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Read 1 Kings 7

Solomon Builds His Palace

It took Solomon thirteen years, however, to complete the construction of his palace. He built the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon a hundred cubits long, fifty wide and thirty high, with four rows of cedar columns supporting trimmed cedar beams. It was roofed with cedar above the beams that rested on the columns—forty-five beams, fifteen to a row. Its windows were placed high in sets of three, facing each other. All the doorways had rectangular frames; they were in the front part in sets of three, facing each other.

He made a colonnade fifty cubits long and thirty wide. In front of it was a portico, and in front of that were pillars and an overhanging roof.

He built the throne hall, the Hall of Justice, where he was to judge, and he covered it with cedar from floor to ceiling. And the palace in which he was to live, set farther back, was similar in design. Solomon also made a palace like this hall for Pharaoh’s daughter, whom he had married.

All these structures, from the outside to the great courtyard and from foundation to eaves, were made of blocks of high-grade stone cut to size and smoothed on their inner and outer faces. 10 The foundations were laid with large stones of good quality, some measuring ten cubits and some eight. 11 Above were high-grade stones, cut to size, and cedar beams. 12 The great courtyard was surrounded by a wall of three courses of dressed stone and one course of trimmed cedar beams, as was the inner courtyard of the temple of the Lord with its portico.

The Temple’s Furnishings

13 King Solomon sent to Tyre and brought Huram, 14 whose mother was a widow from the tribe of Naphtali and whose father was from Tyre and a skilled craftsman in bronze. Huram was filled with wisdom, with understanding and with knowledge to do all kinds of bronze work. He came to King Solomon and did all the work assigned to him.

15 He cast two bronze pillars, each eighteen cubits high and twelve cubits in circumference. 16 He also made two capitals of cast bronze to set on the tops of the pillars; each capital was five cubits high. 17 A network of interwoven chains adorned the capitals on top of the pillars, seven for each capital. 18 He made pomegranates in two rows encircling each network to decorate the capitals on top of the pillars. He did the same for each capital. 19 The capitals on top of the pillars in the portico were in the shape of lilies, four cubits high. 20 On the capitals of both pillars, above the bowl-shaped part next to the network, were the two hundred pomegranates in rows all around. 21 He erected the pillars at the portico of the temple. The pillar to the south he named Jakin and the one to the north Boaz. 22 The capitals on top were in the shape of lilies. And so the work on the pillars was completed.

23 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. 24 Below the rim, gourds encircled it—ten to a cubit. The gourds were cast in two rows in one piece with the Sea.

25 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. 26 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.

27 He also made ten movable stands of bronze; each was four cubits long, four wide and three high. 28 This is how the stands were made: They had side panels attached to uprights. 29 On the panels between the uprights were lions, bulls and cherubim—and on the uprights as well. Above and below the lions and bulls were wreaths of hammered work. 30 Each stand had four bronze wheels with bronze axles, and each had a basin resting on four supports, cast with wreaths on each side. 31 On the inside of the stand there was an opening that had a circular frame one cubit deep. This opening was round, and with its basework it measured a cubit and a half. Around its opening there was engraving. The panels of the stands were square, not round. 32 The four wheels were under the panels, and the axles of the wheels were attached to the stand. The diameter of each wheel was a cubit and a half. 33 The wheels were made like chariot wheels; the axles, rims, spokes and hubs were all of cast metal.

34 Each stand had four handles, one on each corner, projecting from the stand. 35 At the top of the stand there was a circular band half a cubit deep. The supports and panels were attached to the top of the stand. 36 He engraved cherubim, lions and palm trees on the surfaces of the supports and on the panels, in every available space, with wreaths all around. 37 This is the way he made the ten stands. They were all cast in the same molds and were identical in size and shape.

38 He then made ten bronze basins, each holding forty baths and measuring four cubits across, one basin to go on each of the ten stands. 39 He placed five of the stands on the south side of the temple and five on the north. He placed the Sea on the south side, at the southeast corner of the temple. 40 He also made the pots and shovels and sprinkling bowls.

So Huram finished all the work he had undertaken for King Solomon in the temple of the Lord:

41 the two pillars;

the two bowl-shaped capitals on top of the pillars;

the two sets of network decorating the two bowl-shaped capitals on top of the pillars;

42 the four hundred pomegranates for the two sets of network (two rows of pomegranates for each network decorating the bowl-shaped capitals on top of the pillars);

43 the ten stands with their ten basins;

44 the Sea and the twelve bulls under it;

45 the pots, shovels and sprinkling bowls.

All these objects that Huram made for King Solomon for the temple of the Lord were of burnished bronze. 46 The king had them cast in clay molds in the plain of the Jordan between Sukkoth and Zarethan. 47 Solomon left all these things unweighed, because there were so many; the weight of the bronze was not determined.

