DEVOTION
1ST KINGS
THE TEMPLE
1 Kings 6:1-10
6:1 In the four hundred and
eightieth year after the Israelites had come out of Egypt, in the fourth year
of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, the second month, he began
to build the temple of the LORD. 2 The temple that King Solomon built for the
LORD was sixty cubits long, twenty wide and thirty high. 3 The portico at the front of the main hall
of the temple extended the width of the temple, that is twenty cubits, and
projected ten cubits from the front of the temple. 4 He made narrow clerestory
windows in the temple. 5 Against the walls of the main hall and inner sanctuary
he built a structure around the building, in which there were side rooms. 6 The
lowest floor was five cubits wide, the middle floor six cubits and the third
floor seven. He made offset ledges around the outside of the temple so that
nothing would be inserted into the temple walls. 7 In building the temple, only
blocks dressed at the quarry were used, and no hammer, chisel or any other iron
tool was heard at the temple site while it was being built. 8 The entrance to
the lowest floor was on the south side of the temple; a stairway led up to the
middle level and from there to the third. 9 So he built the temple and
completed it, roofing it with beams and cedar planks. 10 And he built the side
rooms all along the temple. The height of each was five cubits, and they were
attached to the temple by beams of cedar.
NIV
Having translated from cubits to
feet, we find the temple to be 90 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 45 feet high. There are many more details given, but the idea is that this was the temple Solomon built for the LORD. There are many visual depictions of the
temple, and this is not about picturing what it looks like, but more about its
purpose. This temple was to represent the presence of the LORD among his people.
It was a place thought to be where God resides. We know that the Lord cannot be
contained within a building constructed by man, yet it was a place where men
served, worshipped, and sacrificed offerings to the LORD. It was a holy place, especially
the inner sanctuary, the Holy of Holies, where the Ark of the Covenant was
placed. Today, people have built various versions of temples, although we call
them churches, as a place to come and worship the Lord. Over the years, some
have been extremely ornate, with some having been given names, such as “The Crystal
Cathedral”. Some edify the builder more than the Lord. Some have built entire
campuses with the design to express their importance, rather than to enhance
the worship of the Lord. But the idea still comes down to the simple truth that
we, our very beings, are the temple of the Holy Spirit. This brings us to the
truth that we should not edify ourselves, or make ourselves look important, or
build ourselves up. It is also not about our physical appearance, although the
world promotes that our appearance is most important; in fact, billions of dollars
are spent annually on beauty products. Some believers think that we should not
defile the temple of our Lord, developing a list of things we should not do ingest,
mostly about smoking and drinking alcoholic beverages, but rarely include
over-eating, or gluttony. Jesus said that it is not what we consume into the body
that defiles it, but what comes out of our mouths, for our words come from our
hearts, that defile us. This temple is more than our bodies; it is our minds, souls,
or spirits. This temple is our very selves, who we are, our inner being. We are
the people whom the Lord knit together in our mother’s womb. He knew us before
we were born. Although the temple Solomon built had specific dimensions, we do
not. Solomon’s temple could not expand beyond its walls, but we can expand in
our spiritual lives through the power of the Holy Spirit who dwells within. Let
us resist too much concern for the physical, although that might be of some importance,
but let us truly focus on our spiritual being, the temple, as we worship in spirit
and in truth.
