Solomon built the temple…
1 Kings 11 – Solomon married many wives and began worshipping their gods.

• God raised up enemies against Solomon and he dies.
• Saul – Solomon – (1025 -925 BC)

1 Kings 12 – Divided Kingdom

• Judah (925 – 586 BC) – Southern Kingdom
• Israel (925 – 721 BC) – Northern Kingdom

 
Cause of the Division:

• King Solomon's son, Rehoboam, continued Solomon's policies of heavy taxation and forced labor, which led to discontent among the northern tribes.
• They refused to acknowledge Rehoboam's authority and formed their own kingdom under Jeroboam.

 
Northern Kingdom (Israel):

• This kingdom was made up of ten tribes and had its capital in Samaria.
• The Northern Kingdom was known for its idolatry and often clashed with the Southern Kingdom.

 
Southern Kingdom (Judah):

• This kingdom was composed of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, as well as the Levites who served in the Temple in Jerusalem. Judah remained loyal to the Davidic dynasty, with Jerusalem as its capital.

 
Consequences of the Division:

• The division led to decades of conflict between the two kingdoms.
• The Northern Kingdom eventually fell to the Assyrians in 722 BCE, while the Southern Kingdom lasted for another century before being conquered by the Babylonians in 587 BCE.

 
1 KINGS 17
1 Now Elijah the Tishbite, from the Gilead settlers, said to Ahab, “As the Lord God of Israel lives, in whose presence I stand, there will be no dew or rain during these years except by my command!”
2 Then the word of the Lord came to him: 3 “Leave here, turn eastward, and hide at the Wadi Cherith where it enters the Jordan. 4 You are to drink from the wadi. I have commanded the ravens to provide for you there.”
5 So he proceeded to do what the Lord commanded. Elijah left and lived at the Wadi Cherith where it enters the Jordan. 6 The ravens kept bringing him bread and meat in the morning and in the evening, and he would drink from the wadi. 7 After a while, the wadi dried up because there had been no rain in the land. [1]

• Again, God raised up a prophet to announce what He would do.
• Evidently, Ahab's (King of Israel) apostasy had been going on for 14 years before God confronted the king with His prophetic challenge.
• Normally, God gives sinners an opportunity to judge themselves and repent before He sends judgment on them.

 
ELIJAH’S MESSAGE TO AHAB
1 KINGS 18:1-46
1 After a long time, the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year: “Go and present yourself to Ahab. I will send rain on the surface of the land.” 2 So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab.
The famine was severe in Samaria. 3 Ahab called for Obadiah, who was in charge of the palace. Obadiah was a man who greatly feared the Lord 4 and took a hundred prophets and hid them, fifty men to a cave, and provided them with food and water when Jezebel slaughtered the Lord’s prophets. 5 Ahab said to Obadiah, “Go throughout the land to every spring and to every wadi. Perhaps we’ll find grass so we can keep the horses and mules alive and not have to destroy any cattle.” 6 They divided the land between them in order to cover it. Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went the other way by himself.
7 While Obadiah was walking along the road, Elijah suddenly met him. When Obadiah recognized him, he fell facedown and said, “Is it you, my lord Elijah?”
8 “It is I,” he replied. “Go tell your lord, ‘Elijah is here!’ ”
9 But Obadiah said, “What sin have I committed, that you are handing your servant over to Ahab to put me to death? 10 As the Lord your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom where my lord has not sent someone to search for you. When they said, ‘He is not here,’ he made that kingdom or nation swear they had not found you.
11 “Now you say, ‘Go tell your lord, “Elijah is here!” ’ 12 But when I leave you, the Spirit of the Lord may carry you off to some place I don’t know. Then when I go report to Ahab and he doesn’t find you, he will kill me. But I, your servant, have feared the Lord from my youth. 13 Wasn’t it reported to my lord what I did when Jezebel slaughtered the Lord’s prophets? I hid a hundred of the prophets of the Lord, fifty men to a cave, and I provided them with food and water. 14 Now you say, ‘Go tell your lord, “Elijah is here!” ’ He will kill me!”
15 Then Elijah said, “As the Lord of Armies lives, in whose presence I stand, today I will present myself to Ahab.”
16 Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him. Then Ahab went to meet Elijah. 17 When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, “Is that you, the one ruining Israel?”
18 He replied, “I have not ruined Israel, but you and your father’s family have, because you have abandoned the Lord’s commands and followed the Baals.

• Ahab had a problem finally believing that he was seeing Elijah similar to Obadiah's.
• He believed that Elijah was the cause of the famine.
• The real source of Israel's troubles was Ahab's disregard of the Mosaic Covenant and their preference for idolatry.

19 Now summon all Israel to meet me at Mount Carmel, along with the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah who eat at Jezebel’s table.”

• Obadiah was similar to many believers in Yahweh who were living in Israel at that time.
• They had divided allegiances, they had faith in Yahweh, they were fearful for their own safety, and they were slow to respond to God's word.
• Elijah saw beforehand, in Obadiah's response to him, how believers in Israel would respond to what he would soon do on Mount Carmel.
• Elijah would call on the people to do essentially what he had commanded Obadiah to do: obey the LORD's word through His prophet.

