The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Kings — Section 100

worship, connected both with the te,bernacle e,t Gideon e,n.i the ark in the oity of De,vid (1 Chron. xvi. 37-39). But in future all saored e.ssociations are to be gathered up in the central glory of the Temple. One nation, one faith, one God, one se,nctuary. But this localize,tion of the highest forms of worship he,d its ~angers. Men c~m~ to think_ of " the Holy Presenc_e as belonging to the building, mstead of the building as bemg hallowed a.ad glorified by the Pl'esence." Christ proclaims the infinite Presence, the impartial Love. "The hour cometh when ye shall neither in this mountain," &c. (John iv. 21). '' One greater than the Temple is here "-in whom all its sacred symbols are fulfilled-the attractive centre and boud of uniou for redeemed souls of every age and nation. Our thoughts are led on to the glorious vision of the holy city of which it is written, "I saw no temple therein, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it" (Rev. xxi, 22).-W. Ver. 5.-The building of the Temple. "Behold I purpose to build an house unto the name of the Lord my God." Every man has some special work given him by God. It is of the utmost importance that he should find out what that work is, if he would not make his life a failure and come short of the purpose of God for him. In the case of Solomon the great work given him to do was not to extend the boundaries of his kingdom, but to build the temple of the Lord. This he clearly understood, as is evident from his saying, " I purpose to build an house to the name of the Lord." This wa.s to him the work of paramount importance. The building of the Temple was to give a. religious centre to the theocracy. This was part of the Divine plan, a branch of the education of the people, by which God would prepare the way for the new coven.ant. The old covenant was essentially preparatory; it was'' the shadow of good things to come" (Heb. x. 1). The Temple was to form 11, part of this preparation. I. IT WAS A VISIBLE SYMBOL OF THE PRESENCE OF GOD WITH His PEOPLE. This was the only way in which such an idea could be brought home to men in the state ot rude infancy in which they then were, and with their incapacity to apprehend directly spiritual graces. The materie,l was thus the necessary medium of the spiritual. II. The erection of a holy place for worship REHINDED MEN THAT THE EARTH wmcu THEY INBAllITED WAS DEFILED; it developed in them the sense of sin. III. THE POSSIBILITY OF DRAWING NEAB TO GoD IN THIS HOLY PLACE pointed to the time of reconciliation, when every spot of a redeemed earth might be a place of prayer ; when there should be no longer one sanctuary for one nation alone, but when all the nations should have free access to God as worshippers in spirit and in truth. The fact that Solomon sought out workmen for the Temple, not only among the Israelites, but among the Gentiles, is prophetic, and prefigures the time when the multitude of worshippers shall be "of every kindred, and nation, and people, and tongue" (Rev. v. 9). IV. THERE IS NOT A BINGLE CHRISTIAN LIVING WHO BAB NOT A TASK LIKE THAT OF SOLOMON TO FULFIL. Every Christian ought to say, "I purpose to build an house to the namo of the Lord." (a) He must first become himself a living stone of the &piri- tual temple (2 Pet. ii. 51). (b) His body must be the temple of the Holy Ghost (1 Cor. vi. 19), his whole being a sanctuary (1 Cor. iii.) His house should be a house of prayer (Josh. xxiv. 15). Axe not these human temples themselves the stones elect, precious, to be used by and by in that great heavenly temple which the Lord shall build and not man'} (2 Cor. v. 1.)-E. de P. Vere. 7-12.-Leaaomfrom thecon&uctof a heathen prince. Describe the oon• dition of Tyre at this period, alluding to its commerce, its religious beliefs, its proximity to the kingdom of Solomon (the capitals being distant from ea.eh other about 122 miles), its monarchical institutions, as opposed to the usual republican government of PhCllnician settlements-as exemplified in Carthage, the splendid daughter of Tyre, founded about 140 years after the building of Solomon's temple. Point out some of the effects of the intercourse between these two st~tes, as suggested OR. V, 1-18.] THE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS. 95