When you come across a Chapter like 1 Kings 6, the initial reaction for a typical believer today will be, what is building the temple has to do with me today? It is easier to just say to yourself, God was dealing with the Israelites. There is nothing spiritual for me to learn. But you I’ll read the book because it is on your reading plan. You read and pray and read again until, for the first time, you come across a verse like this, “Now the word of the Lord came to Solomon saying, “Concerning this house which you are building, if you will walk in My statutes and execute My ordinances and keep all My commandments by walking in them, then I will carry out My word with you which I spoke to David your father. I will dwell among the sons of Israel, and will not forsake My people Israel.” 1 Kings 6:11-13. The Holy Spirit stops you right there. He wants you probe it. He wants to teach you something here. Of all verses, He chose to stop you here. You gotta pay attention to this one today.

Your heart starts beating fast because your eyes are opened to behold wondrous things out of His law. His righteous testimony is uncovered before you and you find yourself praying, Give me understanding that I may live. Suddenly, 1 kings 6 becomes more than Solomon. It is not about Solomon nor the temple he built. Solomon was not that David’s son who will build God’s temple ( 2 Samuel 7:12). There is another Son. Solomon has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Solomon can’t please the LORD no matter how much he tried. That is the reality for each and everyone of us. We cannot build God’s temple.

Let’s go into God’s mind for a second. He looked at Solomon, shook His head saying to Himself, this small sinner, son of David conceived in sin, is no way capable of walking in My statutes. He can’t execute My ordinances let alone keep ALL My commandments by walking in them. Solomon, you are not the “one” to build My temple. “For a little while have I forsaken thee…(Isaiah 54:7a). I will NOT carry out My word with you which I spoke to David your father. I will NOT dwell among the sons of Israel, and I will forsake My people Israel, “but with great compassion will I gather thee (Isaiah 54:7b). Until then, let’s try, “Concerning this house which you are building, if you will walk in My statutes and execute My ordinances and keep all My commandments by walking in them, then I will carry out My word with you which I spoke to David your father. I will dwell among the sons of Israel, and will not forsake My people Israel,” 1 Kings 6:11-13.

Solomon had no idea. He thought he was a big deal. After all he took power with vengeance. He established himself by executing three men (including his older brother) who posed a threat to his dominion. God gave him peace all around. He bestowed him with wisdom like no other king before him. He gave him wealth and honor beyond measure. That, to Solomon, was God’s seal of approval for him. He must be the “one” to build the temple, he thought to himself. But we’re seeing here that Solomon with all his wisdom, and power, and glory had no idea he was not the builder. This part was hidden from him. He did not know he was not the anointed one. He was not the begotten son. He was just as weak as any other man.

Colossians 1:26, “that is, the mystery which had been hidden from the past ages and generations, but now has been revealed to His saints.”

Romans 16:25, Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret for long ages past,

Ephesians 3:8,9, To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ, and to enlighten all people as to what the plan of the mystery is which for ages has been hidden in God, who created all things;

Verse 14 of 1 kings 6 tell us, “So Solomon built the house and finished it.” 😊 Well, finish what you started even if it doesn’t make sense. Even if you don’t have the whole picture in front of you. Unlike popular modern suggestion from New-Agers like Oprah will tell, have a vision board 🤦🏽‍♀️. ‘Visualize in your mind exactly what you want in life before it manifests.’ Well, that is antithetical to the scripture. We walk by faith not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). The just shall live by faith (Romans 1:17). That’s exactly what Solomon did here. He didn’t know the bigger picture. He didn’t know the mysteries of Christ. He was happy fulfilling what was in his father David’s heart without knowing God had a greater plan for His temple. A temple not built by human hands.

Well, that temple with all expensive gold and ciders and details and man power and ingenuity, was indeed destroyed to the ground. Not one stone is left standing today. Not one gold utensil remained. And, the children of Israel went into exile for their sin because they were unfaithful to the Lord their God. Solomon himself forsook God. 1 Kings 11:4 tell us, when Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and he was not wholeheartedly devoted to the LORD his God, as his father David had been.

