1 Kings 6:22

1 Kings 6:22  says, And the whole house he overlaid with gold, until he had finished all the house: also the whole altar that was by the oracle he overlaid with gold.  The whole Temple was overlaid with gold, including the altar.  This must have been a very beautiful and expensive building, but God was no more contained in it than He had been in the Tabernacle.  Church buildings, no matter how beautiful or expensive, are not to be worshipped.  Verse twenty-three adds, And within the oracle he made two cherubims of olive tree, each ten cubits high.  There were cherubims made of olive trees within the oracle, or speaking place.  Olive trees may have been chosen because olive branches represent peace.  I do know that we need to do all that we can to have peace in the church today and the cross should represent that peace to us. Verse twenty-four continues, And five cubits was the one wing of the cherub, and five cubits the other wing of the cherub: from the uttermost part of the one wing unto the uttermost part of the other were ten cubits.  The cherubim was quite large, being ten cubits from wingtip to wingtip.  Verse twenty-five states, And the other cherub was ten cubits: both the cherubims were of one measure and one size. There was a second cherubim the same size.   Matthew Henry says the cherubim were there because the Ark of the Covenant would have looked quite small in there by itself, since it had not changed.  Today, the cross of Calvary may look guite small, but we cannot add to it to make it more appealing.  Verse twenty-six adds, The height of the one cherub was ten cubits, and so was it of the other cherub.  We are simply given more details about the size of the cherubims.  Verse twenty-seven continues, And he set the cherubims within the inner house: and they stretched forth the wings of the cherubims, so that the wing of the one touched the one wall, and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall; and their wings touched one another in the midst of the house.  The cherubim reached from wall-to-wall in the inner house.  God's mercy should likewise cover the whole church today, and it does if we allow it to.  Verse twenty-eight concludes, And he overlaid the cherubims with gold.  Like the rest of the Temple, the cherubim were overlaid with gold.  Verse twenty-nine says, And he carved all the walls of the house round about with carved figures of cherubims and palm trees and open flowers, within and without.  Solomon had cherubim, palm trees, and flowers carved in the walls of the Temple.  Though they may have made the Temple more beautiful, they were just for show.   They did not make God's presence any more or any less real, and this is true of the beauty of a church building today.  Verse thirty adds, And the floor of the house he overlaid with gold, within and without.  The Temple even had a gold floor for the people to walk on.  We as followers of Christ always say that one day we will walk the streets of gold, but it should not matter what the streets of our heavenly home are made of, but all that should matter is that we are there with God, which is all that really should have mattered in the Temple.  Verse thirty-one continues, And for the entering of the oracle he made doors of olive tree: the lintel and side posts were a fifth part of the wall.  Doors were made of olive trees to be used to enter the oracle.  The doors could keep people out or let them in.  Today, the cross of Calvary serves this purpose.  By faith in what Jesus Christ did on the cross, we gain entrance into heaven, and by a lack of faith, we are kept out.  Verse thirty-two concludes, The two doors also were of olive tree; and he carved upon them carvings of cherubims and palm trees and open flowers, and overlaid them with gold, and spread gold upon the cherubims, and upon the palm trees.  Like everything else in the Temple, these doors were made ornately beautiful, but their function didn't change.  I believe we need to be more concerned with the function of the church than with the beauty of church buildings.  Verse thirty-three states, So also made he for the door of the temple posts of olive tree, a fourth part of the wall.  The next few verses tell us about the doors of the Temple itself.  Verse thirty-four adds, And the two doors were of fir tree: the two leaves of the one door were folding, and the two leaves of the other door were folding.  The doors were made of the wood of the fir tree and had two leaves or panels that folded in would be my understanding.  Jesus Christ is our access to God today, and He does not open and or close, but His access to the Heavenly Father is always open.  Verse thirty-five continues  And he carved thereon cherubims and palm trees and open flowers: and covered them with gold fitted upon the carved work.  These doors were also ornately decorated.  Verse thirty-six concludes, And he built the inner court with three rows of hewed stone, and a row of cedar beams.  We have a description of the building ofvthe inner court.  Verse thirty-seven states, In the fourth year was the foundation of the house of the LORD laid, in the month Zif:  Verse thirty eight adds, And in the eleventh year, in the month Bul, which is the eighth month, was the house finished throughout all the parts thereof, and according to all the fashion of it. So was he seven years in building it.  It took seven years to complete the building of the Temple.  Jesus said He would destroy the Temple, though it wasn't Solomon's Temple and rebuild it in three days, and He did with His death, burial,  and resurrection, and now, the hearts of believers is His throne,