 
Prophet vs Non-Prophet

• As a non-prophet, I can’t help but experience life with me at the center of my universe.
• With my eyes I look out on the world.
• With my ears I hear what is going on.
• I can only feel, want, and experience what I am feeling, wanting, and experiencing.
• I naturally want the people around me to give up themselves and become what I want them to be.
• I prefer those close to me to think, feel, and act toward the world in the same way I do.
• I prefer the illusion of sameness when really we are very different from each other.
• I want other people’s worlds to be like mine.
• I even act the same way in my relationship with God, walking out my spirituality as if I am the center of the universe.
• For this reason, M. Scott Peck argues that we are all born narcissists and that learning to grow out of our narcissism is at the heart of the spiritual journey.[2]

 

• As for a prophet, their desire is God’s desire.
• This is what God has given them to share instead of their own feelings, wants, and experiences.
• It would be easy for pastors to place their own agendas in the middle of the message and express them as being Biblical or of God.

 
 
ELIJAH AT MOUNT CARMEL
20 So Ahab summoned all the Israelites and gathered the prophets at Mount Carmel. 21 Then Elijah approached all the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions?, If the Lord is God, follow him. But if Baal, follow him.” But the people didn’t answer him a word.
22 Then Elijah said to the people, “I am the only remaining prophet of the Lord, but Baal’s prophets are 450 men. 23 Let two bulls be given to us. They are to choose one bull for themselves, cut it in pieces, and place it on the wood but not light the fire. I will prepare the other bull and place it on the wood but not light the fire. 24 Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord. The God who answers with fire, he is God.”
All the people answered, “That’s fine.”
25 Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Since you are so numerous, choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first. Then call on the name of your god but don’t light the fire.”
26 So they took the bull that he gave them, prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, “Baal, answer us!” But there was no sound; no one answered. Then they danced around the altar they had made.
27 At noon Elijah mocked them. He said, “Shout loudly, for he’s a god! Maybe he’s thinking it over; maybe he has wandered away; or maybe he’s on the road. Perhaps he’s sleeping and will wake up!” 28 They shouted loudly, and cut themselves with knives and spears, according to their custom, until blood gushed over them. 29 All afternoon they kept on raving until the offering of the evening sacrifice, but there was no sound; no one answered, no one paid attention.
30 Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near me.” So all the people approached him. Then he repaired the Lord’s altar that had been torn down: 31 Elijah took twelve stones—according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, “Israel will be your name”--32 and he built an altar with the stones in the name of the Lord. Then he made a trench around the altar large enough to hold about four gallons., 33 Next, he arranged the wood, cut up the bull, and placed it on the wood. He said, “Fill four water pots with water and pour it on the offering to be burned and on the wood.” 34 Then he said, “A second time!” and they did it a second time. And then he said, “A third time!” and they did it a third time. 35 So the water ran all around the altar; he even filled the trench with water.

• The 12 large jars of water that he had poured on the sacrifice may also have represented Israel.
• Elijah may have obtained the water from a spring or perhaps from the Great (Mediterranean) Sea that is not far from some parts of Mount Carmel.
• The traditional site of this confrontation, however, is at the east end of the Carmel range of mountains, far from the sea.

36 At the time for offering the evening sacrifice, the prophet Elijah approached the altar and said, “Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, today let it be known that you are God in Israel and I am your servant, and that at your word I have done all these things. 37 Answer me, Lord! Answer me so that this people will know that you, the Lord, are God and that you have turned their hearts back.”
38 Then the Lord’s fire fell and consumed the burnt offering, the wood, the stones, and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench. 39 When all the people saw it, they fell facedown and said, “The Lord, he is God! The Lord, he is God!”
40 Then Elijah ordered them, “Seize the prophets of Baal! Do not let even one of them escape.” So they seized them, and Elijah brought them down to the Wadi Kishon and slaughtered them there. 41 Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink, for there is the sound of a rainstorm.”
42 So Ahab went to eat and drink, but Elijah went up to the summit of Carmel. He bent down on the ground and put his face between his knees. 43 Then he said to his servant, “Go up and look toward the sea.”
So he went up, looked, and said, “There’s nothing.”
Seven times Elijah said, “Go back.”
44 On the seventh time, he reported, “There’s a cloud as small as a man’s hand coming up from the sea.”
Then Elijah said, “Go and tell Ahab, ‘Get your chariot ready and go down so the rain doesn’t stop you.’ ”
45 In a little while, the sky grew dark with clouds and wind, and there was a downpour. So Ahab got in his chariot and went to Jezreel. 46 The power of the Lord was on Elijah, and he tucked his mantle under his belt and ran ahead of Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.[3]

• The story of Elijah places him as one of the main characters of the Old Covenant.
• To speak truth in a world of untruth is a hard life… unless you have God to back it up for you.

We have all sorts of miracles in this room… maybe not as big as ending a 3.5 year drought… but enough to prove that God is real, alive, and caring for us.

[1] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), 1 Ki 17:1–7.
[2] Peter Scazzero, Emotionally Healthy Spirituality: It’s Impossible to Be Spiritually Mature, While Remaining Emotionally Immature (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2017), 171–172.
[3] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), 1 Ki 18:1–46.

Solomon built the temple…

• God had a permanent place to reside
• Solomon’s Temple – 959 – 587 BC (372 years)
• 2nd Temple (Nehemiah) 516 – 20 BC (496 years)
• Herod’s Temple – Renovations began in 20 BC – Destroyed in 70 AD.

 

• But in 30 AD… The Spirit of God left the temple, and there was no longer a need for the Temple.
• Animal sacrifices were no longer necessary.

