Dear Friends,

Today’s devotional are study notes on I Kings 5-8. Be sure you work through them with your Bible open before you reading the Scripture section by section and then the notes. God bless you.

Because of Calvary,

John Janney

• I Kings 5-8

  1 Kings 5-8     English Standard Version (ESV)
  Preparations for Building the Temple
  5 [a] Now Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon when he heard that they had anointed him king in place of his father, for Hiram always loved David. 2 And Solomon sent word to Hiram, 3 “You know that David my father could not build a house for the name of the Lord his God because of the warfare with which his enemies surrounded him, until the Lord put them 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 misfortune. 5 And so I intend to build a house for the name of the Lord my God, as the Lord said to David my father, ‘Your son, whom I will set on your throne in your place, shall build the house for my name.’ 6 Now therefore command that cedars of Lebanon be cut for me. And my servants will join your servants, and I will pay you for your servants such wages as you set, for you know that there is no one among us who knows how to cut timber like the Sidonians.”

  7 As soon as Hiram heard the words of Solomon, he rejoiced greatly and said, “Blessed be the Lord this day, who has given to David a wise son to be over this great people.” 8 And Hiram sent to Solomon, saying, “I have heard the message that you have sent to me. I am ready to do all you desire in the matter of cedar and cypress timber. 9 My servants shall bring it down to the sea from Lebanon, and I will make it into rafts to go by sea to the place you direct. And I will have them broken up there, and you shall receive it. And you shall meet my wishes by providing food for my household.” 10 So Hiram supplied Solomon with all the timber of cedar and cypress that he desired, 11 while Solomon gave Hiram 20,000 cors[b] of wheat as food for his household, and 20,000[c] cors of beaten oil. Solomon gave this to Hiram year by year. 12 And the Lord gave Solomon wisdom, as he promised him. And there was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a treaty.

  13 King Solomon drafted forced labor out of all Israel, and the draft numbered 30,000 men. 14 And he sent them to Lebanon, 10,000 a month in shifts. They would be a month in Lebanon and two months at home. Adoniram was in charge of the draft. 15 Solomon also had 70,000 burden-bearers and 80,000 stonecutters in the hill country, 16 besides Solomon’s 3,300 chief officers who were over the work, who had charge of the people who carried on the work. 17 At the king’s command they quarried out great, costly stones in order to lay the foundation of the house with dressed stones. 18 So Solomon’s builders and Hiram’s builders and the men of Gebal did the cutting and prepared the timber and the stone to build the house.

  Solomon Builds the Temple
  6 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. 2 The house that King Solomon built for the Lord was sixty cubits[d] long, twenty cubits wide, and thirty cubits high. 3 The vestibule in front of the nave of the house was twenty cubits long, equal to the width of the house, and ten cubits deep in front of the house. 4 And he made for the house windows with recessed frames.[e] 5 He also built a structure[f] against the wall of the house, running around the walls of the house, both the nave and the inner sanctuary. And he made side chambers all around. 6 The lowest story[g] was five cubits broad, the middle one was six cubits broad, and the third was seven cubits broad. For around the outside of the house he made offsets on the wall in order that the supporting beams should not be inserted into the walls of the house.

  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.

  8 The entrance for the lowest[h] story was on the south side of the house, and one went up by stairs to the middle story, and from the middle story to the third. 9 So he built the house and finished it, and he made the ceiling of the house of beams and planks of cedar. 10 He built the structure against the whole house, five cubits high, and it was joined to the house with timbers of cedar.

  11 Now the word of the Lord came to Solomon, 12 “Concerning this house that you are building, if you will walk in my statutes and obey my rules and keep all my commandments and walk in them, then I will establish my word with you, which I spoke to David your father. 13 And I will dwell among the children of Israel and will not forsake my people Israel.”

  14 So Solomon built the house and finished it. 15 He 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. 16 He built twenty cubits of the rear of the house with boards of cedar from the floor to the walls, and he built this within as an inner sanctuary, as the Most Holy Place. 17 The house, that is, the nave in front of the inner sanctuary, was forty cubits long. 18 The cedar within the house was carved in the form of gourds and open flowers. All was cedar; no stone was seen. 19 The inner sanctuary he prepared in the innermost part of the house, to set there the ark of the covenant of the Lord. 20 The inner sanctuary[i] was twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and twenty cubits high, and he overlaid it with pure gold. He also overlaid[j] an altar of cedar. 21 And Solomon overlaid the inside of the house with pure gold, and he drew chains of gold across, in front of the inner sanctuary, and overlaid it with gold. 22 And he overlaid the whole house with gold, until all the house was finished. Also the whole altar that belonged to the inner sanctuary he overlaid with gold.

  23 In the inner sanctuary he made two cherubim of olivewood, each ten cubits high. 24 Five cubits was the length of one wing of the cherub, and five cubits the length of the other wing of the cherub; it was ten cubits from the tip of one wing to the tip of the other. 25 The other cherub also measured ten cubits; both cherubim had the same measure and the same form. 26 The height of one cherub was ten cubits, and so was that of the other cherub. 27 He put the cherubim in the innermost part of the house. And the wings of the cherubim were spread out so that a wing of one touched the one wall, and a wing of the other cherub touched the other wall; their other wings touched each other in the middle of the house. 28 And he overlaid the cherubim with gold.

  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 rooms. 30 The floor of the house he overlaid with gold in the inner and outer rooms.

  31 For the entrance to the inner sanctuary he made doors of olivewood; the lintel and the doorposts were five-sided.[k] 32 He covered the two doors of olivewood with carvings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers. He overlaid them with gold and spread gold on the cherubim and on the palm trees.

  33 So also he made for the entrance to the nave doorposts of olivewood, in the form of a square, 34 and two doors of cypress wood. The two leaves of the one door were folding, and the two leaves of the other door were folding. 35 On them he carved cherubim and palm trees and open flowers, and he overlaid them with gold evenly applied on the carved work. 36 He built the inner court with three courses of cut stone and one course 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 parts, and according to all its specifications. He was seven years in building it.

  Solomon Builds His Palace
  7 Solomon was building his own house thirteen years, and he finished his entire house.

