The Altar and Basins
4 He made a bronze altar 30 feet[a] long, 30 feet wide, and 15 feet[b] high.
Silver and gold were the compounds used by Solomon to cover the walls inside the temple. The closer we get to God the more solid things become. Gold exists, but gold does not lie around for people to simply step on it. The lesson we can learn about God and gold is, gold is used to measure the final outcome of what will last. Gold is solid. In order to get to what is solid, we must take steps from bronze to gold.
Bronze is the first step of the metallic table. When we come to God we must go through a process of being refined. The bronze altar is a must. At this altar, we admit we are wrong. The process of purifying our sins must be burned at the altar made of bronze. God hates sin. We will not enter into the presence of God with sin stains on us. There must be cleansing.
The measurements were not merely numbers. The measurements played a significant part in man's redemption to God.
2 Then he made the cast metal basin,[c] 15 feet from brim to brim, perfectly round. It was 7½ feet[d] high and 45 feet[e] in circumference.
Metal is a compound that has a lesser value than bronze. It is the first compound used when it will be used with fire.
3 The likeness of oxen was below it, completely encircling it, ten every half yard, completely surrounding the basin. The oxen were cast in two rows when the basin was cast.
There were details beneath the basin. All parts were designed by God. What we see and what we do not see. Excellence in every component. When God made us, he fashioned us with details. There is more to us than what can be seen. To put as much detail in what Solomon is describing here takes time to comprehend.
4 It stood on twelve oxen, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east. The basin was on top of them and all their hindquarters were toward the center.
The basin stood on top of 12 cows, arranged in a strategic order. Organized by 3's in groups of 4's. There were 12 tribes of Israel. Every tribe had to go through the process of being washed. God prepared a detailed basin or tub to make sure it was not just a pool of water. He specified what we had to be cleansed in or by.
5 The basin was three inches[h] thick, and its rim was fashioned like the brim of a cup or a lily blossom. It could hold eleven thousand gallons.[i]
The basin or tub was made with details. Although it was not made of gold, it was still planned by God. It had to be a thing of beauty. Even the process of being cleansed, from the filth and stains of sin, God made the process worth it. He wants us to know that all aspects of him are glorious. We are cleansed in a royal tub. This was no small basin. The priest would come in and be washed with the water from this basin. The priest was set aside to minister to God's people. Yet God is letting us know that this large basin of water was to make sure that those who ministered must be clean before they minister to others.
6 He made ten basins for washing and he put five on the right and five on the left. The parts of the burnt offering were rinsed in them, but the basin was used by the priests for washing.
10 other basins were made also. These basins were used to wash parts of the burnt offerings. The priest had to be clean and the offering being used had to be washed also. The problem with the world is we are not clean.
The Lampstands, Tables, and Courts
7 He made the ten gold lampstands according to their specifications and put them in the sanctuary, five on the right and five on the left.
Lampstands made of gold were placed in the sanctuary. The bronze altar at the door, the basin for washing, now the lampstand for guidance. God is good. God is organized. God is strategic in his planning. Everything about God is God.
8 He made ten tables and placed them in the sanctuary, five on the right and five on the left. He also made a hundred gold bowls.
When Moses gave instructions on how many lampstands and how many tables were to be placed in the tabernacle, the instructions included one of each. Solomon makes 10. God is a God that increases. My thoughts are, more people are realizing they need God's word and God has made provision for them to find him and he has prepared the necessary steps to bring them from sin to salvation. Although this is a shadow of things to come, it is good to know, God is prepared to save anybody all day long.
9 He made the courtyard of the priests and the large court, and doors for the court. He overlaid the doors with bronze.
There are two distinct areas identified as court yard. The court yard for the priest and the large court for Israel. There was a designated place for the use of the priest and a designated place for the people. When Jesus gave himself for the life of the priest and people he destroyed all division for separation. He labeled all who come to him as priest. The doors of the courtyard gave entrance into the temple. They were made of bronze. Bronze indicates that we recognize that we are people who need God and we enter as those who need forgiveness into the place of God who forgives and changes us from bronze to gold.
