Building Something that Honours the Lord. (1 Kings 7: 1-51)

What Does It Really Mean to Honour God?

 If I asked that question to a congregation on a Sunday morning, I suspect the answers would come quickly—and the list would be long. Some would say we can do that with worship. Others would say prayer. Some might mention giving, serving, witnessing, or obedience.... And all of those are good and biblical answers.

 But Solomon honoured the Lord in a way that you and I will very probably never be called to do. And yet, what he did—and how he did it—can help us think more deeply about what it truly means to honour God in our own lives…..

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:14

Hi friends, welcome to today's episode where we're looking at 1 Kings chapter 7, all the verses from 1 to 51, and we're looking at building something that honours the Lord. Now, before actually thinking about what we build, I think we have to think about what it really means to honour God. How do you honour the Lord? Now, if I asked that question to a congregation of Christians on a Sunday morning, I suspect the answers would come thick and fast and the list would be long. Some would say we can do that with worship, others might say prayer, some others might mention serving, witnessing, or just generally being obedient to the word of God, and all those are of course good biblical answers. But Solomon honored the Lord in a way that you and I will probably never be called to do, and yet what he did and how he did it can really help us think more deeply about what it truly means to honour God in our lives, to build a life that honors the Lord. That's what we're going to think about in today's episode of the Bible Project Daily Podcast. We won't have any diagrams or models to look at on this audio version, but I'm sure you can find them online. But if we step back and look at the structure of the passage, I think the message becomes clear, and it is the message that is important, not the visuals we might try and conjure up in our minds. In this chapter, this passage, Solomon will do three things. He'll build his palace, he'll construct the external structures associated with the temple, and he'll fashion the sacred furniture that goes inside the holy place and the holy of holies. But all of this sits in the shadow of something that actually happened 500 years earlier. Before Solomon ever built a temple, you may remember that God previously instructed Moses to build a tabernacle, a portable sanctuary that travelled with Israel throughout the wilderness years. Now the tabernacle had a large courtyard area, a brazen altar for sacrifices, a laver for ceremonial washing, and a tent that was divided into two rooms. Again, there was the holy place and the holy of holies, the place where only priests could enter and where they would encounter God Himself. There was, of course, within that the table of showbread, the lampstand, and the altar of incense. And all of that I covered in great detail when we worked through the Exodus chipbook together. Those studies are currently, as we speak, going live on my Patreon website right now. Anyway, we also learned back in Exodus that once a year on the Day of Atonement, the high priest entered the Holy of Holies to sprinkle blood on what was called the Ark of the Covenant, the place where God's presence dwelt symbolically. Each part of that structure was actually a picture of how we could approach God. Sacrifice was there, pointing to Christ's blood, cleansing, pointing to the requirement for daily confession and renewal, and bread and light were positioned there on the table, which of course point to Christ Himself and the Lord's Supper, where we celebrate and remember him that way. And an incense was in there, which is pointing to the future, personal, petitional prayer that we as Christians can now have with Father God. Now the veil that was there was the thing that separated the ordinary believer from the presence of God. And again, under the New Testament, that was torn at the moment of Christ's death, symbolizing for us now as believers direct access to God. Now, David he longed to build a permanent house for God, something larger and more beautiful and more enduring than the tabernacle they transported around with them at that time. But God said no. David, you see, was actually in a sense a man of war, and his task was first to secure the land, and then the building of that permanent place would come later, and indeed we now know would be left to his son Solomon. And now here in 1 Kings chapter 7, we see Solomon doing exactly that. But this chapter begins not with the temple, but with Solomon's palace, and it tells us in verse 1 that it took Solomon the thirteen years to complete the construction of the palace which we saw yesterday. Now, some readers jumped to the conclusion because of the time frames involved here that Solomon cared more about his palace than God's house, God's temple. After all, the temple only took seven years, and the palace took thirteen. But that's not necessarily the case. The temple was larger and required thousands more workers. The palace likely had many fewer labourers and therefore took longer. And the palace complex included multiple buildings, not just one vault, of a mainly a huge vault of a structure. In other words, the length of construction does not automatically reveal anything about Solomon's priorities here. But what it does show is that Solomon built a royal complex, a series of interconnected buildings, forming the administrative and residential centre of the entire nation and kingdom. Now, verse 2 introduces us to one of the most striking buildings in the complex. Let's pick up the text and read through to verse 5. 