Chapter Eight

 1Ki 8:1  Then Solomon gathered the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the chief of the fathers of the sons of Israel, to King Solomon in Jerusalem, that they might bring up the ark of the covenant of Jehovah out of the city of David, which is Zion. 

1Ki 8:2  And all the men of Israel were gathered to King Solomon, in the month of Ethanim, at the feast, which is the seventh month. 

1Ki 8:3  And all the elders of Israel came in, and the priests lifted up the ark, 

1Ki 8:4  and brought up the ark of Jehovah, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and all the holy vessels that were in the tabernacle, even those the priests and the Levites brought. 

1Ki 8:5  And King Solomon and all the company of Israel who had assembled to him were with him before the ark, sacrificing sheep and oxen, that could not be counted or numbered for multitude. 

1Ki 8:6  And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of Jehovah to its place, to the holy place of the house, into the Holy of Holies, to the place of the wings of the cherubs; 

1Ki 8:7  for the cherubs were spreading forth their wings to the place of the ark, and the cherubs covered over the ark, and over its staves from above. 

1Ki 8:8  And they lengthened the staves, and the heads of the staves were seen from the holy place on the front of the Holy of Holies, and were not seen outside; and they are there to this day. 

1Ki 8:9  Nothing was in the ark, only the two tables of stone which Moses put there in Horeb, when Jehovah cut a covenant with the sons of Israel as they went out of the land of Egypt. 

1Ki 8:10  And it happened as the priests went out from the Holy of Holies, that the cloud filled the house of Jehovah, 

1Ki 8:11  and the priests were not able to stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of Jehovah had filled the house of Jehovah. 

1Ki 8:12  And Solomon said, Jehovah has said that He would dwell in the thick darkness. 

1Ki 8:13  Building I have built a house of loftiness for You, a settled place for You to abide in forever. 

1Ki 8:14  And the king turned around his face and blessed the whole assembly of Israel; and all the assembly of Israel was standing. 

1Ki 8:15  And he said, Blessed be Jehovah, God of Israel, who spoke by His mouth with my father David, and by his hand has fulfilled it, saying, 

1Ki 8:16  From the day that I brought out My people, even Israel, from Egypt, I have not chosen a city out of all the tribes of Israel to build a house for My name to be there; but I chose David to be over My people Israel. 

1Ki 8:17  And it was in the heart of my father David to build a house for the name of Jehovah, God of Israel; 

1Ki 8:18  and Jehovah said to my father David, Because it has been in your heart to build a house for My name, you have done well that it has been in your heart; 

1Ki 8:19  only, you shall not build the house, but your son who shall come out from your loins, he shall build the house for My name. 

1Ki 8:20  And Jehovah has lifted up His Word that He spoke; for I have risen up instead of my father David and sit on the throne of Israel, as Jehovah spoke, and have built the house for the name of Jehovah the God of Israel; 

1Ki 8:21  and set there a place for the ark, in which is the covenant of Jehovah which He made with our fathers when He brought them out from the land of Egypt. 

1Ki 8:22  And Solomon stood before the altar of Jehovah, across from the assembly of Israel, and spread his hands toward the heavens; 

1Ki 8:23  and said, Jehovah, God of Israel, there is no God like You in the heavens above or on the earth beneath; who keeps covenant and mercy with Your servants that walk before You with all their heart; 

1Ki 8:24  who have kept for Your servant David, my father, that which You spoke to him; yea, You spoke with Your mouth, and with Your hand have fulfilled it as it is this day. 

1Ki 8:25  And now, Jehovah, God of Israel, keep for Your servant David, my father, that which You spoke to him, saying, There shall not be cut off from you a man from before Me, sitting on the throne of Israel; only, if your sons watch their way, to walk before Me as you have walked before Me. 

1Ki 8:26  And now, O God of Israel, let it be established, I beseech You, Your Word which You have spoken to Your servant, my father David. 

