Scripture Daily

Context No. 1050 of 4322 · 1 Kings

Context · Reflection

1 Kings 6:29-38: in context

29He carved all the walls of the house around with carved figures of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, inside and outside. 30He overlaid the floor of the house with gold, inside and outside. 31For the entrance of the inner sanctuary, he made doors of olive wood. The lintel and door posts were a fifth part of the wall. 32So he made two doors of olive wood; and he carved on them carvings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, and overlaid them with gold. He spread the gold on the cherubim and on the palm trees. 33He also made the entrance of the temple door posts of olive wood, out of a fourth part of the wall, 34and two doors of cypress wood. The two leaves of the one door were folding, and the two leaves of the other door were folding. 35He carved cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers; and he overlaid them with gold fitted on the engraved work. 36He built the inner court with three courses of cut stone and a course of cedar beams. 37The foundation of the LORD’s house was laid in the fourth year, in the month Ziv. 38In the eleventh year, in the month Bul, which is the eighth month, the house was finished throughout all its parts and according to all its specifications. So he spent seven years building it.

The building of Solomon's temple is described in loving detail. He carved all the walls, inside and out, with cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, and overlaid the whole thing with gold, even the floor. The doors of the inner sanctuary, made of olive wood, were carved with the same figures and covered in gold. The passage ends with the timeline: the foundation was laid in one month of one year, and the house was finished, complete in every detail, seven years later.

Two things stand out about how the house of God was built. First, the sheer beauty and care. Every wall carved with cherubim and palm trees and flowers, gold overlaid on everything, even the floor, even the carvings that would be in the inner sanctuary where almost no one would ever go. The most sacred, least-seen room got the same careful, beautiful work as the rest, because it was for God, not for an audience. Beauty offered to God is not wasted even when no human eye will admire it; the hidden carvings in the holy place were as lovingly made as the visible ones. Second, it took seven years, patient, sustained, unglamorous labor over years to complete a work God had commissioned. The house was not thrown up quickly; it was built slowly and finished completely, according to all its specifications. There is a lesson in both, that work done for God deserves both beauty and patience, offered carefully whether or not anyone sees it, and carried through to completion over the long haul rather than abandoned when the initial enthusiasm fades.

Do I offer my careful best to God even in the hidden places no one will see, and do I have the patience to carry a work he has given me all the way to completion over years?

Sources