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 and rested on 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. So this is a massive amount of cedar being used in the inst in the construction. Now, cedar you'll remember was imported from Lebanon, and the dimensions are impressive too. 150 foot long, 75 foot wide, 45 feet high, supported by rows of cedar pillars. It probably resembled a forest of trees inside, hence the name for this grand hall, but this is not being positioned here as a vanity project. It is part of the administrative heart of the kingdom, a place for gatherings, state functions, and royal affairs. But the point of the chapter is not really the palace itself. It's not about the architecture, although that's interesting, it's not even the grandeur. The point is what Solomon does next and why he does it. You see, as the chapter continues, the text walks us through these various buildings that make up Solomon's palace complex. Verse three to five have described all those things, even the windows, the doorways, and the doorposts. The house of this forest of Lebanon, as this great hall was called, because of the multiple columns made out of entire cedar trees. But the question naturally arises, what is this building going to be used for? Now the truth is, don't let anybody try and tell you they have some secret knowledge. The Bible authorized Bible texts don't actually tell us explicitly. Now, of course, scholars have suggested a myriad possibilities. It could have even been an army, a place to store weapons and shields. It may have served as a state treasury, displaying the kingdom's financial resources along with the spoils of war. Or it may have just been a public hall, a place for public and royal functions. But whatever its precise function, it is part of the larger palace compound and is interconnected through a series of buildings that form the administrative heart of all of what that time was Solomon's kingdom. Verse six says 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. So this verse introduces the Hall of Pillars, as some call it, likely the grand entrance leading into the then hall of judgment, that's mentioned in the next verse that followed. This was where Solomon sat to hear cases, render decisions, and administer justice. But then verse 8 adds another detail, and the palace in which he was to live was set further back and was similar in design. So this reinforces the idea that we're dealing with a complex here, not a single structure, but multiple buildings, multiple courtyards, all of this is interconnected. But then we learn something rather fascinating. Solomon also made a house like that, a hall for Pharaoh's daughter, whom he had taken as a wife. Now she had her own private residence, another sign of the scale and sophistication of the palace complex. Now, beginning in verse 9, the text describes for us the building materials. I'll read from 9 to 12. All these structures from outside to the great courtyard and from foundations to eaves were made of blocks of high grade stone, cut to size and smoothed on their inner and outer faces. The foundations were laid with large stones of good quality, some measuring ten cubits and some eight. Above were high grade stones cut to size and cedar beams. The great courtyard was surrounded by a wall of three courses of dress stone and one course of trimmed cedar beams, as was the inner courtyard of the Temple of the Lord with its portico. So here we've got costly stones cut to the exact size, trimmed with saws inside and out it tells us, large foundation stones also, and dress stones form the walls of the great courtyard. There are cedar beams resting atop the stonework. Limestone, you see, was corried while still soft away from the side and easily cut then, but then hardened when exposed to the elements. This allowed for precision craftsmanship. Every stone was able to be shaped to fit perfectly on those around it. So this palace complex is not being thrown together, it is being built with care, beauty, and intentionality. Now, at first glance this might all seem a bit like architectural trivia, but it's important to understand that in the ancient Near East at this time a king's sovereignty was not considered established until he had built a palace for himself. And Solomon's palace would enhance not only his prestige, but in doing that it also honored the Lord, who was the one after all who promised to establish him in the first place. Now in that world a king's greatness reflected the greatness of that king's God. So when Solomon's palace rose in splendour like this, the nations were not just saying Solomon is great, they were saying the God of Solomon must be great. So the palace here is not merely a royal residence, it is meant to be a public testimony to the faithfulness of God. And that brings us back to that key word running through this chapter. It's about honouring the Lord. Solomon's palace ultimately was built to honour the Lord. The temple also was built to honour the Lord. And the craftsmanship of both of those places was meant to point beyond Solomon to the God of Solomon who had established him as king. Okay, beginning in verse 13, the focus shifts from the palace to the temple's exterior. I'll read through to twenty-six. King Solomon sent to Tyre and brought Huram, 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 and with understanding and with knowledge to do all kinds of bronze work, and he approached King Solomon and completed all the work assigned to him. He cast two bronze pillars, each eighteen cubits high and twelve cubits in circumference. He also made two caps of cast bronze to set on the top of the pillars. Each cap was five cubits high. A network of interwoven chains adorned to the caps on top of the pillars, seven for each cap. He made polegrams in two rows encircling each network to decorate the caps on top of the pillars, and he did the same for each cap. The caps on top of the pillars in the portico were in the shape of lilies, four cubits high, and on the caps on both pillars, above the bold shaped part next to the network, there were two hundred pomegranates in rows all around. He erected the pillars at the portico of the temple, the pillar to the south, he named Jacan, the one to the north Boaz, the caps on top were in the shapes of lilies, and so the work on the pillars was completed. He made the sea of cast metal, circular in shape, measuring ten cubits from rim to rim and five cubits, and it took a line of thirty cubits to measure its circumference. 