1Ki 8:27  But will God in truth dwell on the earth? Behold, the heavens and Heaven of the heavens cannot contain You; how much less this house which I have built! 

1Ki 8:28  Yet You have turned toward the prayer of Your servant, and to his supplication, O Jehovah my God, to listen to the cry and to the prayer which Your servant is praying before You today; 

1Ki 8:29  for Your eyes are open toward this house night and day, toward the place of which You have said, My name shall be there; to listen to the prayer which Your servant prays toward this place. 

1Ki 8:30  And You shall listen to the supplication of Your servant, and of Your people Israel when they shall pray toward this place; yea, You shall listen in Your dwelling-place, in Heaven; and You shall hear and shall forgive. 

1Ki 8:31  If any man sins against his neighbor, and an oath be exacted of him to cause him to swear, and the oath has come before Your altar in this house, 

1Ki 8:32  then You shall hear in Heaven, and shall act, and shall judge Your servants, to declare the wicked to be wicked, to put his way on his head, and to declare the righteous to be righteous, to give him according to his righteousness. 

1Ki 8:33  When Your people Israel are stricken before the enemy, when they sin against You, if they turn again to You, and confess Your name, and pray and make supplication to You in this house; 

1Ki 8:34  then You shall hear in Heaven, and shall forgive the sin of Your people Israel, and shall bring them back to the land that You gave to their fathers. 

1Ki 8:35  When the heavens are restrained, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against You, and they have prayed toward this place, and confess Your name, and have turned from their sin because You have afflicted them, 

1Ki 8:36  then You shall hear in Heaven, and shall forgive the sin of Your servants, and of Your people Israel, for You shall teach them the good way in which they shall go, and shall give rain on Your land which You have given to Your people for an inheritance. 

1Ki 8:37  When there is famine in the land; when there is pestilence, blasting, mildew, locusts; when there is the stripping locust; when its enemy has distressed it in the land in its gates; any plague, any sickness, 

1Ki 8:38  any prayer, any supplication that shall come from any man of all of Your people Israel, who shall each know the plague of his own heart, and shall spread his hands toward this house, 

1Ki 8:39  then You shall hear in Heaven Your dwellingplace and shall forgive and shall act, and shall give to each according to all his ways, whose heart You know (for You have known, You alone, the heart of all the sons of Adam), 

1Ki 8:40  so that they shall fear You all the days that they are living on the face of the land that You have given to our fathers. 

1Ki 8:41  And also, to the alien who is not of Your people Israel, and has come from a land afar off for Your name's sake, 

1Ki 8:42  (for they shall hear of Your great name, and of Your strong hand, and of Your stretched out arm, and he shall have come in and prayed toward this house,) 

1Ki 8:43  You shall hear in Heaven, Your dwellingplace, and shall do according to all that the stranger calls to You for, so that all the peoples of the earth may know Your name, to fear You like Your people Israel, and to know that Your name has been called on this house which I have built. 

1Ki 8:44  If Your people shall go out to battle against its enemy, in the way that You have sent them, and they have prayed to Jehovah the way of the city which You have chosen, and of the house which I have built for Your name, 

1Ki 8:45  then hear their prayer and their supplication in Heaven, and perform their cause. 

1Ki 8:46  When they sin against You (for there is not a man who does not sin) and You have been angry with them, and have given them up before an enemy, and they have been led away into captivity to the land of the enemy, far off or near; 

1Ki 8:47  and they have turned their heart back in the land where they have been taken captive, and have repented, and made supplication to You in the land of their captors, saying, We have sinned and done perversely; we have done wickedly; 

1Ki 8:48  and, they have turned back to You with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their enemies who have taken them captive, and have prayed to You the way of their land which You gave to their fathers, the city which You have chosen, and the house which I have built for Your name, 

1Ki 8:49  then You shall hear their prayer and their supplication in Heaven Your dwellingplace, and shall perform their cause, 

1Ki 8:50  and shall forgive Your people who have sinned against You, even all their transgressions which they have transgressed against You, and shall give them mercy before their captors, and they shall have mercy on them. 

