All right, so welcome back to this study. This is lesson three entitled Solomon's Glorious Temple. And as I prepared this Bible study, I realized we probably should have done this in three lessons rather than one, because there's just so much content here and so much theology and typology of the temple. I will recommend one fantastic book.
It's much more in depth in the Bible study commentaries that I have for you in your syllabus for this course. But I'll mention here to you right now, Dr. Steven Smith is a great book called The House of the Lord, you can find it on Amazon almost anywhere. It's pretty thick, pretty in depth, but it's absolutely fantastic.
So if you really like the idea of the theology and the significance, the typology, the symbolism of the temple and rooted in salvation history and the various covenants, things I'm gonna introduce to you here in this lesson. By all means, pick up Dr. Smith's book, The House of the Lord, put it on your bookshelf and you can read that to power in one sitting, which is probably unlikely, but you can just devour it at your own pace. It's a fantastic book.
So what are we gonna do in this particular lesson? We're looking at chapters five through eight. It's the high point of, really, I would argue, and I think that it is very defensible. These chapters are the high point of the entire Old Testament period.
This whole construction of the temple for the worship of God by Israel, the invitation to the Gentiles to participate in that worship. It is a period of peace and prosperity. It is absolutely wonderful. It is the climax.
It is the apex of all the Old Testament salvation history before Christ. So it's very, very significant. So in these short chapters here, I'll make a couple connections with chronicles. But in these four short chapters, five, six, seven, eight, there's a lot of details into the construction of the temple.
High points, not just the construction of the temple, but a lot of what Solomon himself does for is on palace. The palace for his bride, as Egyptian princess, we'll talk about that. So what we're gonna do in this lesson is go through the highlights of those chapters. Looking at the construction of the temple, we're gonna be looking at the dedication of the temple.
And then so that'll be more or less to have the first half of the lesson. And in the second half of the lesson, we wanna spend some time looking at the theology of the temple, how it is a summation and a perfection of until this point of all the previous covenants. And then we're gonna look, of course, at the typology of Jesus Christ in his church, because that is what the temple is pointing forward to. Jesus Christ, the true temple, and the mystical body of his church and all individual believers who are, as Saint Peter says, living stones built into that temple.
So that's the second half is looking at the theology and the typology. So you can see already, we have a lot to talk about. This is gonna be a lot of fun. So without any further ado, let's continue our left off in chapter five.
The last lesson just super duper quickly, 30 second recap here. Chalkers one through four in the last lesson is all about Solomon becoming king. He's the first place for him to become king with his brother, Adonaija, making a request for the throne. And yet Solomon establishes his kingdom.
He eliminates his threats, the threats to the kingdom. His mother is the queen mother, the Gedi rock. We talk about all the typology for that. And Solomon asks for wisdom.
And he begins to rule with great wisdom, so much so that people came from all over. In the first years of his reign, really, because as we're gonna see in just a moment, I hope I don't produce this. But the construction of the temple took place in the fourth year of his reign. So early on in his reign, people are finding out about Solomon and his great wisdom.
And they're coming from all over. Queen of Shiba is the great example of that. So we ended off in chapter four with Solomon being the recognized king of the hill, if you wanna call him. He's the king of kings in the region at this time.
And everybody is trying to have allegiances with him and have covenants with him. And he's beginning to marry other women in these allegiances. And that's the red flag we talked about. So in the case that is where we were picking up now.
We're in chapter five. First in chapter five, we wanna flip your bibles to that particular point. And this is going to be all the instructions and preparations and building materials that Solomon collects for building the temple. But there's a couple of things I wanna share with you before we look at this text.
The first of which is when we get to the story of the temple, a lot of students don't realize that this was not an idea that Solomon just came up with in his own brain and people do know of course that David desired to build a temple. This is all back in first thing in chapter seven. And so David wants to build a temple and the Lord says, no, your son's gonna do it. I'm gonna share with you first chronicles chapter 21.
We're gonna go through some of those details just momentarily. But it's not like Solomon just says, okay, my dad wanted to build a temple. He wasn't allowed to. Now this is my responsibility.
So here we go, let's build this temple. The construction of the temple in Jerusalem has been part of God's province ever since Israel left Egypt in the story of the Exodus. The Mosaic Tabernacle, which if you go back to this book of Exodus, you remember that after Israel establishes this covenant with God, in chapter 24, right afterwards Moses goes up to the top of the mountain and receives this heavenly blueprint, a structure of what the tabernacle is supposed to be like, because the tabernacle is really a participation in the heavenly liturgy. And I highly encourage you to go back to the Exodus Bible study.
