1 Kings 6 Bible Study (Solomon Builds the Temple) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

Father, we look to you now with absolute joy and delight in our hearts. We thank you that you've gathered us as your people to come and commune in your word. Apart from your holy spirit, we would not even have a desire for your word. The very appetite we have is a grace given from you. And we also know, lord, that you've called us to exercise our faith and to be disciplined in our understanding of your word.

And so we just ask for the mercy to walk in that with greater stride and strength. Father, we ask that the power of the holy spirit would rest upon this session and that you would be evident and obvious in our meeting. We long for your nearness, lord. We long to fellowship with you. Especially in a challenging text like this, we pray for the grace to understand it in a full in its fullness.

In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Well, if you have God's word in your hand, meet me in first Kings chapter six. We have reached the crowning achievement of Solomon's leadership in the nation of Israel as a king.

He is now going to build the temple. He has made preparation for it in chapter five. But now as we come to chapter six, we will behold the procedure, the process, the the actual building now coming into reality. But before we we go there, if you just look at it briefly, description. There are materials.

There are measurements. There are dimensions, and it can seem kind of daunting, almost intimidating. And it can very much tempt us to say, well, I think I'm just going to treat this lightly when we have to always resist that temptation and believe that the Lord will indeed speak through every portion of his word. And I'll be honest, coming to this text in preparation this week, I thought to myself with all this detail, how can this be communicated in a way that doesn't make feel feel make people feel like they're drowning? And in my own reading, I was reading the book of Hebrews this week.

Do you believe God speaks through his word? Do you believe he actually speaks? We all say, yeah. Theologically, he speaks as his voice, but do you believe that God can speak to you in his word? I hope you do.

And so here I am knowing that first Kings six is coming up, but I'm also my personal reading, reading the book of Hebrews. And I want you to see something with me as I'm as I'm figuring out, planning, and praying. Lord, what what are we gonna do with this treasure of a chapter with all the jewels and all the gems and all the pieces of gold and silver? Do we dump it all out in what time? How do we go about this?

And Hebrews chapter nine came to my reading this week, and this blessed me as though the Holy Spirit gave some guidance for our study tonight. Go to Hebrews nine quickly. I told you to go to first Kings six, but just to be encouraged with how the spirit is with us. Hebrews nine verse two, for a tent was prepared, the first section, in which were the lampstand and the table and the bread of the presence. It is called the holy place.

Behind the second curtain was a second section called the most holy place, Having the golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with with gold in which was a golden urn holding the manna, an errant staff that budded, and the tablets of the covenant Above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Now look at this. Of these things, we cannot now speak in detail. That encouraged me. That encouraged me.

Even the author of Hebrews, when explaining and trying to teach on the very same thing that you and I are gonna study, he said, we don't have to touch on every single detail at this time. And I thought, that's true. We don't have to overwhelmingly stuff ourselves to try to get every single inch of chapter six in one session. We can take our time. Amen?

Of these things, we cannot now speak in detail. But be encouraged. We're gonna get into some deep things in first Kings chapter six. And though it is pretty overwhelming, I wanna make it, the least overwhelming for you. And and the way to do that, I believe, is to come to this chapter and to realize that there is a framework provided for us.

There are sections within this chapter. And in the first section, what you'll realize is that Solomon, the record of his project, we are told the construction of the temple, the construction of the temple. That's going to be around the first nine or 10 verses, the construction of the temple. If you're taking notes, this will help organize your thoughts. So the first nine or 10 verses, you have the construction of the temple.

And then in the middle, you have in the the verse 10, verse 11, an interesting hinge of a pause there. It's the Lord who's going to speak to Solomon, and what you're gonna see there is instruction about the temple. So you have the construction of the temple, then you have instruction about the temple. And then for the last portion, the largest portion of this chapter, you're going to read about the beautifying of the temple. So there are three sections really, three main components to this text, the construction of the temple, instruction about the temple, and then lastly, the beautifying, the garnishing, the decor of the temple.

So now with that, let's come to the first section and read the first few verses and see what the Lord has to say to us. Are you there, first king six? Let's begin together in verse one. In the four hundred and eightieth year after the people of Israel came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, which is the second month, he began to build the house of the Lord. The house that King Solomon built for the Lord was 60 cubits, 60 cubits long, 20 cubits wide, and 30 cubits high.

Well, before we move on, let's deal with this first verse. If you were at the Maranatha conference, we've touched on this verse before. But here's the question that I present to you. And for you who are at the conference, this will be helpful by way of reminder. Don't you think it's interesting that in the commencement of this project, the Holy Spirit wants to inform us or at least connect the Exodus with the temple being built?

Out of all the things, out of all the references that God could have given us at this point, at this juncture, why is it that this temple being erected is supposed to be associated with the deliverance of the people out of slavery from Egypt. It seems random. It seems like it's it's just a random historical point maybe, a reference in terms of how things are in a flow maybe. Maybe this is the anniversary of the exodus. I don't think it's any of that.

I I don't think it's random at all. I think there is a spiritual underlying message here. When God delivered the people out of it out of, Egypt, he did it for a purpose. Let me ask you this question. When Moses approached Pharaoh and told him, let my people go, God says, let my people go, What was the reason for the people leaving Egypt?

You guys are good. If you don't know, on more than one occasion, this is what Moses told Pharaoh. It wasn't to go into the promised land. It was here in Exodus seven verse 16. Look at this with me.

Actually, turn there with me because we're gonna go to different verses in Exodus to get the point of why it is that Israel was to be freed from Egypt. In Exodus seven sixteen, here's what we're told. Moses is receiving instruction, and you shall say to him, the Lord, the God of the Hebrews sent me to you saying, let my people go that they may serve me in the wilderness. Serve me in the wilderness, but so far you have not obeyed. Go to chapter eight verse one and you'll see the same thing.