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 towards the centre. It was a hand's breadth in thickness, and its rim was like the rim of a cup. Like a lily blossom, it held two thousand baths. So they're measuring this sea, which is a sort of giant water container, bathing area, by the number of baths, standard baths it holds. Anyway, Solomon let's go back over this. Solomon brings in this master craftsman, a man named Hiram, a bronze worker from Tyre. He, we are told, is half Israelite and half Gentile, and he's skilled in bronze, but he's also gifted in all kinds of metal work. And what we see he produced here and is described for us is extraordinary. First of all, there's two massive bronze pillars, twenty-seven feet high, eighteen feet in circumference, topped with caps, seven and a half feet high, and decorated with lattice work, which illustrates is illustrated with pomegranates and lilies. And these stand at the entrance of the temple, towering above, towering gleaming monuments announcing again the majesty of God. He also cast this bronze sea as it's described, a huge temple laver for ceremonial washing. It is fifteen feet across, seven and a half feet high. So it's like a small indoor swimming pool, but it's raised up and is resting on the back of twelve sculptured bulls. And it holds, well, the unit given at that time was baths, but experts have calculated it to be equivalent to 11,500 gallons of water. So it's pretty enormous, but it's also very decorative and beautiful, and it is essential for the priestly ministry that's going to be carried on here. So all of this stuff is not decoration for decoration state. This is about devotion and honouring God again. The chapter is building towards something much deeper than just the craftsmanship involved here. Solomon's craftsmanship and everything around here is not meant to be merely architectural for us to admire. It's meant to be spiritual, represent theologically what's going on. It's his way of saying, Lord, you are worthy of our best. Now as the chapter continues, the focus will shift from the palace and the temple's exterior to the very tools, vessels, and furnishings used inside for the worship of God. Now these details may seem technical at first glance, but I think they reveal something extremely important about Solomon's heart and about what it really means to honour the Lord. So beginning in verse 27, we're told that Solomon made Solomon made ten bronze cards, each with its own small labour resting on top, and these carts are now going to be described in great detail from verses twenty-seven to thirty-nine. Here we go. He also made ten movable stands of bronze. Each was four cubits long, four wide and three high. This is how the stands were made. They had side panels attached to uprights, and 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. Each stand had four bronze wheels with bronze axles, and each had a basin resting on four supports, with cast wreaths on each side. On the inside of the stand there was an opening that had a circular frame one cubit deep. This opening was round, and each base measured a cubit and a half around its opening, and there was engravings there. The panels of the stands were square, not round. 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, so that's about the size of an adult standard bike wheel, but much thicker obviously, and the wheels were made like chariot wheels. The axles, rims, spokes and hubs were all of cast metal. Each stand had four handles, one on each corner, projecting from the stand, and at the top of the stand there was a circular band half a cubit deep. The supports and their panels were attached to the top of the stand. 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. This is the way he made the ten stands. They were all cast in the same moulds and were identical in size and shape. 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, and he placed five of the stands on the south side of the temple and five on the north, and he placed the large sea on the south side at the southeast corner of the temple. That's verse thirty nine. Now without a diagram, of course, it's difficult to picture all this. But I hope by reading and explaining it as I do, I've been able to create a some sort of picture in your in your mind. But what is it that really matters here? Well, the fact is what this stuff was for. The carts were in effect mobile basins, and they were used for additional ceremonial washings. They supported the increased level of sacrificial activity that was going to be going on at a much larger level within this temple. Moses' tabernacle, remember, had one lever. Solomon's temple has one massive sea lever, a pull size lever almost, plus ten additional levers. So the scale of the worship has expanded greatly, and the provision for cleansing has expanded also because of that, and the honour given to the Lord in all this has increased and expanded as well. Now from verse forty on we get the tools of worship being described for us. Next six verses tell us he also made the pots, shovels, and sprinkling bowls. So Huram finished all the work he had undertaken for King Solomon in the temple of the Lord. The two pillars, the two bowl shaped