By Dan
& Brenda Cathcart
The video
version of this teaching is available at: https://youtu.be/1RdfqL-uS-c
The reading
for this teaching is: 1 Kings 5:12-6:13
The
haftarah portion of the scriptures that we will examine today is the account of
Solomon building the temple. On the surface, it is uninteresting, merely an
account of where Solomon obtained the materials, who did the work, and where it
was done. Sort of like telling someone all about the process of building a
house, from the first step of choosing an architect and builder, including who
actually worked for them; to the selection of the counters, cabinets and
fixtures. Really boring—unless you were a builder. So, why is this recorded?
What does this tell us about Solomon and the other people involved? What does
this tell us about God and His relationship to His people?
As always,
let’s start by examining the historical context. Solomon begins to build the
temple in the fourth year of his reign. However, the idea and the plans for the
temple came from his father David.
2 Samuel 7:1-3 NKJV 1 Now it came to pass when
the king was dwelling in his house, and the LORD had given him rest from all
his enemies all around, 2 that the king said to Nathan the prophet, "See
now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells inside tent
curtains." 3 Then Nathan said to the king, "Go, do all that is in
your heart, for the LORD is with you."
Nathan, the
prophet of God, endorsed David’s idea and told David to do all that was in his
heart. David had a heart to build a dwelling place for God. Why didn’t David
actually build the temple? David explains the reason to his son Solomon.
1 Chronicles 22:6-8 ASV 6 Then he called for
Solomon his son, and charged him to build a house for Jehovah, the God of
Israel. 7 And David said to Solomon his son, As for me, it was in my heart to
build a house unto the name of Jehovah my God. 8 But the word of Jehovah came
to me, saying, Thou hast shed blood abundantly, and hast made great wars: thou
shalt not build a house unto my name, because thou hast shed much blood upon
the earth in my sight.
David could
not build the house for two reasons; he shed a lot of blood and he made great
wars. David was a military man from the time he slew the giant Goliath. He was
a general under Saul and, after Saul rejected him, under the Philistines. As
king, he conducted the wars that extended his kingdom nearly to the borders of
the land God promised to give to the children of Israel. Many of these battles
and victories came after David expressed his desire to build a house for God.
Solomon
understood David’s answer to be related to this necessity of establishing the
safety of the kingdom before building the house of God. The house could not be
built until David’s enemies were beaten.
1 Kings 5:3-4 NKJV 3 You know how my father
David could not build a house for the name of the LORD his God because of the
wars which were fought against him on every side, until the LORD put his foes
under the soles of his feet. 4 But now the LORD my God has given me rest on
every side; there is neither adversary nor evil occurrence.
One of the
reasons that David could not build the house for God was that it was not the
right time! But God had also said that David couldn’t build the house because
he had shed much blood. And He said it twice! This is cited as being separate
from making wars. In what situations did David shed blood other than war? Two
situations come to mind. The first is in the murder of Uriah. David had gotten
Uriah’s wife Bathsheba pregnant and tried to cover his sin by having Uriah
killed. David had his general Joab leave Uriah stranded in the hottest part of
a battle. Uriah wasn’t the only person killed as a result of Joab withdrawing
his support. Many of those who fought next to Uriah also lost their lives! Psalm
fifty one records David’s repentance of that sin and acknowledgment of his
guilt of shedding blood.
Psalms 51:14 NKJV 14 Deliver me from the guilt
of bloodshed, O God, The God of my salvation, And my tongue shall sing aloud of
Your righteousness.
In addition
to the deaths of Uriah and the soldiers with him, David was also responsible for
the deaths of thousands of men of Israel. David grew proud of all his
accomplishments and decided to take a census of Israel against God’s standing
orders not to number his people. As a result, David, as leader of the people,
had to choose his punishment. He had a choice of three years of famine, three
months of defeat in war, or three days of the wrath of God. David chose to put
himself in the hands of God and trust to His mercy.
1 Chronicles 21:13-14 NKJV 13 And David said to
Gad, "I am in great distress. Please let me fall into the hand of the
LORD, for His mercies are very great; but do not let me fall into the hand of
man." 14 So the LORD sent a plague upon Israel, and seventy thousand men
of Israel fell.