Moses telling Pharaoh, let my people go that they may serve me. You see it in chapter eight verse 20. Same thing. Let my people go that they may serve me. You see it in chapter nine verse one.

Let my people go that they may serve me. You'll see it in chapter nine verse 13. Let my people go that they may serve me. You'll see it again in chapter 10 verse three. Let my people go that they may serve me.

It's clear, isn't it? The intention, the aim for the people being set free is that God would be worshiped by the ones that he has redeemed. No mention of the promised land even. Yes. That was part of the plan, but that wasn't the primary purpose.

It wasn't to come to a place of flowing milk and glorious honey. Even God himself, finally when the people came into the wilderness and met him out Mount Sinai, He again tells the people the real reason for their deliverance. One of my favorite verses concerning the theme of redemption in the bible. You're still in Exodus? Go to Exodus 19 verse four.

Look what the Lord says about the reason why he rescued his own. In Exodus 19 verse four, you yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to, where, the promised land? What does it say? To myself. I brought you to myself.

He wants fellowship. He wants the people to come to him so he can enjoy them and that they would enjoy him. And the word serve there, I mean, you guys have the right idea. Serving not to be slaves in a sense just like they were slaves to pharaoh, but in serving, they would really be worshiping. You and I were created to worship.

That's where we know our fulfillment. That's where we know sustenance. Substance is in the place of worship because you are wired to worship. And so the Lord brings the people out that they may serve him, and he says, not it's not even just about serving me. It's not that I need you to do something.

I have a myriad of angels who can do things for me. But in my love for you, in the way I designed you, in your purpose for existing, I want you to be for me. I I'm bringing you to myself. And then you go to first King 6 and you see this connection between the temple being built and the exodus. Could it be that the construction of the the house of the Lord that Solomon's about to begin is the express purpose for why the people were saved.

In other words, for this building to be connected to the deliverance from Egypt is meant to communicate the goal of God in saving them. That it's ultimately leading to this. I'm drawing my people to myself. I'm bringing them to a place where they can come as close as possible to to me without me destroying them because of my holiness. Well, if you read Exodus then it makes sense.

Now some might say, well, the tabernacle was provided for that. Right? And that's true. But the tabernacle itself, by nature of what it was, a tent, it was unfixed. It was movable.

And so yes, that that's a partial fulfillment, but then you come to the temple and it's a permanent thing. There's a floor. There are stone walls. And so it's supposed to mean that this is this is what it's all about. And we know in the new covenant that there's more, but at least in this dispensation, that's what's being said.

I'm bringing you to a place where it's all about this moment. It's all about this experience. And the point for you and I in Christ Jesus is that the purpose of his redemption for us is no different. It's no different. You heard me quote this in the conference of first Peter three eighteen.

The reason why Christ suffered once for all was to bring you to who? To God. That's what he says, to bring you to himself. Again, just like what he said in Exodus. Christ comes to bring us to the father, to himself, but this time to a different temple.

Not to geographical location, not to a specific city in the Middle East, no with this new structure, this spiritual house, you and I, the new meaning place between you and God is in the heart of a forgiven sinner. And when forgiven sinners come together that make up the temple of God, their God is in the midst. Right here, right now is the temple of the Holy Spirit. If people really believe that, there would be something so much more holy in our meetings, so much more excitement and reverence in our meetings. And I I praise God that that's true in in this place.

But this is the reason why verse one tells us about the Exodus because it's connecting deliverance with fellowship with God. Why is this temple even being built to begin with? So that God may dwell with his people. Yes, that there would be sacrifices and a temporary covering for sin, but ultimately that the Lord may be with his people and that the people would be with their God. And now we come back here and we read something interesting In verse two in connection with that thought, the house that King Solomon built for the Lord was 60 cubits, 60 cubits long, 20 cubits wide, and 30 cubits high.

A cubit is believed to be 18 inches, so about a foot and a half a foot and a half. And if you do the comparison between the temple and the tabernacle, the temple, this glorious structure, is roughly about double the size of the tabernacle, what the people knew up to this point in terms of their centralized worship center. And looking at this, we think, well, already we have this impression that this temple is, more impressive in terms of size and as we're about to discover in terms of the ornaments and the materials that are gonna be used to color this thing. But there is a temple that I just referred to you, that I just mentioned to you that is far more glorious than the temple and the tabernacle separately and combined in terms of its size and in terms of what it's made of. The church of Jesus Christ, as the temple of the Holy Spirit covers the globe, from the four corners of the earth, there are different expressions of houses of worship from living stones made from different nations and tribes and tongues that are hosting the very presence of God, like here in this place on this Friday night, different places again across our lands.

And there are priests, a royal priesthood according to first Peter that are giving, like what we're doing tonight, spiritual sacrifices to God. And so this covenant with this temple is far greater than the temple of first king six, far greater than the tabernacle in the book of Exodus, and I hope you and I realize that. Now we read specific details about this temple, Solomon's temple. And like what we heard in Hebrews, we're not gonna cover every single detail, at least not in one session, but we will highlight some things. Look at verse three.

The vestibule in front of the nave of the house was 20 cubits long equal to the width of the house and 10 cubits deep in front of the house. And he made for the house windows with recessed frames. You know what's interesting about that? Were there windows in the tabernacle? No.

There weren't windows in the tabernacle. The only source of light were the lamps inside. But now you come to the top, temple and you read of these these narrow windows. So that's interesting. We won't touch on that now.

Verse five, he also built a structure. Now try to visualize this. He also built a structure against the wall of the house. So so far we have the dimensions of the main building, the temple. We have a description of the front area that we just read, but now we're talking about a structure that's around the temple.

