Quiet Time~Oct. 28: Solomon's Temple

Today I read 1 Kings 4-5. No verses really stood out to me today, however, I was impressed by the building of the house of the Lord by Solomon. It was an enormous job that took 7 years. As I look at all the stuff that needs to be done in my own house, I get overwhelmed with it all. But reading about how Solomon organized the building of the Lord's house, gives me inspiration. He broke it down into smaller jobs and just started with what needed to be done first and worked until all the smaller jobs added up to the whole thing being completed. This is what I need to do with the things I need to accomplish. Break them down into smaller jobs and work until the whole job is finished. Oh, and I noticed too, that he got help with the work. I shouldn't try to accomplish all this stuff by my self. I should enlist the help of my family.

Something else I noticed. Solomon had cherubims, palm trees and open flowers carved on the wall and doors of the Lord's house. There are some religions today that claim they have temples built after the pattern of the temple that Solomon built, but they have occultic symbols carved or molded into the sides of their temples. They have things like pentagrams and sun gods carved on or in their temples.

I did a little research on the cherubims, palm trees and open flowers that Solomon had carved on the temple. Here is what I learned. This is from Ungers Bible Dictionary.

Cherubims: They were placed at the entrance to the Garden of Eden after Adam & Eve were expelled. There were golden cherubim placed on the cover of the ark of the covenant over looking the mercy seat where the blood for sin was sprinkled and they are mentioned in Rev. 4 where "they do not rest day or night, saying: "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!"" "They are evidently connected with vindicating the holiness of God against the presumptuous pride of fallen man... Upon the ark of the covenant they looked down upon the sprinkled blood which symbolizes the perfect maintenance of God's righteousness by the sacrifice of Christ."

Open Flowers: It is generally agreed that these flowers were lilies. Not the sort that we see at Easter, but a field flower that grew among the wheat had regal colors and stems which when dried, were used as fuel for the ovens. There were several species. Some grew among the corn and had stems which were suitable for light fuel. The bridegroom in Song of Solomon calls himself the lily of the valley. Jesus talks of the lilies in Matthew 6:28 "And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: 29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these."

I believe these flowers carved on the temple forshadowed the time when Jesus would come as the light of the world. Jesus being called the bridegroom in Revelation, looks back to the Song of Solomon and He could be called the lily of the valley. The lilies were also symbolic of God's care over His people.

Palm Tree: The palm tree was a welcomed sight to weary travelers because it always symbolized rest, shade and refreshment. Where palms grew it meant that there was water. "The palm is a figure of the righteous enjoying their deserved prosperity (Psalm 92:12)...Palm branches are a symbol of victory."