As the
angel of the LORD stood poised over Jerusalem with sword upraised, David
acknowledged his sin and interceded for Jerusalem.
1 Chronicles 21:16-17 NKJV 16 Then David lifted
his eyes and saw the angel of the LORD standing between earth and heaven,
having in his hand a drawn sword stretched out over Jerusalem. So David and the
elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell on their faces. 17 And David said to God,
"Was it not I who commanded the people to be numbered? I am the one who
has sinned and done evil indeed; but these sheep, what have they done? Let Your
hand, I pray, O LORD my God, be against me and my father's house, but not
against Your people that they should be plagued."
Although
David repented, he was still guilty for shedding the blood of the seventy
thousand men who died in the plague in the wake of his sin. The consequences of
his actions included forfeiting the blessing of building a house for God.
God
commanded David to build an altar at the site of Ornan’s threshing floor where
the angel of the LORD stood with upraised sword. There at the altar he built
for the LORD, David declared that this would be the site of the house of God,
and as we read in 1 Chronicles 22:6-8, that his son Solomon would be the one to
build the house. In fact, God specifically chose Solomon to build His house. God
promised David that a son would be born to him who would build this house and
that David should name him Solomon.
1 Chronicles 22:9-10 NKJV 9 'Behold, a son
shall be born to you, who shall be a man of rest; and I will give him rest from
all his enemies all around. His name shall be Solomon, for I will give peace
and quietness to Israel in his days. 10 'He shall build a house for My name,
and he shall be My son, and I will be his Father; and I will establish the
throne of his kingdom over Israel forever.'
The name
Solomon, Shalomoh in Hebrew, is number 8010 in Strong’s Concordance meaning
“peaceful.” Solomon’s birth and reign are intimately tied to God’s promise to
David that his son would build a house for God!
David
instructs Solomon to ask God for wisdom and understanding for both keeping the
Torah of God and building the temple!
1 Chronicles 22:11-12 NKJV 11 "Now, my
son, may the LORD be with you; and may you prosper, and build the house of the
LORD your God, as He has said to you. 12 "Only may the LORD give you wisdom
and understanding, and give you charge concerning Israel, that you may keep the
law of the LORD your God.
Although
David couldn’t build the house for God, he could and did gather materials to
build it.
1 Chronicles 22:14 NKJV 14 "Indeed I have taken
much trouble to prepare for the house of the LORD one hundred thousand talents
of gold and one million talents of silver, and bronze and iron beyond measure,
for it is so abundant. I have prepared timber and stone also, and you may add
to them.
God had
even given David the plans for the temple including all the furnishings and
even how the temple was to operate!
1 Chronicles 28:11-13 NKJV 11 Then David gave
his son Solomon the plans for the vestibule, its houses, its treasuries, its
upper chambers, its inner chambers, and the place of the mercy seat; 12 and the
plans for all that he had by the Spirit, of the courts of the house of the
LORD, of all the chambers all around, of the treasuries of the house of God,
and of the treasuries for the dedicated things; 13 also for the division of the
priests and the Levites, for all the work of the service of the house of the
LORD, and for all the articles of service in the house of the LORD.
David charged
Solomon to begin to build the temple even before he died!
1 Chronicles 22:19 NKJV 19 "Now set your
heart and your soul to seek the LORD your God. Therefore arise and build the
sanctuary of the LORD God, to bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD and the
holy articles of God into the house that is to be built for the name of the
LORD."
Before his
death, David gave generously to the fund for building the temple and encouraged
the other leaders of Israel to do likewise.
1 Chronicles 29:3,4b-6 NKJV 3 "Moreover,
because I have set my affection on the house of my God, I have given to the
house of my God, over and above all that I have prepared for the holy house, my
own special treasure of gold and silver: … 4b Who then is willing to consecrate
himself this day to the LORD?" 6 Then the leaders of the fathers' houses,
leaders of the tribes of Israel, the captains of thousands and of hundreds,
with the officers over the king's work, offered willingly.