And here's what we're being told about it. He also built a structure against the wall of the house running around the walls of the house, both the nave and the inner sanctuary, and he made side chambers all around. So now you have this other structure with almost like apartments. There are these side chambers around the main place of worship. And now we're we're being told about these side chambers.

Here here's what we see in verse six. The lowest story was five cubits broad. The middle one was six cubits broad. And the third was seven cubits broad. For around the outside of the house he made offsets on the wall in order that the supporting beams should not be inserted into the walls of the house.

So the way that these apartments, these chambers worked is that they weren't connected into the temple. There was different support a different support system that made it a part of it, but didn't penetrate through the house of worship. How many stories are these chambers across the whole place? Three. There are three stories.

Right? So you have a lower chamber, you have a middle chamber, and you have a third chamber. Right? So imagine again, I'm trying to illustrate. Here's the temple.

Imagine I'm facing the temple. Here's the door to the temple. But along the side, except for the front area, of course, along the the the the sides and the back, you have these chambers, and they're three stories high. You know what I find interesting is that we're not told the the purpose of these chambers. We're not told.

It's not until you go to different books like second Chronicles chapter 31. When you go to those places, you'll see that under Hezekiah's rule, under Ezra's leadership, the priests were storing treasures, gold, silver, offerings in these chambers. So they were most likely used as storehouses, things to keep and protect the precious offerings and donations that were granted to the place of worship. What's also interesting is that the Holy Spirit goes out of his way to give us the dimensions of each floor. Did you notice that?

And what did you notice about these floors? What stands out to you? Very good. They get broader and broader and broader. In fact, when you go to Ezekiel and I encourage you to turn there.

We have a lot of verses to cover tonight, so your fingers are gonna get some work. Okay? Ezekiel 41. This is not Solomon's Temple. What are we being told about in Ezekiel 40 to 48?

Which temple? Oh, I I kinda gave it away based on the name of the book. Ezekiel's temple. A temple that we believe will be known during when? The millennium kingdom.

Right? So this is not the same temple, but there are a lot of similarities. And when you go to Ezekiel 41 verse seven, you actually get, again, a description of these side chambers, and it's confirming what we see here in first Kings chapter six. In Ezekiel forty one seven we're told, and it became broader as it wound upward to the side chambers. So just like in Solomon's temple, the first Floor is is a certain measurement, then as you go up it gets broader, and as you go higher it gets broader, broader, and broader, and broader.

Now come back to first King six. Are you guys with me so far? I'm not overwhelming you. Uh-oh. There nobody answered, so I could be overwhelming people.

Good. Well, go to first king six again, and look at verse eight. The entrance for the lowest story was on the south side of the house, and one went up by stairs to the middle story and from the middle story to the third. So in these apartments, in these chambers, you had a door, and when you went into the door, you were in the lowest part. And then there were stairs that would bring you to the next level and another set of stairs that would bring you to the third level.

And based on Ezekiel's words, it could be, at least in his temple, that they were winding stairs. But here's what you would feel if you were one of the priests in these chambers. The higher you climbed, the more there was to realize. The higher you excelled, the more there was to discover. And I I'd like to think that that's a wonderful illustration about our growth in revelation and truth concerning the things of God.

Is that not true? You know, I I love reading books, and there are many books that I'll read, and I will read it once and put it on a shelf never to read it again. I've read this book every single day for years since I was 20 years old. And guess what? I can't put it away and say I figured it out.

The more I read it, the more I realize there's more. There's more. It doesn't stop. The walls keep getting broader and broader and broader, and there's even more treasure than the last level I was in. It just keeps expanding.

Is that not true? It is true and it's completely biblical. You know, Paul says, I've received the grace in Ephesians three eight. I've received the grace to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ. The immeasurable riches of Christ.

You can't put a limit on the riches, the wealth of just the person of Jesus Christ. And as I was thinking about this kind of illustration, I thought of a psalm. This psalm is so exciting to me. And, again, your fingers are you're gonna get to work. Right?

You're gonna get muscles in your fingers tonight. In Psalm one nineteen, what's Psalm one nineteen all about? Can I give you a challenge? I I wonder if anybody will take this challenge because I did it once, and it was one of the most exhilarating things in terms of reading. If you are willing, read Psalm one nineteen in one sitting.

Just do it, and you will feel like you're dreaming out of a fire hose. But it's a it's a good feeling because you just are showered with the Holy Spirit's praise about the word of God. And here's one of the praiseworthy things about the word of God in Psalm one nineteen. Look at verse 96. Look what the psalmist says about the word.

He says, I have seen a limit to all perfection. I've seen many things in the world, and there's a there's a stopping point here. There's a point where you figure it out. But look what he says, but your commitment is exceedingly broad. You see what he's saying there?

I've seen a lot of things in this world. Beautiful things, excellent things, mind boggling things, but they come to an end in terms of the awe that it inspires perhaps, the mechanics and understanding how things function. But there's one thing that I've discovered that's exceedingly broad. What is it? The word.

The word. There's no limit to the word. There's no bottom to this well. There is no end to this horizon. It just keeps growing.

It keeps expanding, and I believe that is the case here. What we read about these chambers expanding as they climbed, you can believe the same thing about your experience with God through what he's revealed in the place of prayer. Walking with him day by day, you'll realize there's only more to know. There's only more to realize. Now let's come back to first Kings, and let's read verse seven.

When the house was built, it was with stone prepared at the quarry so that neither hammer nor ax nor any tool of iron was heard in the house while it was being built. This is one of my favorite verses in first Kings chapter six. Again, why is the Holy Spirit going out of his way to tell us about how these stones were chiseled and prepared before they were assembled together? It seems as though we need to know that there was no recognition of the materials colliding together. It it was at a great distance.

