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it looked, for no pictured representations of it have come down to us. In attempting to reconstruct it in imagination, we rely on the description in the book of Kings, and also upon "the temple1 of Ezekiel's vision." The temple was built of cedars of Lebanon and white limestone, which was almost like white marble. In shape it was rectangular, about one hundred feet2 in length, thirty-five in width, and fifty in height, inside It was divided into three parts, the porch, the outer room, or Holy Place, and the inner room, or Oracle, called the Holy of holies. These three rooms had flat roofs of different levels. Entrance to the temple was by means of the porch, through a great double door, on either side of which stood a hollow bronze pillar, about thirty-two feet high. The large outer room contained nothing but a table with the shew-bread and the golden candlesticks. By far the most important part of the temple was the Oracle, a mysterious chamber, cubical in shape, thirty-five feet each way, with no windows and no doors except the one leading from the outer room, over which a thick veil always hung. Other nations of antiquity always had in their temples images of their gods. It is a remarkable fact that the temple contained no image of Jehovah, an indication of a spiritual conception of Deity surprising in that rude age.

There was nothing in the Holy of holies except the ark and the two cherubim, one on each side of it, gigantic, semimythological figures, which guarded it

1 Ezekiel was a priest who was carried to Babylonia at the time of the exile. The temple had been destroyed, and Ezekiel's description does not purport to represent it just as it was. He gives, rather, his own idea of what the rebuilt temple should be. Yet, as he was perfectly familiar with Solomon's temple, his description is of value in the imaginary reconstruction of the building. See Ezekiel 40-43.

2 We do not know the exact dimensions of the temple because the length of a cubit is not certain. The estimates vary from 16 to 25.2 inches. The dimensions given here are based upon a cubit between 20 and 21 inches in length.

with outstretched wings reaching from wall to wall. This awesome room was the dwelling place of Jehovah. Thus did the Hebrew people receive the training which finally gave them the conception of God as a Spirit.

The walls of the temple were probably ten feet thick at the base (judging from Ezekiel), but narrowing toward the top. All around the building on the outside, except in front, were three tiers of small chambers, one above another, and entered only from the outside. These were used for priest's vestments and implements of sacrifice and for the storage of treasures. Above the chambers and protected by the overhanging roof were windows. The inner walls of the temple were lined with cedar and the floor was of cypress wood.

In front of the temple was the court, in which stood the great altar, cut out of the native rock; and the molten sea, an immense basin-shaped tank, holding sixteen thousand gallons of water, for use in purification. This basin rested on twelve brazen oxen, three facing each of the points of the compass. The water came by a conduit cut in the rock from a spring beneath. This conduit is still to be seen.

Though Solomon's temple was a splendid building in the eyes of his subjects whose ancestors had so short a time ago been desert wanderers, it was small and insignificant in comparison with some of the temples in existence at the time. (Compare it with the Egyptian temple of Karnak, for example.) The Phoenicians, Babylonians, Egyptians, and other nations had magnificent temples. It was not because of the richness. of their temple that the religion of the Hebrews outstripped all other religions, but because of the character attributed by them to their God, Jehovah. This had everything to do with shaping their own character.

Upon the completion of the temple the ark was formally transferred to it, and it was dedicated with great pomp. Solomon's fine hymn of dedication probably dates back to that impressive occasion, but the noble and beautiful prayer seems more in harmony with the ideals of a later day.

The significance of the temple for later times. -It was not Solomon's intention to build a temple which should be the central place of Hebrew worship. He intended it, rather, as a royal chapel, where he and his imposing court could worship in a manner in keeping with their dignity. In the light of history, however, we see that no other event of Solomon's reign or of the reigns of his two predecessors equaled in importance the building of the temple. The remarkable religious development of the race during the next four hundred years could not have taken place without the temple.

Not Sinai but Jerusalem was now thought of as the special dwelling place of Jehovah. The temple and priesthood became the strongest support of the Davidic dynasty and continued so until the city and temple were destroyed in the sixth century B. C. This blending of religion and patriotism added stability to the nation. In later times the temple (or its successor, the second temple) came to be loved with a passionate devotion that no other house of worship has ever inspired.

Solomon's legacy. Solomon was a strong man, and it would not be fair to say that his reign brought no good to his kingdom, though it probably would be just to say that it brought more evil than good. Cornill1 says of him, "Solomon was what one might almost call a cosmopolitan nature: he extended immensely the intellectual horizon of Israel, and opened his country 1 History of the People of Israel, p. 94.

in all directions to intercourse with the world.... Not only gold and ivory, sandalwood and peacocks came to Jerusalem, but also the art of the Phoenicians and Egyptians, the wisdom and the fairy lore of the East found their way into Israel, giving everywhere the most powerful impulses, and rousing to new life."

Nevertheless, he planted in the hearts of his people the seeds of discontent and is responsible for the breaking apart of the kingdom after his death. A rebellion occurred in the latter part of his reign, led by Jeroboam, a man of unusual ability whom Solomon had placed in charge of the forced labor (in Jerusalem) of his tribe, Ephraim. Jeroboam's revolt was instigated by the prophet, Ahijah, which probably indicates that the religious element of the kingdom was in sympathy with his attempt. The revolt failed, however, and Jeroboam fled to Egypt and remained there until Solomon's death, which occurred about B. C. 932.

BIBLICAL SOURCES: The first book of Kings.

Solomon's building enterprises, 5.

The construction of the temple, 6; 7.

Solomon's hymn of dedication, 8. 12, 13.

His prayer of dedication (in part), 8. 22-30.

His address to the people, 8. 54-61.

Jeroboam's revolt, II.

QUESTIONS

1. Discuss very briefly Solomon's building enterprises. 2. Who was Hiram and how did he assist Solomon?

3. Locate Hiram's city on the map.

4. Discuss the origin and purpose of Solomon's temple, its site, shape and dimensions, the material of which made, and the process of construction.

5. What was the most sacred part of the temple?

6. What objects were in the Oracle?

7. Speak of the significance of the temple in the religious history of the world.

8. Contrast Solomon's reign with that of Saul in social conditions, wealth, relations with other nations, etc. By about how many years are the two reigns removed from each other?

NOTE. For charts and plans of the temple as reconstructed by Stade, see Hastings's Bible Dictionary, p. 898ff.

LESSON XXVI

THE DIVISION OF THE KINGDOM

SOLOMON'S heir was his son, Rehoboam, whose mother was an Ammonitess. He is remembered chiefly for his insulting treatment of the northern tribes at his accession, treatment which resulted in the revolt of the best part of the nation and the establishment of a rival kingdom in the north. The prince ascended the throne at Jerusalem without opposition, but it was quite otherwise in the north. Seldom has there been a more dramatic contest between the rights of the people and the tyranny of despots than the struggle that ensued between Rehoboam and the northern tribes. The monarchy was a comparatively new thing among the Israelites-less than a century old-and they had no foolish notions about the "divine rights of kings." According to their view, there was mutual obligation between king and people. The right of hereditary succession was not yet fully established, and the people until the accession of Solomon had had some voice in deciding who should govern them.

There had never been any real coherence between the northern and southern tribes. A chain of Canaanite cities had separated them even as late as the time of David. The strong rivalry between the north and the south had manifested itself time and time again. It is in keeping with the independent spirit of the northern tribes that they insisted that Rehoboam should come to their chief city, Shechem, to be crowned.

The contest between king and northern tribes.

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