 

• But what led up to that day?
• Thursday… Passover meal

 
 
Preparation for the Passover
Matthew 26:17-19
17 On the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Where do you want us to make preparations for you to eat the Passover?”

• The Feast of the Unleavened Bread and the Passover are two different things.
• The “Feast” of the Unleavened Bread was an 8-day celebration that occurred simultaneously with Passover.
• Leviticus 23:5-6 - The Passover to the Lord comes in the first month, at twilight on the fourteenth day of the month. 6 The Festival of Unleavened Bread to the Lord is on the fifteenth day of the same month. For seven days you must eat unleavened bread.[1]
• The word “day” or “feast” was added to the original Greek text. Nor should it be capitalized.
• The first of the unleavened bread was the time of preparation before sundown.
• The disciples prepared the Passover meal w/ lamb on Thursday before sundown.
• The Last Supper occurred in the Upper Room after sundown on Thursday.

The Chagigah sacrifice was a special sacrifice made on Friday (15th day) at 9 AM.

• This is the hour that Jesus was crucified.

 
Death Was Arrested (North Point) -
 
 
 
Why is Good Friday Good?

• Good Friday is good because the price we couldn't pay got paid, and the stain we couldn't clean got clean.
• Good Friday is good because the world was without hope, but the lamb was without blemish.
• Good Friday is good because the worst thing that could ever happen was simultaneously the best thing that would ever happen.
• Good Friday is good because on that cross, on that day, the Great Shepherd of the sheep walked through the valley of the shadow of death for us.
• Good Friday is good because even though the cross isn't pretty, it's beautiful.
• Good Friday is good because we have a king who would rather die for his enemies than kill them.
• Good Friday is good because I am not good, but he is.
• Good Friday is good, because Friday is not the end of the story.

 
Sunday is Coming (Phil Wickham)
 
LUKE 23:44-46
44 It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three, 45 because the sun’s light failed. The curtain of the sanctuary was split down the middle. 46 And Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I entrust my spirit.” Saying this, he breathed his last. [2]
 
JOHN 19:30
When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished.” Then bowing his head, he gave up his spirit.[3]
 
Because He Lives (Amen) (Matt Maher)
 
THE CLOSELY GUARDED TOMB
62 The next day, which followed the preparation day, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate 63 and said, “Sir, we remember that while this deceiver was still alive he said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ 64 So give orders that the tomb be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come, steal him, and tell the people, ‘He has been raised from the dead,’ and the last deception will be worse than the first.”
65 “You have a guard of soldiers,” Pilate told them. “Go and make it as secure as you know how.” 66 They went and secured the tomb by setting a seal on the stone and placing the guard.
 - Breaking a Roman seal would bring death.

• Matthew 12:40 – “For as Jonah was in the belly of the huge fish three days and three nights, so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights.”[4]
• Not 72 hours… but parts of 3 different days.

 
RESURRECTION MORNING
MATTHEW 28:1-8
1 After the Sabbath, as the first day of the week (Sunday) was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to view the tomb.
 - Refer to Mark 16:1
2 There was a violent earthquake, because an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and approached the tomb. He rolled back the stone and was sitting on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing was as white as snow. 4 The guards were so shaken by fear of him that they became like dead men.
Refer to John 20:1
5 The angel told the women, “Don’t be afraid, because I know you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. 6 He is not here. For he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has risen from the dead and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; you will see him there.’ Listen, I have told you.”
8 So, departing quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, they ran to tell his disciples the news.[5]

• The women (minus Mary Magdalene) to the other 9.
• Mary Magdalene went to Peter & John who were running to the grave with a different message.
• End

 
1 CORINTHIANS 15:3-8
For I passed on to you as most important what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve. 6 Then he appeared to over five hundred brothers and sisters at one time; most of them are still alive, but some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to one born at the wrong time, he also appeared to me.[6]
 
My Jesus (Anne Wilson)
 
HEBREWS 10:19-24
19 Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have boldness to enter the sanctuary through the blood of Jesus--20 he has inaugurated for us a new and living way through the curtain (that is, through his flesh)--21 and since we have a great high priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed in pure water. 23 Let us hold on to the confession of our hope without wavering, since he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider one another in order to provoke love and good works, 25 not neglecting to gather together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day approaching. [7]
1 CORINTHIANS 5:6-7
Don’t you know that a little leaven, leavens the whole batch of dough? 7 Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new unleavened batch, as indeed you are. For Christ our Passover lamb has been sacrificed.[8]

[1] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (Le 23:5–6). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[2] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Lk 23:44–46.
[3] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Jn 19:30.
[4] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (Mt 12:40). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[5] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (Mt 27:61–28:8). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[6] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (1 Co 15:3–8). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[7] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Heb 10:19–25.
[8] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), 1 Co 5:6–7.

David couldn’t build the Temple.

• Solomon’s Temple
• This building took seven years to complete (v. 38)

 
BUILDING THE TEMPLE
1 KINGS 6
1 Solomon began to build the temple for the Lord in the four hundred eightieth year after the Israelites came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of his reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, which is the second month.

• This verse is one of the most important verses in the Old Testament chronologically.
• The dates of Solomon's reign (971-931 B.C.) are quite certain.
• They rest on references that other ancient Near Eastern king lists confirm.
• Solomon began temple construction about 966 B.C.
• According to this verse the Exodus took place in 1445 or 1446 B.C.