caps on top of the pillars, the two sets of networks, decorating the two bowl shaped caps on top of the pillars, the four hundred pomegranates for the two sets of network, two rows of pomegranate for each network, decorating the bowl-shaped caps on top of the pillars, the ten stands, with their ten basins, the large sea and the twelve bulls under it, the pots, the shovels, and the shrink and the sprinkling bowls, all these objects that Haram made for King Solomon for the temple of the Lord were of burnished bronze. So Haram, who we were told previously was a master craftsman, also made the labour, the shovels, all the bowls, and all the other instruments that would be used for temple worship and service. These are not just decorative pieces, that's the point here. They're tools of worship used daily by priests who are ministering before the Lord. And then verse 46 adds that fascinating detail that they were all cast on the plain of the Jordan. Now, archaeologists, interestingly, have excavated that very region and indeed discovered evidence of ancient metal working there. So again the biblical record aligns closely with the archaeological record. And then verse 47 tells us Solomon did not weigh all the articles because there were so many. So there was so much bronze, so much material, so much craftsmanship going on here that they didn't even bother to stop and calculate the total weight that had been used. The abundance itself is the point being made here. And in the final section of this chapter, verses forty eight and fifty, it describes for us the sacred furniture that will be placed inside the holy place in the Holy of Holies. We've read it all so far, let's stick to that. Solomon also made all the furnishings that were in the Lord's temple, the golden altar, the golden table on which the bread of the presence, the lampstands of pure gold, five in the right and five in the left, in the front of the inner sanctuary, the gold floral work, lamps and tongs, the fifty pure gold basins, the wick trimmers, the sprinkling bowls, the dishes, the censors, the gold sockets for the doors of the innermost room, and the most holy place, and also the door of the main hall of the temple. So what we see here is the all the utensils required for the altar of incense, the table of show bread, the lampstands, ten of them, the bowls, basins, utensils, everything is made of pure gold. This is a striking contrast to the tabernacle. The tabernacle, you remember, had one lampstand, this temple has ten. The tabernacle had a very limited amount of gold used. This temple is pretty much covered in gold. The closer it seems one moves towards the presence of God, the more precious the material is coming. Do you remember if we scan, take a helicopter view outside, everything was covered in bronze, inside it talks about things being covered and fashioned out of gold, and then of the ark itself it says it was made of the purest gold. So the metal used here is expressing God's glory, and the closer to the throne of the Lord, the dwelling place of the Lord, the more valuable the metal that is used becomes. Now, even though the average Israelite, of course, never entered the temple, they would have known of its splendour and what had been used to make it. Then they knew that God was honored with his very best in this construction. Then, verse 51, the work is completed and the chapter closes, by telling us 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 in the furnishings, and he placed them in the treasuries of the Lord's temple. So this is likely that which had originally been in the tabernacle along with the spoils of war, anything set aside for the Lord before Solomon had even begun building this building. But the big question is what does all this mean? We've covered Solomon's palace yesterday, then we've moved on to the temple exterior and the temple furnishings, but as I said, the point of the chapter is never about architecture, it's about honoring God. Solomon honored the Lord with his excellence in this project, the beauty of it, the abundance that was used in it, the skill that people brought to it, the costly materials and the careful craftsmanship was used, and all of that, and all of around the temple, all of it and everything that is outside it and within it, as it contained within it, was meant to reflect the greatness of the God who dwelt there. Solomon's greatest contribution to Israel may well have been this the fact that he glorified the Lord in the eyes of the nation and the nations around him. The sheer amount of text devoted to this temple construction and the palace shows how important these structures actually were in the ancient world. They were, as seen here, visible testimony of the king's greatness, but more importantly, the greatness of God. So if you could write one word to describe this whole chapter, it would be honour, honoring the Lord. Solomon honored the Lord with his palace, that's the point. He did it with his craftsmanship available to him, the resources he put in it, and it was done with devotion. And that leads naturally to the question for us today, when we read this, we have to think, how will that help us shape our response in how we build something for the Lord after what we've seen in this chapter? What does it mean for you and I to honour the Lord today? Now, when I step back from this chapter and I let that word honour, which I'd settled upon in approaching this passage today, settle in my mind a little, I realize that I've never quite understood before how Scripture speaks again and again about honouring the Lord, far more than I noticed. A quick post into my online Bible software for the word honour and listen to just some of the language I found. There was hundreds of them, but here's just a couple from the New Testament. To the King eternal, immortal, invisible, be