The Book of 1 Kings

Word Study

"built of stone made ready before it was brought thither." A striking detail marks the building: every stone was fully shaped and finished at the quarry, so that at the temple site "there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house, while it was in building." The house of God rose in reverent silence, each stone prepared beforehand and set noiselessly in its place. This is a beautiful picture of how God builds His true temple, the church. He quarries His living stones out of the world and shapes them, often through the hammer and chisel of trial and discipline, in the hidden place, that they may be set silently and perfectly into their appointed place in His building. "Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house" (1 Peter 2:5), "fitly framed together" into "an holy temple in the Lord" (Ephesians 2:21). The shaping happens now, in this life; the placing is His work, quiet and exact. The dating "in the four hundred and eightieth year after" the Exodus anchors the temple in the flow of redemptive history: from deliverance out of Egypt to the building of God's dwelling among His redeemed people. God's aim in redemption was never merely to bring His people out, but to bring them in, and to dwell among them.

Explanation

In the fourth year of his reign, 480 years after the Exodus, Solomon begins building the temple. The chapter gives its dimensions, sixty cubits long, twenty wide, thirty high, with a porch in front, narrow windows, and side chambers built in three tiers around the walls. A notable detail is recorded: the stones were dressed and finished at the quarry, so that no sound of hammer, axe, or iron tool was heard at the building site. The house rose in reverent quiet. Solomon roofs it with cedar beams and boards, and completes the structure with its surrounding chambers. The great work David longed for and prepared for is now under way, the permanent house of God rising in Jerusalem.

Gospel Focus

The silent building of the temple, every stone shaped beforehand and set without the sound of a tool, pictures the way God builds His true temple, the church. He quarries His living stones out of the world, shapes them in the hidden places of providence, often by the hammer and chisel of trial, and sets each one silently and exactly into its place, "fitly framed together" into a holy temple. The noise and striving belong to the quarry; the building itself is God's quiet, perfect work. Do not despise the shaping God is doing in you now, in secret and sometimes through hard blows; He is preparing you for your place in His eternal house. And remember the great arc: God brought Israel out of Egypt in order to dwell among them, and He redeemed us not merely to save us from sin but to make us His dwelling. "Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house." Yield to the Builder's hand, and take your place in the temple where God delights to dwell.

Word Study

"I will dwell," Hebrew shakan (שָׁכַן), "to dwell, abide, tabernacle." In the midst of the building, God speaks to remind Solomon what the house is truly for: "I will dwell (shakan) among the children of Israel, and will not forsake my people Israel." The whole point of the temple was not architecture but God's presence, His dwelling among His people. And the word runs like a golden thread through Scripture: God dwelt in the tabernacle and temple; then, wonderfully, "the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us" (John 1:14), the word "dwelt" meaning tabernacled; now God dwells by His Spirit in His people, "ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them" (2 Corinthians 6:16); and at the last, "the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them" (Revelation 21:3). The promise, however, was here conditioned, "if thou wilt walk in my statutes." The house did not guarantee God's presence; obedience of heart was required, for God dwells not in mere buildings but with the humble and obedient, "to this man will I look... and trembleth at my word" (Isaiah 66:2).

"the glory-presence of God," shekinah. The verb shakan gives us the word shekinah, the glory-presence of God, and the name says everything: God's glory is simply God dwelling. It is the noun made out of the promise of this verse, the settled word for what fills a house when the LORD Himself takes up residence in it. The building was only the shell; God's indwelling presence was the glory.

Explanation

As the work proceeds, the word of the LORD comes to Solomon with the true meaning of the whole project. The temple's grandeur is not the point; God's presence is. God promises that if Solomon and the people walk in His statutes and keep His commandments, He will fulfill the promise made to David and, supremely, "I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will not forsake my people Israel." The house was being built so that the God of heaven might dwell among His people on earth. But the promise carries a condition: God's continued presence and blessing depend on obedience. The magnificent building would be empty without the God who chose to dwell in it, and His dwelling was tied not to the stones but to the faithfulness of His people.

Gospel Focus

These three verses give the heart of the whole chapter, and of all redemption: "I will dwell among the children of Israel." God's great desire, from Eden lost to the new creation, is to dwell with His people. The tabernacle and temple were shadows of that longing; its fulfillment came when "the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us," God Himself come in flesh, "God with us" (Matthew 1:23). And now, by the Spirit, God dwells in His people: "ye are the temple of the living God... I will dwell in them, and walk in them." The building never guaranteed the presence; obedience of heart was required, and it still is, for the Lord looks to "him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word." Do not rest in outward forms of religion as if the shell secured the presence; God dwells with the humble and obedient. And rejoice that the whole aim of the gospel is God dwelling with us, now by His Spirit, and at last for ever, "he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people."

Word Study

"the oracle... the most holy place," Hebrew debir (דְּבִיר), the innermost sanctuary, the holy of holies. The inner sanctuary, the debir or "most holy place," was a perfect cube of twenty cubits, overlaid entirely with pure gold, prepared to house the ark of the covenant and guarded by two great golden cherubim whose outstretched wings spanned the room. Indeed the whole house within, walls, floor, doors, was overlaid with gold and carved with cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, so that "there was no stone seen." All the plainness of the stone was covered with glory. This innermost room was where God's presence dwelt above the ark, entered only once a year by the high priest with blood. It speaks of the holiness of God and of the barrier sin raised between God and man, for the way into the holiest was not yet open (Hebrews 9:8). But what Solomon's temple kept closed, Christ opened: at His death "the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom" (Matthew 27:51), and now we have "boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus... by a new and living way" (Hebrews 10:19-20). The gold-covered most holy place, so long shut, is now flung open in Christ; the redeemed may come where once only the high priest could go, into the very presence of God.

Explanation

The rest of the chapter details the temple's glorious interior. The inside walls, ceiling, and floor were lined with cedar and fir and richly carved, so that no bare stone showed. The innermost room, the oracle or most holy place, was a gold-overlaid cube prepared to hold the ark of the covenant. Solomon overlaid the whole house within with pure gold, and set in the most holy place two enormous cherubim of olive wood, ten cubits high, overlaid with gold, their wings stretching wall to wall. Every surface, walls, doors, floor, was carved with cherubim, palm trees, and flowers, and covered with gold. Doors of olive and fir, likewise carved and gilded, guarded the oracle and the temple. The building took seven years, from the fourth to the eleventh year of Solomon's reign, finished exactly according to its design, a house of surpassing beauty and glory for the LORD.

Gospel Focus

The gold-covered most holy place, where God's presence dwelt above the ark, preaches both the holiness of God and the barrier sin had raised. Into that innermost room only the high priest could go, once a year, with blood, "the Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest" (Hebrews 9:8). The glory was real but shut away behind the veil. But what Solomon's temple kept closed, Christ has opened. When He died, "the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom," and now every believer has "boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus." The most holy place, once entered by one man once a year, is thrown open to all who come by the new and living way. And the beauty of the house, no bare stone seen, all covered with gold and carved with the palm and flower of paradise, reminds us that God delights in glory and will clothe His redeemed with beauty, for we are being built into "an holy temple in the Lord," and shall behold His glory face to face. Draw near with boldness; the veil is torn, and the holiest is open in Christ.