And when it came to the place of putting the pieces together, there was almost this reverential silence about it. It was sacred. And so there was this wisdom behind this, but there's a spiritual message. And I believe it's significant because it's to encourage us when we link it to the house that God is building today. You have to understand that in the New Testament, you as an individual are called the Temple Of The Holy Spirit, and the church at large is called the Temple Of The Holy Spirit.

And here we're being told about this temple. And interestingly, about this temple, there was no sound of tools. There was no sound of let me put it this way. There was no immediate evidence that something was happening. And someone once said very wisely that this is a lesson not to mistake noise and notoriety with spiritual progress.

First Peter two tells us that you and I are living stones being built up together into a spiritual house. That's what Peter said. Living stones being built together up to be a spiritual house. And I believe there's something here for us to take in for ourselves. You know, there are some believers who believe, unfortunately, that in order to truly measure success and effectiveness, it's all determined by the attention and praise you might receive from others.

But the Lord here does not need to announce the work that he's doing in your life. He doesn't need to advertise it. He doesn't need to let the masses know this is what I'm doing in my son. This is what I'm doing in my daughter. This is what I'm doing in this pastor and through this pastor.

He he doesn't need to do that for it to be legitimate. Your fruitfulness in mine can sometimes take place in a way where people don't immediately see it, at least for a season. For most of us, your, you know, your life is gonna be relatively quiet, unnoticed, under the radar, not pointed out by prominence, and that's okay. But what you have to resist is the temptation of thinking just because somebody is on a platform or somebody is highly praised and greatly known that God is working and doing more in them than he is in you. And if you are feeling that, Lord, are you really doing something significant in my life?

There doesn't seem to be much noise that I'm creating. I'm not really gaining much from others and and seeing them appreciate maybe, point out, highlight what you're doing in me, the gifts that you've given me, remember the temple. Remember the house of God. Even this glorious structure that would host, the presence of God was built in silence. It was not immediately recognized.

And you can apply that to the corporate sense as well, the worship team that you're part of, the ministry team that you're part of, the church that you're part of, the outreach that you're part of. A lot of people, again, confuse something being loud with it being legitimate. And if you use that kind of evaluation, then you actually can get yourself in trouble. What do I mean by that? Well, God is really at work when there's a lot of people crammed into one place.

And in that meeting, there are rivers of tears and there are explosions of miracles happening. That's when God is really at work. Can God work in that way? Absolutely. Does God always work that way?

No. He can do a silent work, and it's still just as much precious to him, and it should be precious to you. This inner surgery where he is chiseling and cutting so that he's conforming you. The framing of your thoughts, the putting together of the fragments of the brokenness in your life until that mess becomes something of a masterpiece. God indeed is working, and he's always working in you and I, whether people recognize it right away or whether you even recognize it in the moment.

He is a patient, careful, meticulous, loving artist. And when he feels that it's necessary, he will make his work known and it will be loud, and there are other times where he will take his time, and I see that with the sacred structure. What would it have been like for a citizen of Jerusalem to see the progress? I think just week after week, month after month as they go about their affairs, they're not hearing anything. Right?

They're not seeing major cranes and traffic and noise. The the all that complicated stuff is being done at a distance. And from time to time, they would look out their window and they would see the building getting stronger and higher and thicker. Oh, look what's happening. And do you know how long it took for this temple to be built?

Who knows the number of years? Yeah. It's right here in verse 38. We're told here at the last part of verse 38, he was seven years in building it. Seven years.

Now David confessed in first Chronicles twenty eight nineteen that he received the blueprint for the building. It wasn't a human architect who came up and offered something to God from their own initiative. No. God gave the exact instructions for this thing to be built. And even though God gave it, it took seven years to build.

You know why that's important? Again, because some people think if God's gonna do a work and if he does work, it means it has to happen instantaneously. Growth should happen instantaneously. Right? Disciples should should happen in a moment.

Who said that things have to always happen in the blink of an eye or a snap of a finger? That's not how God always works. And just like his temple here, he sweetly and wisely took his time, and you can believe the same for you and I. Not that that's permission for us to delay in our discipline or to not be participating in the things of God. No.

But to understand that progress doesn't happen overnight. And that should encourage you and I to not be overwhelmed by our lack of progress at the speed that we would like it to happen, and your knowledge of the word of God, in in different areas concerning your gifting. And so this is something for you and I to be blessed by. Now before we move on, there's another lesson here. And I believe the lesson here when we see this verse being built, this this amazing building being built in silence, is to remind us that God often also likes to build and work on us in quietness.

Right? So this is this is a good word for us because a lot of us always need distraction, noise. When's the last time you got quiet before god? Quiet. Quiet.

Just to sit before him and allow the architect of your soul to work on you. You know, there are a lot of people who are frustrated with their walk with the Lord. I don't just I don't sense God leading me, speaking to me, clarifying things to me. And one of my first questions is, well, have you given time for him to do that? Just to get before the lord, open your Bible.

Say, lord, I'm reading this text this week. Can you speak to my heart? When's the last time you did that? Without checking Instagram notification, throw that thing in the garbage just for an hour. You can pick it up, clean it, and go go about your day.

Just give time in silence before the Lord. He wants to do something with you in that place. I argue that he can only do certain things in that place. He can come to a thousand church services a week and it will not substitute personal time with the Lord. And I know that me saying this, and I'm becoming more aware of this as I'm advancing in life.

Right? Things become busier and busier and quiet. That time of seclusion becomes more of a luxury. Isn't it? Look at all the heads that just went, yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. I get it. So I'm not here to beat you over the head, but I I am here to tell you that God is able to do miracles with five loaves and two fishes. Miracles.

