom he had married.

9 All these structures, from the outside to the great courtyard and from foundation to eaves, were made of blocks of high-grade stone cut to size and smoothed on their inner and outer faces. 10 The foundations were laid with large stones of good quality, some measuring ten cubits[e] and some eight.[f] 11 Above were high-grade stones, cut to size, and cedar beams. 12 The great courtyard was surrounded by a wall of three coursesof dressed stone and one course of trimmed cedar beams, as was the inner courtyard of the temple of the Lord with its portico.

The Temple’s Furnishings

13 King Solomon sent to Tyre and brought Huram,[g] 14 whose mother was a widow from the tribe of Naphtali and whose father was from Tyre and a skilled craftsman in bronze. Huram was filled with wisdom, with understanding and with knowledge to do all kinds of bronze work. He came to King Solomon and did all the work assigned to him.

15 He cast two bronze pillars, each eighteen cubits high and twelve cubits in circumference.[h] 16 He also made two capitals of cast bronze to set on the tops of the pillars; each capital was five cubits[i] high. 17 A network of interwoven chains adorned the capitals on top of the pillars, seven for each capital. 18 He made pomegranates in two rows[j] encircling each network to decorate the capitals on top of the pillars.[k] He did the same for each capital. 19 The capitals on top of the pillars in the portico were in the shape of lilies, four cubits[l] high. 20 On the capitals of both pillars, above the bowl-shaped part next to the network, were the two hundred pomegranates in rows all around. 21 He erected the pillars at the portico of the temple. The pillar to the south he named Jakin[m] and the one to the north Boaz.[n] 22 The capitals on top were in the shape of lilies. And so the work on the pillars was completed.

23 He made the Sea of cast metal, circular in shape, measuring ten cubits from rim to rim and five cubits high. It took a line of thirty cubits[o] to measure around it. 24 Below the rim, gourds encircled it—ten to a cubit. The gourds were cast in two rows in one piece with the Sea.

25 The Sea stood on twelve bulls, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south and three facing east. The Sea rested on top of them, and their hindquarters were toward the center. 26 It was a handbreadth[p]in thickness, and its rim was like the rim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It held two thousand baths.[q]

27 He also made ten movable stands of bronze; each was four cubits long, four wide and three high.[r] 28 This is how the stands were made: They had side panels attached to uprights. 29 On the panels between the uprights were lions, bulls and cherubim—and on the uprights as well. Above and below the lions and bulls were wreaths of hammered work.30 Each stand had four bronze wheels with bronze axles, and each had a basin resting on four supports, cast with wreaths on each side. 31 On the inside of the stand there was an opening that had a circular frame one cubit[s] deep. This opening was round, and with its basework it measured a cubit and a half.[t] Around its opening there was engraving. The panels of the stands were square, not round. 32 The four wheels were under the panels, and the axles of the wheels were attached to the stand. The diameter of each wheel was a cubit and a half. 33 The wheels were made like chariot wheels; the axles, rims, spokes and hubs were all of cast metal.

34 Each stand had four handles, one on each corner, projecting from the stand. 35 At the top of the stand there was a circular band half a cubit[u]deep. The supports and panels were attached to the top of the stand.36 He engraved cherubim, lions and palm trees on the surfaces of the supports and on the panels, in every available space, with wreaths all around. 37 This is the way he made the ten stands. They were all cast in the same molds and were identical in size and shape.

38 He then made ten bronze basins, each holding forty baths[v] and measuring four cubits across, one basin to go on each of the ten stands.39 He placed five of the stands on the south side of the temple and five on the north. He placed the Sea on the south side, at the southeast corner of the temple. 40 He also made the pots[w] and shovels and sprinkling bowls.

So Huram finished all the work he had undertaken for King Solomon in the temple of the Lord:

41 the two pillars;

the two bowl-shaped capitals on top of the pillars;

the two sets of network decorating the two bowl-shaped capitals on top of the pillars;

42 the four hundred pomegranates for the two sets of network (two rows of pomegranates for each network decorating the bowl-shaped capitals on top of the pillars);

43 the ten stands with their ten basins;

44 the Sea and the twelve bulls under it;

45 the pots, shovels and sprinkling bowls.

All these objects that Huram made for King Solomon for the temple of the Lord were of burnished bronze. 46 The king had them cast in clay molds in the plain of the Jordan between Sukkoth and Zarethan.47 Solomon left all these things unweighed, because there were so many;the weight of the bronze was not determined.

48 Solomon also made all the furnishings that were in the Lord’s temple:

the golden altar;

the golden table on which was the bread of the Presence;

49 the lampstands of pure gold (five on the right and five on the left, in front of the inner sanctuary);

the gold floral work and lamps and tongs;

50 the pure gold basins, wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls, dishes and censers;

and the gold sockets for the doors of the innermost room, the Most Holy Place, and also for the doors of the main hall of the temple.

51 When all the work King Solomon had done for the temple of the Lordwas finished, he brought in the things his father David had dedicated—the silver and gold and the furnishings—and he placed them in the treasuries of the Lord’s temple. 1 Kings 7 NIV

Solomon finished the temple, and it is a good thing I believe that he did so before he built his own house. The church of the gospel is the body of Christ, and therefore not a house made with hands, though we may meet together in buildings, in catacombs, in homes of other believers. Church community actually starts with the family, fathers are to be the priest in their own homes, so the Word should be spoken daily, and God should be revered in humble adoration. Children are not given to others, to states or even local communities, but rather to their parents. It is your wonderful duty, your responsibility, your delight, to teach your children in the ways of God. Then we are so called to meet together, to not forsake the assembling of ourselves, and such a place that we meet should be filled with the reminders of our gracious heavenly Father. It should be where we worship and praise His most glorious Holiness. I should not at that time have that, which I did throughout the week to His glory, in my heart. Those things are placed well behind me for those days are passed and now I am to be present with the Lord. This is the time that we lift Him up together, so that we may hear and be encouraged to grow. This is a place not made to draw numbers but rather the faithful; it is not there to evangelize but rather to train up those disciples who have been found outside. This is the place where iron sharpeneth iron. This is the place where babes start to eat solid food. I do not come here to measure those around me, but rather to thank God, and to cast all my cares upon Him, to sing though my voice may be flat, to listen though my heart may ache of it.

Those, who came between the pillars, knew that even they had names, Jakin "He shall establish" and Boaz "in Strength". The temple, and for those who are wise, the kingdom, everything is established by God. What can you do without Him first making you and the cedars, the minerals, the rocks? It is a tribute to that fact, I believe, that the pillars have been named, but why did Solomon's house take so long? Why did that relationship that is supposed to reflect so much our relationship with God, that with the wife of his youth, require a separate house?  Call me out there, or overthinking, but I am really not sure, yet I think I should want my own house to be a small version of the temple. Some say it is appropriate because it is in measure to the riches of his kingdom, but that is a kingdom he would not have without God. Well, we will see, we will read on and know more about Solomon. He has kept the dedicated things of his father as we should that of our Godly parents, and make no mistake nor stress so much, for if your parents are not Godly, but you have been called, then God shall be your Father. He will also provide us with those here, who will disciple and love us. Who is my mother, my brother, but those who do the will of my Father in heaven. Thank you Lord for your church. I praise you for those places where I have had the chance to hear Your word. Let me teach my children well, that they walk in Your truths, that they love and honor all Your ways, not just ceremonies or social gatherings, but let their hearts fully belong to you.

Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” Matthew 18: 19 & 20