2 Chronicles 3:1 - Meaning and Application

Here is the place where the temple was built. Solomon was not free to choose it, and he was not left wondering where it should go. God had already decided the place (1 Chronicles 22:1), and that would have brought peace to Solomon’s mind.

It had to be in Jerusalem, because that was the place where God chose to put his name. The royal city was to be the holy city. There the testimony of Israel was kept, and there the thrones of judgment were set up (Psalm 122:4, Psalm 122:5).

It also had to be on Mount Moriah, which some think was the very place in the land of Moriah where Abraham offered Isaac (Genesis 22:2). The Targum says this plainly, adding that Isaac was spared by the word of the Lord and a ram was given in his place. That event pointed ahead to Christ offering himself, so it was fitting that the temple, which also pointed to Christ, was built there.

It had to be where the Lord had appeared to David and answered him by fire (1 Chronicles 21:18, 1 Chronicles 21:26). There atonement was made once, and in memory of that, atonement was to be made there still. Where God has met with us before, we may hope he will show himself again.

It had to be in the place David had prepared, not only the place he had bought with his money, but the place he had chosen by God’s direction. Solomon showed wisdom by not searching for a more convenient place, but by accepting God’s appointment, whatever objections anyone might raise. It was also to be on the threshing floor of Ornan, a Jebusite, which may remind us that temple work calls for the labor of the mind as truly as threshing work calls for the labor of the body.

Next, we have the time when the building began, not until the fourth year of Solomon’s reign (2 Chronicles 3:2). That does not mean the first three years were wasted, or that they spent time debating whether to build at all. Those years were used for the needed preparations, and that work would take time because so many people had to be gathered and set to work.

Some think this was a sabbatical year, a year of rest and release for the land. If so, the people, being free from farm work, could more easily help begin this great project. Then the year it was finished may also have been another sabbatical year, when they would have time to attend the dedication celebration.

We also have the temple’s measurements, which Solomon learned from his father David (2 Chronicles 3:3). This was the foundation, or the rule, by which he built the house. The length and width were given according to the first measure, meaning the original design was not to be changed when the work began.

Those dimensions came from divine wisdom, and what God does stands forever. Nothing can be added to it or taken away from it (Ecclesiastes 3:14). God’s first measure will be his last.

Then we come to the temple’s decorations. The woodwork was beautiful, but inside it was covered with pure gold (2 Chronicles 3:4), fine gold (2 Chronicles 3:5), and it was engraved with palm trees and chains. It was gold of Parvaim (2 Chronicles 3:6), meaning the best gold. The beams, posts, walls, and doors were all overlaid with gold (2 Chronicles 3:7).

The Most Holy Place, which was ten cubits square, was completely covered with fine gold (2 Chronicles 3:8). Even the upper rooms, or rather the upper floor and roof, were gold-covered from top to bottom. Every nail, screw, or pin that held the gold plates in place weighed fifty shekels, or was worth that much, including the workmanship. Many precious stones had been set apart for God (1 Chronicles 29:2, 1 Chronicles 29:8), and these were placed where they would show best.

The finest houses today can do no better than good paint on the roof and walls, but the temple’s decoration was truly rich and solid. It was set with precious stones because it pointed to the new Jerusalem, which has no temple in it because the whole city is holy. Its walls, gates, and foundations are said to be made of precious stones and pearls (Revelation 21:18, Revelation 21:19, Revelation 21:21).