  2 He built the House of the Forest of Lebanon. Its length was a hundred cubits[l] and its breadth fifty cubits and its height thirty cubits, and it was built on four[m] rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams on the pillars. 3 And it was covered with cedar above the chambers that were on the forty-five pillars, fifteen in each row. 4 There were window frames in three rows, and window opposite window in three tiers. 5 All the doorways and windows[n] had square frames, and window was opposite window in three tiers.

  6 And he made the Hall of Pillars; its length was fifty cubits, and its breadth thirty cubits. There was a porch in front with pillars, and a canopy in front of them.

  7 And he made the Hall of the Throne where he was to pronounce judgment, even the Hall of Judgment. It was finished with cedar from floor to rafters.[o]

  8 His own house where he was to dwell, in the other court back of the hall, was of like workmanship. Solomon also made a house like this hall for Pharaoh’s daughter whom he had taken in marriage.

  9 All these were made of costly stones, cut according to measure, sawed with saws, back and front, even from the foundation to the coping, and from the outside to the great court. 10 The foundation was of costly stones, huge stones, stones of eight and ten cubits. 11 And above were costly stones, cut according to measurement, and cedar. 12 The great court had three courses of cut stone all around, and a course of cedar beams; so had the inner court of the house of the Lord and the vestibule of the house.

  The Temple Furnishings
  13 And King Solomon sent and brought Hiram from Tyre. 14 He was the son of a widow of the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a worker in bronze. And he was full of wisdom, understanding, and skill for making any work in bronze. He came to King Solomon and did all his work.

  15 He cast two pillars of bronze. Eighteen cubits was the height of one pillar, and a line of twelve cubits measured its circumference. It was hollow, and its thickness was four fingers. The second pillar was the same.[p] 16 He also made two capitals of cast bronze to set on the tops of the pillars. The height of the one capital was five cubits, and the height of the other capital was five cubits. 17 There were lattices of checker work with wreaths of chain work for the capitals on the tops of the pillars, a lattice[q] for the one capital and a lattice for the other capital. 18 Likewise he made pomegranates[r] in two rows around the one latticework to cover the capital that was on the top of the pillar, and he did the same with the other capital. 19 Now the capitals that were on the tops of the pillars in the vestibule were of lily-work, four cubits. 20 The capitals were on the two pillars and also above the rounded projection which was beside the latticework. There were two hundred pomegranates in two rows all around, and so with the other capital. 21 He set up the pillars at the vestibule of the temple. He set up the pillar on the south and called its name Jachin, and he set up the pillar on the north and called its name Boaz. 22 And on the tops of the pillars was lily-work. Thus the work of the pillars was finished.

  23 Then he made the sea of cast metal. It was round, ten cubits from brim to brim, and five cubits high, and a line of thirty cubits measured its circumference. 24 Under its brim were gourds, for ten cubits, compassing the sea all around. The gourds were in two rows, cast with it when it was cast. 25 It stood on twelve oxen, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east. The sea was set on them, and all their rear parts were inward. 26 Its thickness was a handbreadth,[s] and its brim was made like the brim of a cup, like the flower of a lily. It held two thousand baths.[t]

  27 He also made the ten stands of bronze. Each stand was four cubits long, four cubits wide, and three cubits high. 28 This was the construction of the stands: they had panels, and the panels were set in the frames, 29 and on the panels that were set in the frames were lions, oxen, and cherubim. On the frames, both above and below the lions and oxen, there were wreaths of beveled work. 30 Moreover, each stand had four bronze wheels and axles of bronze, and at the four corners were supports for a basin. The supports were cast with wreaths at the side of each. 31 Its opening was within a crown that projected upward one cubit. Its opening was round, as a pedestal is made, a cubit and a half deep. At its opening there were carvings, and its panels were square, not round. 32 And the four wheels were underneath the panels. The axles of the wheels were of one piece with the stands, and the height of a wheel was a cubit and a half. 33 The wheels were made like a chariot wheel; their axles, their rims, their spokes, and their hubs were all cast. 34 There were four supports at the four corners of each stand. The supports were of one piece with the stands. 35 And on the top of the stand there was a round band half a cubit high; and on the top of the stand its stays and its panels were of one piece with it. 36 And on the surfaces of its stays and on its panels, he carved cherubim, lions, and palm trees, according to the space of each, with wreaths all around. 37 After this manner he made the ten stands. All of them were cast alike, of the same measure and the same form.

  38 And he made ten basins of bronze. Each basin held forty baths, each basin measured four cubits, and there was a basin for each of the ten stands. 39 And he set the stands, five on the south side of the house, and five on the north side of the house. And he set the sea at the southeast corner of the house.

  40 Hiram also made the pots, the shovels, and the basins. So Hiram finished all the work that he did for King Solomon on the house of the Lord: 41 the two pillars, the two bowls of the capitals that were on the tops of the pillars, and the two latticeworks to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the tops of the pillars; 42 and the four hundred pomegranates for the two latticeworks, two rows of pomegranates for each latticework, to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the pillars; 43 the ten stands, and the ten basins on the stands; 44 and the one sea, and the twelve oxen underneath the sea.

  45 Now the pots, the shovels, and the basins, all these vessels in the house of the Lord, which Hiram made for King Solomon, were of burnished bronze. 46 In the plain of the Jordan the king cast them, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zarethan. 47 And Solomon left all the vessels unweighed, because there were so many of them; the weight of the bronze was not ascertained.

  48 So Solomon made all the vessels that were in the house of the Lord: the golden altar, the golden table for the bread of the Presence, 49 the lampstands of pure gold, five on the south side and five on the north, before the inner sanctuary; the flowers, the lamps, and the tongs, of gold; 50 the cups, snuffers, basins, dishes for incense, and fire pans, of pure gold; and the sockets of gold, for the doors of the innermost part of the house, the Most Holy Place, and for the doors of the nave of the temple.

  51 Thus all the work that King Solomon did on the house of the Lord was finished. And Solomon brought in the things that David his father had dedicated, the silver, the gold, and the vessels, and stored them in the treasuries of the house of the Lord.

