The History of Solomon’s Temple

1 Kings 6:1 

“In the four hundred and eightieth year after the Israelites came out of Egypt…he began to build the temple.”

I love sitting down with my relatives who are older than I am. I love getting to hear their stories of life and how different things are now. My wife’s great aunts all grew up in a farm house with dirt floors. She can tell you some crazy stories about how life was back then. My Aunt Janet also has completed a full genealogical history of our family. We have some whoppers in my family line; from someone named Temperance Queen (Tempi for short) to a person who was criminal in Huntsville. History is full of wild stories and lessons.

If you graduated from Sunday School class, you remember Moses and the plagues.  The Israelites were enslaved for 400 years in Egypt and God raised up Moses to bring them out of Egypt.  Moses led the people out of Egypt into the promised land after 40 years of wandering in the desert.  Just a little math for you here.  40 years is 10% of the time the Israelites were in Egypt.  It took 10% of the time to get the people straight and focus on God.  You could call that a tithe of time or proving ground. 

So after Joshua whips all the “Ites,” the Israelite nation finally settled in the promised land .  God takes over and the people rule over themselves for 300 years which we read about in the book of Judges.  The Lord raises up epic characters like Samson and Gideon among others. 

In comes the kings of Israel starting with Saul, David, and now up to Solomon.  480 years have past until the point when the temple gets built.  It takes over 7 years to build the most holy of holy Israelite temple.  This temple would be the center of worship for the people. 

Now to fast forward.  Solomon becomes king in 970 BC and for the next 974 years the Israelites will be ruled by kings, conquered by nations, driven out to foreign lands, and see this amazing temple be torn down three times. Jerusalem is among the world’s oldest cities dating back to about 4500 BCE. Throughout its history, the city has been destroyed at least two times, attacked 52 times, besieged 23 times, and recaptured 44 times.  Over the years, this little place on the globe seems to have been highly sought after.  

Last little history plug; the line of David carries the birth of Jesus.  So 974 years after Solomon becomes king, Jesus is born in a little town outside of Jerusalem called Bethlehem.  This man will be the most influential person to have ever walked the earth.  He will be God and man. His name is Jesus Christ and he is the savior of mankind. More books will be written about him than any other man. More people will worship him than any other man or idol. This savior will purposely die on a Roman cross for the forgiveness of the world’s sin. He will rise on the third day and take back the keys of hell and death and sits at the right hand of his Father, the God of the universe. This one man will change to the world with 12 disciples who spread his message by walking from town to town.  No internet, no vehicles, no phones, no mail just the good news spread from person to person. History is cool.  

Prayer: Father, you gave us your Word for us to read and understand. All the history and lessons it gives us are for teaching and exhorting the body of Christ. It also is pointing towards our savior Jesus Christ. Just like you gave Solomon wisdom, we ask the same for us. Lord give us divine wisdom, heavenly wisdom, to use while we are walking out our time here on earth. Help us never to forget the lesson’s of the past we read about in your Word. May you burn them on the tablet of our hearts so we can teach them to the lost and broken. We pray in Jesus name, amen.