1Ki 8:51  For they are Your people and Your inheritance, whom You brought out of Egypt, out of the midst of the furnace of iron; 

1Ki 8:52  for Your eyes shall be open to the supplication of Your servant, and to the supplication of Your people Israel, to listen to them in all that they call to You for; 

1Ki 8:53  for You have separated them to Yourself for an inheritance out of all the peoples of the earth, as You spoke by the hand of Your servant Moses when You brought out our fathers from Egypt, O Lord Jehovah. 

1Ki 8:54  And it happened as Solomon finished praying to Jehovah all this prayer and supplication, he arose from before the altar of Jehovah, from bending on his knees, and his hands spread out to Heaven; 

1Ki 8:55  and he stood and blessed all the congregation of Israel with a loud voice, saying, 

1Ki 8:56  Blessed be Jehovah who has given rest to His people Israel, according to all that He has spoken; not one word of all His good Word has fallen, which He spoke by the hand of His servant Moses. 

1Ki 8:57  Jehovah our God is with us as He has been with our fathers; He shall not forsake us or leave us, 

1Ki 8:58  to incline our heart to Himself, to walk in all His ways, and to keep His commands, and His statutes, and His judgments, which He commanded our fathers; 

1Ki 8:59  and these words of mine which I have prayed before Jehovah be near to Jehovah our God by day and by night, to perform the cause of His servant, and the cause of His people Israel, the matter of each day in its day; 

1Ki 8:60  for all the peoples of the earth know that Jehovah, He is God; there is no other; 

1Ki 8:61  let your heart therefore be perfect with Jehovah our God, to walk in His statutes, and to keep His commandments, as at this day. 

1Ki 8:62  And the king and all Israel with him were offering a sacrifice before Jehovah; 

1Ki 8:63  and Solomon offered the sacrifice of peace offerings, which he had offered to Jehovah: twenty two thousand oxen, and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep; and the king and all the sons of Israel dedicated the house of Jehovah. 

1Ki 8:64  On that day the king sanctified the middle of the court that was before the house of Jehovah, for he had made the burnt offering there, and the food offering, and the fat of the peace offerings; because the bronze altar that was before Jehovah was too small to contain the burnt offering, and the food offering, and the fat of the peace offerings. 

1Ki 8:65  And at that time Solomon made a feast, and all Israel with him, a great congregation, from the entering in of Hamath to the river of Egypt, before Jehovah our God, seven days and seven days, fourteen days. 

1Ki 8:66  On the eighth day he sent the people away, and they blessed the king, and went to their tents rejoicing and joyous of heart for all the good that Jehovah had done to His servant David, and to His people Israel. 

Summary: Verses 1-13

The ark is brought to the temple and placed. All Israel is there together.

6. Compare verse 9 with 21. This will give you a definition of the "covenant." This is important when studying with the 7th day Adventists who deny that the covenant God made with Israel included the ten commandments.  Compare Hebrews 8:6-13:

Verse 21 confirms the tablets (10 commandments) are certainly part of the covenant. 

Hebrews eight confirms that the law of Moses was simply a model and not the final covenant God would make with mankind. Jesus is the catalyst/fulfilment of that new covenant.

7. What else had been in the ark in the early days? Manna (God provides).  Aaron's rod (God leads/disciplines) . 

Verses 14-21 Summary:

Solomon blesses all Israel, then recounts God's word (promises) with David. Solomon dedicates the temple to God.

Verses 22-53 Summary:

20-26: Solomon's prayer begins by glorifying God

27-30: He understands God does not live on the earth, but God will SEE, LISTEN and RESPOND with FORGIVENESS

31-32: God will judge whether good or evil

33-34: God will forgive the contrite heart of the people who are overrun by the enemy because of their sin.

35-36: God will return the rain after forgiving the sin of the people.

37-39: God will bring pestilence upon Israel for sin, but will forgive them when they repent.

