In Chapter 6 we've been studying the dimensions of the temple and its construction materials. We've looked at the details regarding the Most Holy Place that housed the ark of the covenant. Today we study the smaller details such as the carvings inside the temple.
"On the walls all around the temple, in both the inner and outer rooms, he carved cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers. He also covered the floors of both the inner and outer rooms of the temple with gold." (1 Kings 6:29-30) In Exodus the Lord told Moses that the inner curtains of the tabernacle were to be embroidered with cherubim. Solomon is mirroring this design on the inner walls.
"For the entrance to the inner sanctuary he made doors out of olive wood that were one fifth of the width of the sanctuary. And on the two olive-wood doors he carved cherubim, palm trees and open flowers, and overlaid the cherubim and palm trees with hammered gold." (1 Kings 6:31-32) We don't know what these cherubim looked like. In artist's renderings they are usually depicted either as cherubs (with the childlike face of Cupid) or as angels (winged humanlike figures). In modern times we often see angels depicted as female but, if the cherubim in the temple had a human form, my guess is that they had a male human form since all the angels in the Bible are referred to by male pronouns. Whatever form these carvings took, they were not intended to lead anyone into the worship of angels or any other created thing.
These cherubim likely represent the hosts of heaven who continually serve the Lord. Not only do the angels serve the Lord but, in serving Him, they serve us as well. The Apostle Paul said, "Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?" (Hebrews 1:14) I think we will be absolutely stunned when we get to heaven and learn just how much these created beings worked on our behalf at the command of God. But that does not mean they are ever to be worshiped. Only God---who created both them and us---is to be worshiped.
"In the same way, for the entrance to the main hall he made doorframes out of olive wood that were one fourth the width of the hall. He also made two doors out of juniper wood, each having two leaves that turned in sockets. He carved cherubim, palm trees and open flowers on them and overlaid them with gold hammered evenly over the carvings." (1 Kings 6:33-35) The same theme is carried throughout the temple.
"And he built the inner courtyard of three courses of dressed stone and one course of trimmed cedar beams." (1 Kings 6:36) The inner courtyard is where the brazen altar will be, which we'll learn about in 1 Kings 7 combined with 2 Chronicles 4 when we study the furnishings of the temple. The inner courtyard was the court of the priests and it was separated from the outer courtyards of the temple complex by a wall made of three courses of dressed stone and one course of trimmed cedar beams. Later on we'll discuss the layout of the whole temple complex and will see the priests' court, the court for the men of Israel, the court of women, and the court of Gentiles.
"The foundation of the temple of the Lord was laid in the fourth year, in the month of Ziv." (1 Kings 6:37) This restates what we were told at the beginning of Chapter 6. Solomon laid the foundation for the temple in the fourth year of his reign. "In the eleventh year in the month of Bul, the eighth month, the temple was finished in all its details according to its specifications. He had spent seven years building it." (1 Kings 6:38) The work on the building was begun in the spring of Solomon's fourth year as king and it was completed in the fall of Solomon's eleventh year as king.
We will soon be studying all the furnishings of the temple and their significance but the first half of our next chapter deals with Solomon's palace which took him thirteen years to build.
No comments:
Post a Comment