Episode 134: King Solomon's houses

1 Kings 5-9

Materials for God's house

5 ¹ When Hiram the king of Tyre heard that Solomon was king, he sent his servants to him, since Hiram was always a lover of David.

^2-3 Solomon sent a message to Hiram, saying,

I'm going to build a house for God, and I'll need some lumber.

Send me cedar trees from Lebanon. I'll pay your workers whatever you ask.

^8-9 Hiram sent a message to Solomon, saying,

I'll send you cedar and fir.

For payment I ask that you feed my household.

¹⁰ So Hiram gave Solomon all the cedar and fir trees that he could possibly want.

¹² God gave Solomon wisdom and there was peace between Solomon and Hiram.

^13-14 Solomon's workforce consisted of 30,000 men: 10,000 were sent to Lebanon, with the remaining 20,000 at home, alternating month by month

^15-16 There were also 70,000 carriers, 80,000 stone cutters, and 3,300 supervisors.

Solomon builds a house for God

6 ¹ Solomon began to build God's house in the fourth year of his reign, 480 years after the Israelites left Egypt.

² God's house was sixty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and thirty cubits tall.

³⁸ It took Solomon seven years to build God's house.

Solomon builds much larger house for himself

7 Solomon spent thirteen years building his own house.

² His house was one hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide, and thirty cubits tall.

²³ He made a round molten sea, ten cubits in diameter and thirty cubits in circumference.

²⁵ It stood on twelve oxen, with three facing north, south, east, and west.

²⁶ It held 2000 baths.

The ark is brought into the temple

8 ¹ Solomon called all the men of Israel to witness the ark being carried into the tabernacle of the temple.

⁵ When it was brought into the temple, Solomon killed more animals than could be numbered.

⁹ There was nothing in the ark except the two stone tablets that Moses put in at Horeb.

¹¹ When the priests brought the ark into the temple, a "cloud filled the house of the LORD so that the priests" could not see.

Solomon's speech

¹² Then King Solomon spoke to the people, saying,

God said that he would dwell in thick darkness.

¹³ I’ve built a house for God to live in.

^35-36 When God causes a drought by shutting up heaven to punish people for sinning, they can make it rain again by praying toward the Temple.

^37-38 When God sends famine, disease, mildew, locusts, caterpillars, or war to punish people for sinning, they can make it all stop by praying toward the Temple.

^44-45 If you sin and God punishes you by allowing your enemies to capture you, you can just pray towards Jerusalem and God will save you from them.

Solomon's animal sacrifice

^62-63 When Solomon finished speaking, he dedicated the temple by sacrificing 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep.

God threatens Solomon

9 ¹ After Solomon finished building the houses (one for God and one for himself), God and Solomon met again. God said to Solomon,

⁴ If you always obey my commandments, like your father David did, then your kingdom will last forever. ⁶ But if you or your children don't obey me, I'll destroy your land and house, and cast you out of my sight.

⁸And everyone that passes by this house will hiss and say, "Why did God do this to this land and this house?"

⁹Then they'll answer their own question and say, "Because they didn't obey their God."

Hiram didn't like the cities Solomon gave him

¹⁰ Hiram provided the cedar, fir, and gold that Solomon used to build the two houses. ¹¹To pay him for the building materials, Solomon gave him twenty Galilean cities.

¹² But Hiram didn't like the cities that Solomon gave him.

¹³ Hiram said, "What are these cities that you gave me?"

And he called them the land of Cabul unto this day.

^14-28 And Hiram gave Solomon 540 talents of gold.