Second Chronicles 3:9 tells us that there were nails
made of gold which were used in the construction of the temple. Golden nails,
really? Seems like that wouldn't be very practical either functionally or
financially, but isn't that the point? Solomon wasn't trying to be practical;
he was shooting for extravagant.
Before we get into that though, notice in verse 1 that
Moriah was the site of the temple.
Moriah had been the location of Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac (Genesis
22:2) and supposedly of Jacob's vision of a ladder reaching into heaven
(Genesis 28:10 - 17). Also, as we have seen before, it was the place where the
angel of death stopped in his execution of Israelites just before David came
and offered a sacrifice to God there... back when it was Oman's property. It
was a piece of real estate that was destined for eternal significance. Today,
the Dome of the Rock is there. Someday, Jesus Himself will be rightfully
worshipped there, in His exalted glory, during His millennial reign.
So, with such a special place in God's program, both past
and future, it is perfectly understandable that David, Solomon and Israel would
spare no expense in building a palace for God there. And what a place it must
have been. It's size; it's geometric simplicity and majesty; the wide use of
gold to overlay the construction materials (and in some cases to do the
constructing itself), the artistic splendor of the ornate decorations and
engravings all over it and most particularly the jewels which were used to
garnish the surfaces of gold... all these things together (and more) worked
together to make an architectural wonder of immeasurable value in its day.
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