| One evening, after spending some time
working with Cedar
of Lebanon wood in my studio/shop, with its' aroma still fresh in
my mind, my daughter asked me to read her a Bible story from her
Children's Bible. The story she had selected was from 1
Kings 6, the story about Solomon's Temple.
To paraphrase (and to plagiarize a bit) this is what I read
from the Children's Bible:
"the temple (the house of the Lord) was 90 feet
long and 30 feet wide, with a height of 45 feet. There was a
broad porch before the temple, and it had windows of narrow
lights, and many chambers. The house of the Lord was built from stone that was made
ready before it was brought to the building site so that there
was no sound of a hammer or ax or any tool in the temple while
it was being built. The wall and floors of the house were
boards of Cedar, and the floor was covered with
planks of pine.
Solomon covered the temple with pure gold, and the whole
altar in the holy of holies (the inner chamber) was covered
with pure gold. Within the inner chamber he had two cherubim
of Olive wood, each about 15 feet high, and their wings
touched in the
middle of the room. These too were covered with gold.
All of
the wall and doors were carved with cherubim, palm trees,
flowers, and all covered with gold. In the inner court were
three rows of hewed stone columns, and a row of Cedar
beams.
...The priests brought the ark of the covenant into the
holy of holies, under the spread wings of the cherubim. There
was nothing in the ark except the two tablets of stone which
Moses had put there at Horeb when the Lord made a covenant
with the children of Israel when they came out of the land of
Egypt."
I read her this paraphrased story for children, and it merely
whet my appetite for my own Bible. After she was tucked in, I
grabbed my NIV Bible and quickly turned to 1 Kings 6. The
combination of the detailed description of this incredible
temple, built for God's glory, and the still near-term memory
of the smell of the woods used, made for an incredible experience
for me - bridging the past to the present. I felt as though I
could close my eyes and get a partial sense of what this structure was
really like. Between the incredible beauty of the building,
combined with what must have been a nearly overpowering smell of
the woods used there, must have made entering this building an
incredible experience for those few privileged enough to enter.
Even with the awe that this presents, I was also drawn to
Hebrews 9, where this building, in all its' glory, is said to
be nothing in comparison to what Jesus Christ is for His
followers. Solomon's temple, and specifically the holy of holies
was only for the high priest, and they would only enter it once
a year. The high priest would enter alone, and always with a
blood offering to cover his own mistakes and those of others.
The common people were not permitted to enter the temple.
Jesus is
for all of us. He came as high priest for all. Jesus entered the
Holy Place and once and for all, taking not the blood of
animals, but His own, as a sacrifice for all of us, so that we may all live.
This is the second covenant.
This was such a moving experience for me, that I'd like to
give all of you the opportunity to share in it. If you would like to appreciate the
aroma of the Cedar of Lebanon, please send me a self-addressed,
stamped envelope, and I will mail you some. All I ask is that
after you have smelled this wonderful wood, please read 1 Kings
6. Then after you've let that experience sink in, please read
Hebrews 9. In spite of the glory of the temple, the glory that
Jesus brings is so much greater.
In Christ,
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