1 Chronicles 28:11-21

25. TEMPLE BUILDING-PLANS (1 Chronicles 28:11-21)

TEXT

1 Chronicles 28:11. Then David gave to Solomon his son the pattern of the porch of the temple, and of the houses thereof, and of the treasuries thereof, and of the upper rooms thereof, and of the inner chambers thereof, and of the place of the mercy-seat; 12. and the pattern of all that he had by the Spirit, for the courts of the house of Jehovah, and for all the chambers round about, for the treasuries of the house of God, and for the treasuries of the dedicated things; 13. also for the courses of the priests and the Levites, and for all the work of the service of the house of Jehovah, and for all the vessels of service in the house of Jehovah; 14. of gold by weight for the vessels of gold, for all vessels of every kind of service; of silver for all the vessels of silver by weight, for all vessels of every kind of service; 15. by weight also for the candlesticks of gold, and for the lamps thereof, of gold, by weight for every candlestick and for the lamps thereof; and for the candlesticks of silver, silver by weight for every candlestick and for the lamps thereof, according to the use of every candlestick; 16. and the gold by weight for the tables of showbread, for every table; and silver for the tables of silver; 17. and the flesh-hooks, and the basins, and the cups, of pure gold; and for the golden bowls by weight for every bowl; and for the silver bowls by weight for every bowl; 18. and for the altar of incense refined gold by weight; and gold for the pattern of the chariot, even the cherubim, that spread out their wings, and covered the ark of the covenant of Jehovah. 19. All this, said David, have I been made to understand in writing from the hand of Jehovah, even all the works of this pattern.

20. And David said to Solomon his son, Be strong and of good courage, and do it: fear not, nor be dismayed; for Jehovah God, even my God, is with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee, until all the work for the service of the house of Jehovah be finished. 21. And, behold, there are the courses of the priests and the Levites, for all the service of the house of God: and there shall be with thee in all manner of work every willing man that hath skill, for any manner of service: also the captains and all the people will be wholly at thy commandment.

PARAPHRASE

1 Chronicles 28:11. Then David gave Solomon the blueprint of the Temple and its surroundingsthe treasuries, the upstairs rooms, the inside rooms, and the sanctuary for the place of mercy, 12. He also gave Solomon his plans for the outer court, the outside rooms, the Temple storage areas, and the treasuries for the gifts dedicated by famous persons. For the Holy Spirit had given David all these plans. 13. The king also passed on to Solomon the instructions concerning the work of the various groups of priests and Levites; and he gave specifications for each item in the Temple which was to be used for worship and sacrifice. 14. David weighed out enough gold and silver to make these various items, 15. as well as the specific amount of gold needed for the lampstands and lamps. He also weighed out enough silver for the silver candlesticks and lamps, each according to its use. 16. He weighed out the gold for the table on which the Bread of the Presence would be placed and for the other gold tables. and he weighed the silver for the silver tables. 17. Then he weighed out the gold for the solid gold hooks used in handling the sacrificial meat and for the basins, cups, and bowls of gold and silver. 18. Finally, he weighed out the refined gold for the altar of incense and for the gold angels whose wings were stretched over the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord.

19. Every part of this blueprint, David told Solomon, was given to me in writing from the hand of the Lord.
20. Then he continued, Be strong and courageous and get to work. Don-'t be frightened by the size of the task, for the Lord my God is with you; he will not forsake you. He will see to it that everything is finished correctly. 21. And these various groups of priests and Levites will serve in the Temple. Others with skills of every kind will volunteer, and the army and the entire nation are at your command.

COMMENTARY

A building so elaborate as the Temple would require an extensive set of blueprints. When Jehovah was ready to set His Tabernacle in the center of Israel's camp He provided a complete pattern for the structure. David planned this rather formal presentation of the design for the building to Solomon. One can imagine how David turned the respective pages of the blueprint. The pattern for the porch at the entrance on the east, the plans for the houses (the Holy Place and the Oracle), the diagrams for the treasuries (storerooms built in the walls of the Temple), the blueprints for the inner chambers (the ground level rooms in the Temple walls), the plans for the place of the mercy seat (the Oracle) were all delivered directly to Solomon. The complete pattern in all of its details was given to David by the Spirit. The Spirit of God communicated very clearly with the spirit of David. The design for the courts and store rooms were also submitted to Solomon. The schedule of the courses of priests and Levites was formally presented. The specific dimensions and details of the vessels of gold and silver, of the candlesticks, of the tables of shewbread (of which there were ten2 Chronicles 4:8), of the tools, bowls, flasks, altar of incense, of the cherubim were placed in Solomon's hands on this occasion. The laws of Jehovah given at Mt. Sinai were written with the fingers of God. Jehovah spoke to Moses face to face. David said with regard to the Temple plans, all of this have I received in writing from Jehovah's hand. He had no misgivings as to the origin of the total design. David once again charges Solomon to be firm in his commitment to begin and complete the Temple. Jehovah would be with Solomon. The priests, the Levites, master craftsmen, willing workmen, and all the people would provide the human resources to build Jehovah's House.