Under the
wisdom God gave Solomon, Solomon began the task of building the temple by
reaching out to David’s friend and ally King Hiram of Tyre.
1 Kings 5:12 NAS95 12 The LORD gave wisdom to
Solomon, just as He promised him; and there was peace between Hiram and
Solomon, and the two of them made a covenant.
Hiram had a
personal friendship with David and expressed faith in David’s God.
2 Chronicles 2:11-12 NKJV 11 Then Hiram king of
Tyre answered in writing, which he sent to Solomon: Because the LORD loves His
people, He has made you king over them. 12 Hiram also said: Blessed be the LORD
God of Israel, who made heaven and earth, for He has given King David a wise
son, endowed with prudence and understanding, who will build a temple for the
LORD and a royal house for himself!
Moses had
written that the nations around Israel would recognize the greatness of God
when Israel carried out God’s Torah!
Deuteronomy 4:6 NKJV 6 "Therefore be
careful to observe them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the
sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes, and say, 'Surely this
great nation is a wise and understanding people.'
Solomon had
obtained a worthy and dependable partner in building the house of the LORD. David
had already worked with Hiram to obtain the best cedars from Lebanon of Tyre. Solomon
utilized the wisdom that God gave him to make decisions about the building of
the temple. Solomon selected the best materials choosing the cedars from
Lebanon, the best marble, olive wood, cypress, gold and bronze.
Solomon
continued in David’s path and worked together with Hiram to organize a labor
force that would rotate in and out of Tyre of Lebanon.
1 Kings 5:13-14 NKJV 13 Then King Solomon
raised up a labor force out of all Israel; and the labor force was thirty
thousand men. 14 And he sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month in shifts:
they were one month in Lebanon and two months at home; Adoniram was in charge
of the labor force.
The work
force consisted of workers from both Israel and Tyre. Jew and Gentile working
together!
1 Kings 5:18 NKJV 18 So Solomon's builders,
Hiram's builders, and the Gebalites quarried them; and they prepared timber and
stones to build the temple.
When all
was in readiness, Solomon began to build the temple.
1 Kings 6:1 NKJV 1 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.
The month
of Ziv is currently called Iyar. The name Ziv, #2099 means brightness. The name
Iyar has the same linguistic derivation as the word “or” meaning light. Ziv,
then, is the month of brightness and radiance. This was the month that the
children of Israel left Mt. Sinai to begin their journey to the Promised Land. The
foundation of the second temple was also begun in the month of Ziv.
The
scriptures record the dimensions of the temple as being twice that of the inner
structure of the Tabernacle of Meeting maintaining the three to one ratio of
the length to the width given by God in the wilderness.
1 Kings 6:2 NKJV 2 Now the house which King
Solomon built for the LORD, its length was sixty cubits, its width twenty, and
its height thirty cubits.
Around the
outside of the temple, Solomon constructed rooms for the priests and Levites
who would serve in the temple, as well as rooms for storage and working.
1 Kings 6:5 NKJV 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.
The plans
for all of this were given to Solomon by David under the inspiration of the
Spirit of God! As Solomon finished building the temple, God reminded Solomon
that the temple was not the most important thing—following God’s Torah was the
most important thing to maintain God’s presence in the temple.
1 Kings 6:11-13 NKJV 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."
There is
currently no temple in the land of Israel. However, there are plans in place to
build a temple as soon as the political climate allows them to build once more
on the temple mount. But these are man’s plans and not necessarily God’s plans.
The building of this temple may or may not ever actually happen. However, God
does have plans for rebuilding His temple. Like in the time of David, the
timing must be right. One of reasons David couldn’t build the temple was that it
was a time of war and the land of Israel was besieged on every side as we read
in 1 Kings 5:3.
When Yeshua
returns, He, like David, will have wars to fight.
Revelation 19:11-12 NKJV 11 Now I saw heaven
opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful
and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. 12 His eyes were like a
flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no
one knew except Himself.
When David
took the throne, he did so with all the tribes acknowledging that He was the
king of Israel that God had selected.
