1 Kings 6-7 "The House of the LORD" Why should we care about the detailed description of the temple given here? The simple reason is because in Christ you are the temple the house of the LORD. All that is true of the temple is true of you. We heard in chapters 3-5 of the wisdom of Solomon in judging difficult cases (3:15-28) in the organization of his kingdom (4:1-19) in his expansive learning, covering the whole of creation (4:29-34) and in his dealing with the nations, especially Hiram of Tyre (5:1-12) Now in chapters 6-7 we hear of how Solomon's wisdom is manifested in building the temple the House of the LORD and in other building projects. Chapter 6 deals with the construction of the temple. 7:1-12 then moves to the construction of Solomon's house. And 7:13-51 returns to the furnishing of the temple. Our text neatly fits together with the statement in 6:1 that Solomon "began to build the house of the LORD," and in 7:51 that "the house of the LORD was finished." But the word "finished" is used a total of seven times in our text, as Solomon completes each stage. This is the same word used in Genesis 2:1, where it says that God finished creating the heavens and the earth; it is also the word used in Exodus 40:33 to describe how Moses finished building the tabernacle 1. Building the House of the LORD (6:1-38) Solomon builds the temple in the 480th year after Israel came out of Egypt. We know that Solomon's reign began about the year 970, so that suggests that the Exodus occurred in the 1440s. There are other possible chronologies, but that is the most likely one. But the key to the number 480 is that it is 12 generations (12 x 40 = 480). After the 12 tribes had been in the land for 12 generations, God provided a house for his name. What is the temple? Solomon referred to it in 1 Kings 5:3 as a "house for the name of the LORD." It is not literally the place where God dwells, but it is the place where God's name dwells. It is the sign that God is dwelling in the midst of his people. God has been dwelling in a tent as he cares for his pilgrim people, but now after 12 generations he has built a house for his king, and now the king will build a house for God. You can see here the movement of redemptive history: we are pilgrims, but we are not going to be pilgrims forever. We are pilgrims who are citizens of the heavenly city. 6:1-10--building the House of the LORD First we hear of the construction of the exterior of the house. 60 cubits long, 20 cubits wide and 30 cubits high. The tabernacle had been 30 cubits long, 10 cubits wide and 10 cubits high. So the temple is twice as large and three times as high. The glory of Solomon exceeds the glory of Moses. Solomon's temple reminds us that the stability and glory of the heavenly city far exceeds the partial glory of Moses' tabernacle. Indeed, the differences between the tabernacle and the temple generally point us to the greater glory that is found in the permanent. But a building of stone and of gold is not truly permanent, and so we are called to look for a temple that will last forever an eternal house! Verse 7 tells us that Solomon took very seriously the Law of the Altar in Exodus 20 and Dt 27. Even though these passages only forbid the use of tools in the crafting of a stone altar, Solomon applies this to the entire temple. Rather than allow tools into the holy place, Solomon makes sure that all of the massive stones for the temple were crafted and carved at the quarry, so that no sound of a tool would be heard in the temple. In verses 8-10 we hear of the entrance to the structure built around the temple. Solomon's temple would look something like a pyramid, with chambers on either side. Each story was five cubits high (around 7 « feet). Why a pyramid? The temple is designed to look like a holy mountain. At Mt Sinai the glory of the LORD dwelt at the top of the mountain and now the glory of the LORD will dwell in the Holy of Holies the part of the temple that is 30 cubits (45 feet high)-- the highest place in the temple. Just as the people of God worshiped at the mountain of God in Moses day, so also the people of God will worship in a man-made mountain in Solomon's day. And, if you think about it, since Jesus is the true temple (John 3) Jesus is the God-made mountain where we worship God (As Jesus said in John 4, neither on this mountain or in Jerusalem, will you worship, but in him.) This is reinforced by the architectural language in this passage. In verse three we are told that the temple has a "face" The word translated "front" literally means "face." In verses 5 and 8 the temple has "ribs" The side chambers are literally "ribs." And in 7:39 the temple has "shoulders." The building of the temple in 1 Kings 6 parallels the creation of Eve in Genesis 2. The word for "side chambers" is the same word used in Gen 2:21, often translated "rib." And after taking a rib, the Lord closed up the flesh "underneath"-- the word used in verse 6 to refer to the "lower" story. And not least interesting is the fact that the LORD literally "built" Eve in Gen 2:22, which is the same word used here to refer to Solomon building the temple. So the temple is not only "human" in its form, it is particularly female. It is in this way the "bride" of the new Adam (Solomon). This fits neatly with the way that Paul talks about the church as the bride of Christ. And indeed, even when Paul talks about the body of Christ, he is very frequently using the imagery of marriage. The church as body and the church as bride are interrelated. And the body-language generally has feminine characteristics. This is why the prophets and apostles frequently use maternal language regarding the church. We are God's temple we are the place where the seed (the Holy Spirit) is planted and grows as it is nourished by the Word and sacraments and prayer. 