That's I think it'd be lesson 10. And the Exodus Bible study where I go through all the theology of the tabernacle itself, the various stages of salvation, history that are represented there, the signs and the prefigurements and the types of the holy trinity that are present there. There's just so much theology in the tabernacle that's gonna be taken up here when we talk about the temple as well. But the tabernacle itself and the blueprint that Moses receives on Mount Sinai, that was always meant to be temporary really.
And God's providence is we're gonna see here, and to read to you Deuteronomy chapter 12. And God's providence, God wanted to set aside a central place of worship for all of Israel to come and adore him. This is ultimately what was going to be laid out in the Mosaic law because there's a long story behind this and you have to go back to Deuteronomy and see this in the Bible study there. But Moses knew that Israel was incapable of worshiping God throughout the entire land and that there's this concession that needed to be taken, that needed to take place, that there's gonna be the central location where all the sacrifices would take place, where the Levites would serve in order to help govern Israel in this religious way.
So they wouldn't fall into idolatry, the idolatry of the nations that were inevitably gonna be left amongst them in the land. So they're not supposed to be worshiping, like I should say, they're not supposed to be offering sacrifices to God and all these various other altars because it was gonna be corrupted by paganism. So all along there was going to be set apart this special place for worship. And this is in Deuteronomy chapter 12.
I do have a couple of other passages for you here in the notes like Exodus 15. But let me just read for you a little bit of Deuteronomy 12 verses 10 through 14. And you'll see here how what we're studying in first Kings is the fulfillment of what Moses laid out back in the Exodus story. Okay, so Deuteronomy chapter 12 verse 10 says this, but when you go over to the Jordan to live in the land which the Lord your God gives you to inherit and when he gives you rest from all your enemies round about and you should circle that by the way, the word rest is really important.
When he gives you rest from all your enemies round about so that you live in safety, then to the place, now the word place is mentioned many times here in chapter 12, but it says then to the place which the Lord your God will choose to make his name dwell there. There you shall bring all that I command you, your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and the offerings that you present and all your votive offerings which you vow to the Lord. And you shall rejoice before the Lord your God, you and your sons and your daughters, your servants and manservents and servants, and to Levi that is within your talents since he has no portion or inheritance with you. Take he that you do not offer your burnt offerings at every place that you see, but at the place which the Lord will choose in one of your tribes, there you shall offer your burnt offerings, there you shall do all that I'm commanding you.
So let's just stop right there. This is very significant. You Israel are not allowed to go worship God wherever you want because you're prone to corruption. So God is gonna select a place amongst the tribes.
We now know that the place is Jerusalem. For a number of reasons, we talked about the significance of the city of Jerusalem a lot. When we did our Bible study on First and Second Samuel and David makes Jerusalem his capital, there are a lot of religious and theological reasons why that's important. But there's of course secular or political reasons as well.
And so the place is now established from the tribe of Judah. All right. So what Moses says back in Deuteronomy is now taking place. And note that word rest.
I've told you to circle or highlight it if you'd like to do that in your Bibles. You're not gonna get struck by lightning. If you highlight in your Bibles, I always tell students highlight circle, block stuff off, underline it, cross reference it and really make the Bible your own. Well that word rest is a word that's repeated many times throughout the Pentateuch beginning in Genesis because rest is much more than just, hey, you know what, I'm really tired and I just gotta take a nap.
You know, I'm just, right now at the time of this recording, I just got over, I flew. For the first time in my life, I just had to flu and it knocked me out for two weeks. Well, I'm tired all the time. So I just need some rest to recover from my illness.
It's much more than that. It has, it's a spiritual rest. It is a rest that you have in the presence of God. It echoes the Sabbath day of rest, right?
The Sabbath rest that God establishes on the seventh day of creation. That's what this is all about. So it's more than just the rest and the absence of war also because that's what it's talking about when you have rest from all your enemies around about. It's more than that.
It's the enemies around about are squashed for the purposes for you to have covenant communion with God and to worship Him without fear, all right? That's what this is all about. So the or I'm gonna see this is gonna be repeated in first and chapter five in Solomon's own words as well. So keep that in mind.
Rest is a prerequisite and it's also actually to the purpose. Rest from all their enemies around about David establishes this, Solomon solidifies this rest as well, but it's also for the purpose of having covenant to rest with God. All right, very good. So another thing I'd like to share with you before we dive into the text here is that, again, for another misconception is that Solomon, so David wants to build a temple.
Solomon says, okay, clarifying the point that now this has been, this is in God's mind, this is in God's providence, all the way going back to the Exodus. The other thing to clarify here is that Solomon just gets up in the fourth year of his reign and he says, all right, I'm gonna start preparing to build the temple. Well, actually what's interesting to know is that David himself, if you read the parallel accounts and chronicles, David began the work long before Solomon did, because while it's true, God says, you're not gonna build the temple for me. David's like, all right, I'm not gonna build the temple, but that doesn't mean I can't pave the way.