honor and glory forever. To him be honor and everlasting power. Those are from 1 Timothy. The living creatures give honour and thanks to him who sits upon the throne. Revelation 4 9. You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory, honour and power. Revelation 4.11. Worthy is the Lamb to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honour. Revelation 5 12. Blessed and honour and glory and power be to him who sits on the throne. Salvation and glory and honour and power belong to our Lord, the Lord our God. Revelation 5 and 19. Scripture and heaven is filled with honour. The redeemed people of God, that's you and I, friends, and our worship is itself, honours him in the heavenlies. And we also know the angels honour him there. In fact, we're told all creation honours him. So yes, we are definitely meant to honor the Lord. But again, that raises that very practical question, how does someone do that today? Well, we can use our words sometimes to honour people. We should know what it also means to honour our parents. We are meant to honor our leaders, and we are also meant to honour those who have passed away. Those are all biblical principles. But how can we do that? Well, I can straight off think of three ways. We can honor people who are alive by our presence, by showing up for them, by standing up for them when they're struggling or persecuted, and by valuing them and what they do and for just for who they are. But we can also honour people by our words, speaking well of them, expressing gratitude and telling the truth about their worth as human beings and as fellow believers. And we can honor people by our actions. We can do something that reflects their value in the form of affection or even gifts. But Solomon here, we see him honouring the road by building a temple of what is clearly breathtaking beauty. Now you and I probably can't do that, but the principle behind all of this remains. Honour is expressed through presence, words and deeds. And Scripture widens that idea and concept of honour when it tells us in the New Testament, children honour your parents, husbands honour wives, servants honour their masters, churches, communities should honour widows, believers should honour elders, citizens should honour those in authority over them, and Peter tops it all by saying in his letter that we are called to honour all people. You see, honour is an old-fashioned word, but in reality it is the glue that sticks a healthy society together. If we remove our honour from our homes, then you lose honour in the streets. If you remove honour from our attitude towards authority, you will get lawlessness everywhere. And if you remove honour from God in our nation, then everything else will pretty much collapse. And isn't that what we see happening all around us? Which brings us back to the true heart of this chapter, I believe. Solomon honoured the Lord, and he honored him with costly materials, craftsmanship, abundant resources into the Lord's work, excellence, beauty, devotion, all of these things. He honored the Lord with what he built. But that, my friend, I think invites a deeply personal question for you and I. What will you honor the Lord with before you die? Not in theory, not in vague sentiments, not in a quick-click prayer hands, but in practice. Some, of course, honour people by serving, some honour people by obeying, some honour God by giving, some honour by speaking of Him and about Him, and some honour Him by simple, quiet faithfulness in the unseen places in life. And that's all of that is good. You know, sometimes honour does simply look, well, a little bit like Mary of Bethany, breaking open a costly jar of perfume and pouring it on the feet of Jesus and filling the house with the fragrance of her devotion. It's interesting to note that Judas called that a waste, but Jesus called it honour. You see, honouring the Lord doesn't require greatness, it simply requires awareness and a serving sacrificial heart. A heart that says, Lord, with my lips, my life, my service, my substance, I want to honor you. Not once, not at the end, but regularly, joyfully, and intentionally. So, friends, if you want to honor the Lord, honor him with your presence, especially when you gather with other people, and honor him with your words. Speak of him in your life, speak of him to friends and speak well of him, and honor him with your life. As it tells us in the New Testament, present your bodies as a living sacrifice, wholly unacceptable to God. That's how we honor the Lord, and that is the spirit behind 1 Kings chapter 7. Solomon honored with this temple, but we, here's the jaw-dropping truth, we are told as New Testament believers that we're possessors of the Holy Spirit, and in fact, the Bible describes us as Christian believers as temples of the Holy Spirit. So we're called to honor Him with our lives, and by doing that, you are building something glorious in you today. And that, my friend, is the core of this message. Build the temple of God in you and in everything you do. Now, next time we're going to step into 1 Kings chapter 8, where Solomon dedicates the temple, and we see the glory of the Lord fill the house. It's one of the most moving scenes in the Old Testament, and it shows us what can happen when God's people truly honour him and when God chooses to dwell among them, and as Christian, what God might do when he chooses to dwell within us. So don't forget to come back and join me again tomorrow. Now, if you'd like early access to this episode, add free and have access to the whole back catalogue of every single Bible project daily podcast and other Bible teaching out done. The place where you can access it all for free is simply sign up and follow me on Patreon on the free group subscription tier. 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