  The Ark Brought into the Temple
  8 Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the fathers’ houses of the people of Israel, before King Solomon in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the city of David, which is Zion. 2 And all the men of Israel assembled to King Solomon at the feast in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month. 3 And all the elders of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark. 4 And they brought up the ark of the Lord, the tent of meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the tent; the priests and the Levites brought them up. 5 And King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, who had assembled before him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing so many sheep and oxen that they could not be counted or numbered. 6 Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord to its place in the inner sanctuary of the house, in the Most Holy Place, underneath the wings of the cherubim. 7 For the cherubim spread out their wings over the place of the ark, so that the cherubim overshadowed the ark and its poles. 8 And the poles were so long that the ends of the poles were seen from the Holy Place before the inner sanctuary; but they could not be seen from outside. And they are there to this day. 9 There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets of stone that Moses put there at Horeb, where the Lord made a covenant with the people of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt. 10 And when the priests came out of the Holy Place, a cloud filled the house of the Lord, 11 so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord.

  Solomon Blesses the Lord
  12 Then Solomon said, “The Lord[u] has said that he would dwell in thick darkness. 13 I have indeed built you an exalted house, a place for you to dwell in forever.” 14 Then the king turned around and blessed all the assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel stood. 15 And he said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who with his hand has fulfilled what he promised with his mouth to David my father, saying, 16 ‘Since the day that I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house, that my name might be there. But I chose David to be over my people Israel.’ 17 Now it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. 18 But the Lord said to David my father, ‘Whereas it was in your heart to build a house for my name, you did well that it was in your heart. 19 Nevertheless, you shall not build the house, but your son who shall be born to you shall build the house for my name.’ 20 Now the Lord has fulfilled his promise that he made. For I have risen in the place of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised, and I have built the house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. 21 And there I have provided a place for the ark, in which is the covenant of the Lord that he made with our fathers, when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.”

  Solomon’s Prayer of Dedication
  22 Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel and spread out his hands toward heaven, 23 and said, “O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to your servants who walk before you with all their heart; 24 you have kept with your servant David my father what you declared to him. You spoke with your mouth, and with your hand have fulfilled it this day. 25 Now therefore, O Lord, God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father what you have promised him, saying, ‘You shall not lack a man to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your sons pay close attention to their way, to walk before me as you have walked before me.’ 26 Now therefore, O God of Israel, let your word be confirmed, which you have spoken to your servant David my father.

  27 “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have built! 28 Yet have regard to the prayer of your servant and to his plea, O Lord my God, listening to the cry and to the prayer that your servant prays before you this day, 29 that your eyes may be open night and day toward this house, the place of which you have said, ‘My name shall be there,’ that you may listen to the prayer that your servant offers toward this place. 30 And listen to the plea of your servant and of your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. And listen in heaven your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive.

  31 “If a man sins against his neighbor and is made to take an oath and comes and swears his oath before your altar in this house, 32 then hear in heaven and act and judge your servants, condemning the guilty by bringing his conduct on his own head, and vindicating the righteous by rewarding him according to his righteousness.

  33 “When your people Israel are defeated before the enemy because they have sinned against you, and if they turn again to you and acknowledge your name and pray and plead with you in this house, 34 then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and bring them again to the land that you gave to their fathers.

  35 “When heaven is shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against you, if they pray toward this place and acknowledge your name and turn from their sin, when you afflict them, 36 then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel, when you teach them the good way in which they should walk, and grant rain upon your land, which you have given to your people as an inheritance.

  37 “If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence or blight or mildew or locust or caterpillar, if their enemy besieges them in the land at their gates,[v] whatever plague, whatever sickness there is, 38 whatever prayer, whatever plea is made by any man or by all your people Israel, each knowing the affliction of his own heart and stretching out his hands toward this house, 39 then hear in heaven your dwelling place and forgive and act and render to each whose heart you know, according to all his ways (for you, you only, know the hearts of all the children of mankind), 40 that they may fear you all the days that they live in the land that you gave to our fathers.

  41 “Likewise, when a foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, comes from a far country for your name’s sake 42 (for they shall hear of your great name and your mighty hand, and of your outstretched arm), when he comes and prays toward this house, 43 hear in heaven your dwelling place and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to you, in order that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your people Israel, and that they may know that this house that I have built is called by your name.

  44 “If your people go out to battle against their enemy, by whatever way you shall send them, and they pray to the Lord toward the city that you have chosen and the house that I have built for your name, 45 then hear in heaven their prayer and their plea, and maintain their cause.

  46 “If they sin against you—for there is no one who does not sin—and you are angry with them and give them to an enemy, so that they are carried away captive to the land of the enemy, far off or near, 47 yet if they turn their heart in the land to which they have been carried captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their captors, saying, ‘We have sinned and have acted perversely and wickedly,’ 48 if they repent with all their mind and with all their heart in the land of their enemies, who carried them captive, and pray to you toward their land, which you gave to their fathers, the city that you have chosen, and the house that I have built for your name, 49 then hear in heaven your dwelling place their prayer and their plea, and maintain their cause 50 and forgive your people who have sinned against you, and all their transgressions that they have committed against you, and grant them compassion in the sight of those who carried them captive, that they may have compassion on them 51 (for they are your people, and your heritage, which you brought out of Egypt, from the midst of the iron furnace). 52 Let your eyes be open to the plea of your servant and to the plea of your people Israel, giving ear to them whenever they call to you. 53 For you separated them from among all the peoples of the earth to be your heritage, as you declared through Moses your servant, when you brought our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord God.”

  Solomon’s Benediction
  54 Now as Solomon finished offering all this prayer and plea to the Lord, he arose from before the altar of the Lord, where he had knelt with hands outstretched toward heaven. 55 And he stood and blessed all the assembly of Israel with a loud voice, saying, 56 “Blessed be the Lord who has given rest to his people Israel, according to all that he promised. Not one word has failed of all his good promise, which he spoke by Moses his servant. 57 The Lord our God be with us, as he was with our fathers. May he not leave us or forsake us, 58 that he may incline our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments, his statutes, and his rules, which he commanded our fathers. 59 Let these words of mine, with which I have pleaded before the Lord, be near to the Lord our God day and night, and may he maintain the cause of his servant and the cause of his people Israel, as each day requires, 60 that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God; there is no other. 61 Let your heart therefore be wholly true to the Lord our God, walking in his statutes and keeping his commandments, as at this day.”