40-43: Even the foreigner will know God

44-50: Sin will lead Israel into captivity. God will soften the captors after Israel returns to God.

51-53: Israel is God's inheritance, separated out from the rest of the world.

8. In Acts 7 Stephen used verse 27 to correct a common Jewish misconception about the temple. What was that misconception? Not sure what this referenced. Later in the chapter Stephen recounts David's ask to God to build the temple, but it was Solomon that builds it. THEN he states that God "does not dwell in temples made by hand"

Note that Solomon in the LITV references FORGIVENESS no less than 5x.

How is repentance evidenced in way only God can know?

Verses 54-66 Summary:

54-60: Solomon blesses Israel and glorifies God

61-66: Solomon finishes the temple dedication, sends the people home rejoicing. 

CHAPTER SEVEN

 1Ki 7:1  And Solomon built his own house for thirteen years. And he finished all his house. 

1Ki 7:2  And he built the house of the forest of Lebanon. Its length was a hundred cubits, and its breadth fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits on four rows of cedar pillars, and cedar beams on the pillars. 

1Ki 7:3  And it was covered with cedar above, on the sides that lay on forty-five pillars, fifteen in a row. 

1Ki 7:4  And windows were in three rows, and light was against light in three rows. 

1Ki 7:5  And all the doors and the side posts were square along with the windows; and the front of a window was against a window in three rows. 

1Ki 7:6  And he made the porch of the pillars, its length fifty cubits, and its breadth thirty cubits. And the porch was before them; and the pillars and the roof were over them. 

1Ki 7:7  And he made the porch of the throne where he judged, the porch of judgment. And it was covered with cedar from floor to floor. 

1Ki 7:8  As to his house where he lived, the other court was within the porch, as this work was. Solomon also made a house for Pharaoh's daughter whom he had taken, like this porch. 

1Ki 7:9  And these were of costly stones according to the measures of hewn stones, sawed with a saw, inside and out, even from the foundation to the coping, and from the outside, to the great court. 

1Ki 7:10  And the foundation was of costly stones, huge stones, stones of ten cubits and stones of eight cubits. 

1Ki 7:11  And above were costly stones, according to the measures of hewn stone and cedar. 

1Ki 7:12  And the great court all around was three rows of hewn stone and a row of cedar beams, even for the inner court of the house of Jehovah, and for the porch of the house. 

The Temple Furnishings

1Ki 7:13  And King Solomon sent and brought Hiram out of Tyre. 

1Ki 7:14  He was the son of a widow woman of the tribe of Naphtali, and his father a man of Tyre, an engraver in bronze. And he was filled with the wisdom and understanding and knowledge to do all work in bronze. And he came to King Solomon and did all his work. 

1Ki 7:15  And he formed the two pillars of bronze; eighteen cubits was the height of the one pillar, and a line of twelve cubits went around the second pillar. 

1Ki 7:16  And he made two capitals to put on the tops of the pillars, cast in bronze; five cubits was the height of the one capital, and five cubits the height of the second capital. 

1Ki 7:17  He made gratings of network with twisted threads of chain-work, for the capitals on the top of the pillars; seven for the one capital, and seven for the other capital. 

1Ki 7:18  And he made the pillars. And two rows were all around on the one grating, to cover the capitals on the top with the pomegranates. And so he did for the other capital. 

1Ki 7:19  And the capitals on the top of the pillars in the porch were lily-work, four cubits. 

1Ki 7:20  And the capitals were on the two pillars, also above, over against the belly which was by the grating; and the pomegranates were two hundred in rows all around on the other capital. 

1Ki 7:21  And he set up the pillars in the porch of the temple. And he set up the right pillar and called its name Jachin. And he set up the left pillar, and called its name of Boaz. 

1Ki 7:22  And on the top of the pillars was lily-work. So the work of the pillars was finished. 

1Ki 7:23  And he made a casted sea of ten cubits from brim to brim; it was round all about. And its height was five cubits; and a line of thirty cubits went around it all about. 