6:11-13 God's promise Verses 11-13 seem to interrupt the flow. Solomon has been busy building, and now suddenly he receives the word of the LORD. Verse 9 tells us that Solomon had finished the exterior of the House of the LORD. We are about to hear about the interior of the temple. But before we do, we hear about the purpose of the temple. The temple is not a guarantee. 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. And I will dwell among the children of Israel and will not forsake my people Israel. Once again we hear of the importance of the covenant mediator. We heard this of Joshua. In Joshua 1, what is God's promise? If Joshua is faithful, then God will give Israel the inheritance. "You shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them" (Joshua 1:6) It is the faithfulness of the covenant mediator that brings the inheritance to Israel. Even so, in 1 Kings, if Solomon obeys, then God dwells among the children of Israel. Remember what we have seen in Samuel: Israel has failed to live as the son of God. And so God has established the King as his son the one who is called to be all that Israel was supposed to be the one who is called to succeed where Israel has failed. If Solomon is faithful and walks in God's ways, then God will dwell with his people indeed, then God will not forsake "my people Israel." But there is a warning here! Because if Solomon fails if the son of God fails then God will forsake his people. And of course, Kings is written from the standpoint of the Exile. The original hearers of this book were those who knew the end of the story Solomon does fail, and his sons walk in his footsteps and Israel is forsaken. We have a king who has succeeded where Israel failed, where Solomon failed! We have a king who is a temple! We have a king who is the one where earth and heaven meet. And in him, we have the confidence that God will dwell in his church, never again to forsake his people. But the warning remains: because it is possible for a church to abandon the worship of God. There are now churches who baptize in the name of the Mother, and of the Daughter, and of the Womb. And they are no churches at all, but houses of Baal that worship false gods. When the church (and remember that the church is the new Eve the new temple) prostitutes herself to false gods, then God's judgment will fall against apostasy. We are still called to "walk in my statutes and obey my rules, and keep all my commandments and walk in them." Because in Jesus Christ, we are the temple of the living God, and his Spirit dwells in us, who are called by his name. 6:14-36 the inside of the House In verses 14-36 we hear about the interior of the House of God. Just as the tabernacle was an architectural picture of Eden, so also is the temple. The palm trees, gourds and flowers remind us of the garden in Eden the garden of delight. And the cherubim guarding the way to the Holy of holies also reminds us of Eden. The cherubim forbid all the sons of Adam to enter God's presence. While the outside of the temple looks like a stone pyramid, the inside of the house is lined with cedar, and floored with cypress, but these precious woods are nowhere to be seen. Everything is covered with gold. The whole sanctuary is covered with gold. The holy place, where the priests would enter, was thirty feet by sixty feet, and 45 feet high. When you entered the holy place, you entered a narrow, rectangular room, similar in some ways to Noah's ark. But the whole room would glow with the radiance of gold from the walls and the floor and the ceiling the candlelight reflected from every surface, and the sweet smell of incense covering over the stale odor of dried blood. And in front of you, as you walked in, would be the towering figures of the cherubim on the door, and as you turned to look at the walls of gold, you would see the cherubim there as well. Everywhere you turned in that holy place, you would be reminded that the cherubim guarded the way to God. Even as a priest you would never see the 15 foot cherubim in the Holy of Holies. You would hear the high priest tell of the massive images in the Most Holy Place which overshadowed the mercy seat. Their wings went from wall to wall, and they towered over the ark of the covenant, reminding the High Priest that there was no way into the presence of God apart from the blood of the sacrifice. Truly, the architecture of the temple was designed to inspire reverence and awe. 6:37-38 from start to finish Verses 37-38 tell us that Solomon finished the temple in seven years. 2. Building His Own House (7:1-12) His own house took longer 13 years. Verse 12 explicitly connects Solomon's house to the house of the LORD. Solomon is the son of God whose house is, in some respects, modeled on that of his Father. Several buildings are named: 1) the House of the Forest of Lebanon, 2) the Hall of Pillars (literally, the Porch of Pillars) 3) the Hall of the Throne (or the Porch of Judgment) When you put all this together, the three parts of Solomon's house reminds us of the three parts of the temple: 1) the House of the Forest of Lebanon echoes the language of the Holy Place (having windows and paneled with cedar) 2) the hall of pillars echoes the language of the porch or courtyard of the temple (and 7:15-22 will even talk about pillars in the courtyard of the temple) and 3) the hall of judgment contains the throne room, just as the Holy of Holies contained the ark the throne of God. This is rooted in the tripartite view of the universe: the earth, the heavens, and the heavens above the heavens (the highest heavens). Solomon's tripartite house is built in imitation of God's tripartite house, and Solomon is seated in the third part the part that represents the highest heavens. But of course, Solomon's throne is only figuratively in the heavens. Only Jesus ascends into the highest heavens and truly sits on the throne of God. Jesus does that which Solomon prefigured. 