That doesn't mean I can't get some things move in in order for Solomon and my son to actually build the thing. And so this I think is really, really interesting for people to understand what David's role in building the temple was quite significant. And so on this point, I wanna flip ahead to first chronicles chapter 21. You're gonna find this in first chronicle of 21 through 22 as well as chapters 28 and 29.
The references are right here in the lesson notes. But let me just read this here for you. I think it's really, really interesting to understand how involved David was and really how much David did to prepare Solomon for the construction of the temple. Like this was the highlight I think of David's life.
Remember David was, he had a heart after God. He was the only person described as a man after God's own heart. And so the center, I think, of really David's life is love of God, to worship God. All the Psalms that he wrote down were to praise God and thank him for his blessings.
So even before, long before he dies, he's preparing the way for Solomon to build the temple. So check this out, let's read here. At the end of first chronicles chapter 21 verse 28 through 22, let's just read a little section. So verse 28, at that time when David saw that the Lord had answered him at the threshing floor of Ornn in the jibb site, he made his sacrifices there.
Now really quickly, let me just pause myself here for a second and say, this is referring to the story at the end of second Samuel. And you'll remember this from the Bible study, we did on that, hopefully we did that Bible study. David made a mistake, he sinned in desiring a census of his entire people. The census was more than likely to determine his military might, which is a big no no.
You can go back to that study and explain why that's the problem. But once the census had taken place, David realized that he had sinned and he needed to be punished for it and he chooses a pestulance. And many people die. At the end of second Samuel, he goes to this particular stretching floor here of the jibb site, Ornn, and he offers sacrifices.
He buys the land from the dude in order to offer these sacrifices and he stops the pestulance. Well, this is going to be the precise location here on the little mountain of Jerusalem, Zai'a, where he's going to construct the temple. So that's what that's referring to. Let me read on to verse 29.
And I have a little footnote, footnote number one in your notes, we'll clarify that. So verse 29, for the tabernacle of the Lord, which Moses had made in the wilderness and the altar of burnt offering were at that time in the high place at Gibeon. But David could not go before it to inquire of God for he was afraid of the sword of the angel of the Lord. And then David said, here shall be the house of the Lord God and hear the altar of burnt offering for Israel.
Okay, so like I just explained to you, after he offers this instance right there, the threshing floor he decides this is where the temple is going to be built. All right, now let's read on in chapter 22 verse one. Verse two, excuse me, David commanded to gather together the aliens who were in the land of Israel. Those aren't like Martians, those are just foreigners, all right?
And he said stone cutters to prepare dress stones for building the house of God. David also provided great stores of iron for nails for the doors of the gates and the clamps, as well as bronze and quantities beyond weighing and cedar timbers without number. For the Sedonians and Tyrionians brought great quantities of cedar to David. For David said, Solomon my son is young and inexperienced and the house that is to be built for the Lord must be exceedingly magnificent.
A fame and glory throughout all the lands. I will therefore make preparation for it. So David provided materials and great quantity before his death. And in verse six, he called for Solomon his son and charged him to build a house for the Lord, the God of Israel.
David said to Solomon my son, I had it in my heart to build a house to the name of the Lord my God, but the word of the Lord came to me saying, you have shed much blood and have waged great wars. You shall not build a house to my name because you have shed so much blood before me upon the earth. Behold the sun shall be born to you. You shall be a man of peace and I will give him peace that Shalom from all of his enemies around about for his name shall be Shalom, amen.
Solomon, the word Solomon really quickly here is rooted in the word for peace. So Solomon's name means peacemaker or the peaceful one. That's why it's called Solomon because it's gonna take place in a time of peace. And he's Solomon will actually bring further peace.
All right, moving on. I will give peace and quiet to Israel in his days. Verse 10, he shall build a house for my name. He shall be my son and I will be his father.
And I will establish his royal throne in Israel forever. Now my son, the Lord be with you that you may succeed in building the house of Lord your God as he has spoken concerning you. Only may the Lord grant you discretion and understanding that's Hochma, that's wisdom, which of course, Solomon asked for, as we saw last time in the last lesson. So may he grant you discretion, understanding Hochma, that when he gives you charge over Israel, you may keep the law of the Lord your God, then you will prosper if you are careful to observe the statutes and ordinances which the Lord committed most is for Israel and so on and so forth and he ends this little speech to his son saying the Lord be with you.
All right, and Solomon said with your spirit and then they move on with their day. All right, so this is really interesting. I find, I'm spending all this time talking about it. I think I find it really, really interesting how much work David did before his death to prepare for the building of the temple.