  Solomon’s Sacrifices
  62 Then the king, and all Israel with him, offered sacrifice before the Lord. 63 Solomon offered as peace offerings to the Lord 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. So the king and all the people of Israel dedicated the house of the Lord. 64 The same day the king consecrated the middle of the court that was before the house of the Lord, for there he offered the burnt offering and the grain offering and the fat pieces of the peace offerings, because the bronze altar that was before the Lord was too small to receive the burnt offering and the grain offering and the fat pieces of the peace offerings.

  65 So Solomon held the feast at that time, and all Israel with him, a great assembly, from Lebo-hamath to the Brook of Egypt, before the Lord our God, seven days.[w] 66 On the eighth day he sent the people away, and they blessed the king and went to their homes joyful and glad of heart for all the goodness that the Lord had shown to David his servant and to Israel his people.

John Janney Grace Bible Fellowship Church
Adult SS Elective: I Kings 5:1-8:66

C. Building God’s Temple (5:1-8:66)
1. The preparations for it (5:1-18)
“These greetings from Hiram link the previous section (34) with the major example of Solomon’s wisdom, the building of the temple.” [Martin, p. 347]
“It was time for the tabernacle to be replaced by the temple, God’s ‘permanent dwelling place.’ The need for a temple was bound up with the change in Israel’s situation. The kingdom was now firmly established in Israel. Particularly under Solomon, the kingdom was a foreshadowing of the Kingdom of God. In the glory of the temple, the palace of God’s holiness, it was made clear that the Lord lived among His people as Israel’s King.
“Yet we must not forget that the peculiar character of God’s kingdom is that God rules over all things through a human being, just as He now reigns through the Christ. This, too, was foreshadowed in Israel….
“Bear in mind that God did not restrict His presence to the earthly temple, as Solomon pointed out in his prayer (1 Kings 8:27); His presence filled all of heaven and earth. What the temple was intended to symbolize was not just God’s presence but the presence of His grace; He used the temple to show that He was present among His people as the God of the covenant…. The temple was a shadow of the presence of God’s grace in the Christ and a prophecy pointing ahead to the day when the entire earth will be filled with God’s grace.”
[De Graff, Promise and Deliverance II, p. 202-203]

“As soon as David had given to his people the boon of a unique capital, nothing could be more natural than the wish to add sacredness to the glory of the capital by making it the center of the national worship. According to the Chronicles, David — feeling it a reproach that he himself should dwell in palaces celled with cedar and painted with vermilion while the Ark of God dwelt between curtains — had made…preparations to build a house for God. But it had been decreed unfit that the sanctuary should be built by a man whose hands were red with the blood of many wars, and he had received the promise that the great work should be accomplished by his son.
“Into that work Solomon threw himself with hearty zeal in the month Zif of the fourth year of his reign, when his kingdom was consolidated. It commanded all his sympathies as an artist, a lover of magnificence, and a ruler bent on the work of centralization. It was a task to which he was bound by the solemn exhortation of his father, and he felt, doubtless, its political as well as its religious importance. With his sincere desire to build to God’s glory was mingled a prophetic conviction that his task would be fraught with immense issues for the future of his people and of all the world. The presence of the Temple left its impress on the very name of Jerusalem….
”The materials already provided were of priceless value. David had consecrated to God the spoils which he had won from conquered kings…. He inherited the friendship which David had enjoyed, with Hiram, King of Tyre…. Jerusalem became a hive of ceaseless and varied industry.”
[Farrar, p. 251]

a. Securing the Materials (5:1-12)
“As he anticipated the building of the temple, David had set aside some of the spoils of battle especially for the Lord (1 Chron. 22:14). This amounted to 3,750 tons of gold, 37,500 tons of silver, and an unmeasured amount of bronze, iron, wood, and stone. All this wealth he presented publicly to Solomon (1 Chron 29:1-5). David also added his own personal treasures and then invited the leaders of the nations to contribute as well (1 Chron 29). The final totals were 4,050 tons of gold and over 38,000 tons of silver, not to speak of thousands of tons of bronze and iron, as well as precious stones. It was a great beginning for a great project.”
[Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary II, p. 418]

“Solomon’s letter was really a commercial contract, for in it he offered to pay for the wood by providing food annually for Hiram’s household (5:11), and also to pay the workers one large payment for their labor (2 Chron. 2:10). Until the work was completed, King Hiram’s household received annually 125,000 bushels of wheat and 115,000 gallons of pure olive oil The workers would receive one payment of 125,000 bushels of wheat and 115,000 gallons of pure olive oil. The workers would receive one payment of 125,000 bushels of wheat, 125,000 bushels of barley, and 115,000 gallons of wine and olive oil, all of which would be divided among them,”
[Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary II, p. 419]

“…Even heathen nations, whether friendly or conquered, take part in the building of the house for the God of Israel, and so contributed indirectly to the glorifying of God. It was a setting forth in act of the word: ‘The earth is the Lord’s, and all that therein is’ (Ps. xxiv.1); ‘For the kingdom is the Lord’s and He is governor among the nations’ (Ps. xxii.28); and ‘all the heathen shall serve Him’
(Ps. lxxii.11).” [Karl Chr. W. F. Bahr, “The Books of the Kings,” Lange’s Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1868), p. 56]

