1 Kings 4-6 Building a Temple

Thoughts

Kings 4

A list of Solomon’s chief officials is given 

• Azariah son of Zadok the priest
• Elihoreph and Ahijah (scribes)
• Jehoshaphat (recorder)
• Benaiah (commander of the army)
• Zadok and Abiathar (priests)
  • Keep in mind Abiathar was exiled from this position two chapters ago
• Azariah (chief officer over district governors)
• Zabud (priest and the king’s friend)
• Ahishar (in charge of the palace)
• Adoniram (over forced labor)
• Twelve district governors are appointed over Israel to provide food for the king’s household, each responsible for one month of the year.

Judah and Israel are described as numerous as the sand on the seashore, eating, drinking and happy!

Solomon rules over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates to Egypt 

• His daily provisions are massive:
  • 30 cors (~185 bushels) of fine flour
  • 60 cors (~375 bushels) of meal
  • 10 fattened oxen, 20 pasture-fed oxen, 100 sheep
  • plus deer, gazelles, roebucks, and fattened fowl.
• He has 40,000 stalls (most likely 4,000) for horses and 12,000 horsemen.

God gives Solomon wisdom, understanding, and breadth of mind like the sand on the shore.

His wisdom surpasses:

• The wisdom of all the men of the east
• The wisdom of Egypt
• Famous wise men like Ethan, Heman, Calcol, and Darda.

He speaks 3,000 proverbs and composes 1,005 songs. He has knowledge of plants, animals, birds, reptiles, and fish (a scientist!)

People from all nations and kings of the earth come to hear his wisdom.

Kings 5

Hiram, king of Tyre (a friend of David), hears Solomon is on the throne and sends servants to congratulate him.

Solomon responds with his plan:

• David wanted to build a temple but was prevented due to warfare.
• Now Solomon has peace, so he will build a house for the Lord.
• He asks Hiram for cedar and juniper logs from Lebanon.

Hiram rejoices and praises God for giving David a wise son. They form a treaty:

• Hiram supplies wood, floated down the sea in rafts.
• Solomon provides food for Hiram’s household: 20,000 cors of wheat (~125,000 bushels) and 20,000 baths of pressed oil (~120,000 gallons) annually.

Solomon creates a labor force of 30,000 men from Israel, sent in shifts of 10,000 per month to Lebanon.

• 70,000 carriers and 80,000 stonecutters in the hills.
• 3,300 foremen oversee the work.
• They quarry large, high-quality stones for the temple foundation.
• Builders of Solomon and Hiram, along with the Gebalites, prepare the timber and stone.

Kings 6

The temple project begins in the 480th year after the Exodus, in Solomon’s 4th year as king (around 966 BC).

• Dimensions of the temple:
  • 60 cubits long (~90 ft),
  • 20 cubits wide (~30 ft),
  • 30 cubits high (~45 ft).
• The porch/vestibule in front was 20 cubits wide (same as the width of the temple) and 10 cubits deep.
• Narrow windows were set high in the walls.
• Side chambers surrounded the temple, three stories high, each level a little wider than the one below.

In the middle of the building process, God speaks to Solomon:

• “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”

Inside, the temple was lined with cedar wood, floor covered with cypress boards. No stone was visible inside.

Inner Sanctuary: (Most Holy Place) was 20 x 20 x 20 cubits (a cube) overlaid with pure gold. Two massive cherubim of olive wood (10 cubits tall each, with 10-cubit wingspans) stood in the inner sanctuary, also overlaid with gold.

Walls: carved with cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, all covered in gold. Doors were made of olive wood (for the inner sanctuary) and cypress (for the main hall), decorated with carvings and gold overlay.

Courtyard: surrounded the temple, with three courses (rows) of cut stone and one course of cedar beams.

The foundation was laid in Solomon’s 4th year. The temple was completed in his 11th year ( 7 years of building!)

Questions

Why was Abiathar mentioned in Solomon’s list of men?

Was Solomon’s daily provisions necessary?

Where are all of Solomon’s 3000 proverbs and 1000 songs?

Is the 7 years building temple symbolic (7 meaning completeness)?

Application

I’m going with the temple theme. The temple Solomon builds is unmatched in craftsmanship. As it was built, God reminded Solomon that he must walk in His statutes. The temple wasn’t just about the splendor on the outside, but also about the inner heart. We know from the New Testament that we are now God’s temple- “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you?” (1 Cor. 6:19). It doesn’t matter what our appearance, ministry, or achievements look like if we don’t have our hearts in the right place. 

From https://armstronginstitute.org/1025-infographic-king-solomons-temple