2 The temple that King Solomon built for the Lord was ninety feet long (30 yards), thirty feet wide (10 yards), and forty-five feet high. (football field picture) 3 The portico in front of the temple sanctuary was thirty feet long extending across the temple’s width, and fifteen feet deep in front of the temple. (2) 4 He also made windows with beveled frames for the temple. (3)
5 He then built a chambered structure along the temple wall, encircling the walls of the temple, that is, the sanctuary and the inner sanctuary. And he made side chambers all around. 6 The lowest chamber was 7½ feet wide, the middle was 9 feet wide, and the third was 10½ feet wide. He also provided offset ledges for the temple all around the outside so that nothing would be inserted into the temple walls. 7 The temple’s construction used finished stones cut at the quarry so that no hammer, chisel, or any iron tool was heard in the temple while it was being built.
8 The door for the lowest side chamber was on the right side of the temple. They went up a stairway to the middle chamber, and from the middle to the third. 9 When he finished building the temple, he paneled it with boards and planks of cedar. 10 He built the chambers along the entire temple, joined to the temple with cedar beams; each story was 7½ feet high. (4)
11 The word of the Lord came to Solomon: 12 “As for this temple you are building—if you walk in my statutes, observe my ordinances, and keep all my commands by walking in them, I will fulfill my promise to you, which I made to your father David. 13 I will dwell among the Israelites and not abandon my people Israel.”

• Note that this was a conditional promise based on obedience to the Mosaic Covenant.

14 When Solomon finished building the temple, 15 he paneled the interior temple walls with cedar boards; from the temple floor to the surface of the ceiling he overlaid the interior with wood. He also overlaid the floor with cypress boards. 16 Then he lined thirty feet of the rear of the temple with cedar boards from the floor to the surface of the ceiling, and he built the interior as an inner sanctuary, the most holy place. 17 The temple, that is, the sanctuary in front of the most holy place, was sixty feet long. 18 The cedar paneling inside the temple was carved with ornamental gourds and flower blossoms. Everything was cedar; not a stone could be seen.
19 He prepared the inner sanctuary inside the temple to put the ark of the Lord’s covenant there. 20 The interior of the sanctuary was thirty feet long, thirty feet wide, and thirty feet high; he overlaid it with pure gold. He also overlaid the cedar altar. 21 Next, Solomon overlaid the interior of the temple with pure gold, and he hung gold chains across the front of the inner sanctuary and overlaid it with gold. 22 So he added the gold overlay to the entire temple until everything was completely finished, including the entire altar that belongs to the inner sanctuary.
23 In the inner sanctuary he made two cherubim 15 feet high out of olive wood. 24 One wing of the first cherub was 7½ feet long, and the other wing was 7½ feet long. The wingspan was 15 feet from tip to tip. 25 The second cherub also was 15 feet; both cherubim had the same size and shape. 26 The first cherub’s height was 15 feet and so was the second cherub’s. 27 Then he put the cherubim inside the inner temple. Since their wings were spread out, the first one’s wing touched one wall while the second cherub’s wing touched the other wall, and in the middle of the temple their wings were touching wing to wing. 28 He also overlaid the cherubim with gold.
29 He carved all the surrounding temple walls with carved engravings—cherubim, palm trees, and flower blossoms—in the inner and outer sanctuaries. 30 He overlaid the temple floor with gold in both the inner and the outer sanctuaries. (5)
31 For the entrance of the inner sanctuary, he made olive wood doors. The pillars of the doorposts were five-sided. 32 The two doors were made of olive wood. He carved cherubim, palm trees, and flower blossoms on them and overlaid them with gold, hammering gold over the cherubim and palm trees. (6) 33 In the same way, he made four-sided olive wood doorposts for the sanctuary entrance. 34 The two doors were made of cypress wood; the first door had two folding sides, and the second door had two folding panels. 35 He carved cherubim, palm trees, and flower blossoms on them and overlaid them with gold applied evenly over the carving. (7) 36 He built the inner courtyard with three rows of dressed stone and a row of trimmed cedar beams.
37 The foundation of the Lord’s temple was laid in Solomon’s fourth year in the month of Ziv. 38 In his eleventh year in the month of Bul, which is the eighth month, the temple was completed in every detail and according to every specification. So he built it in seven years.[1]
 
SOLOMON’S PALACE COMPLEX
1 KINGS 7
1 Solomon completed his entire palace complex after thirteen years of construction. 2 He built the House of the Forest of Lebanon. It was one hundred fifty feet long, seventy-five feet wide, and forty-five feet high on four rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams on top of the pillars. 3 It was paneled above with cedar at the top of the chambers that rested on forty-five pillars, fifteen per row. 4 There were three rows of window frames, facing each other in three tiers., 5 All the doors and doorposts had rectangular frames, the openings facing each other in three tiers. 6 He made the hall of pillars seventy-five feet long and forty-five feet wide. A portico was in front of the pillars, and a canopy with pillars was in front of them. 7 He made the Hall of the Throne where he would judge—the Hall of Judgment. It was paneled with cedar from the floor to the rafters. 8 Solomon’s own palace where he would live, in the other courtyard behind the hall, was of similar construction. And he made a house like this hall for Pharaoh’s daughter, his wife.
9 All of these buildings were of costly stones, cut to size and sawed with saws on the inner and outer surfaces, from foundation to coping and from the outside to the great courtyard. 10 The foundation was made of large, costly stones twelve and fifteen feet long. 11 Above were also costly stones, cut to size, as well as cedar wood. 12 Around the great courtyard, as well as the inner courtyard of the Lord’s temple and the portico of the temple, were three rows of dressed stone and a row of trimmed cedar beams.
13 King Solomon had Hiram brought from Tyre. 14 He was a widow’s son from the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a bronze craftsman. Hiram had great skill, understanding, and knowledge to do every kind of bronze work. So he came to King Solomon and carried out all his work.
 