1Ki 7:24  And gourds were below its brim all around, going around it, ten by the cubit, circling the sea all around; the gourds were cast in two rows when it was cast. 

1Ki 7:25  It stood on twelve oxen: three facing the north, and three facing the west, and three facing the south, and three facing the east. And the sea was above on them; and all their hinder parts were inward. 

1Ki 7:26  And its thickness was one hand wide; and its brim was fashioned like the brim of a cup, with a bud of a lily. It contained two thousand baths. 

1Ki 7:27  And he made ten bases of bronze; four cubits the length of the one base, and four cubits the breadth, and three cubits the height. 

1Ki 7:28  And this was the work of the base: they had borders; and there were borders between the stays. 

1Ki 7:29  And on the borders that were between the stays were lions, oxen, and cherubs. And a pedestal was on the stays above. And below the lions and oxen were wreaths of hanging work. 

1Ki 7:30  And the one base had four wheels of bronze, and axles of bronze. And its four feet were supports to them; under the basin were casted supports with wreaths at each side. 

1Ki 7:31  And its mouth within and above the capital was a cubit; and its mouth was round like the work of a pedestal, a cubit and half of the cubit. And also on its mouth were carvings; and their borders were square, not round. 

1Ki 7:32  And the four wheels were under the borders. And the hands of the wheels were in the base; and the height of the one wheel was a cubit and a half. 

1Ki 7:33  And the work of the wheels was as the work of a chariot wheel, their hands, and their rims, and their spokes, and their hubs were all casted. 

1Ki 7:34  And there were four supports to the four corners of one base; the supports were of the base itself. 

1Ki 7:35  And in the top of the base was a round compass of half a cubit high. And on the top of the base its sides and its borders were from it. 

1Ki 7:36  And he engraved cherubs, lions, and palm trees on the plates of its sides, and on its borders, as the place of each, with wreaths all around. 

1Ki 7:37  So he made the ten bases, one casting, one measure, one form was to them all. 

1Ki 7:38  And he made ten basins of bronze; the one basin contained forty baths. The one basin was four cubits, one basin on the one base, to the ten bases. 

1Ki 7:39  And he put the five bases on the right side of the house, and five on the left side of the house. And he put the sea on the right side of the house, eastward, across from the south. 

1Ki 7:40  And Hiram made the basins, and the shovels, and the bowls. And Hiram finished all the work that he made for King Solomon for the house of Jehovah: 

1Ki 7:41  two pillars, and two bowls of the capitals that were on the top of the pillars; and the two gratings to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the top of the pillars; 

1Ki 7:42  and the four hundred pomegranates for the two gratings, two rows of pomegranates for each grating, to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the pillars; 

1Ki 7:43  and ten bases, and ten basins on the bases; 

1Ki 7:44  and one sea, and twelve oxen under the sea; 

1Ki 7:45  and the pots, and the shovels, and the basins. And all these vessels which Hiram made for King Solomon for the house of Jehovah were of burnished bronze. 

1Ki 7:46  The king cast them in the plain of the Jordan, in the thick soil of the ground between Succoth and Zarethan. 

1Ki 7:47  And Solomon left all the vessels unweighed because they were very, very many; the weight of the bronze was not searched out. 

1Ki 7:48  And Solomon made all the vessels that were in the house of Jehovah: the altar of gold; and the table of gold on which was the Bread of the Presence; 

1Ki 7:49  and the lampstands, five on the right and five on the left before the Holy of Holies, of refined gold, and the flowers, and the lamps, and the tongs were of gold; 

1Ki 7:50  and the basins, and the snuffers, and the bowls, and the spoons, and the firepans were of refined gold; and the hinges for the doors of the inner house, for the Holy of Holies, for the doors of the house of the temple were of gold. 

1Ki 7:51  And it was complete, all the work that King Solomon had made for the house of Jehovah. And Solomon brought in the sanctified things of his father David: the silver, and the gold, and the vessels he had put into the treasuries of the house of Jehovah. 

