April 11, 2010 1Kings 4:20-7:39

Just as God promised Abraham, the children of Israel became as numerous as grains of sand on a beach. Solomon kept a peaceful kingdom where everyone had plenty of food and paid taxes and enjoyed peace and happiness. The daily provisions for Solomon's household were rather massive. He had 40,000 stalls of horses for his chariots and 12,000 horsemen. Imagine feeding all those horses! The provisions were given by one of the 12 regional officers each month.

Solomon was the wisest man in the world. God had blessed him well. He educated people about plants, animals, birds, reptiles and fish. His reputation throughout the world was legendary and kings sent people to him to learn from him.

The time came when Solomon could build the temple where the Lord God could be worshiped. He sent a message to Hiram, king of Tyre (a good friend of his father's) and told him that he was going to build the temple. He asked Hiram for help with cedar trees and woodworkers because his workers were more experienced with lumber. Hiram was delighted to help. He promised all the cedars needed and he would have his workers float them to where Solomon's workers would take over. In exchange, Hiram asked for the grain needed for his household. So it was done. The two rulers signed a treaty and never went to war against each other.

To commence temple construction, Solomon organized a massive workforce to collect the raw materials: 30,000 worked gathering logs, 80,000 worked at cutting stone, 70,000 carried the stone, and 3,000 to assisted in managing the project.

It had been 480 years since the Israelites left Egypt, and four years since Solomon became king. The inside of the temple was 90x30 feet with a 45 foot high ceiling. A porch across the front was 15 feet deep. The windows were narrow on the outside and wide on the inside. Along the sides and back were 3 levels of storage rooms. Solomon didn't want the sound of hammers heard at the temple construction site, so he had the stone cut at the quarry. The roof of the temple was made of beams and boards of cedar.

God promised Solomon that if he obeyed His commandments and did what He told him, He would live among the people and in the temple Solomon was building.

The building was completed and needed to be furnished. The floor was of pine and the walls were lined with cedar from floor to ceiling. The temple was divided into thirds, with the back third separated by cedar boards, floor to ceiling, which created the most holy place. The cedar on the walls was decorated with carvings of gourds and flowers. The ark of the covenant was kept in the most holy place, the room was 30x30x30 feet and lined with pure gold, with gold chains at the entrance. The inside of the temple as well as the cedar altar in the most holy place were covered with gold. Solomon had two massive statues made from olive wood covered with gold to put in the most holy place. These were winged creatures 15 feet tall, and 15 feet across - their wings were 7 1/2 feet long. Solomon had them placed so that the tips of their wings touched, so they stretched across the 30 foot wide room. The walls of the two rooms were covered with carvings of palm trees, flowers, and winged creatures. Solomon even had the floor covered with gold! There were two doors to the most holy place made of olive wood, richly carved and covered with gold, which came to a point at the top. The two main doors of the temple were hinged so they would fold open (bi-fold doors) and were also richly decorated with carvings and covered with gold. The inner courtyard of the temple was made of 3 layers of stone with 1 layer of cedar beams. The temple was built in 7 years.

After Solomon finished God's house he began work on his own. Solomon's palace took 13 years to build. It had many large halls, and accomodations for his Egyptian wife. A bronze artist from Tyre named Huram, made furnishings of bronze for the temple according to Solomon's instructions. He made richly decorated columns to be placed on either side of the doors, a large bowl, called the sea, was 7 1/2 feet deep, 15 feet across and 45 feet around. The bowl sat on the hindquarters of 12 bronze bulls, 3 facing in each direction, north, south, east, and west. Huram made 10 moveable bronze stands to hold 10 "small" bronze bowls (these were only 6 feet across.) Five stands were put on the south side of the temple and 5 on the north.
The sea was placed at the southeast corner of the temple.

Tomorrow read 1Kings 7:40-9:9