THE BRONZE PILLARS
15 He cast two bronze pillars, each 27 feet high and 18 feet in circumference. 16 He also made two capitals of cast bronze to set on top of the pillars; 7½ feet was the height of the first capital, and 7½ feet was also the height of the second capital. 17 The capitals on top of the pillars had gratings of latticework, wreaths made of chainwork—seven for the first capital and seven for the second.
18 He made the pillars with two encircling rows of pomegranates on the one grating to cover the capital on top; he did the same for the second capital. 19 And the capitals on top of the pillars in the portico were shaped like lilies, six feet high. 20 The capitals on the two pillars were also immediately above the rounded surface next to the grating, and two hundred pomegranates were in rows encircling each capital. 21 He set up the pillars at the portico of the sanctuary: he set up the right pillar and named it Jachin; then he set up the left pillar and named it Boaz., 22 The tops of the pillars were shaped like lilies. Then the work of the pillars was completed. (8)
 
THE BASIN
23 He made the cast metal basin, 15 feet from brim to brim, perfectly round. It was 7½ feet high and 45 feet in circumference. 24 Ornamental gourds encircled it below the brim, ten every half yard, completely encircling the basin. The gourds were cast in two rows when the basin was cast. 25 It stood on twelve oxen, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east. The basin was on top of them and all their hindquarters were toward the center. 26 The basin was three inches thick, and its rim was fashioned like the brim of a cup or of a lily blossom. It held eleven thousand gallons. (9)
 
THE BRONZE WATER CARTS
27 Then he made ten bronze water carts., Each water cart was 6 feet long, 6 feet wide, and 4½ feet high. 28 This was the design of the carts: They had frames; the frames were between the cross-pieces, 29 and on the frames between the cross-pieces were lions, oxen, and cherubim. On the cross-pieces there was a pedestal above, and below the lions and oxen were wreaths of hanging work. 30 Each cart had four bronze wheels with bronze axles. Underneath the four corners of the basin were cast supports, each next to a wreath. 31 And the water cart’s opening inside the crown on top was eighteen inches wide. The opening was round, made as a pedestal twenty-seven inches wide. On it were carvings, but their frames were square, not round. 32 There were four wheels under the frames, and the wheel axles were part of the water cart; each wheel was twenty-seven inches tall. 33 The wheels’ design was similar to that of chariot wheels: their axles, rims, spokes, and hubs were all of cast metal. 34 Four supports were at the four corners of each water cart; each support was one piece with the water cart. 35 At the top of the cart was a band nine inches high encircling it; also, at the top of the cart, its braces and its frames were one piece with it. 36 He engraved cherubim, lions, and palm trees on the plates of its braces and on its frames, wherever each had space, with encircling wreaths. 37 In this way he made the ten water carts using the same casting, dimensions, and shape for all of them.
 
BRONZE BASINS AND OTHER UTENSILS
38 Then he made ten bronze basins—each basin held 220 gallons and each was six feet wide—one basin for each of the ten water carts. 39 He set five water carts on the right side of the temple and five on the left side. He put the basin near the right side of the temple toward the southeast. 40 Then Hiram made the basins, the shovels, and the sprinkling basins. (10)
 
COMPLETION OF THE BRONZE WORKS
So Hiram finished all the work that he was doing for King Solomon on the Lord’s temple: 41 two pillars; bowls for the capitals that were on top of the two pillars; the two gratings for covering both bowls of the capitals that were on top of the pillars; 42 the four hundred pomegranates for the two gratings (two rows of pomegranates for each grating covering both capitals’ bowls on top of the pillars); 43 the ten water carts; the ten basins on the water carts; 44 the basin; the twelve oxen underneath the basin; 45 and the pots, shovels, and sprinkling basins. All the utensils that Hiram made for King Solomon at the Lord’s temple were made of burnished bronze. 46 The king had them cast in clay molds in the Jordan Valley between Succoth and Zarethan. 47 Solomon left all the utensils unweighed because there were so many; the weight of the bronze was not determined.
 