“Hiram rejoiced and praised the Lord once he saw that Solomon wanted to rule in the spirit of his father David. Hiram had seen some of the blessings of David’s rule and had great respect for the God of Israel, even though he did not choose for Israel’s God with his whole heart. He remained a heathen, but he appreciated the blessings which streamed forth upon the kingdom which the Lord had established in Israel.”
[De Graff, Promise and Deliverance II, p. 203]

b. Conscripting the Workers (5:13-18)
“When a beginning was made with the work, it became clear what great wisdom God had given Solomon. That wisdom guided him in the organization of this enormous task. He drafted 30,000 laborers from all over Israel and divided them into three groups of 10,000 men each. Each group worked for one month in Lebanon and then came home for two months. Solomon instituted forced labor for the Canaanites who still remained in Canaan. He made 70,000 of them work as load carriers. Another 80,000 served as stonecutters, since a great deal of stone would be needed in the building of the temple. The stone, too, came from Lebanon and was cut into blocks there.
“The laborers were supervised by 3300 foremen.”
[De Graff, Promise and Deliverance II, p. 204]
“David’s incomplete census had revealed that there were 1,300,000 able-bodied men in the land (2 Sam. 24:9) and Solomon conscripted only 30,000 to labor on the temple, about 2.3 percent of the total available labor force….
“Even though the conscription involved a very small portion of the male citizens, the Jewish people resented Solomon taking 30,000 of their men to work in Lebanon four months out of the year. This critical attitude helped to strengthen the people’s revolt against Rehoboam and to precipitate the division of the nation after Solomon’s death (12:1-21).”
[Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary II, p. 419-420]

2. The building of it (6:1-38)
“…Solomon built a house for the Lord, using the tabernacle as a rough model. Like the tabernacle, the temple was divided into three areas ― the Holy Place, the Most Holy Place (or Holy of Holies), and the outer court. The temple’s Most Holy Place was cube-shaped, just as in the tabernacle. But in the case of the temple, all the measurements were doubled. Moreover, the front court of the temple was divided into several courts. And along the side walls Solomon made three floors of rooms for all kinds of services. The stone walls on the inside he covered with wood. Everything ― the stones as well as the wood ― had been cut in advance so that the temple could be assembled very quietly; the sound of the hammer, the ax and the saw was not heard. It was as though the Israelite workmen were deeply impressed with the holiness of the house they were building.
“While the building was underway, the Word of the Lord came to Solomon with the promise that the Lord would live in the midst of Israel and would keep His Word concerning David’s house. At the same time, this Word called Solomon to walk according to all the commandments and instructions of the Lord….
“The walls of the Lord’s house were overlaid with gold. In this gold the glory and holiness of the God of the covenant shone forth…. In the Holy of Holies the king placed two statues of cherubs whose outstretched wings touched each other as well as the walls. These huge statues, too, were made of wood and were overlaid with gold.
“It took seven years to build the temple, which was finished in the eleventh year of Solomon’s reign.” [De Graff, Promise and Deliverance II, p. 204-205]
“This was Solomon’s greatest work. In form the temple was an exact reproduction of the tabernacle of the wilderness, only double in size. The temple, in reality, was the sacred Tent in marble and gold. The cite was Mt. Moriah, memorable as the place where Abraham’s faith had been tried, and where David offered and the plague was stayed, 1 Chron. xxi.28.”
[W. G. Moorehead, Outline Studies in the Old Testament, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1893), p. 106]

a. The Outer Structure (6:1-10)
“In verses 2-10 the writer describes the frame of the temple. It is ninety feet long, thirty feet wide, and forty-five feet high. Against the side and back walls as three stories of staterooms, each 7½ feet high.” [Van Groningen, p. 239]

“The size of Solomon’s temple depends upon the true length of the Jewish ammab, which is doubtful. The measure was certainly a cubit of some kind or other; but whether one based on the length of the bone of the fore-arm, or on the distance from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger, or on that between the elbow and the knuckles, cannot be determined…. The ancient ammab has been estimated as somewhat less than a foot (Saalschutz), and again as between 19 and 20 inches (Thenius), a difference of nearly 8 inches, which would produce a variation of nearly of 40 feet in the length of the temple-chamber, and of 46 in that of the entire building.”
[Rawlinson, p. 509]

b. A Divine Message (6:11-13)
“God would fulfill His promises to David and Solomon (2 Sam. 7), not because Solomon built the temple but because he obeyed the Word of the Lord…. This was the second time God spoke to Solomon about obedience (see 3:5ff.), and He would speak to him about it again after the dedication of the temple (9:3-9).” [Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary II, p. 421]
“However magnificent a temple may be, the message of verses 12-13 is that it has no spiritual value unless the people who use it devote themselves totally to God’s control. The sanctuary is but a symbol. The essentials are obedience to His will and observance of His commandments.”
[Dilday, p. 92]

c. The Inner Structure (6:14-35)
“Note that the writer spends considerably more space depicting the interior of the house (vv. 14-38) as opposed to the exterior (vv. 1-10). Richard Nelson points out that the average Israelite would never have seen the interior of the temple.”
[Davis, p. 63]

The word “gold” occurs “six times in three verses (vv. 20-22) and eleven times in total (vv. 20,21 [3 t.], 22 [2 t.], 28, 30, 32 [2 t.], 35. Both the inner sanctuary and apparently the main hall were covered with gold (vv. 20-22a). The huge cherubim made of olive wood for the inner sanctuary were covered with gold (v. 28), as were the decorated olive wood doors at the entrances of both the main hall and inner sanctuary (vv. 32, 35). Even the temple floor was decked with gold (v. 30).”
[Davis, p. 63]
“Gold was under foot there, as it should be in all the living temples…”
[Matthew Henry’s Commentary II, p. 473]

d. The Concluding Touches (6:36-38)
“It took Solomon seven years and six months to finish the temple. As it turned out, the glory of the great edifice was short-lived. Because of his disobedience, it was plundered just five short years after his death (14:2-6). Furthermore, the continued disobedience of the people led to its total destruction in 586 B.C.”
[Dilday, p. 92]

