Solomon's Temple:ESV Study Bible (1)When we try to imagine the splendor of the Temple that Solomon eventually builds for God I believe our imaginations sell us short. Every detail of the temple down to the utensils was planned and handed down by God through David. The sheer amount of raw material's in the plans for the Temple stagger the imagination. I have not actually attempted to total it up but I imagine someone somewhere on the Internet has. I have only outlined the material stated in 1 Chronicles 28:1-29:9. That alone boggles one's imagination. Part of the planning would be coordination or not only material resources but human labor and what amounted to their leadership. Everything was exact and magnificant just as you would expect from a God that is perfect.
1. The Human Preperation: More important than any temple could ever be…David charges Solomon: To acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever. Consider now, for the Lord has chosen you to build a temple as a sanctuary. Be strong and do the work.
2. The Physical Layout: David gave Solomon the plans for the following.
a. Portico of Temple, its buildings, its storerooms, its upper parts, its inner rooms and the place of atonement.
b. For the Courts of the temple & all the surrounding rooms, for the treasuries of the temple of God and for the treasuries for the dedicated things.
3. The Spiritual Layout: He gave him instructions for the divisions of the priests and Levites
a. For all the work of serving in the temple of the LORD, as well as for all the articles to be used in its service.
i. He designated the weight of gold for all the gold articles to be used in various kinds of service
ii. The weight of silver for all the silver articles to be used in various kinds of service
iii. The weight of gold for gold lampstands and their lamps, with the weight for each lampstand and its lamps;
iv. The weight of silver for each silver lampstand and its lamps, according to the use of each lampstand
v. The weight of gold for each table for consecrated bread
vi. The weight of silver for the silver tables
vii. The weight of pure gold for the forks, sprinkling bowls and pitchers;
viii. The weight of gold for each gold dish; the weight of silver for each silver dish
ix. The weight of the refined gold for the altar of incense.
x. He also gave him the plan for the chariot, that is, the cherubim of gold that spread their wings and shelter the ark of the covenant of the LORD.
David again exorts Solomon, "Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the temple of the LORD is finished. We then move on to the gifts for building the Temple and how to collect and allocate them. David speaks to the whole assembly. He states that: He, King David has provided for the temple of my God directly from the kingdom and his own personal fortune:
1. Gold for the gold work, silver for the silver, bronze for the bronze, iron for the iron and wood for the wood, as well as onyx for the settings, turquoise, stones of various colors, and all kinds of fine stone and marble—all of these in large quantities.
2. I now give my personal treasures of gold and silver for the temple of my God, over and above everything I have provided for this holy temple:
a. Three thousand talents of gold (gold of Ophir)
b. Seven thousand talents of refined silver, for the overlaying of the walls of the buildings, for the gold work and the silver work, and for all the work to be done by the craftsmen.
c. Due to David’s exhortations, the leaders of families, the officers of the tribes of Israel, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, and the officials in charge of the king's work gave willingly.
i. Five thousand talents and ten thousand darics of gold, ten thousand talents of silver, eighteen thousand talents of bronze and a hundred thousand talents of iron.
ii. Any who had precious stones gave them to the treasury of the temple of the Lord
The bottom-line is that an enormous fortune was given to have Solomon erect the Temple. It was a form of massive tithe/contribution to the Lord. They gave God back what was rightfully His anyway and given in the faith that it would indeed provide and prosper God’s kingdom. The riches may have been given with the intent of getting nothing in return by most that gave...but isn’t that the whole intent of giving? We are to give without expecting a return on investment, to give for the sake of giving. The Lord loves a cheerful giver and things given with the right intent always give back in return. Giving in and of itself is its own reward as any person who donates regularly will tell you. They joy in this instance is almost immediate. The people rejoiced and David did also.
(1) Solomon's Temple. 2003. NA, NA. Holy Bible: English Standard Version Study Bible. By Various. Leicester, England: Crossway Books, 2008. NA. Print.
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