We read, King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh—women of Moab, Ammon, Edom, and Sidon, as well as Hittite women. From the nations of which the LORD had said to the sons of Israel, “You shall not associate with them, nor shall they associate with you; they will certainly turn your heart away to follow their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love 1 Kings 11:1,2.

Solomon wrote thousands of proverbs and taught them. He ate and drunk and partied like there is no tomorrow. He writes on Ecclesiastes 2:10, ‘All that my eyes desired, I did not refuse them. I did not restrain my heart from any pleasure, for my heart was pleased because of all my labor; and this was my reward for all my labor.’

At some point he came to his senses. When he hit the bottom, depressed and in despair, Solomon wrote the book of Ecclesiastes. He wrote all things he tried to do apart from God. What’s life like searching for meaning and purpose without the God?

In his desperation, Solomon remembered the very words God told him as a young man who loved God and tried to build Him the temple, “If you will walk in My statutes and execute My ordinances and keep all My commandments by walking in them, then I will carry out My word with you which I spoke to David your father. I will dwell among the sons of Israel, and will not forsake My people Israel.” 1 Kings 6:11-13.

Solomon, now a very spent old man, whose evil days come and the years of his life drew near when he had no delight in them anymore wrote a stern exhortation to all of us, “The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil,” Ecclesiastes 12:13-14. Incredible! Who knew that is what 1 kings 6 is communicating to us? Who knew God is highlighting His One and only begotten Son, Jesus Christ here?

Of course there are plenty other lessons to draw from this passage. The fact that the Empire State Building was not invented by a 21st century architect. Solomon built story buildings over three thousand years ago with neither formal education nor sophisticated building materials we have today. Verse 7 tell us, while it was being built,… there was neither hammer nor axe nor any iron tool heard in the house while it was being built.” Who does that? If you live in Manhattan, New York, or any other major city, builders make a lot of machinery noises. Solomon figured out how to put up a new building without waking up the neighbors. This tell us, after all, it was not Solomon nor his men building this temple. God Himself was building the temple. In fact, God is building even a greater temple in silence within the hearts of every believer’s of Jesus Christ. Praise the Lord.

Also we learn God’s precise measurements. There is no room for mistakes. One little mistake can take down the whole building. Our salvation precise and is as solid as a rock.

Lastly, the icing on the cake is in the details. Where the beams were placed. How the cherubim were arrayed and positioned. The materials used and where. We see gold everywhere and cider and olive tree doors.

The details on windows and where the porch was located are important. How about the stairs? This was a building like no other. But where did Solomon and all men involved on this project got the knowledge and craftsmanship in those days where there were neither Google nor MIT? The answer is God. The Spirit of God was in them to teach them how to do everything God wanted to do through them. God can take an ordinary person with no formal education or any wisdom and turn him or her into this master piece to highlight His glory.

Acts 4:13 as an example, ‘Now seeing the boldness of Peter and of John, and having understood that they are unschooled and ordinary men, they were astonished. And they recognized them, that they had been with Jesus.’ Have you been with Jesus lately? He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Let Him display His glory through you.

We also notice, it was not just the Israelites who built this temple. The Sidonians were involved too, 1 kings 5:1. God’s plan for the Gentiles did not start in the New Testament. The Gentiles were in God’s plan from the beginning. They have been involved in this God’s grand purpose from the beginning. Praise the Lord.

Alright, I trust this will inspire you to study the entire Bible. You will not be picking and choosing which chapter to read and which one to skip. You will not be a Psalms only or Proverbs only kind of reader. Because, if the Bible is the word of God, and it is (1 Thessalonians 2:13), and is God breathed, and it is (2 Timothy 3:16), and it is for our learning (Romans 15:4), then you need the whole council of God. Everything was put in there for a reason.

1 kings 6 showed us that it is more than Solomon building the temple. It is bigger than Solomon. Our Lord Jesus said in Luke 11:31, “The Queen of the South will rise up with the men of this generation at the judgment and condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.”

Something greater than Solomon is in 1 kings 6. Amen?

Your Turn:
We would be remiss if I did not give you an opportunity to support what we’re doing here at FHTHTH. Please go ahead over a coffee bar and buy me a coffee. Thank you in advance and may the Lord richly bless you in all wisdom and understanding in Christ. Amen.