48 Solomon also made all the furnishings that were in the Lord’s temple:

the golden altar;

the golden table on which was the bread of the Presence;

49 the lampstands of pure gold (five on the right and five on the left, in front of the inner sanctuary);

the gold floral work and lamps and tongs;

50 the pure gold basins, wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls, dishes and censers;

and the gold sockets for the doors of the innermost room, the Most Holy Place, and also for the doors of the main hall of the temple.

51 When all the work King Solomon had done for the temple of the Lord was finished, he brought in the things his father David had dedicated—the silver and gold and the furnishings—and he placed them in the treasuries of the Lord’s temple.

Go Deeper

King Solomon, a man who has been given wisdom and discernment from God, has just just completed the building of God’s temple, and is now constructing his own palace (in addition to other buildings, as well). Being full of wisdom and acting in obedience to God’s directions, the placement of the temple and palace were unique to other cities at the time. It was typical of pagans to place the temple to their gods in the center of their cities so the people could come and make sacrifices. Jerusalem, on the other hand, did not worship a god like the other peoples, but they worshiped the Most High God who is set apart and holy. Because of this, His temple was not placed in the center of the city but was given its own space.

One will also note from the text that Solomon’s palace was physically larger than the God’s temple. Some commentators disagree on why exactly that was the case. One theory is that Solomon wanted his palace to be more glorious than the temple. Others believe that it was not because Solomon viewed himself as more important than God, but because Solomon was a representative of God to the other nations. In that time, a king’s palace was a reflection of his power and authority. Solomon was the example to Israel as God’s appointed king and his palace reflected this.

This portion of the Bible reminds us of the uniqueness of God’s holiness and the importance of ordering our lives rightly before Him. Solomon obeyed specific directions in the construction of his temple (and palace) to honor God, and in a similar way, we can emulate this obedience in our own lives. Our days are full of habits that we often don’t think about, but those too can be either honoring or dishonoring to God. As the theologian D.A. Carson says, “People do not drift toward Holiness. Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, obedience to Scripture, faith, and delight in the Lord.” Without the type of purpose filled direction that Solomon demonstrates for us, we too drift towards godlessness. Let us ask God for wisdom (James 1:5), take some time to reflect on our daily lives, and prayerfully seek the Lord as we take faithful steps of obedience today. 

Questions

  1. What are some of your daily habits that honor God, and how can you remain consistent in them?
  2. What are some of your habits that do not honor God, and what can you do to repent and turn from them?
  3. Why do you think God gave instructions with this degree of specificity to His people?

By the Way

While King David wasn’t the one to build the temple, he had been collecting furnishings and other treasures to go inside the temple once it was constructed. Go read 1 Chronicles 29 for the list David had collected.

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6 thoughts on “1 Kings 7”

  1. Ella Snodgrass

    In the midst of 51 verses detailing the construction of the temple and the palace, we find one important fact in v8 that can be easily overlooked, “Solomon also made a palace like this hall for Pharaoh’s daughter, whom he had married.” Solomon carefully carried out God’s plan for the temple, but seemed to have a lapse in good judgement as he choses to marry a foreign wife. As time will tell, this will be the unraveling of Solomon and his kingdom in years to come as he makes foreign alliances with those who will lead him away from God. Here’s a point to ponder, we can have a wealth of riches & wisdom and still drift away from God. I’m thinking of Exodus 20:3 “Thou shall not have no other gods before me.” It’s time for a heart check and a returning to follow every detail of God’s commands.

  2. Details so many many details. God is so amazing with details. Just look at the intricatcy of the human body. Science of course is still finding details that fit together they didn’t know about. The brain is an area they know very little about. But God knows. Through reading this I am more convicted that I need to be taking better care of God’s temple, my body. If God listed all these details about an amazing building how much more should I be concerned about His now temple of me?

    Thank You God for sharing through Your Word Your amazing glory. Thank You for giving me wisdom (James1:5) to know how to Honor You in taking care of my body as Your temple. I am so thankful, grateful and blessed. God I give You all the honor and glory in Jesus name amen
    WOOHOO!!!

  3. Part of David’s Prayer: 18 Lord, the God of our fathers Abraham, Isaac and Israel, keep these desires and thoughts in the hearts of your people forever, and keep their hearts loyal to you. 19 And give my son Solomon the wholehearted devotion to keep your commands, statutes and decrees and to do everything to build the palatial structure for which I have provided.”
    The prayer from a father to a son—for his people what an epilogue to close on today’s reading. How fortunate and wise for David to have the opportunity to crown his son as King and bless him through prayers and riches for the building of the temple. God was good to bless him with that time. Time is of the essence here—7 years for the temple, 13 years for the palace…and time allowed for David to pass the crown to his son and give instructions for the temple.
    Pomegranates in Jerusalem today are still held as the healing fruit-our guide said they regard them as the fruit in which Eve ate, and that they have the same exact seed in each one-613.
    And if you look up Herodium, you will see Herod’s palace was quite large as well.
    Thanks for the reference to 1 chronicles!

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