2 Samuel 5:1-3 NKJV 1 Then all the tribes of
Israel came to David at Hebron and spoke, saying, "Indeed we are your bone
and your flesh. 2 "Also, in time past, when Saul was king over us, you
were the one who led Israel out and brought them in; and the LORD said to you,
'You shall shepherd My people Israel, and be ruler over Israel.'" 3
Therefore all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and King David
made a covenant with them at Hebron before the LORD. And they anointed David
king over Israel.
When Yeshua
takes the throne, He will do so to the acknowledgment of all the tribes of
Israel.
Ezekiel 39:21-22 NKJV 21 "I will set My
glory among the nations; all the nations shall see My judgment which I have
executed, and My hand which I have laid on them. 22 "So the house of
Israel shall know that I am the LORD their God from that day forward.
Isaiah said
that this time would be a time of light and radiance, and that the Gentiles
will see that light and be drawn to it!
Isaiah 60:1-3 NKJV 1 Arise, shine; For your
light has come! And the glory of the LORD is risen upon you. 2 For behold, the
darkness shall cover the earth, And deep darkness the people; But the LORD will
arise over you, And His glory will be seen upon you. 3 The Gentiles shall come
to your light, And kings to the brightness of your rising.
Like Hiram,
the Gentiles will desire to join with Israel to build the temple. They will
send their wealth to Israel.
Isaiah 60:5 NKJV 5 Then you shall see and
become radiant, And your heart shall swell with joy; Because the abundance of
the sea shall be turned to you, The wealth of the Gentiles shall come to you.
When Yeshua
returns, it will be a time of the resurrection of the dead. Paul writes of
Yeshua’s resurrection and of the time when all those who belong to Christ will rise
from the dead.
1 Corinthians 15:22-23 NKJV 22 For as in Adam
all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. 23 But each one in his own
order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ's at His coming.
Ezekiel
describes the temple that Yeshua, the prince, will build at that time. Then, at
the end, there will be one more great battle where even death is defeated.
1 Corinthians 15:24-26 NKJV 24 Then comes the
end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all
rule and all authority and power. 25 For He must reign till He has put all
enemies under His feet. 26 The last enemy that will be destroyed is death.
Death and
Satan will be cast into the lake of fire and the New Jerusalem will come down
from heaven and peace, Shalomoh, will reign. The Lord God Almighty and the Lamb
will be its temple.
The account
of Solomon building the temple was included in the Bible to remind us that
building God’s house is totally in God’s hands. It was written to demonstrate
the connection between David’s reign and Solomon’s reign and the integral role
that building the temple was to both of them.
We can look
forward to the time when Yeshua returns to establish His nation, His throne,
and His temple. But even as we wait, God is building His spiritual temple. We
are God’s chosen materials and workmen being used to build this temple.
Study
Questions:
1. Discuss the connection of
this teaching to the Torah Portion Terumah, Exodus 25:1-27:19.
2. David’s actions toward
Bathsheba and Uraiah “displeased” the LORD (2 Sam. 11:27) The literal
translation uses the word “evil.” The literal translation would read, “the
thing which David hath done is evil in the eyes of Jehovah. Psalm 51 records
David’s repentance of this evil. Discuss David’s “evil” against God and his
repentance.
3. What is the significance of
the site of the temple as described in 1 Chr. 21:16-22:1? What connection does
it have with the actions of David? What connection does it have with the angel
standing with raised sword?
4. David said the Spirit of the
LORD gave him the plans for the temple (1 Chr. 28:11-13). What were some of the
specifics that the Spirit gave to David? How did this influence temple worship?
How does it influence our worship today?
5. God gave David’s son the
name Solomon meaning “peaceful.” What is the significance of this name? One of
the offerings God’s people are to bring is the “peace” offering. Is there any
connection between Solomon and the peace offering?
6. Last week, we discussed the
Hebrew concept of slavery. David and Solomon both used slave labor in building
the temple (1 Chr. 22:2-4 and 2 Chr. 2:17-18) Do you think this was right? How
did this act fit in relation to the culture and accepted practices at that
time?
© 2019 Moed
Ministries International. All Rights Reserved
