June 12: 1 Kings 7, 2 Chronicles 4

June 12, 1 Kings 7, 2 Chronicles 4

1 Kings 7 is the narrative of Solomon building his palace and the finishing of the temple interiors. 

The author points out a few things in the building of Solomon’s temple in comparison to the building of the House of the Lord:

-   It took almost twice as long to build.

-   Solomon’s palace was much larger than the House of the Lord

A basic depiction of comparison of Solomon's Palace vs God's Temple

-   Solomon’s palace was finished with so much cedar (expensive back then) they named it after the forest it came from.

All of these things to show that Solomon was more concerned about his own house than that of the Lord.

The author then goes back to discussing the interior finishing of the temple. King Solomon brought in Hiram, who was an incredible worker of bronze. Hiram made all the finishings for the temple that was asked of him out of bronze. From the pillars to the capitals, basins and the list goes on. Solomon is given credit for making some of the golden articles. Finally, in verse 51 the House of the Lord is finished.

2 Chronicles 4 is not much different than that of 1 Kings 7, except the Chronicler does not digress from the temple building with the story of Solomon building his own house. 

To sum it all up:

• When you are ‘doing’ things for the Lord, are you giving yourself and doing for yourself twice as much? Looking at the example of Solomon, what he did for God was extraordinary - never been done before - commendable. That is of course, until you compare what he did for God compared to what he did for himself. It shows priorities to me. Take a look at your own life… what do your priorities reflect? Is God getting your left-overs?