April 29 Daily Devotional

1 Kings 5–8

The great work of Solomon was to build a house of God, the temple, as it was called. David had selected the place, mount Moriah, as it was mentioned before. He had planned that it should be built just like the tabernacle, which had been erected by Moses in the wilderness. Only this was to be a solid building of wood and stone.

King Solomon sent to Hiram, the king of Tyre, saying, “Thou knowest how that David my father could not build an house unto the name of the Lord his God for the wars which were about him … But now the Lord my God hath given me rest … And, behold, I purpose to build an house unto the name of the Lord … Now therefore command thou that they hew me cedar trees out of Lebanon.” Hiram had been a good friend of David, and now he was glad to help David’s son. He allowed Solomon to send men to his country. Under his direction thousands of Israelites went up into the forest of Lebanon and cut down giant trees. These were shaped into logs, and the logs were transported to the seacoast. There they were tied into rafts, and these were floated to the harbor of Joppa, from where the logs were moved to Jerusalem. While this was done, other thousands of men cut out great stones from the mountains, shaped them and with hard work brought them to mount Moriah.

Like the tabernacle, the temple was divided into three parts: the Court, the Holy, and the Holy of Holies. The Holy of Holies was 20 cubits long, 20 cubits wide, and 20 cubits high. (A cubit is about one foot and six inches.) In it were the ark of the covenant, the tables of the law, the omer of manna and Aaron’s staff. The Holy place was 40 cubits long, 20 cubits wide and 30 cubits high. In it stood the golden altar, on which the shewbread was laid, and ten candlesticks of pure gold. The Court was built around about the temple. In it stood the altar of burnt offerings and the brazen sea, a huge basin for water. The walls within Solomon overlaid with pure gold, also the floor was overlaid with gold.

And now the men of Israel assembled themselves at the feast of Tabernacles to dedicate the temple. The elders and the priests brought the ark and the holy vessels into the temple. And when the priests came out of the Holy Place the cloud, the glory of the Lord, filled the house of the Lord. And the king blessed all the congregation, stood before the altar and prayed God to hear the prayers of his people Israel and of all people that might worship in this temple. In closing he said, “Blessed be the Lord … There hath not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised by the hand of Moses his servant.”