COMPLETION OF THE GOLD FURNISHINGS
48 Solomon also made all the equipment in the Lord’s temple: the gold altar; the gold table that the Bread of the Presence was placed on; 49 the pure gold lampstands in front of the inner sanctuary, five on the right and five on the left; the gold flowers, lamps, and tongs; 50 the pure gold ceremonial bowls, wick trimmers, sprinkling basins, ladles, and firepans; and the gold hinges for the doors of the inner temple (that is, the most holy place) and for the doors of the temple sanctuary.
51 So all the work King Solomon did in the Lord’s temple was completed. Then Solomon brought in the consecrated things of his father David—the silver, the gold, and the utensils—and put them in the treasuries of the Lord’s temple. [2]
 
SOLOMON’S DEDICATION OF THE TEMPLE
1 KINGS 8
1 At that time Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, all the tribal heads and the ancestral leaders of the Israelites before him at Jerusalem in order to bring the ark of the Lord’s covenant from the city of David, that is Zion. 2 So all the men of Israel were assembled in the presence of King Solomon in the month of Ethanim, which is the seventh month, at the festival.
3 All the elders of Israel came, and the priests picked up the ark. 4 The priests and the Levites brought the ark of the Lord, the tent of meeting, and the holy utensils that were in the tent. 5 King Solomon and the entire congregation of Israel, who had gathered around him and were with him in front of the ark, were sacrificing sheep, goats, and cattle that could not be counted or numbered, because there were so many. 6 The priests brought the ark of the Lord’s covenant to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the temple, to the most holy place beneath the wings of the cherubim. 7 For the cherubim were spreading their wings over the place of the ark, so that the cherubim covered the ark and its poles from above. 8 The poles were so long that their ends were seen from the holy place in front of the inner sanctuary, but they were not seen from outside the sanctuary; they are still there today. 9 Nothing was in the ark except the two stone tablets that Moses had put there at Horeb, where the Lord made a covenant with the Israelites when they came out of the land of Egypt.
10 When the priests came out of the holy place, the cloud filled the Lord’s temple, 11 and because of the cloud, the priests were not able to continue ministering, for the glory of the Lord filled the temple.
12 Then Solomon said:
The Lord said that he would dwell in total darkness.
13 I have indeed built an exalted temple for you,
a place for your dwelling forever.
14 The king turned around and blessed the entire congregation of Israel while they were standing. 15 He said:
Blessed be the Lord God of Israel!
He spoke directly to my father David,
and he has fulfilled the promise by his power.
He said,
16 “Since the day I brought my people Israel out of Egypt,
I have not chosen a city to build a temple in
among any of the tribes of Israel,
so that my name would be there.
But I have chosen David to rule my people Israel.”
17 My father David had his heart set
on building a temple for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.
18 But the Lord said to my father David,
“Since your heart was set on building a temple for my name,
you have done well to have this desire.
19 Yet you are not the one to build it;
instead, your son, your own offspring,
will build it for my name.”
20 The Lord has fulfilled what he promised.
I have taken the place of my father David,
and I sit on the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised.
I have built the temple for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.
21 I have provided a place there for the ark,
where the Lord’s covenant is
that he made with our ancestors
when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.
 
SOLOMON’S PRAYER
22 Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in front of the entire congregation of Israel and spread out his hands toward heaven. 23 He said:
Lord God of Israel,
there is no God like you
in heaven above or on earth below,
who keeps the gracious covenant
with your servants who walk before you
with all their heart.
24 You have kept what you promised
to your servant, my father David.
You spoke directly to him
and you fulfilled your promise by your power
as it is today.
25 Therefore, Lord God of Israel,
keep what you promised
to your servant, my father David:
You will never fail to have a man
to sit before me on the throne of Israel,
if only your sons take care to walk before me
as you have walked before me.
26 Now Lord God of Israel,
please confirm what you promised
to your servant, my father David.
27 But will God indeed live on earth?
Even heaven, the highest heaven, cannot contain you,
much less this temple I have built.
28 Listen to your servant’s prayer and his petition,
Lord my God,
so that you may hear the cry and the prayer
that your servant prays before you today,
29 so that your eyes may watch over this temple night and day,
toward the place where you said,
“My name will be there,”
and so that you may hear the prayer
that your servant prays toward this place.
30 Hear the petition of your servant
and your people Israel,
which they pray toward this place.
May you hear in your dwelling place in heaven.
May you hear and forgive.
31 When a man sins against his neighbor
and is forced to take an oath,,
and he comes to take an oath
before your altar in this temple,
32 may you hear in heaven and act.
May you judge your servants,
condemning the wicked man by bringing
what he has done on his own head
and providing justice for the righteous
by rewarding him according to his righteousness.
33 When your people Israel are defeated before an enemy,
because they have sinned against you,
and they return to you and praise your name,
and they pray and plead with you
for mercy in this temple,
34 may you hear in heaven
and forgive the sin of your people Israel.
May you restore them to the land
you gave their ancestors.
35 When the skies are shut and there is no rain,
because they have sinned against you,
and they pray toward this place
and praise your name,
and they turn from their sins
because you are afflicting them,
36 may you hear in heaven
and forgive the sin of your servants
and your people Israel,
so that you may teach them to
walk on the good way.
May you send rain on your land
that you gave your people for an inheritance.
37 When there is famine in the land,
when there is pestilence,
when there is blight or mildew, locust or grasshopper,
when their enemy besieges them
in the land and its cities,
when there is any plague or illness,
38 every prayer or petition
that any person or that all your people Israel may have--
they each know their own affliction—,
as they spread out their hands toward this temple,
39 may you hear in heaven, your dwelling place,
and may you forgive, act, and give to everyone
according to all their ways, since you know each heart,
for you alone know every human heart,
40 so that they may fear you
all the days they live on the land
you gave our ancestors.
41 Even for the foreigner who is not of your people Israel
but has come from a distant land
because of your name--
42 for they will hear of your great name,
strong hand, and outstretched arm,
and will come and pray toward this temple--
43 may you hear in heaven, your dwelling place,
and do according to all the foreigner asks.
Then all peoples of earth will know your name,
to fear you as your people Israel do
and to know that this temple I have built
bears your name.
44 When your people go out to fight against their enemies,
wherever you send them,
and they pray to the Lord
in the direction of the city you have chosen
and the temple I have built for your name,
45 may you hear their prayer and petition in heaven
and uphold their cause.
46 When they sin against you--
for there is no one who does not sin--
and you are angry with them
and hand them over to the enemy,
and their captors deport them to the enemy’s country--
whether distant or nearby--
47 and when they come to their senses
in the land where they were deported
and repent and petition you in their captors’ land:
“We have sinned and done wrong;
we have been wicked,”
48 and when they return to you with all their heart and all their soul
in the land of their enemies who took them captive,
and when they pray to you in the direction of their land
that you gave their ancestors,
the city you have chosen,
and the temple I have built for your name,
49 may you hear in heaven, your dwelling place,
their prayer and petition and uphold their cause.
50 May you forgive your people
who sinned against you
and all their rebellions against you,
and may you grant them compassion
before their captors,
so that they may treat them compassionately.
51 For they are your people and your inheritance;
you brought them out of Egypt,
out of the middle of an iron furnace.
52 May your eyes be open to your servant’s petition
and to the petition of your people Israel,
listening to them whenever they call to you.
53 For you, Lord God, have set them apart as your inheritance
from all peoples of the earth,
as you spoke through your servant Moses
when you brought our ancestors out of Egypt.
 