You know, when I was doing my internship in Toronto, Canada, that was one of the most frustrating times of my walk with the Lord. Because up to that point, I had my just my my schedule at school. I wasn't working, and so I had all this time. It was amazing. I I and I'm so glad for that season because so many things were revealed to me.

But then now I'm working. Uh-oh. Full time school, full time internship, and that was technically part of my school. So waking up, commuting, taking three different modes of transportation just to get to the place, and then coming all the way back. And and I remember just feeling so frustrated.

I said, well, I don't know what to do with this, lord. By the time I get home, I gotta make dinner. I'm ready to sleep. Quiet time. I I just need a full night's sleep to survive.

That's how I was feeling. But I realized how the lord is willing to honor whatever you're able to give him. You know what I was able to do at that time? Yeah. There there is still the the grace to be able to take that time in my apartment.

But even during the day when I had coffee breaks, I was I was doing my internship in a fairly tall building, and so there was a lot of stairs and a lot of empty stairs and low traffic areas. So my coffee breaks, I would just go up to some of those stairs, and I would go high enough where I can see the city of Toronto, and I would just sit there and talk to the lord. Just talk to the lord while I'm looking out the window. Lord, thank you for this day. Thank you, Lord.

Fill me with the spirit as I go back into my office so that people can sense the fragrance of Christ. Give me boldness if I'm ever confronted with my beliefs that I would be strong and loving. Just talk to the Lord. About ten minutes, go by and go back to work. You think the Lord is looking for him saying, you only gave me that much time?

I didn't hear a word you said. That's not the Lord. When Mary of Bethany broke that alabaster flask and poured it on Christ, the disciples criticized her, and Jesus said, she did what she could, and it is beautiful to me. When I read that, I thought, yeah. In certain seasons, there are things that you can only do so much of, and God will see it as beautiful as long as your heart is true and you're being honest before him.

Lord, this is all I can give you. That's all I could give him in that season. And so give that time to the Lord, and he can do miracles in your heart, your mind, throughout your day. The Lord wants to build us in the place of quietness. Now there's there's much more that can be said, but now we've come here.

We read verse eight. We've read verse nine about the roof, the ceiling. But something happens here in verse 11. Says here, now the word of the Lord came to Solomon concerning this house. And he says here, excuse me, now the word of the Lord came to Solomon concerning this house that you are building.

If you will walk in my statutes and obey my rules and keep all my commandments and walk in them, then I will establish my word with you, which I spoke to David your father, and I will dwell among the children of Israel and will not forsake my people Israel. So Solomon built the house and finished it. So as we're reading about the construction of this building going up to verse 10, verse 11, there's this intermission. Somehow the word of the Lord comes to Solomon. It could have been through a prophet, and this seems kind of out of place.

The Lord is telling and reminding Solomon about the covenant that he had made with his father and with his descendants. And we don't know why this came to Solomon. Not only how, but why. But based on the message itself, we can gather enough information to understand the mind of the Lord and why he spoke to Solomon in this manner. The tone that you get from this, what kind of tone is it?

What is this message? What kind of message is it? Condition? Yeah. It's a condition.

The promise, the covenant is conditional. But what's the message then? If he's giving this reminder for this condition, what is he essentially doing? There's a cautious tone here, and this message is a message of warning. And so the Lord is warning Solomon at this point, At this juncture, at this at this mark of the progress of the building, he wants to warn him.

And based on that, we can have strong confidence to believe that Solomon needed to hear this. Whether he knew it or not, he needed to hear this message from the Lord. And it could be that at this point, the Lord saw something in Solomon, something concerning. Perhaps there are early signs already that Solomon was beginning to lose sight of the significance and the recipe for true lasting success concerning the temple. Solomon, you're building this temple.

That's wonderful. But I wanna let you know that what's really going to bring blessing to you and this people is going to be your obedience to my law. It's going to be your consecration unto me. Just because this building is going to be built does not necessarily mean that you've guaranteed my blessing and my presence here among you and your people. I'm asking you and I'm reminding you to live in my word and to walk in my ways.

That's a much needed warning for many of us who are serving the Lord. Listen. This is very important. Right? Because here, Solomon is performing something for the Lord.

In his tenure, at this point in his ministry, he needed to receive instruction, and you and I need this kind of instruction and warning from time to time as we're serving the Lord. Oftentimes, when we're building something to the Lord, what do we need? We need encouragement. Why don't we get discouraged? There's delay.

There's persecution. We see that with Nehemiah. We see that with Ezra. And so we need to be encouraged, encouraged, encouraged, rightfully so. But with encouragement, we also need warning.

We do need warning. There are two pitfalls. Right? We can fall into discouragement that can lead us into other problems. We can fall into disobedience because of what Solomon is facing here.

Could be that Solomon already is showing again evidence that his heart is being uplifted or his own wisdom now is is filtering in, and we see later on what happens to Solomon. You know, just because we have a church building with a service, an order of service, a a a team that sings beautifully, somebody that comes up on the pulpit, an offering, food, a five zero one c three, that doesn't mean God's presence is here. Does it? Do we need a big enough cross to be like, you know, that cross impresses me. I'm gonna come now and bless this place.

Is that how God works? No. Some people think so. If we have an extravagant enough of, establishment, if we have talented people enough, if the numbers come, if the money flows, then surely we have the thumbs up from the Almighty. That's not how it works.

What is God after? A holy people. An obedient people. A repentant people, a broken people, people who walk in the fear of the Lord. That's what will usher in and that's what will guard his blessing and his power and his presence and his delight amongst us.

And there's another thing here. Right? Again, Solomon could very well be losing focus here, being deterred, drifting in one way. And you and I also have to be careful and understand that the same temptation awaits all of us who want to advance, and this is a temptation that's very present for those who are seeing accomplishments. Great accomplishments done in the name of God.

