Temples In The Holy ScripturesSample

THE TEMPLE OF SOLOMAN

The temple of Solomon is also known as "the first temple".

The Scriptures provide a lot of detail regarding the construction of the temple by King Solomon in 1 Kings chapters 5-8 and 2 Chronicles chapters 3-7. 

The basic structure of the temple was the same as the Tabernacle of Moses, except that it was on a scale twice the size. Through his Spirit, the Lord gave the example and plan to King David which he then conveyed to his son Solomon (1 Chron. 28, 29).

It took seven years to complete the temple (1 Kings 6: 37, 38), and the ark of the covenant was placed in the Holy of Holies - not a new ark, but the same one that was in the Tabernacle of Moses.

Some of the most prominent aspects regarding the Temple of Solomon were:

• The temple of the Lord was built in Jerusalem, the city of the living God.
• The temple was built on Mount Moriah, where Abraham offered Isaac (Gen. 22).
• The temple was built on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah (2 Chron. 3:1). 
• The temple was built of stones that were completed in the quarry and then brought to the temple area (1 Kings 6:7).
• The temple was built using cedar and cypress wood, which was overlaid with gold (1 Kings 6).
• The temple's furnishings were the same as those in the tabernacle which Moses had built.
• The temple was built for the Name of the Lord, as was the case for the Tabernacle of Moses (1 Kings 8:18, 29, 41-43).
• The temple was dedicated to the Lord through blood offerings (1 Kings 8).
• The temple was consecrated through the presence and glory of the Lord, as was the case for the Tabernacle of Moses (1 Kings 8:9-11, Exod. 40:33-35).
• The ark of the covenant was kept in the Holy of Holies of the temple, and only the two stone tablets that Moses had received from God were kept in the ark (1 Kings 8:9).

Additional suggested readings are  2 Samuel 24 and 1 Chronicles 21.

Four hundred years later, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon demolished the temple and razed it to the ground. The Lord God allowed this because Israel was busy with idolatry and abominations in the temple (2 Kings 25:8-17; Jer. 7:1-14; Ezek. 8-10).