He had tons of materials gathered up and he was preparing his son Solomon telling him as we saw actually in the last lesson before he died, he had a little speech for Solomon echoing previous speeches like Moses and Joshua and Samuel and others saying, take heed to follow the Lord. And this is what David is saying here for Chronicles again. Take heed to follow the Lord, then you will prosper, you will have wisdom and you will build the house of the Lord. So that's pretty cool, I think to know David's role here.
Now, just wanted to spend some time clarifying those two points probably spend too much time on that, but now let's go here to first, sorry, first Kings chapter five in read what Solomon does and we're gonna see a couple of connections here based on the readings I just gave to you from Deuteronomy, chapter 12 as well as first Chronicles. So chapter five verse one of first Kings, it says, here on King of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon when he heard the name of the Lord, he said to David, he said to him, King of the place of his father, for here I'm loved David. And Solomon sent word to here I'm saying, you know that David my father could not build a house for the name of the Lord is God, because of the warfare with which his enemies surrounded him and to the Lord put them under the soles of his feet. But now the Lord my God has given me rest on every side.
There is neither adversary nor misfortune. And so I propose to build a house for the name of the Lord my God as the Lord said to David my father, your son who I will set upon your throne in your place shall build the house for my name. And so he asks the King of the time and summarizes this next section here for you. He asks the king, this is a Gentile king of Tyre, right?
He asks him, look, can you provide a whole bunch of lumber and labor and exchange for money to help me build a temple? Okay, and King Hiram was King of Phoenicia, says yes, absolutely, because he says that he loved David. Now what that means is that he had a covenant soul treaty with David and they had a great relationship. They had a great, you know, they had peace between their two kingdoms.
And so because Hiram had his great covenantal treaty between the two kingdoms, so now that's going to continue with Solomon. So he's going to help Solomon build a temple by providing lumber and labor, Solomon and exchange is going to pay him money and then later on he's going to give him some cities of the north as well. But this is an incredible arrangement here of how Gentiles are involved in the building of the temple. And that is no small point at all.
This is a really, really big deal because this arrangement points forward to the incorporation of the Gentiles into God's holy people for worship. That's the whole point of calling Israel to be God's special people. I've said many, many times even going back to our studies on the books of Moses, God does not call Israel at the expense of all the nations. God calls Israel to be a blessing to all the nations.
Israel is God's firstborn son. And as God's firstborn son, Israel is supposed to bring God's wisdom and God's law and God's goodness and love and mercy to all the nations around them. And you see this going right back to the promises that God made to Abraham. God says to God says to Abraham, I'm going to make you a great nation.
I'm going to make you a great kingdom, a great name. But I'm also through you. All nations will be blessed. So this is a really big deal here because the fact that King Tyar, King Hurum of Tyre, this Gentile is so involved in the construction of the temple that foreshadows the incorporation of the Gentiles into God's people.
That is really, really significant here. And this is what Thomas Aquinas himself says. I've got a little quote for you from one of your commentaries. Excuse me.
So this is what Saint Thomas says. The tabernacle of Moses signifies the state of the old law, whereas the temple of Solomon signifies the state of the new law. For only Jews are right to the tabernacle, but the temple was built with a cooperation of Gentiles. End quote.
That is a really beautiful spiritual typological application by the angelic doctor, your Saint Thomas, my buddy, one of our patron saints for the incorporation of the Gentiles of the temple foreshadows ultimately what Christ, the new Solomon, is going to do. And at the end of this lesson, I got a great quote for you from Saint Augustine on that very point. But we're going to conclude with that because it's fantastic. So King Hurum is involved.
Hurum, how are we going to pronounce the name Hurum? He is involved in this. And that is going to be a beautiful foreshadowing of the church, really. OK, but there's a red flag in all of this.
Because as you read on here in chapter 5, verse 13, is the Solomon raised a levy of forced labor out of all of Israel and the levy numbered 30,000 men. So here, this is going to be a big problem. It's going to come back to bite Solomon, and specifically Solomon's son. We'll see this in a couple of lessons.
The fact that Solomon is forcibly conscripting laborers amongst his own people is a very bad sign. Now granted, as you read the details here, they have to work one month on duty, and they have two months back home. So two months at home versus one month on duty, and you're like, OK, well, that's not that bad. But it is actually a problem to forcibly conscript your people to work in all the various ways that he's got set forth here.
Now, Samuel said a long time ago, this is what's going to happen. You want a king like all the other nations. He's going to behave like all the other nations. So this is a red flag.
And we're going to see the consequences of this behavior in chapter 12 and the split of the kingdom. So keep that in the back of your mind. Hey, this is Doc Nick. Thank you so much for listening to this course sample.
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