SOLOMON’S BLESSING
54 When Solomon finished praying this entire prayer and petition to the Lord, he got up from kneeling before the altar of the Lord, with his hands spread out toward heaven, 55 and he stood and blessed the whole congregation of Israel with a loud voice: 56 “Blessed be the Lord! He has given rest to his people Israel according to all he has said. Not one of all the good promises he made through his servant Moses has failed. 57 May the Lord our God be with us as he was with our ancestors. May he not abandon us or leave us 58 so that he causes us to be devoted to him, to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commands, statutes, and ordinances, which he commanded our ancestors. 59 May my words with which I have made my petition before the Lord be near the Lord our God day and night. May he uphold his servant’s cause and the cause of his people Israel, as each day requires. 60 May all the peoples of the earth know that the Lord is God. There is no other! 61 Be wholeheartedly devoted to the Lord our God to walk in his statutes and to keep his commands, as it is today.”
62 The king and all Israel with him were offering sacrifices in the Lord’s presence. 63 Solomon offered a sacrifice of fellowship offerings to the Lord: twenty-two thousand cattle and one hundred twenty thousand sheep and goats. In this manner the king and all the Israelites dedicated the Lord’s temple.
64 On the same day, the king consecrated the middle of the courtyard that was in front of the Lord’s temple because that was where he offered the burnt offering, the grain offering, and the fat of the fellowship offerings, since the bronze altar before the Lord was too small to accommodate the burnt offerings, the grain offerings, and the fat of the fellowship offerings.
65 Solomon and all Israel with him—a great assembly, from the entrance of Hamath, to the Brook of Egypt—observed the festival at that time in the presence of the Lord our God, seven days, and seven more days—fourteen days., 66 On the fifteenth day he sent the people away. So they blessed the king and went to their homes rejoicing and with happy hearts for all the goodness that the Lord had done for his servant David and for his people Israel.[3]

• This dedication ceremony was the biggest event in Israel, in terms of its theological significance, since God gave Israel the Law at Mount Sinai.
• Israel was finally in the Promised Land with her God "enthroned" in a place of great honor.
• Now Israel was in position to fulfill her calling as a nation in the world as never before in her history (cf. Exod. 19:5-6).
• The significance of this chapter becomes clearer when we read the Prophets section of the Old Testament, because the writing prophets alluded to it often.

 
But Sunday is coming!

[1] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), 1 Ki 6:1–38.
[2] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), 1 Ki 7:1–51.
[3] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), 1 Ki 8:1–66.

David's reign laid the foundation for the future prosperity of Israel under Solomon.

• The Books of 1 and 2 Kings received their names because they document the reigns of the 40 monarchs of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah who followed David.
• Israel had 20 kings, and Judah had 20, including one female who usurped the throne: Athaliah.
• In the Hebrew Bible, 1 and 2 Kings were regarded as one book until the sixteenth century.
• The ancients viewed them as the continuation of the narrative begun in 1 and 2 Samuel.
• The historical period covered in 1 and 2 Kings (approximately 413 years) is almost three times as long as that of the period covered in 1 and 2 Samuel, which was about 150 years in length.
• The Book of Judges covers about 300 years of Israel's history.
• All three significant sections of Kings— the reign of Solomon, the divided kingdom, and the surviving kingdom —emphasize numerous theological lessons.
• Still, each one repeats and reinforces the central motif (theme): the importance of obeying the Mosaic Law to succeed. 
•       David's declining health 1:1-4
•       David's charge to Solomon 2:1-9
•       David's death 2:10-12
• David was 70 years old when he died (2 Sam. 5:4).
• Saul may have been as old as 80 when he died.
• However, the deaths of these two kings, as well as their lives, contrast dramatically.
• David died in peace, Saul in battle.
• David died in victory, Saul in defeat.
• When David began to reign, the Philistines dominated Israel.
• When Solomon began to reign, Israel was at peace with and in control of her neighbors.