3. The furnishing of it (7:1-47)
“It took thirteen years to build the king’s palace. During those years the furnishings and equipment of the temple were made Solomon did not want to put the tabernacle’s altars, the candleholder, the table of showbread, and the copper basin and all that came with it in the temple. They would look too small there. He had new furnishings and equipment made on a larger scale. The copper basin was replaced by a bronze ‘sea’ (a huge round tank) supported by twelve cast bronze oxen plus ten four-wheeled movable stands. Replacing the one candleholder were ten candelabra. But he did not have a new ark made. The special sign of God’s presence remained the same as in the desert.
“To take care of the finer work, Hiram, the king of Tyre, had sent Solomon a master craftsman whose same was also Hiram. This craftsman was especially gifts in the detailed work that needed doing.
“He first turned his attention to the two pillars which were erected in the front court or porch of the temple. They were lofty pillars with beautifully decorated capitals. These two pillars were completely unique in once since: they received individual names. One was called Jachin (‘He confirms’), and the other was named Boaz (‘in Him is strength’). Both names pointed to the fact that this royal rule was forever sure. Solomon could give the pillars these names on the basis of the promise in the covenant with David. It is true that the temple was later destroyed, but the sovereign rule of God over His people by a son out of David’s house stands forever sure in the Christ.
“It had been David’s desire to build a house for the Lord. When he was not allowed to carry out his plan, he made many preparations by gathering materials that Solomon now used. David had saved up so many treasures for the temple’s construction that Solomon could not use them all. The treasures that were left Solomon put away so that in time they could be used for the holy service.”
[De Graff, Promise and Deliverance II, p. 206-207]

a. The Royal Complex (7:1-12)
i. House of the Forest of Lebanon (7:2-5)
“The house of the forest of Lebanon. — This building — so named because it was built, so to speak, of a forest of cedar pillars — is called in the Arabic the ‘house of his arms,’ because, according to
ch. 10:17, it also served as a keeping-place for arms…”
[Keil, p. 65]
ii. Hall of Pillars (7:6)
iii. Hall of Justice (7:7)
iv. House of Solomon (7:8a)
v. House of Pharaoh’s Daughter (7:8b)
vi. Highlight of Materials 7:9-12)
b. The Temple Furnishings (7:13-47)
i. Two Bronze Pillars (7:13- 22)
When the temple “was destroyed particular notice was taken of the destroying of these pillars (2 Kings 24:13,17)…”
[Matthew Henry’s Commentary II, p. 476]
ii. The Sea (7:23-26)
“In addition to some miscellaneous bronze implements mentioned in verse 40, Hiram’s next project was to fashion an enormous bronze water basin resting on twelve bronze oxen. With a diameter of seven feet and a depth of three feet, it held water for cleaning the altars and implements used in the bloody sacrifices and for use in ceremonial purifications. Called ‘the Sea’ because of its volume, the heavy basin required a more portable distribution system to carry the water to the various worship stations in the temple. So Hiram fashioned ten smaller lavers on wheeled carts which could be pushed about the temple grounds.”
[Dilday, p. 98-99]
iii. Ten Movable Stands (7:27-39)
iv. The Summary (7:40-47)

4. The dedication of it (8:1-66)
““Since the temple was completed in the eighth month (6:38) and not officially dedicated until the seventh month (8:2), it must have stood empty and unused for eleven months, probably so that the dedication could coincide with the Feast of the Tabernacles.”
[Dilday, p. 105]

“Once everything was finished, Solomon gathered the representatives of the entire people to bring the ark of the covenant into the temple. In a stately procession, the priests carried the ark plus all the furnishing and equipment used in the tent erected by David for the ark. As this procession moved ahead, Solomon, together with the people, offered countless sacrifices,
“Finally the priests put the ark in its place in the Holy of Holies or inner sanctuary, under the cherubs. In the ark were the stone tablets on which the law of the covenant had been engraved. As soon as the priests left the sanctuary, a cloud filled the temple, and the priests were not able to continue the service. The glory of the Lord, that is, the glory of His grace, was revealed there. This house would be the proof that the Lord would dwell in the midst of Israel according to the grace of His covenant.
“In this Israel was richly blessed. It is true that the temple has passed away, but today the indwelling of the Lord is far more glorious. The fullness of His grace was in the Christ and is still in the Christ. In His grace He came to live in His people when the Holy Spirit was poured out.
”Now think for a moment of the shining gold of the temple. In it shone the holiness of the Lord. God wishes to sanctify His people in order that His holiness may be glorified in them. Today, too, the Lord is a glorious King among His people.

“Overjoyed by this sign of God’s indwelling, Solomon said; ‘The LORD has said that he would dwell in darkness.’ The Lord still chose to dwell in the dark inner sanctuary behind the curtains (the Holy of Holies), and He hid much of His glory in the cloud. Reconciliation through the cross of the Christ had not yet taken place. One day, because of the Christ, God’s glory would be seen in all its splendor….
“Then Solomon turned around with his face toward the people. The one who was Israel’s king and head in the name of the Lord proceeded to bless the people in the name of the Lord. In blessing them, Solomon remembered the covenant made with David and praised the Lord for the fulfillment of the promise. The people stood as they received the blessing. And we, in faith, receive the blessing of our King in heaven.”
[De Graff, Promise and Deliverance II, p. 107-108]

“The crowning point of Solomon’s glory was the day when the temple was dedicated. Even in his dedicatory prayer, joy, freedom, and largeness of heart prevail in his view of divine and human things, which is peculiar to that time of peace (1 Kings viii.22-53, especially vers. 37-40). Jehovah made Himself known in wonderful manifestations of His presence to this temple, which was founded with the intent that it should become a house of prayer for all nations (I Kings viii.10-12; 2 Chron. vii.1-3). The wandering tent had now become a fixed place. But Jehovah did not consent to this palatial building without reluctance; and although Solomon sees in it the fulfillment of the promise    (I Kings viii.12-21), yet this magnificent building of hewn stone and cedars, in which Phoenician art had participated to as great a degree as Israelitish incitement and work, could not possibly be the house that the promise finally had in view; hence the history of Israel immediately takes a turn, which aims at destroying this glory, since it is still only cosmical and is incongruous with the glorious thoughts of God…. When the stone letter of the law shall once become spiritualized, then, too, this stone temple is to give way to a spiritual temple of living stones (I Pet. ii.4 sq.), and therefore the history of Israel immediately takes a turn in the direction of that goal.”
[Keil, Old Testament History of Redemption, p. 98-100]

a. The Ark (8:1-13)
“The temple, though richly beautified, yet while it was without the ark was like a body without a soul, or a candlestick without a candle, or (to speak more properly) a house without an inhabitant. All the cost and pains bestowed on this stately structure are lost if God do not accept them; and, unless he please to own it as the place where he will record his name, it is after all but a ruinous heap.” [Matthew Henry’s Commentary II, p. 477]

