Here’s how the study works: Read the chapters mentioned in the heading during the week and share any words, thoughts, verses that stood out to you. Having a week for several chapters creates the opportunity to revisit them and make additional comments as you feel inclined as well as make comments on other people’s insights.
6:1 In the four hundred and eightieth year after the Israelites came out of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, the second month, he began to build the temple of the Lord.
480 years after the exodus, the temple building was started. God is not in a hurry!
God had a long term plan in mind. And he has all the time in the world to bring it to completion at the end of time.
6:1 In the four hundred and eightieth year after the Israelites came out of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, the second month, he began to build the temple of the Lord.
480 years after the exodus, the temple building was started. God is not in a hurry!
God had a long term plan in mind. And he has all the time in the world to bring it to completion at the end of time.
7:23 He made the Sea of cast metal, circular in shape, measuring ten cubits from rim to rim and five cubits high. It took a line of thirty cubits to measure around it.
If the diameter was 10 cubits then the circumference would actually be 31.4 cubits. Though the text isn't clear whether they are talking inside measurements or outside measurements.
Nevertheless I have heard some claim the Bible isn't accurate because of this mathematical discrepancy which I find laughable. First, the Bible doesn't claim to be a mathematical book and second this was probably written in 1000 BC when accurate measurements would have been difficult to convey.
When reading the Bible we need to keep in mind the context and culture of the people it was written to.
7:23 He made the Sea of cast metal, circular in shape, measuring ten cubits from rim to rim and five cubits high. It took a line of thirty cubits to measure around it.
If the diameter was 10 cubits then the circumference would actually be 31.4 cubits. Though the text isn't clear whether they are talking inside measurements or outside measurements.
Nevertheless I have heard some claim the Bible isn't accurate because of this mathematical discrepancy which I find laughable. First, the Bible doesn't claim to be a mathematical book and second this was probably written in 1000 BC when accurate measurements would have been difficult to convey.
When reading the Bible we need to keep in mind the context and culture of the people it was written to.
8:27 “But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built!
So much time and effort went into building the temple yet in the end God does not really dwell in a human temple.
(From Constable's Commentary) "Solomon did not confuse the symbols of God's presence with God himself."
8:27 “But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built!
So much time and effort went into building the temple yet in the end God does not really dwell in a human temple.
(From Constable's Commentary) "Solomon did not confuse the symbols of God's presence with God himself."
9:8-9 This temple will become a heap of rubble. All who pass by will be appalled and will scoff and say, ‘Why has the Lord done such a thing to this land and to this temple?’ People will answer, ‘Because they have forsaken the Lord their God, who brought their ancestors out of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them—that is why the Lord brought all this disaster on them.’”
People will know. They will know why God abandoned the temple, the land and the people. God will not have to announce his reasons from heaven. They will know.
9:8-9 This temple will become a heap of rubble. All who pass by will be appalled and will scoff and say, ‘Why has the Lord done such a thing to this land and to this temple?’ People will answer, ‘Because they have forsaken the Lord their God, who brought their ancestors out of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them—that is why the Lord brought all this disaster on them.’”
People will know. They will know why God abandoned the temple, the land and the people. God will not have to announce his reasons from heaven. They will know.
10:26-28 Solomon accumulated chariots and horses; he had fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand horses, which he kept in the chariot cities and also with him in Jerusalem… Solomon’s horses were imported from Egypt…
Consider this: "The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make the people return to Egypt to get more of them, for the LORD has told you, 'You are not to go back that way again'" (Deuteronomy 17:16).
It was not just women that led Solomon astray but also wealth, more specifically his reliance on his wealth for security and protection rather than God.
10:26-28 Solomon accumulated chariots and horses; he had fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand horses, which he kept in the chariot cities and also with him in Jerusalem… Solomon’s horses were imported from Egypt…
Consider this: "The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make the people return to Egypt to get more of them, for the LORD has told you, 'You are not to go back that way again'" (Deuteronomy 17:16).
It was not just women that led Solomon astray but also wealth, more specifically his reliance on his wealth for security and protection rather than God.