Study Desk

He made two sculptures of cherubim, gigantic angel-like figures, for the Holy of Holies, both veneered with gold. The combined wingspread of the side-by-side cherubim (each wing measuring seven and a half feet) stretched from wall to wall, thirty feet. They stood erect facing the main hall.

He made ten Washbasins, five set on the right and five on the left, for rinsing the things used for the Whole-Burnt-Offerings. The priests washed themselves in the Sea.

He built a Courtyard especially for the priests and then the great court and doors for the court. The doors were covered with bronze.

He also made ash buckets, shovels, and bowls. And that about wrapped it up: Huram completed the work he had contracted to do for King Solomon: two pillars; two bowl-shaped capitals for the tops of the pillars; two decorative filigrees for the capitals; four hundred pomegranates for the filigrees (a double row of pomegranates for each filigree); ten washstands with their basins; one Sea and the twelve bulls under it; miscellaneous buckets, forks, shovels, and bowls. All these artifacts that Huram-Abi made for King Solomon for The Temple of God were made of burnished bronze. The king had them cast in clay in a foundry on the Jordan plain between Succoth and Zarethan. These artifacts were never weighed—there were far too many! Nobody has any idea how much bronze was used. Solomon was also responsible for the furniture and accessories in The Temple of God: the gold Altar; the tables that held the Bread of the Presence; the Lampstands of pure gold with their lamps, to be lighted before the Inner Sanctuary, the Holy of Holies; the gold flowers, lamps, and tongs (all solid gold); the gold wick trimmers, bowls, ladles, and censers; the gold doors of The Temple, doors to the Holy of Holies, and the doors to the main sanctuary.

Temple Furnishings He made the Bronze Altar thirty feet long, thirty feet wide, and ten feet high. He made a Sea—an immense round basin of cast metal fifteen feet in diameter, seven and a half feet high, and forty-five feet in circumference. Just under the rim, there were two parallel bands of something like bulls, ten to each foot and a half. The figures were cast in one piece with the Sea. The Sea was set on twelve bulls, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east. All the bulls faced outward and supported the Sea on their hindquarters. The Sea was three inches thick and flared at the rim like a cup, or a lily. It held about 18,000 gallons. He made ten Washbasins, five set on the right and five on the left, for rinsing the things used for the Whole-Burnt-Offerings. The priests washed themselves in the Sea. He made ten gold Lampstands, following the specified pattern, and placed five on the right and five on the left. He made ten tables and set five on the right and five on the left. He also made a hundred gold bowls. He built a Courtyard especially for the priests and then the great court and doors for the court. The doors were covered with bronze. He placed the Sea on the right side of The Temple at the southeast corner. He also made ash buckets, shovels, and bowls. And that about wrapped it up: Huram completed the work he had contracted to do for King Solomon: two pillars; two bowl-shaped capitals for the tops of the pillars; two decorative filigrees for the capitals; four hundred pomegranates for the filigrees (a double row of pomegranates for each filigree); ten washstands with their basins; one Sea and the twelve bulls under it; miscellaneous buckets, forks, shovels, and bowls. All these artifacts that Huram-Abi made for King Solomon for The Temple of God were made of burnished bronze. The king had them cast in clay in a foundry on the Jordan plain between Succoth and Zarethan. These artifacts were never weighed—there were far too many! Nobody has any idea how much bronze was used. Solomon was also responsible for the furniture and accessories in The Temple of God: the gold Altar; the tables that held the Bread of the Presence; the Lampstands of pure gold with their lamps, to be lighted before the Inner Sanctuary, the Holy of Holies; the gold flowers, lamps, and tongs (all solid gold); the gold wick trimmers, bowls, ladles, and censers; the gold doors of The Temple, doors to the Holy of Holies, and the doors to the main sanctuary.

Temple Furnishings He made the Bronze Altar thirty feet long, thirty feet wide, and ten feet high. He made a Sea—an immense round basin of cast metal fifteen feet in diameter, seven and a half feet high, and forty-five feet in circumference. Just under the rim, there were two parallel bands of something like bulls, ten to each foot and a half. The figures were cast in one piece with the Sea. The Sea was set on twelve bulls, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east. All the bulls faced outward and supported the Sea on their hindquarters. The Sea was three inches thick and flared at the rim like a cup, or a lily. It held about 18,000 gallons. He made ten Washbasins, five set on the right and five on the left, for rinsing the things used for the Whole-Burnt-Offerings. The priests washed themselves in the Sea. He made ten gold Lampstands, following the specified pattern, and placed five on the right and five on the left. He made ten tables and set five on the right and five on the left. He also made a hundred gold bowls. He built a Courtyard especially for the priests and then the great court and doors for the court. The doors were covered with bronze. He placed the Sea on the right side of The Temple at the southeast corner. He also made ash buckets, shovels, and bowls. And that about wrapped it up: Huram completed the work he had contracted to do for King Solomon: two pillars; two bowl-shaped capitals for the tops of the pillars; two decorative filigrees for the capitals; four hundred pomegranates for the filigrees (a double row of pomegranates for each filigree); ten washstands with their basins; one Sea and the twelve bulls under it; miscellaneous buckets, forks, shovels, and bowls. All these artifacts that Huram-Abi made for King Solomon for The Temple of God were made of burnished bronze. The king had them cast in clay in a foundry on the Jordan plain between Succoth and Zarethan. These artifacts were never weighed—there were far too many! Nobody has any idea how much bronze was used.