“At the dedication of the tabernacle the glory of Jehovah in the cloud filled the sanctuary, so that Moses could not enter (Ex. 40:34, 35); and so was it now. When the priests came out of the sanctuary, after putting the ark of the covenant in its place, the cloud filled the house of Jehovah, so that the priests could not stand to minister. The signification of this fact was the same on both occasions. The cloud, as the visible symbol of the gracious presence of God, filled the temple, as a sign that Jehovah the covenant-God had entered into it, and had chosen it as the scene of His gracious manifestation in Israel. By the inability of the priests to stand, we are not to understand that the cloud drove them away; for it was not till the priests had come out that it filled the temple. It simply means that they could not remain in the Holy Place to perform service, say to offer an incense-offering upon the altar to consecrate it, just as sacrifices were offered upon the altar of burnt-offering after the dedicatory prayer (vv. 62, 63).

“The glory of the Lord, which is like a consuming fire (Ex. 24:17; Deut. 4:24; 9: 3), before which unholy man cannot stand, manifested itself in the cloud. This marvelous manifestation of the glory of God took place only at the dedication; after that the cloud was only visible in the Most Holy Place on the great day of atonement, when the high priest entered it. — The Chronicles contain a long account at this place of the playing and singing of the Levites at these solemnities
(vid., 2 Chron.. 5:12-14).” [Keil, p. 87]

b. The Blessing (8:14-21)
“‘Come,’ says he, ‘let God’s awful appearances not drive us from him, but draw us to him; let us bless the Lord God of Israel. Solomon here blessed God, [1.] For his promise which he spoke with his mouth to David. [2.] For the performance, that he had now fulfilled it with his hand.”
[Matthew Henry’s Commentary II, p. 479]

c. The Prayer (8:22-53)
“…Solomon does, as we should in every prayer, 1. Give glory to God…. (1.) He gives him the praise of what he is, in general, the best of beings in himself (‘There is no God like thee…’) and the best of masters to his people: ‘Who keepest covenant and mercy with thy servants; not only as good as thy word in keeping covenant, but better than thy word in keeping mercy… provided they walk before thee with all their heart… (2.) He gives him thanks for what he had done, in particular, for his family (v. 24)…. 2. He sues for grace and favor from God. (1.) That God would perform to him and his the mercy which he had promised, v. 25, 26…. Solomon repeats the promise (v. 25): There shall not fail thee a man to sit on the throne, not omitting the condition, so that thy children take heed to their way… And then he humbly begs this entail (v. 26): Now, O God of Israel! let thy word be verified…. (2.) That God would have respect to this temple which he had now taken possession of, and that his eyes might be continually open towards it (v. 29), that he would graciously own it, and so put an honor upon it.
“To this purpose, [1.] He premises, First, A humble admiration of God’s gracious condescension (v. 27): ‘But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Can we imagine that a Being infinitely high, and holy, and happy, will stoop so low as to let it be said of him that he dwells upon the earth and blesses the worms of the earth with his presence — the earth, that is corrupt, and overspread with sin — cursed, and reserved to fire? Lord, how is it?’ Secondly, A humble acknowledgment of the incapacity of the house he had built, though very capacious, to contain God: ‘The heaven of heavens cannot contain thee, for no place can include him who is present in all places; even this house is too little, too mean to be the residence of him that is infinite in being and glory.’…

“[2.] This premised, he prays in general, First, That God would graciously hear and answer the prayer he was now praying, v. 28…. Secondly, That God would in like manner hear and answer all the prayers that should, at any time hereafter, be made in or towards this house which he had now built, and of which God had said, My name shall be there (v. 29)….typifying the mediation of Jesus Christ, who is the true temple, to whom we must have an eye in every thing wherein we have to do with God…. He begs that God will hear the prayers, and forgive the sins, of all that look this way in their prayers….