Solomon is gonna end up falling very bad. And it makes you wonder what went wrong. I mean, go to chapter nine. We're in first King's things. Go go to chapter nine.

This is after Solomon builds a temple, and then in chapter eight, he dedicates the temple. And then look what the Lord says in chapter nine verse four and five. The Lord is speaking to him again. And as for you, if you walk before me as David your father walked with integrity of heart and uprightness, doing according to all that I've commanded you and keeping my statutes and my rules, then I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever as I promised David your father saying, you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel. Again, he just did it in chapter six.

Now he's doing it again after the thing was built, after it was dedicated, after there was a grand opening. The Lord says, Solomon, be careful. Be careful. When we do things for God and it blesses other people, and it's grand and it's unique and it's spectacular and it's fruitful, we can begin to think that we are above the law. And maybe there are certain rules that don't apply to me.

There's certain things that I I can do because look how much I give to the church. This church wouldn't be able to do what they're doing if it wasn't for my contributions. That's dangerous thinking. Look what I did for the Lord. Look at the glory I brought to his name.

Look at all the people who were blessed. Surely, the Lord will look with partiality upon me if I drift here and there. There are people who think like that. In fact, the Bible calls that something. It's called the root of bitterness.

You know, when people quote the root of bitterness in Hebrews chapter 12, they think that's a verse about when you have unforgiveness in your heart. That's not true. When the author of Hebrews is speaking about that, he's referring to a warning in Deuteronomy where the Lord told the people, please be careful that there is no one among you who has a root of bitterness. And then he describes what that root of bitterness is. It's a person who hears the law and blesses himself and says, I will be safe though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart.

And that root has the ability to infect that garden bed and touch other people and bring them into the wrong direction. So Solomon needed to be careful because already, when these things are taking place, things are progressing and advancing. The Lord's saying, please, Solomon, be careful. Don't let it get to your head. Don't think that these things are not binding on you.

They are. My law is just as much for you as it is for anybody else. In fact, the warning is even greater for him because he's what? What is Solomon? He's a king.

Meaning, he's a what? He's a leader. He's a leader. So notice what he says here when you and I read it in verse 11. He says, the word of the Lord comes.

Verse 12 describes what's going to happen. And then in verse 13, the condition is in verse 12. Verse 13 is the consequence, and I will dwell among the children of Israel and will not forsake my people Israel. If you obey, I will be here, and I will not forsake them. Implying what?

If you don't obey, what's gonna happen? I will forsake them. Did he say forsake you or forsake the people? Pray for your leaders. Pray that the Lord would keep them from discouragement.

I recently preached about David's discouragement from first Samuel 27. He believed that Saul was going to kill him. When Saul think about this. He believed Saul was going to kill him. He was gonna die.

And he had Samuel the prophet. He had Abigail his wife. He had Jonathan his friend. He had Saul himself saying you're gonna be the next king. The guy that's trying to kill you believes that you're gonna be king, and you believe that he's actually gonna kill you.

Imagine that. That's how dizzy we get when we're discouraged. And so he goes, you know what? I'm better off living with the Philistines. Saul won't chase me.

He moves with the Philistines. That's a no no if you're an Israelite, because he provided boundaries. You ain't leaving those boundaries unless God tells you plain and clear, you can go to Egypt. Jacob was afraid to go to Egypt, even to visit his son. The Lord assured him, go.

Abraham didn't seek God to go to Egypt and he got in a lot of trouble. David says, I'm gonna go with the Philistines. He goes. What happens? 600 of his men follow him with her families.

Because that's what happens. When a leader makes a decision, it has consequences beyond his own life, beyond his own family. It trickles down. And their obedience can inspire people to greater obedience, and their disobedience can cause people to either follow in that direction or all the other mess and problems that can come when somebody of great prominence, stature, leadership fails. Pray for your leaders.

Pray that they wouldn't be overcome with discouragement. Pray that they wouldn't be overcome by their accomplishments, by their gifting, by the opportunities that they receive. Solomon here needed to hear this warning, and we also in our service to the Lord have to be careful. But now we come to the last portion, and look how many verses we have left. Look at verse 14.

Right? I have to flip my page, and I realize there's almost a whole other page, at least in my version, of detail upon detail upon detail upon detail. And so I feel the author of Hebrews, we don't have time to talk about all the detail. But I wanna encourage you of how studying these kind of texts can bring joy and bring a sense of absolute reverence for the authorship of this book. So now, hold tight to your Bible.

We're gonna look at different references. We're gonna we're gonna stick in chapter six, and then we're going to go to a completely different book because we're gonna do a comparison here. And and this will be very exciting if you're willing to do the work with me. I hope you're willing to do the work. So let's begin.

Now we're talking about the beautifying of the temple. Right? We talked about the construction of the temple. Some details therein. We talked about the instruction about the temple.

Now we're coming to the beautifying of the temple, and it's mainly occupying preoccupied with the internals of the temple. The materials and the carvings and the the images, that's what we're being told about in verse 14 all the way to verse 38. But let's look at this one main feature. Beginning in verse 20. Right?

We're gonna skip a few verses, but come here to verse 20, and notice what's being described here. The inner sanctuary. What's the inner sanctuary? Not the holy place. There's a holy place, and then there's what?

The most holy place. Good. So which one is this? Holy. The most holy place.

The inner sanctuary. The deepest part of the building. The inner sanctuary was 20 cubits long, 20 cubits wide, 20 cubits high, and he overlaid it with pure gold. He also overlaid an altar of cedar. And Solomon overlaid the inside of the house with pure gold, and he drew chains of gold across in front of the inner sanctuary and overlaid it with gold.

