Solomon Builds the Temple

1 Kings 6:1-10

In the four hundred and eightieth year after the Israelites came 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.

The temple that King Solomon built for the Lord was sixty cubits long, twenty wide and thirty high. (about 90 feet long, 30 feet wide and 45 feet high or about 27 meters long, 9 meters wide and 14 meters high)

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. He made narrow windows high up in the temple walls. Against the walls of the main hall and inner sanctuary, he built a structure around the building, in which there were side rooms. 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.

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.

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. So he built the temple and completed it, roofing it with beams and cedar planks. 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.

In size, the Temple was a chapel rather than a cathedral. It was intended as a house for God, not a building to hold vast gatherings of people. The climate allowed the people to gather outdoors in the courtyards around the building at festival times. It measured about 27x9x13 m, divided into two sections, with part of the inner section curtained off to form the sanctuary. In front was a 4.5mx9m entrance porch, and along the sides were store-rooms.

Why?

Finally, Solomon built the Temple for the Lord. After four hundred and eighty years after Israelites came out of Egypt.

It is according to the word of the Lord, that the Temple was built.

No hammer, chisel, or other iron tool was heard at the temple site while it was being built. For the Lord is holy, so everything in this Temple has to be with peace and love.

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建殿工程中沒有敲打石器、鐵路、木頭的聲音，只有組合！

聖殿的宏偉，不在乎大小，而在於神的榮耀，神的同在！天地都不足以成為神的殿！

內殿是至聖所，外殿是聖殿，旁屋廂房是祭司及利未人宿舍，吃祭物的地方，儲藏東西的地方，神為祭司及利未人的需要而設立。

聖殿從建造開始一直是肅靜、莊嚴、祥和氣氛的場所，這也代表神同在，代表耶穌基督，神與人同在、神與人和好。聖殿只是象徵神與人同在，當神與人和好時，人願意敬畏神，聖殿已經完成。因此在建造時，就像已經建造好一樣。同樣教會在建造時，就要有教會成熟時的樣式，例如宣教不是教會聚會穩定後才開始宣教！同樣從小開始就有主日學！

聖經從來沒有說神看內心，不看外表，神看內心也看外表。我們不能說我內心很好，強調外表不重要。只是內心比外表重要。人因為看不到人內心，所以神會對重視外表忽視內心的人說的。

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How?

The Lord gave us the symbol of Temple in this world, but more important is the grace and the love has given to us. What we can do is to be a good witness of this love and wisdom among people.