“[3.] More particularly, he here puts divers cases in which he supposed application would be made to God by prayer in or towards this house of prayer. First, If God were appealed to by an oath for the determining of any controverted right between man and man, and the oath were taken before this altar, he prayed that God would, in some way or other, discover the truth, and judge between the contending parties, v. 31, 32. He prayed that, in difficult matters, this throne of grace might be a throne of judgment, from which God would right the injured that believingly appealed to it, and punish the injurious that presumptuously appealed to it…. Secondly, If the people of Israel were groaning under any national calamity, or any particular Israelite under any personal calamity, he desired that the prayers they should make in or towards this house might be heard and answered. a. In case of public judgments, war (v. 33), want of rain (v. 35), famine, or pestilence (v. 37), and he ends with an et cetera — any plague or sickness; for no calamity befalls other people which may not befall God’s Israel. Now he supposes, (a.) That the cause of the judgment would be sin, and nothing else…. (b.) That the consequence of the judgment would be that they would cry to God, and make supplication to him in or towards that house…. (c.) That the condition of the removal of the judgment was something more than barely praying for it. He could not, he would not, ask that their prayer might be answered unless they did also turn from their sin (v. 35) and turn again to God (v. 33), that is, unless they did truly repent and reform…. But, if they did thus…he prays, [a.] That God would hear from heaven, his holy temple above, to which they must look, through this temple. [b.] That he would forgive their sin; for then only are judgments removed in mercy when sin is pardoned. [c.] That he would teach them the good way wherein they should walk, by his Spirit, with his word and prophets; and thus they might be both profited by their trouble (for blessed is the man whom God chastens and teaches), and prepared for deliverance, which then comes in love when it finds us brought back to the good way of God and duty. [d.] That he would then remove the judgment, and redress the grievance, whatever it might be — not only accept the prayer, but give in the mercy prayed for. b. In case of personal afflictions, v. 38-40. ‘If any man of Israel has an errand to thee, here let him find thee, here let him find favor with thee.’… He refers all cases of this kind, that should be brought hither, to God. [a.] To his omniscience…. [b] To his justice… [c.] To his mercy: Hear, and forgive, and do (v. 39), that they may fear thee all their days, v. 40. c. The case of the stranger that is not an Israelite is next mentioned, a proselyte that comes to the temple to pray to the God of Israel, being convinced of the folly and wickedness of worshiping the gods of his country. (a.) He supposed that there would be many such (v. 41, 42), that the fame of God’s great works which he had wrought for Israel, by which he proved himself to be above all gods, nay, to be God alone, would reach to distant countries… (b.) He begged that God would accept and answer the proselyte’s prayer (v. 43): Do according to all that the stranger calleth to thee for. Thus early, thus ancient, were the indications of favor towards the sinners of the Gentiles: as there was then one law for the native and for the stranger (Ex. 12:49), so there was one gospel for both. (c.) Herein he aimed at the glory of God and the propagating of the knowledge of him: ‘O let the stranger, in a special manner, speed well in his addresses, that he may carry away with him to his own country a good report of the God of Israel, that all people may know thee and fear thee (and, if they know thee aright, they will fear thee) as do thy people Israel.’… d. The case of an army going forth to battle is next recommended by Solomon to the divine favor. It is supposed that the army is encamped at a distance, somewhere a great way off, sent by divine order against the enemy, v. 44. ‘When they are ready to engage, and consider the perils and doubtful issues of battle, and put up a prayer to God for protection and success, with their eye towards this city and temple, then hear their prayer, encourage their hearts, strengthen their hands, cover their heads, and so maintain their cause and give them victory.’… e. The case of poor captives is the last that is here mentioned as a proper object of divine compassion. (a.) He supposes that Israel will sin. He knew them, and himself, and the nature of man, too well to think this a foreign supposition; for there is no man that sinneth not, that does not enough to justify God in the severest rebukes of his providence… (b.) He supposes, what may well be expected, that, if Israel revolt from God, God will be angry with them, and deliver them into the hand of their enemies, to be carried captive into a strange country,     v. 46. (c.) He then supposes that they consider their ways…and,…will repent and pray, will confess their sins, and humble themselves, saying, We have sinned and have done perversely (v. 47), and in the land of their enemies will return to God, whom they had forsaken in their own land. (d.) He supposes that in their prayers they will look towards their own land, the holy land, Jerusalem, the holy city, and the temple, the holy house, and directs them so to do (v. 48), for his sake who gave them that land, chose that city, and to whose honor that house was built. (e.) He prays that then God would hear their prayers, forgive their sins, plead their cause, and incline their enemies to have compassion on them, v. 49. 50…. (f.) He pleads their relation to God, and his interest in them: ‘They are thy people, whom thou hast taken into thy covenant and under thy care and conduct, thy inheritance, from which, more than from any other nation, thy…tribute of glory issue and arise (v. 51), separated from among all people to be so and by distinguishing favors appropriated to thee,” v.53. Lastly, After all these particulars, he concludes with this general request, that God would hearken to all his praying people in all that they call unto him for, v. 52. No place now, under the gospel, can be imagined to add any acceptableness to the prayers made in or towards it, as the temple then did. That was a shadow: the substance is Christ; whatever we ask in his name, it shall be given us.”
[Matthew Henry’s Commentary II, p. 481-483]
d. The Blessing (8:54-61)
e. The Feast (8:62-66)
5. The significance of it. It is a type of
a. The Christ (Matthew 1:23; John 1:14; 2:13-22)
“Christ is the true temple; he himself spoke of the temple of his body, John 2:21…. In Him dwelt the fullness of the Godhead, as the Shechinah in the temple.”
[Matthew Henry’s Commentary II, p. 473-474]
“The Garden of Eden is lost to human experience due to sin, but in its place is the promise of a land flowing with milk and honey. In the Old Testament the theme of the land is prominent, yet when we come to the New Testament it is much harder to find. The mystery of the disappearing promised land is resolved when we see that certain institutions begin to represent its reality as the place where God and his people dwell together in fellowship. Thus: Eden → promised land → Zion → temple → new temple (in the prophets) → Christ, the new temple. Only then can we move to the new Eden or the new heaven and earth. The promises of the land and a return to Eden are incorporated into the theology of the temple as the place where God dwells with his people. The physical nature of the land reappears in the prospect of a new creation that, contrary to some forms of popular piety, is not a nonmaterial and purely spiritual concept. The whole creation will be remade. It will be different but have some continuity with the world. The melding of the temple and Eden images, which occurs in the eschatology of Ezekiel 47, is found again in Revelation 21:22-22:5.”
[Graeme Goldsworthy, Preaching the Whole Bible as Christian Scripture, (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2000), p. 250]
b. The Church (1 Corinthians 3:16-17; Ephesians 2:19-22; 1 Peter 2:4-5)
“The gospel church is the mystical temple; it grows to a holy temple in the Lord (Eph. 2:21), enriched and beautified with the gifts and graces of the Spirit…. This temple is built firm, upon a rock, not to be taken down as the tabernacle of the Old Testament was.”
[Matthew Henry’s Commentary II, p. 474
c. The Christian (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)
“Every believer is a living temple, in whom the Spirit of God dwells, I Cor. 3:16.”
[Matthew Henry’s Commentary II, p. 474]
“You will build a house for the Lord your God in and of yourself. He will be the craftsman, your heart the site, your thoughts the materials. Do not take fright because of your own lack of skill; he who requires this of you is a skillful builder, and he chooses others to be builders too.”
[Hugh of St. Victor (1096-1141), German-born monk and writer, in The Doubleday Christian Quotation Collection 12.17.9, p. 60-61]
d. The Culmination (Revelation 21:1-4)
“Heaven is the everlasting temple. There the church will be fixed, and no longer movable. The streets of the new Jerusalem, in allusion to the flooring of the temple, are said to be of pure gold,
Rev. 21:21.” [Matthew Henry’s Commentary II, p. 474]
“…Both tabernacle and temple in Old Testament times were faint previews of the eventual, eternal dwelling of God among His people.”
[Dennis E. Johnson, Triumph of the Lamb: A Commentary on Revelation, (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2001), p. 304]