And he overlaid the whole house with gold until all the house was finished, and the whole altar that belonged to the inner sanctuary he overlaid with gold. What kind of material do you think everything was overlaid with? Gold. If you didn't get it yet, look at verse 28. And he overlaid the cherubim with gold.

Look at verse 30. The floor of the house he overlaid with even the floor was gold. Again, we're talking about permanence here. Right? Did the tabernacle have a floor?

Did it? No. It was dirt. It was the earth. Everything around was built and there was material, but not not the not the ground.

It was pure dirt. And there's a spiritual lesson there as well. But here, you have wood and that wood was covered with gold. Gold underneath your feet, gold all around you, gold above you. If you still didn't get it, look at verse 35.

On them, he carved cherubim, and palm trees, and open flowers. I wish we had time to talk about these symbols. Cherubim, and palm trees, and open flowers, and he overlaid them with gold. Evenly applied on the carved work. Gold everywhere.

Can you imagine a room like this, where the pews, the carpet, the piano, the light fixtures, the walls, the pulpit, the screen, everything, gold. Now, again, it's just really heavy with detail, and this is not the only account of the building of the temple. You have another account in second Chronicles. I told you if you do the work, it'll be rewarding. Right?

So you go to second Chronicles and just one verse. It's just one verse, but just to help us understand what is happening in this place called the temple. In second Chronicles, look at this in chapter three verse six. So so far, what is it in the house? Gold.

Gold. Gold. Gold. Gold. Everywhere.

People estimate that the value of the temple in terms of the measurement of gold is in the billions of modern day currency. We're talking billions of dollars. But it wasn't just gold. Look at verse six of chapter three of second Chronicles. He adorned the house with settings of what?

Precious stones. Precious stones, and then we're told where the gold is from at the end of the verse. So on top of the gold, you have diamonds and sapphire. We're not told the exact, stones. Some even believe they you know, people are imagining there's nothing dogmatic here, but that Solomon placed them on the ceiling, so they were like stars.

Right? You can just imagine the vast beauty and wealth, how it would take your breath away when you would walk in. Just the absolute investment, the massive investment that went in just into the internals of this house of worship. Gold, gold, gold, gold. And then precious stones wherever they were placed, they're obviously there.

They're obvious to the eye. Here's my question. What other physical area in the Bible has the same description as the temple? Revelation, good, but you gotta be more specific. Yes.

The New Jerusalem. Okay. Tuck your hand in first Kings six and then go all the way to the last book of the Bible in chapter 21 and go to verse 10 just to ensure that we are talking about the New Jerusalem. This is not the millennium that we're talking about here. We've passed the millennium.

The millennium is chapter 20. This is the final era, the final chapter of human history. It's the eternal age. The new heavens and the new earth will be created. The old is passed away.

And now with this new heavens, new earth, we see this new city. And we read about it here in verse 10. And he carried me away in the spirit to a great high mountain, this is John speaking, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God. So this is Jerusalem. Right?

The new city, Jerusalem. Now we get the description of what this city is all about. Look at verse 18 of chapter 21. The wall was built of jasper while the city was what? Pure gold, like clear glass.

It was almost transparent. The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with what? Every kind of jewel, and John was given even the specifics of what these jewels were. I'm not going to read them for you for the the sake of time, but look at verse 21. And the 12 gates were 12 pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.

I like to joke the things that people are coveting, the things that people are denying God for, money, wealth, gold, is gonna be pavement in heaven. Isn't that silly? The betrayal, the murder, the corruption in politics. In heaven, it's gonna be the pavement. But wait, there's so much more here.

We're actually even given the dimensions of this new city, this new heavenly Jerusalem, which is important. Look at verse fifteen and sixteen with me. You're still in Revelation 21, I hope. Verse 15, and the one who spoke with me had a measuring rod of gold. Even the measuring rod is made out of gold.

The measuring stick is made out of gold. Had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city and its gates and walls. The city lies foursquare, its length the same at its width as its width, and he measured the city with its rod, 12,000 stadia. Some believe that this city alone is thousands of miles long each way. It's absolutely huge.

What do you call the shape where every side is the same? And in three d, it's a cube. People believe the city of Jerusalem will be a perfect cube. You know, there's only one other place in all the Bible that we're told of another area that's a perfect square or cube. Where is it?

The inner sanctuary in Solomon's temple. You didn't see it, did you, back in first king six? Go back to first king six verse 20. I hope you kept your your hand there. Look at verse 20.

And please keep your hand in Revelation 21. We're gonna go back and forth. It will be rewarding. First Kings six twenty. The inner sanctuary, the most holy place was what?

20 cubits long, 20 cubits wide, and 20 cubits high, and he overlaid it with pure gold. He also overlaid an altar of cedar. So the most holy place, if you were a high priest going in once a year, you would realize that it was a perfect square or a cube. The descriptions of the temple and the descriptions of the new city of Jerusalem, the heavenly city Jerusalem, are strikingly similar. The materials, the stones, and even the idea of the perf the perfection of its dimensions.

What's being conveyed here? What's what's the message here? Is the message that this city Jerusalem will will be the heavenly temple? This is the final temple. Right?

I mean, you see the description of Solomon's temple. It's there's gold, there's stones, and even the measurements are the same. So is this the new temple that we will worship in forever and ever? No. It's not.

Do you know why? Who knows why? You have to go back to Revelation 21. You get the answer to why. When you go to 21 verse 22, what do you read?

And I saw, what? No temple. And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. So why does so much of Solomon's temple then point to the New Jerusalem if there's gonna be no temple in that city? And I believe the message here that the Holy Spirit is trying to relay to us is that the temple had not just certain dimensions and rules, it had a specific protocol.

