Solomon's Temple

Solomon's Temple

Possibly one of the most beautiful buildings ever built by man. It took about seven years to build and was done by the most skilled laborers of its day. Solomon himself was a master architect and built several other things that can be read about in the Bible. Archaeology has uncovered many of his works, but because of the complete destruction of Jerusalem and the modern day stipulations on the Temple Mount there is not much information available to archaeologists. In the building it is very interesting that all the work was done off site of the Temple Mount. It was to be completely silent there. Also there was to be no tool of iron on the Mount. We also read that the cedar was floated down to Israel on rafts. This is interesting to see that is was a much easier route of transportation than having to transport them all by land. 

The Glory of the Temple

The Temple was definitely a magnificent place, one which the Jews for centuries would look to with pride. The Bible gives a description of what the Temple looked like in I Kings 6. Here the reader is told that the walls were covered with gold. Even the floors were given a layer of gold. It sat on top of Mount Moriah, where centuries earlier Abraham nearly offered his only son Isaac on an alter of stone. It was visible for miles around. David, long before the building of the temple gathered together all the materials that would be necessary for the temple. In II Chronicles we are given a list of things that were brought to the Temple. There were 8,000 talents of gold, 17,000 talents of silver, 18,000 talents of brass, 100,000 talents of iron. This is not including the list given just a few verses before that. The list includes: gold, silver, brass, iron, wood, onyx stones, glistering stones, precious stones, and marble stones. The wood, as mentioned earlier, was brought down by boat to Israel, then brought inland from there. The tally of wealth in today's dollar of just the gold and silver is a staggering 153,984,000,000. This is not including any of the other materials. 

Dimensions of the Temple

Solomon's Temple was not very large. The temple was approximately 90 feet long by 30 feet wide and 45 feet tall. This in and of itself means very little. However, if you were to compare it to a  NBA basketball court, the temple would be four feet shorter on the length and 20 feet shorter on the width. An NBA basketball court is 94 feet by 50 feet. Total, the Temple had 2,700 square feet of floor area in the actual building.

What was in the Temple?
In I Kings 7:51 the Bible mentions the treasures of the house of the Lord. What were these treasures? These were the instruments that David had sanctified for use in the Temple. They were cups and other utensils that were used every day in the Temple. Many today wonder where it all got to. In Daniel 1:2 we read that, "part of the vessels of the house of God" were carried away by Nebuchadnezzar after he destroyed the city of Jerusalem. We also know that these same golden vessels were used by Belshazzar at his wicked feast. After the desecration of these vessels God wrote on the wall the destruction of Babylon, which happened later that night.
Solomon's Temple in the Bible
This Temple is mentioned many times in the Bible, here are just a few references. 
I Kings 6
I Kings 7:12-51
II Kings 18:6
I Chronicles 29