 
THE LORD APPEARS TO SOLOMON
1 KINGS 3
1 Solomon made an alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt by marrying Pharaoh’s daughter.

• A descendant of former Egyptian slaves now became Pharaoh's son-in-law!
• At this time Israel was stronger than Egypt, as a result of David's conquests and as a result of Egypt's weakness.

Solomon brought her to the city of David until he finished building his palace, the Lord’s temple, and the wall surrounding Jerusalem. 2 However, the people were sacrificing on the high places, because until that time a temple for the Lord’s name had not been built. 3 Solomon loved the Lord by walking in the statutes of his father David, but he also sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.

• Solomon is the only king in the Book of Kings who is said to have loved the LORD.
• The only deviations from the Law that the writer ascribed to Solomon at this early time in his reign was his worship at the high places.
• Otherwise Solomon followed God faithfully.

4 The king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there because it was the most famous high place. He offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. 5 At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream at night. God said, “Ask. What should I give you?”
6 And Solomon replied, “You have shown great and faithful love to your servant, my father David, because he walked before you in faithfulness, righteousness, and integrity. You have continued this great and faithful love for him by giving him a son to sit on his throne, as it is today.

• Prophecy fulfilled so far.

7 “Lord my God, you have now made your servant king in my father David’s place. Yet I am just a youth with no experience in leadership. 8 Your servant is among your people you have chosen, a people too many to be numbered or counted. 9 So give your servant a receptive heart to judge your people and to discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of yours?”

•  In Hebrew words translated "hearing" and "obeying" come from the same root word.
• "The heart, in Israelite thought is the center of the psychic self.
• It includes especially mental activity but is broader in scope than English 'mind,' embracing the feelings and will as well.
• The heart is susceptible to become hardened, to be made fat (Isa. 6:10), and to dwell on evil (Gen. 6:5; 8:21); indeed, it is 'deceitful above all things' (Jer. 17:9).
• It is over against these capabilities of the heart that Solomon's request is to be understood.
• A 'hearing heart' [v. 9] is one that is open, receptive, teachable (Isa. 50:4).
• That to which the heart of the king should be open above all else is God's torah [lit. Instruction].
• The king ideally rules not based on his own understanding but administers his realm in the light of God's revealed will."

10 Now it pleased the Lord that Solomon had requested this. 11 So God said to him, “Because you have requested this and did not ask for long life or riches for yourself, or the death of your enemies, but you asked discernment for yourself to administer justice, 12 I will therefore do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and understanding heart, so that there has never been anyone like you before and never will be again. 13 In addition, I will give you what you did not ask for: both riches and honor, so that no king will be your equal during your entire life. 14 If you walk in my ways and keep my statutes and commands just as your father David did, I will give you a long life.”
15 Then Solomon woke up and realized it had been a dream. He went to Jerusalem, stood before the ark of the Lord’s covenant, and offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. Then he held a feast for all his servants.

• This section concluded in the same way it began: Solomon making a journey and sacrifices to God.

 
 
SOLOMON’S WISDOM
16 Then two women who were prostitutes came to the king and stood before him.

• In Israel, it was much easier for ordinary citizens to gain an audience with the king than it is today.
• The fact that the two mothers were prostitutes is important in this story … because it shows how the wise king would act on behalf of the very lowest of his subjects …

17 One woman said, “Please, my lord, this woman and I live in the same house, and I had a baby while she was in the house. 18 On the third day after I gave birth, she also had a baby and we were alone. No one else was with us in the house; just the two of us were there. 19 During the night this woman’s son died because she lay on him. 20 She got up in the middle of the night and took my son from my side while your servant was asleep. She laid him in her arms, and she put her dead son in my arms. 21 When I got up in the morning to nurse my son, I discovered he was dead. That morning, when I looked closely at him I realized that he was not the son I gave birth to.”
22 “No,” the other woman said. “My son is the living one; your son is the dead one.”
The first woman said, “No, your son is the dead one; my son is the living one.” So they argued before the king.
23 The king replied, “This woman says, ‘This is my son who is alive, and your son is dead,’ but that woman says, ‘No, your son is dead, and my son is alive.’ ” 24 The king continued, “Bring me a sword.” So they brought the sword to the king. 25 And the king said, “Cut the living boy in two and give half to one and half to the other.”
26 The woman whose son was alive spoke to the king because she felt great compassion, for her son. “My lord, give her the living baby,” she said, “but please don’t have him killed!”
But the other one said, “He will not be mine or yours. Cut him in two!”
27 The king responded, “Give the living baby to the first woman, and don’t kill him. She is his mother.”

• Solomon demonstrated insight into fundamental aspects of human nature, particularly regarding maternal instincts.
• This insight enabled him to understand why people behave as they do and how they will respond.
• This was a gift from God and is an aspect of wisdom.
• Solomon became a blessing to the people because he had a proper relationship with Yahweh.
• Wisdom in Israel and the ancient Near East was not synonymous with knowledge or education.
• It involved the ability to live life skillfully, so at the end, one's life would amount to something worthwhile.
• To the Israelites, this was possible only if a person knew and responded appropriately to (i.e., feared) Yahweh.

28 All Israel heard about the judgment the king had given, and they stood in awe of the king because they saw that God’s wisdom was in him to carry out justice. [1]

• I get asked often… “What can I pray about for you?”
• Most likely my answers will be “wisdom.”

[1] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), 1 Ki 3:1–28.