You know this protocol very well that if you were to minister in the temple, you had to be a what? You had to be a priest from a specific line, from a specific tribe. And not only that, but if you were to go into the holy of holies, you couldn't be any priest. You had to be the you had to be the high priest, and you can only go in one day out of the year. And if you walked in there, if you read the description, you not only see the ark of the covenant, you see these towering cherubim whose wings touch the walls of that room and the other wings touch each other overshadowing the Ark.

It it was supposed to give you this feeling of this is holy, this is heavenly, this is the throne of God. And there is only one person, one person, one time out of the year who can enjoy that, who can be in close proximity to that. And then now you come to this book called Revelation and you realize that if you have a knowledge of the Old Testament, namely the temple, this place that was only for the privilege, only for these certain priests, and this most holy place that was exclusively and singularly for one man is now a place that everybody can enter into. Let me put it this way. The city of Jerusalem will be the eternal Holy of Holies.

So you have this square in the temple that only one person can enter into, and then we're being told of this perfect cube to come. It's not a temple, but it's supposed to point you and remind you of a place in the temple where the presence of God would radiate, and now it's a city. And in essence, it becomes the most holy place, not just for one person. Can I tell you who it's for? Go back to Revelation 21 and verse 27.

Here's who it's for. But nothing unclean will ever enter it, the city, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life. The new city of Jerusalem becomes the eternal holy of holies. The connection with the measurement and the material is supposed to help you realize, this is the place now that will host the presence and glory of God, but everyone who has been washed in the blood of the lamb can enjoy it. Not only that, you don't just visit the city.

The holy of holies, the eternal holy of holies becomes your home. It's where you're gonna live forever and ever and ever. That's the connection. Now if you skipped first Kings chapter six, you would think that the only perfect cube in the Bible is this new city Jerusalem. No.

There was another one in Solomon's temple. And you're supposed to make all those connections. There's only one person who could go in there, but there's a day coming. There is a city coming. There's a holy of holies that is coming where can I go and enjoy the presence of God?

Oh, yeah. All whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life can go in and enjoy it forever and ever and ever. And I told you I was reading Hebrews this week. Right? This is the verse that I saw, the last chapter of Hebrews, that brought this so perfectly together.

You don't have to turn there. Just listen to this. In Hebrews thirteen fourteen. For here in thirteen fourteen, for here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come that is to come. Is your name written in the Lamb's book of life?

If it is, you have a new address. You have a new home. You get to walk into something that only one man could enjoy with absolute terror, by the way, and fear, not knowing if he was cleansed enough to walk in and not be struck down by the holiness of God. But when the city comes, that will radiate and manifest the unfiltered presence of God. You will have a white robe.

You will be clothed in the righteousness of Christ that will remove every ounce of fear from the holiness of God, and all you will know is perfect bliss with him and unending years upon years upon years upon years. There is an eternal holy of holies that's waiting for you and I. And the way that you have entrance and residence in it is if you have your name sealed by his blood in that book of life. Lord, we ask that every person here would know for certain that that is the city that they will enter into and reside in. And we thank you for the richness of your word in first king six, and we pray, Lord, that it would encourage us to continue to mind the word of God, trusting that you have something to say to us, trusting that we will see the harmony and the symphony of the scriptures.

And we pray, Lord, that our hearts would have been moved to even worship you in song as we see the absolute supernatural authorship of this book that we are carrying in our hands. Lord, glory be to your name because what we just studied is our future, is our tomorrow, is our security, and we have been guaranteed it. And so we say on this Friday night, thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

And Lord, until we enter into that holy of holies in the city of this heavenly Jerusalem, help us be the temple of the holy spirit today. Pure, undefiled, unified as stones living together for the glory of God. And may there be sweet incense coming to your throne even now in Jesus' name. Amen. As the team comes up, listen.

You're a priest, a royal priesthood. This night, don't let your mind wander. Don't let your plans for tomorrow overshadow the moment. I want you to see yourself in this place the way the Bible describes you. Even as you sing now, you are singing and offering a sacrifice of praise to the holy one, to the king of kings and to the lord of lords.

We should never ever treat a moment like this as mundane. It irks me. It irks me. Can I be honest with you? It absolutely irks me when in a meeting, whether it's like this or any meeting, this church or another church, when you see a a place where people are distracted and bored, how how?

If this book is true, how how can you when you're in the presence of the king of kings? And when you've been clothed in identity and a purpose for the sole goal of pleasing him, never mind anybody else, never mind the elders. God himself as your chief priority and your chief audience. I'm here, Lord, to please you. You've redeemed me.

You've brought me to bring it to yourself. And if that's the reason why you save me, then I'll give you what you paid for, and that's worship. If your heart is lukewarm, bring it to the altar and let God light it on fire. Ask the Lord, Lord, even that Bible study Okay. It was kinda interesting.

The the guy up there got a little excited at certain parts. I appreciated that. That's not the way you're supposed to engage with the word of God. Lord, set my heart on fire, and let me believe that you have deposited something from heaven that can absolutely radicalize and change my life if I engage with it in faith. Oh, I pray that you would get that.

Lest your spiritual journey become empty vein surface studies and a sin bound life, where you just go from boring to boring instead of glory to glory. May it never be of us. And so I exhort you. What what that what just happened there? You said, what just happened?

He was so nice up to that last point. What just happened there is called exhortation, admonition, telling you and encouraging, stirring you to see what this is really all about. Can we stand and give the lord worship on this Friday night and say, lord, I have been called the royal priesthood. I have been called the chosen people. And now based on the truth that I heard, if this is the temple of the Holy Spirit and you've called me to be a priest to give spiritual sacrifice, then here it is.

Engage with your god tonight in Jesus' name.