1 Kings 7.1-12 tells us that Solomon built the palace in thirteen years and he finished it. He also built other items for the Temple (7.13). He also built the “House of the Forest of Lebanon” which will be where the Beit Otzrot chamber was later in the Second Temple (southwest corner). In Hebrew, this was called the “Beit Yair Ha Levanon” and it had several uses. It was a court or house of judgment (Beit Din) in 1 kings 7.7, and a treasury/armory in 1 Kings 10.17, 21; 1 Kings 14.25-28; 2 Chr 9.16 and Isa 22.8. The palace of Solomon took so long because it did not have the same “prep” for it that the Temple had. There wasn’t the same urgency as there was for the Temple.
1 Kings 7.13-14 tells us that Solomon sent for Hiram of Tyre. This is not the king, and he is Jewish from the tribe of Naphtali. 2 Chr 2.13-14 says he was the “son of a Danite” but that means he lived among the Danites, or his mother was a Danite and his father was from Naphtali. It says his father was “a man of Tyre” which means he lived there but was not by birth.
Now, Hiram worked in bronze and was filled with wisdom, understanding and skill for doing any work in bronze. 1 Kings 7.15-51 tells us he made the furnishings for the Temple after the pattern of the Mishkan and the pattern God gave David and Solomon (1 Chr 28). He made two pillars of bronze called Jachin (“he shall establish”) and Boaz (“in it is strength”). These pillars reminded the kings in the future that he was ruling because the Lord had appointed it. These also allude to those of us who are weak and feeble. As we enter the congregation of Yehovah (the body/Temple) that he will “establish” us and the Messiah is our “strength.”
He also made a sea of bronze that was 15 feet across and it was used for ritual washings. 1 Kings 7.27-39 tells us that he made ten smaller lavers that were used by the kohanim to wash their hands and feet. These had the faces of lions, oxen and Keruvim (angels) on the borders. These faces are seen in the Merkavah visions of Ezek 1 and Ezek 10. There were stands with wheels and this also alludes to Ezek 1, and the wheels were the workmanship of a chariot wheel, another allusion to Ezek 1. These lavers in the Temple teach us about God’s provision. There was only one laver in the Mishkan. These ten lavers speak of judgment and we have a large provision of the Word and the blood for cleansing (Eph 5.26).
He also made all the furnishings for the Heichal, also called the Holy Place. He made ten lampstands and ten tables for the bread (2 Chr 4.8). There were five on the right side and five on the left side. This alludes to greater provision of light and understanding of the Torah, Prophets, Writings, Gospels and Epistles.
King Solomon finished all the work for the Temple, like Moses did for the Mishkan. Yeshua will also do the same when he returns and builds the Messianic Temple (Ezek 40-48). He then brought all the things his father dedicated (silver, gold, utensils) and put them in the treasuries of the Lord. These will be used for the purchase of korbanot and for any repairs to the Temple that will be needed.
1 Kings 8.1-66 is one of the most important chapters in Scripture. The Temple is going to be dedicated and Solomon brings up the Ark. This portion is read as the Haftorah for the second day of Sukkot because this is when the Temple is dedicated, as we shall see at the end of the chapter. As we know, Sukkot is related to Chanukah (“dedication”) and are associated with Temple “dedications.” The Temple was finished in Chesvan the year before (1 Kings 6.38) but it will not be dedicated for eleven months (Tishri). In this chapter, Solomon will be a picture of the Messiah who will dedicate Ezekiel’s Temple after the birth-pains. This dedication will take place 1335 days after the mid-point of the birth-pains, which would be the festival of Chanukah (Dan 12.11-12).
So, the Ark is brought up to Moriah (v 1) and all the men of Israel assembled themselves to Solomon at “the feast, in the month of Ethanim, which is the seventh month.” This would be the seventh month of the religious calendar called Tishri. This implies the whole fall festival season of Yom Teruah, Yom Kippur and Sukkot. The concept of “season” in 1 Thes 5.1 refers to this. The “season” covers from Yom Teruah (the new year) to Shemini Atzeret, or the eighth day of Sukkot (Exo 23.16). Ethanim was considered the first month of the civil new year.
The Levites brought the Ark to its place in the Holy of Holies (the Devir), and they did it right this time (1 Chr 5.4). This is the place for speaking, and “devir” is related to the Hebrew word “davar” meaning “word.” The Ark had a place prepared for it in the Devir (v 21). Under the Dome of the Rock, some scholars say they can see where the ark may have been placed in an area cut out of the rock. However, there is reason to doubt that this is the true place for several reasons. The configuration of the Ark and poles do not match the cut out space in the rock. The Ark will be moved out of the Devir later by Josiah in 2 Chr 35.3. So let’s talk briefly about where the Ark is today.
It could not have been taken to Ethiopia by Solomon’s son Menelek, and it was not taken by Shishak 300 years later (1 Kings 14.25-28) because Josiah moves it. In the Mishnah, Shekalim 6.1-2, it says that the Ark is hidden under the Wood Chamber of the Temple. The concept of kedusha prevents it from leaving the Temple Mount. Solomon built a place on the Temple Mount to hide it if the people turned away from God and the Temple was attacked. Josiah moved the Ark while repairing the Temple and he probably took the Ark to the Deir Ha Etz chamber prepared by Solomon, where it is today. It has the same level of kedusha as the Holy of Holies. The reason nobody thinks about this as a location is because they do not check Jewish sources.
The Ark was placed under the wings of two, 15 foot high Keruvim (1 Kings 6.23). They spread their wings over the place for the Ark (8.7). The poles for the Ark were so long that the ends of the poles could be seen from the Holy Place before the Devir, but they could not be seen outside (there were doors). These poles poked the paroket (veil), and the Holy of Holies was 20 cubits by 20 cubits, and poles were 20 cubits. These poles were seen by the High Priest on Yom Kippur and served as a guide for him to go between when approaching the Ark. So the poles had to be low on the Ark so he could step over them. This tells us the position of the poles on the Ark. The Ark was carried like a throne, so the poles were along the width of the Ark, near the bottom, not along the length of the Ark.
In 1 Kings 8.9 it says “there was nothing in the Ark except the two tablets of stone, which Moses put there at Horeb.” In Exo 25.21 it says these tablets will be put into the Ark. Deut 10.2 says the second set of tablets were put in the Ark. Some think that the jar of Manna and Aaron’s Rod were put in the Ark, but they were put “before” the Ark (Exo 16.33-34; Num 17.10). In Deut 31.24-26 it says that a handwritten copy of the Torah was put “beside” the Ark.
Some of the confusion comes in when we read Heb 9.4 where it says, “Having a golden censor of incense and the Ark of the Covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which the golden jar holding the manna and Aaron’s Rod which budded and the tables of the covenant.” This verse makes it sound like these items were in the Ark, but it doesn’t mean that. It means the “same location” or Holy of Holies. The Greek word means “by or with.” The “in which” refers to the Holy of Holies of Heb 9.3, not the Ark.
Then it says in 1 Kings 8.10-11 that it came that the cloud filled the house so that the priests could not minister because of the glory (“kivod”) of Yehovah. This cloud filled the Holy Place in the Temple building (sanctuary). In Part 7 we will pick up here and look at several issues. We will look at what “could not minister” means and then we will look at the concepts of the Shekinah (“presence”) and the Kivod (“glory/weight”). The priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud (Shekinah), for “the glory of Yehovah filled the house of Yehovah” (1 Kings 8.11). These are two different manifestations.
We will pick up here in Part 7.
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