10 He put the basin on the right side, toward the southeast.11 Then Huram[j] made the pots, the shovels, and the bowls.
Huram reiterates how he set up Solomon's temple. He put the cleansing basin on the right side toward the southeast. Coming from the south indicating the lower area moving towards the east where the temple of God is, we will be moving in the right direction. When we move in the right direction we walk into the cleansing station where we will find the basin that allows us to be cleansed. Then all of the necessary tools needed for us to begin life are supplied for us to plant the word of God as seed. God wants to use the pot, shovel, and bowls. We take the seed from the pot and plant the seed with the shovel and ultimately eat from the bowl. Take the words of God, put it to work, and reap what has been sown.
Completion of the Bronze Furnishings
So Huram finished doing the work that he was doing for King Solomon in God’s temple:
Huram finished! What exciting words! Born to finish for the King! Whatever we were born to do it is our job to finish it. We must get our assignment from God and carry this assignment until it is complete. Then and only then will our purpose be fulfilled.
12 two pillars; the bowls and the capitals on top of the two pillars; the two gratings for covering both bowls of the capitals that were on top of the pillars; 13 the four hundred pomegranates for the two gratings (two rows of pomegranates for each grating covering both capitals’ bowls on top of the pillars).
The skilled craftsman king Hiram sent, Hurman, gives all the details he created in making the items made for Solomon's temple that he had built for our God. When we do anything that is to be presented to God or in God's honor, we must do as unto the Lord. From seen to the unseen of our craft, we should make sure it is fit for our King. Jesus from the mention of his name, walked carefully to fulfill the entire assignment in excellence. What Jesus did is how we are to carry out our assignment. We must work diligently to complete our assignment and do it right or do it over.
14 He also made the water carts[k]and the basins on the water carts. 15 The one basin and the twelve oxen underneath it,
This is the checklist of things completed. When we are given an assignment, we must complete what is assigned and make a checklist to indicate the job is completed.
16 the pots, the shovels, the forks, and all their utensils—Huram-abi[l] made them for King Solomon for the Lord’s temple. All these were made of polished bronze.
The bronze was polished. Bronze was used as a purifying part of God's plan for the priest to bring the people who had sinned into his presence. Even the bronze had to be made in excellence. God starts with excellence and he ends with even more excellence.
17 The king had them cast in clay molds in the Jordan Valley between Succoth and Zeredah.
Solomon had an assembly line for what was to be made for the temple. Designated areas were set up to create what was needed in the temple. Away from the temple, the noise was heard for the making of the things that will be used in the temple.
18 Solomon made all these utensils in such great abundance that the weight of the bronze was not determined.
Solomon used so much bronze until there is not a number for the weight of what he used to bring into the place God assigned to be a part of the temple. Jesus said I have so much space for so many people until it cannot be numbered by man. Jesus wants to save everybody!!!!! We come as sinners, burn by bronze presented to the father as gold.
Completion of the Gold Furnishings
19 Solomon also made all the equipment in God’s temple: the gold altar; the tables on which to put the Bread of the Presence; 20 the lampstands and their lamps of pure gold to burn in front of the inner sanctuary according to specifications;
This must have made Solomon feel good. All things are set in order. Everything he set out to do is accomplished. He counts every detail of what is to be prepared for the word of God.
21 the flowers, lamps, and gold tongs—of purest gold;
22 the wick trimmers, sprinkling basins, ladles,[m]and firepans—of purest gold; and the entryway to the temple, its inner doors to the most holy place, and the doors of the temple sanctuary—of gold.
Solomon counted the poles to the print embedded into the pole that will be in the temple of God. We are to submit everything when we come into the presence of God. We must weigh-in to make sure we not too heavy for the travel of the assignment. God's word is our scale of life. We must check in daily to get our feet washed so that we can move to the next destination assigned by God for the day!
Oh! how I love the Word of God! Lord help me to be good at the things you have assigned me. If I am not doing it right, help me to do it over. Brenda
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