Solomon was also responsible for the furniture and accessories in The Temple of God: the gold Altar; the tables that held the Bread of the Presence; the Lampstands of pure gold with their lamps, to be lighted before the Inner Sanctuary, the Holy of Holies; the gold flowers, lamps, and tongs (all solid gold); the gold wick trimmers, bowls, ladles, and censers; the gold doors of The Temple, doors to the Holy of Holies, and the doors to the main sanctuary.

Then Solomon said, God said he would dwell in a cloud, But I've built a temple most splendid, A place for you to live in forever.

"Blessed be God , the God of Israel, who spoke personally to my father David. Now he has done what he promised when he said, ‘From the day I brought my people Israel up from Egypt, I haven't set apart one city among the tribes of Israel in which to build a temple to honor my Name, or chosen one person to be the leader. But now I have chosen both a city and a person: Jerusalem for honoring my Name and David to lead my people Israel.'

"My father David very much wanted to build a temple honoring the Name of God , the God of Israel, but God told him, ‘It was good that you wanted to build a temple in my honor—most commendable! But you are not the one to do it. Your son, who will carry on your dynasty, will build it for my Name.'

"And now you see the promise completed. God has done what he said he would do; I have succeeded David my father and now rule Israel; and I have built a temple to honor God , the God of Israel, and have secured a place for the Chest that holds the Covenant of God , the covenant he made with the people of Israel."

Listen from heaven and act; judge your servants, making the offender pay for the offense And set the offended free, dismissing all charges.

When disasters strike, famine or catastrophe, crop failure or disease, locust or beetle, or when an enemy attacks their defenses—calamity of any sort—any prayer that's prayed from anyone at all among your people Israel, their hearts penetrated by disaster, hands and arms thrown out for help to this Temple, Listen from your home in heaven, forgive and reward us: reward each life and circumstance, For you know each life from the inside, (you're the only one with such inside knowledge!), So they'll live before you in lifelong reverence and believing obedience on this land you gave our ancestors.

When your people go to war against their enemies at the time and place you send them and they pray to God toward the city you chose and The Temple I've built to honor your Name, Listen from heaven to what they pray and ask for and do what is right for them.

When they sin against you—and they certainly will; there's no one without sin!—and in anger you turn them over to the enemy and they are taken captive to the enemy's land, whether far or near, but repent in the country of their captivity and pray with changed hearts in their exile, "We've sinned; we've done wrong; we've been most wicked," and turn back to you heart and soul in the land of the enemy who conquered them, and pray to you toward their homeland, the land you gave their ancestors, toward the city you chose, and this Temple I have built to the honor of your Name, Listen from your home in heaven to their prayers desperate and devout; Do what is best for them. Forgive your people who have sinned against you.

When Solomon finished praying, a bolt of lightning out of heaven struck the Whole-Burnt-Offering and sacrifices and the Glory of God filled The Temple. The Glory was so dense that the priests couldn't get in— God so filled The Temple that there was no room for the priests! When all Israel saw the fire fall from heaven and the Glory of God fill The Temple, they fell on their knees, bowed their heads, and worshiped, thanking God : Yes! God is good! His love never quits!

Then the king and all Israel worshiped, offering sacrifices to God . King Solomon worshiped by sacrificing 22,000 cattle and 120,000 sheep at the dedication of The Temple. The priests were all on duty; the choir and orchestra of Levites that David had provided for singing and playing anthems to the praise and love of God were all there; across the courtyard the priests blew trumpets. All Israelites were on their feet.

Solomon set apart the central area of the courtyard in front of God 's Temple for sacred use and there sacrificed the Whole-Burnt-Offerings, Grain-Offerings, and fat from the Peace-Offerings—the Bronze Altar was too small to handle all these offerings. This is how Solomon kept the great autumn Feast of Booths. For seven days there were people there all the way from the far northeast (the Entrance to Hamath) to the far southwest (the Brook of Egypt)—a huge congregation. They started out celebrating for seven days, and then did it for another seven days, a week for dedicating the Altar and another for the Feast itself—two solid weeks of celebration! On the twenty-third day of the seventh month Solomon dismissed his congregation. They left rejoicing, exuberant over all the good God had done for David and Solomon and his people Israel.

God appeared to Solomon that very night and said, "I accept your prayer; yes, I have chosen this place as a temple for sacrifice, a house of worship. If I ever shut off the supply of rain from the skies or order the locusts to eat the crops or send a plague on my people, and my people, my God-defined people, respond by humbling themselves, praying, seeking my presence, and turning their backs on their wicked lives, I'll be there ready for you: I'll listen from heaven, forgive their sins, and restore their land to health. From now on I'm alert day and night to the prayers offered at this place. Believe me, I've chosen and sanctified this Temple that you have built: My Name is stamped on it forever; my eyes are on it and my heart in it always. As for you, if you live in my presence as your father David lived, pure in heart and action, living the life I've set out for you, attentively obedient to my guidance and judgments, then I'll back your kingly rule over Israel—make it a sure thing on a sure foundation. The same covenant guarantee I gave to David your father I'm giving to you, namely, ‘You can count on always having a descendant on Israel's throne.'

At the end of twenty years, Solomon had quite a list of accomplishments. He had: built The Temple of God and his own palace; rebuilt the cities that Hiram had given him and colonized them with Israelites; marched on Hamath Zobah and took it; fortified Tadmor in the desert and all the store-cities he had founded in Hamath; built the fortress cities Upper Beth Horon and Lower Beth Horon, complete with walls, gates, and bars; built Baalath and store-cities; built chariot-cities for his horses. Solomon built impulsively and extravagantly—whenever a whim took him. And in Jerusalem, in Lebanon—wherever he fancied.