3. Furnishing the Temple (7:13-51) The rest of chapter seven deals with the bronze items for the courtyard and the gold items for the sanctuary. The craftsman who did the work was Hiram of Tyre not the king, but another man of Tyre whose mother was a widow from Naphtali. In other words, he was a Gentile, yet he reminds us of Bezalel and Oholiab the two Spirit-filled workmen who had crafted the tabernacle and its furnishings. (Exodus 35:30f.). And Hiram is said to be "full of wisdom, understanding and skill" Wisdom is not merely a matter of the intellect. If you are a skilled craftsman, you are wise. Wisdom has to do with knowing how to live in God's world and whether that wisdom is exercised through intellectual pursuits, or through technical expertise, it is still wisdom either way. I say this because we have a lot of people with intellectual knowledge in our congregation, and it is important to recognize that wisdom has as much to do with craft as with knowledge. And Hiram demonstrated his wisdom through his craft. First he cast two pillars of bronze with capitals on their tops-- 35 feet high (including the capitals) and 18 feet in circumference, with pomegranates hanging from the chains at the top. These pillars flank the doorway to the house of God, suggesting that they are similar to the cherubim. Their names are Boaz and Jachin: Boaz was David's ancestor suggesting a kingly association. Jachin means "he will establish" which points to both the priestly and kingly role. The chains and pomegranates connect to the high priest's garments. The two pillars represent the priest and the king the two guardians of Israel. If you doubt that, look at Zechariah 4:11-14, where the two olive trees are the two anointed ones, Zerubbabel and Joshua. Or when Paul refers to the church as the pillar and buttress of the truth (1 Tim 3:15) The lilies and pomegranates of the pillars cannot help but draw our minds to the Song of Songs, where these things are repeatedly used to describe the love-garden. In short, the temple is the place where Yahweh makes love with his bride. Verses 23-26 then tell us about the sea. The tabernacle had a laver for washing, but it was pretty small, because it had to be carried around. Now we hear about a cast metal sea, holding 2,000 baths (or around 12,000 gallons) of water. This cast metal sea rests on the backs of 12 metal oxen all creation is represented in the temple! This sea, lifted up above the worshiper, represents the waters above the heavens (Psalm 148:4) the heavenly sea the water that stands before the throne of God. Then there are another ten bronze stands in the form of chariots with basins of bronze, holding another 240 gallons each. These have carved cherubim, lions, and palm trees on them, and they line the pathway to the temple. These two rows of basins suggest a flow of water from the temple (where the sea was), toward the east (Ezekiel 47:1). The living water flows from the temple outward. It is important to remember that verses 30-33 make it clear that these basins were placed upon chariots chariots that would take the living water to the ends of the earth. And of course that is precisely what Jesus says he will do. He is the temple, and from him flows blood and water, bringing life to all who believe on him. But as the Israelite approaches the temple, he must walk between the waters. There is a sort of echo of the Red Sea that just as Israel was redeemed through water in Moses day, so also now. Verses 40-47 then deal with the bronze utensils used in the courtyard, while verses 48-50 treat the golden utensils in the temple itself. Through verse 45, Hiram is the craftsman, but in verse 46 we are told that "the king cast them," and in verse 48 we are told that "Solomon made all the vessels that were in the house of the LORD" The key to this is the somewhat odd phrase, "The king cast them in the clay of the ground" (verse 46). This is a verbal parallel to God forming man from the "dust of the ground" Solomon is being cast as the creator the one who forms the instruments of worship from the ground. Of course, Solomon is only casting instruments of bronze and gold. Jesus is the one who forms us from the dust of the ground and gives us rest. Why should you care about all of these vessels of gold? The flowers, the lamps, the tongs, the cups, snuffers, basins, dishes for incense, fire pans, or sockets of gold? Because God has established the church as a temple. And Paul uses the language of "vessels" to describe life in the church: Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work. (2 Timothy 2:20-21) We are the house of God, the temple of the Holy Spirit. Not everyone in the temple of God has the same use. You may be a golden lampstand, or you may be a bronze chariot. You might be the tongs for the altar, or you might be dish for incense. But true worship is only offered rightly to God, when all the instruments and vessels are working together in harmony. Each tool has its use. We are all temple instruments we are all vessels for the Lord's use. Therefore, present your bodies to God as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship (12:2). We are called to live together as one body, one temple, as those who offer up to God pleasing worship in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.