2 Chronicles 3
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Then Solomon began to build the house of the Lord at Jerusalem in mount Moriah, where the Lord appeared unto David his father, in the place that David had prepared in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite.
2 And he began to build in the second day of the second month, in the fourth year of his reign.
3 Now these are the things wherein Solomon was instructed for the building of the house of God. The length by cubits after the first measure was threescore cubits, and the breadth twenty cubits.
4 And the porch that was in the front of the house, the length of it was according to the breadth of the house, twenty cubits, and the height was an hundred and twenty: and he overlaid it within with pure gold.
5 And the greater house he cieled with fir tree, which he overlaid with fine gold, and set thereon palm trees and chains.
6 And he garnished the house with precious stones for beauty: and the gold was gold of Parvaim.
7 He overlaid also the house, the beams, the posts, and the walls thereof, and the doors thereof, with gold; and graved cherubims on the walls.
8 And he made the most holy house, the length whereof was according to the breadth of the house, twenty cubits, and the breadth thereof twenty cubits: and he overlaid it with fine gold, amounting to six hundred talents.
9 And the weight of the nails was fifty shekels of gold. And he overlaid the upper chambers with gold.
10 And in the most holy house he made two cherubims of image work, and overlaid them with gold.
11 And the wings of the cherubims were twenty cubits long: one wing of the one cherub was five cubits, reaching to the wall of the house: and the other wing was likewise five cubits, reaching to the wing of the other cherub.
12 And one wing of the other cherub was five cubits, reaching to the wall of the house: and the other wing was five cubits also, joining to the wing of the other cherub.
13 The wings of these cherubims spread themselves forth twenty cubits: and they stood on their feet, and their faces were inward.
14 And he made the vail of blue, and purple, and crimson, and fine linen, and wrought cherubims thereon.
15 Also he made before the house two pillars of thirty and five cubits high, and the chapiter that was on the top of each of them was five cubits.
16 And he made chains, as in the oracle, and put them on the heads of the pillars; and made an hundred pomegranates, and put them on the chains.
17 And he reared up the pillars before the temple, one on the right hand, and the other on the left; and called the name of that on the right hand Jachin, and the name of that on the left Boaz.
Public Domain KJV text from Wordproject.org
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Commentary
How exciting it is to start something new! “And Solomon began to build the house of the Lord.” This was originally the desire and dream of David. David prepared everything for the building of the temple (1 Chronicles 22). And not just what was needed, but abundantly more! Solomon covered everything with the gold David had collected. The whole temple shone!
As you read the passage, notice that the two cherubim are the focus of the description, with a big emphasis on the wings. In the Most Holy Place of 20* cubits length and 20 cubits breadth, the four wings cover 20 cubits! The wings are connected with the walls of the Most Holy Place and the wings are connected to each other. Verse 13 states: “And the wings of the cherubim extended across 20 cubits.” It seems that the wings are spread open as is written in Exodus 25:20: “The cherubim shall stretch their wings.”
In the middle of the throne of God there are two angels, not with weapons to protect, but with arms and wings open to receive you home to your Father’s side.
*20 cubits is equal to 30 feet or 9.444 meters
K. Lenart
Counselor, Amos Ministry, Austria
