Day 26 ~ Temple is built; Solomon gives in to the ladies

I spent a good part of the day at the Earth Festival in Atlanta with my daughter and it was nice to visit, even for a short while, with my Uncle Larry and Aunt Mary, Uncle Jim & Aunt Vonne Ann, my cousin Donna and her husband Randy and their son Michael. Uncle Larry showed Grace the very trick I talked about way back in Leviticus where you make it look like one arm shrinks. He also kept popping out his false teeth, and she kept sticking out her lower jaw trying to replicate the trick. I ate way too much and I have heartburn. I'll admit I'm tempted to say "I read it", it was about Solomon, the new temple, a glorious compound for himself, the queen of Sheba, and 700 wives, but I'll add a few (ha) points. This section hits on much that can be used in the field of archaeology, which is interesting to me.

• 4:7 - Ben-Hur - is this the guy from the book and the movie, or was that just fiction?
• Solomon breaks up the nation into 12 provinces with governors. Why didn't he break them up by tribes? Each province is assigned one month to supply materials to the king.
• 5:6 - when you want the best job done, go to the experts.
• Chapter 6 - 480 years after the exodus is when Solomon started the temple, in the fourth year of his reign. This has to be a solid point in the pretzel timeline of old testament events. It took seven years to build the temple.

All this discussion of the temple that Solomon built takes me back nearly ten years ago to our trip to the Holy Land and the temple mount. Solomon's temple was destroyed and it had been rebuilt in the time of Jesus, but the "wailing wall" is believed to be the stone base of the temple mount that was described as being built by Solomon. There is a large area (near/under?) the temple mount that was believed to be one of Solomon's stables (10:26). http://www.templemount.org/solstables.html

I did a few searches for some artists rendition that is matching the picture in my minds eye of how the temple is described, and this one seems to fit - the windows, the big bronze pillars, the huge altar and laver of water, the shape, the height: http://www.crystalinks.com/solomonstemple.html. http://www.templemount.org/badillo/Temple-A.pdf This temple will last less than 100 years before it is destroyed.

What about this series of buildings that Solomon has built for himself that take 13 years to build? They must have been something else. I do have to admit that carved wood covered with gold all over is a bit much for my decorating taste, but God must like gold covered stuff. At least Solomon thought God did, and when the temple was done, a cloud of God's glory entered in to the holy of holies. The holy of holies was 20 cubits square, and inside it were two huge cherubim

• whose wings touch each other in the middle of the room and also touch each wall. The cherubim were 10 cubits high and wide each. Remember that Goliath was 6 cubits high, and this is translated as about 9 feet tall.
• 7:41-43 - foreigners welcome to come to Jerusalem and worship God. A foreshadowing of the salvation that will be open to the non-Jews in the new testament?
• 8:46 - there is no one who does not sin
• Chapter 9 - if Hiram doesn't like the cities that Solomon gives him (presumably as payment for his work and supplies?), then why does he send Solomon a bunch of gold.
• The wall of Jerusalem is built during all this time.
• Archaeology is so important to proving the truth of the Bible. Take verse 9:15, and a reference to building at Gezer. Just one short sentence that many would gloss over. Now look at this site: http://www.kingsolomonsgate.com/
• A few things about the temple mount. First, the city of David was not within the walls that now surround the old city of Jerusalem. Apparently the inner walls of the city (which have been expanded a few times) were built during Solomon's reign (9:15).
• What is a Millo?

Here are a few things of interest about the the holy land:

• if they say it's a mountain, it's a hill; if it is called a sea, it's a lake (the sea of Galilee is 7 miles long - so is Morse); if they call it a river, it's a creek. There is a valley between the mount of olives and the temple mount, but you could walk between the two places (through a cemetary and a bunch of rubble).
• The old city of Jerusalem has not only been expanded north, south, east and west for a few thousand years, but it has been built layer upon layer from the rubble of destruction. Near the temple mount, there are literally four or five layers of the city.
• Discovery of the old city of David has only been unearthed just in the last century or so, the possible location of David's palace within my lifetime. It was outside the walls of the city that was built by Solomon. http://www.huc.edu/de/arubin/images/solomons_temple.gif
• Here is a good site for a quick overview with pictures: http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vie/Jerusalem2.html#Temple
• Some religions have made it convenient to visit the historical parts of the city and created a neat little package of sites and deemed them the real deal, but I'm not buying it - like the stations of the cross. How could they possibly know the spots were Jesus fell when he carried the cross. Some of them could be authentic, but most of them simply can't be. Everywhere you go, things are passed off as the actual Biblical site, like the tree where Jesus prayed in Gethsamane, which is only maybe 1000 years old, but some claim that the tree is from the remains of one that Jesus would have prayed by - impossible to know, but good for tourist trade.
• One of the nicest public restrooms I've been in is by the wailing wall in Jerusalem.
• This makes me want to save up and go again.

Back to the text:

• I bet people would like to find Ophir - this place was a goldmine, literally! As well as valuable wood and gemstones. (9:28, 10:11)
• The Queen of Sheba comes to visit and is more than impressed (chapter 10)
• Solomon has too close a relationship with the former oppressors of the Hebrews - marries a wife from Egypt, and trades with the Egyptians (10:28)
• Chapter 11 - like father, like son, and both liked the ladies. Solomon loved the foreign ladies, and had wives from all over. 700 wives, and 300 concubines. I thought the man was wise!? As with David, these women were his downfall - he turned to their gods - he wasn't particular...chemosh, Molech, Ashtoreth...
• God's punishment for Solomon's idolatry really didn't hurt Solomon too much. He didn't have to pay the consequences, but his son would.
• The tribes would be split 10 to 2. Jeroboam would take the majority of the leadership of the country, but Rehoboam, Solomon's son, would hold a small portion. Not sure of the math here in 11:31-32 - 10 tribes + 1 tribe is 11, not 12.
• Solomon reigned 40 years. Rehoboam takes over. Get ready for a bumpy ride.