We are studying a list of bronze objects commissioned for the temple by Solomon and crafted by a man named Huram who was from Tyre. Yesterday we discussed the two bronze pillars that stood by the front entrance to the temple. Today we'll discuss the object known as "the Sea".
"He made the Sea of cast metal, circular in shape, measuring ten cubits from rim to rim and five cubits high. It took a line of thirty cubits to measure around it." (1 Kings 7:23) The Sea's purpose is "to be used by the priests for washing". (2 Chronicles 4:6b) Other than adding the information that the Sea is used for ritual washing, the description of the Sea in the parallel account of 2 Chronicles 4 describes it pretty much word for word as it's described here in 1 Kings 7.
Verse 23 gave us the dimensions of the basin of the Sea. Verses 24 through 26 describes the way the Sea and its supporting stand were carved. "Below the rim, gourds encircled it---ten to a cubit. The gourds were cast in two rows in one piece with the Sea. The Sea stood on twelve bulls, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south and three facing east. The Sea rested on top of them, and their hindquarters were toward the center. It was a handbreadth in thickness, and its rim was like the rim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It held two thousand baths." The exact measure of a "bath" is not known but from my background study it looks like the most common estimate is that the Sea held somewhere between 11,000 and 12,000 gallons of water.
Below I'm inserting a picture of what the Sea might have looked like. A rendering of one of the movable stands, which we will discuss tomorrow, is included in the picture.
How did the priests utilize the basin for their ritual washings? It stands much taller than a man. Some scholars think there must have been some steps (perhaps movable steps on wheels) that the priests used to reach the basin. Some think the bulls underneath the basin had spigots of some sort and that water could be turned on to come out of their mouths. However, the Bible doesn't tell us what method was used for filling the Sea or for conducting the ritual washings in the Sea. Back in Joshua 9:27 we learned that the Gibeonites, who were made subjects of Israel after they tricked the Israelites into making a treaty with them, were given the tasks of carrying wood and water for the house of the Lord, which was the tabernacle at that time. We can assume they were still responsible for these tasks in Solomon's day and that they carried the wood for the fires and the water for the Sea and for the ten movable stands. How they accessed the tall Sea, we do not know.
There has been some controversy regarding Solomon's use of bulls in the stand that held the Sea. In Exodus 20:4 and in Deuteronomy 5:8 the Lord commanded: "You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below." The people were instructed never to make an object of worship to represent God, for on the day He spoke to them from the mountain they "saw no form of any kind". (Deuteronomy 4:15) They had no idea what God looked like and were forbidden from making anything that symbolized Him. They were also forbidden to make any object of worship "formed like a man or a woman, or like any animal on earth or any bird that flies in the air, or like any creature that moves along the ground or any fish in the waters below". (Deuteronomy 4:16-18) So was it sinful for Solomon to fashion the twelve bulls to hold the Sea? Some scholars think so; some do not.
The Lord's commandment against creating images was a commandment against idolatry. He was speaking of images toward which worship was being directed. There is no indication that Solomon intended for anyone to direct worship toward the twelve bulls holding up the Sea. He has used the images of other living things in the temple as well, such as the cherubim, carved pomegranates, carved gourds, and the lily-shaped capitals of the two bronze pillars. I believe all these things were intended as artwork, not as objects of worship. I am not sure that the Lord's prohibition against making any type of image extended to things like artwork and textiles. For example, there's a big difference between fashioning an image of a deity and fashioning a decorative tapestry depicting people, animals, or plantlife. Engraving a nature scene onto a metal cup or embroidering animals or plants onto cloth does not represent idolatry as long as whatever is contained in the scene does not symbolize a false god. When Solomon used the images of cherubims and plantlife in the temple and its furnishings, perhaps he was making the statement that God is God of all things in heaven and on earth. God created all things in heaven and on earth. God sustains all things in heaven and on earth. All things in heaven and on earth are to serve Him by doing and being whatever He created them to do and to be. We don't know why Solomon put these images in the temple but we know that the Lord gave David the plans for the temple and its furnishings and I can only assume decorations such as these were included in the plans or that Solomon added them. If he added them on his own, this still doesn't mean they were sinful.
I'll share a little example with you of what I mean. The upholstery on the pews in the church I attend have a muted pattern that looks like a grapevine with leaves and grapes but we aren't worshiping grapes or grapevines. This pattern is for decorative purposes only and therefore I cannot see how the pattern can be sinful. I suspect, but do not know for sure, that the grapevine symbolizes what the Lord Jesus said: "I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing." (John 15:5) I think the grapevines are there to remind us that we are nothing apart from the Lord and that we must depend on Him for everything and look to Him for guidance in everything.
I believe Solomon's use of the twelve bulls was more than artistic decoration. They symbolized something, just as I think the grapevine upholstery in my church symbolizes something. I think there can be no doubt that the twelve bulls represent the nation of Israel, for the number twelve in the Bible always symbolizes Israel. It may be that the twelve bulls were holding up the basin used by the priests to symbolize that the priests are serving all Israel as they go about their duties at the temple. The bulls under the basin may be a reminder that, as the priests perform their duties at the temple, they are coming before the Lord on behalf of everyone in Israel. In the ancient world the bull was viewed as a symbol of power and strength. With that in mind, perhaps the use of these bulls underneath the Sea used for the ritual washings of the priests was meant to remind the priests that the people of the nation appreciate and support the work they do. This would have helped the priests to keep in mind that they are ministering at the temple not only on their own behalf (making offerings and sacrifices for their own sins) but on the behalf of the twelve tribes of Israel.
Something similar to this was what was going on with the breastplate of the high priest. We were told earlier in the Bible that it contained twelve stones to represent the twelve tribes of Israel. These stones lay over his heart to remind him that, as he goes into the presence of the Lord, he is symbolically taking all his fellow citizens with him. He is interceding on behalf of all the people of Israel, not just on his own behalf, and the heavy metal breastplate with its large stones lay against his heart as a continual reminder that he was interceding for his fellow man with the Lord. I think also the breastplate reminded him that he needed to love the people in order to effectively minister to them and to effectively minister on their behalf.
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