Summary: Solomon builds his house. The temple furnishings receive special craftsmanship attention.

Notes: 

1. (13) The Hiram who crafted the temple implements was not the king.

2. (21) Names of Pillars - Jachin=He will establish, Boaz - (Ancestor of David) - was this a tribute to his father?

3. Visual significance of imagery: 

   (20) pomegranates- Hebrew root word means "to rise"

   (22) lily - root word means "cheerful"

   (24) gourds - "to burst" split with seeds - to represent plenty?

   (25) oxen - "to plow"  to represent strength/prosperity/hope?

   (29) lions - "to pluck (in a violent sense) - to represent superiority?

   (29) cherub - "imaginary figure" - rule over the unknown (spiritual) worlds?

   (36) palm trees - "a palm like pilaster (that is, umbellate)" - palms were associated with fruit, shade                oasis - (pilaster is an architectural term, usually a fascia covering of vertical structural supports)

4. The stones math: if an 8 cubit stone were 12’x12’x12’ cut limestone then:

    Limestone = 150lbs per 1 cubic foot

    12’x12’ square cube = 12x12x12x150/lbs= 259,200 lbs

   12’x15’ rectangle cube = 12x15x12x150/lbs= 324,000 lbs

Does God really care too much about all this? God does not dwell in a house made by hands! (Acts)

How do we reconcile God's no "graven image" law with all this imagery? "Graven images" are themselves objects to be worshiped. The Jewish custom became such that creation of some of this would be prohibited for personal use...i.e cherubs etc. Anything that may be associated with any idolatry was prohibited.

 

What do we learn from this? This is a period of secular nation building for Israel and God is simply allowing it. That is all. The bigger lessons will come.

CHAPTER SIX

 1Ki 6:1  And it happened in the four hundred and eightieth year from the going out of the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt, in the fourth year, in the month of Zif, it is the second month, in the reigning of Solomon over Israel he built the house for Jehovah. 

1Ki 6:2  As to the house that King Solomon built for Jehovah, its length was sixty cubits, its breadth twenty, and its height thirty cubits. 

1Ki 6:3  As to the porch on the front of the temple of the house, its length was twenty cubits according to the breadth of the house; its breadth on the front of the house was ten cubits. 

1Ki 6:4  And he made windows of narrowing frames for the house. 

1Ki 6:5  And he built a side-structure on the wall of the house all around, against the walls of the house all around; to the temple and to the sanctuary. And he made side sections all around. 

1Ki 6:6  The lowest side-structure was five cubits wide; and the middle was six cubits wide; and the third story side-structure was seven cubits wide. For outside of the house he made narrowed ledges for the house all around, so as not to lay hold of the walls of the house. 

1Ki 6:7  And when it was being built, the house was built of finished stone made ready beforehand. And there was not heard in the house a hammer or an axe, or any iron tool, while it was being built. 

1Ki 6:8  The door for the middle side section was in the right side of the house. And they went up with winding stairs into the middle one; and from the middle one into the third. 

1Ki 6:9  And he built the house and finished it, and covered the house with beams and rows of cedars. 

1Ki 6:10  And he built the side-stories on all the house, each five cubits in height; and they held to the house with cedar wood. 

1Ki 6:11  And the Word of Jehovah came to Solomon, saying, 

1Ki 6:12  As to this house that you are building, if you shall walk in My statutes, and shall do My judgments, and shall do all My commandments, to walk in them, then I shall lift up My word with you which I spoke to your father David. 

1Ki 6:13  And I shall dwell in the midst of the sons of Israel, and shall not forsake My people Israel. 

1Ki 6:14  And Solomon built the house, and finished it. 

1Ki 6:15  And he built the walls of the house inside with beams of cedar, from the floor of the house to the walls of the ceiling. He overlaid the inside with wood, and covered the floor of the house with boards of fir. 

1Ki 6:16  And he built the twenty cubits on the back part of the house with boards of cedar, from the floor to the walls. And he built for it inside, for the sanctuary, for the Holy of Holies. 

1Ki 6:17  And the house was forty cubits, that is, the temple before it. 

1Ki 6:18  And the cedar for the house inside was with carvings of gourds and flowers spread out; the whole was cedar; not a stone was seen. 

1Ki 6:19  And he prepared the Holy of Holies in the midst of the house, to place the ark of the covenant of Jehovah there. 

1Ki 6:20  And the face of the Holy of Holies was twenty cubits in length, and twenty cubits in height. And he overlaid it with refined gold, and overlaid the altar with cedar. 

1Ki 6:21  And Solomon overlaid the house inside with refined gold, and caused it to pass over in chains of gold to the face of the Holy of Holies, and overlaid it with gold. 

1Ki 6:22  And he overlaid all of the house with gold, until all of the house was complete. And he overlaid with gold all of the altar that belonged to the Holy of Holies. 

1Ki 6:23  And inside the Holy of Holies he made two cherubs of the olive tree; their height was ten cubits. 

1Ki 6:24  And one wing of the cherub was five cubits; and the second wing of the cherub five cubits; ten cubits from the ends of its wings even to the ends of its wings. 

1Ki 6:25  And the second cherub was ten cubits; one measure and one form to the two cherubs. 

1Ki 6:26  The height of the one cherub was ten cubits, and so was the second cherub. 

1Ki 6:27  And he set the cherubs in the middle of the inner house. And they spread out the wings of the cherubs. And the wing of the one touched the wall; and the wing of the second touched the second wall; and their wings were to the middle of the house, coming wing against wing. 

1Ki 6:28  And he overlaid the cherubs with gold. 

1Ki 6:29  And all the walls of the house all around he carved with figures of cherubs and palm trees, and spread out flowers inside and out. 

1Ki 6:30  And he overlaid the floor of the house with gold, inside and out. 

1Ki 6:31  As to the entrance of the Holy of Holies, he made doors of the olive tree; the lintel, the side posts, being a fifty part. 

1Ki 6:32  And the two doors were of olive wood. And he carved on them carvings of cherubs, and palm trees, and spread out flowers; and he overlaid them with gold. And he caused the gold to go down on the cherubs and on the palm trees. 

1Ki 6:33  So also he made side posts for the entrance of the temple from the olive tree, a fourth part. 

1Ki 6:34  And the two doors were of fir wood; the two sides of the one door were folding, and the two leaves of the other door were folding. 

1Ki 6:35  And he carved cherubs, and palm trees, and spread out flowers, and overlaid them with gold fitted on the carved work. 

1Ki 6:36  And he built the inner court, three rows of hewn stone, and a row of cedar beams. 

1Ki 6:37  The house of Jehovah was founded in the fourth year, in the month of Zif. 

1Ki 6:38  And in the eleventh year, in the month Bul, the eighth month, the house was finished as to all its parts, and according to all its plans. So he built it for seven years. 

Summary:
The temple is built over a seven year span. Again, God reiterates His covenant with Solomon as in chapter three. 

CONTINGENCIES of the covenant: (For Solomon, or for all Israel?) 

"Walk in my statutes" - chûqqâh  - enactment, appointed, custom, manner, ordinance, site, statute.

"Do My Judgments" - mishpâṭ - properly a verdict (favorable or unfavorable) pronounced judicially

"Do all my commandments" - mitsvâh - a command, whether human or divine (collectively the Law)

BLESSING:

" I shall dwell in the midst of the sons of Israel, and shall not forsake My people Israel."

Describe the weight of responsibility on the king when we consider this.

Considering all of the effort and wealth that goes into the temple. What is God telling Solomon He wants? What does He always want....even now?

5. Chapter six begins 480 years after Israel had escaped Egypt. This being so, approximately what year is it at the beginning of Solomon's reign? +- 1000 BC