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20220619_Evening
SANCTIFIED FURNISHINGS. I Kings 7:23-51. 06/19/2022. #189.
23 And he made the Sea of cast bronze, ten cubits from one brim to the other; it was completely round. Its height was five cubits, and a line of thirty cubits measured its circumference.
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51 So all the work that King Solomon had done for the house of the Lord was finished; and Solomon brought in the things which his father David had dedicated: the silver and the gold and the furnishings. He put them in the treasuries of the house of the Lord.
1. The Temple Sea
a. Huram made a great basin for use in the temple
b. The basin was large
a1. Made of bronze 3” thick (a handbreadth)
a2. 7.5’ high; 9.5’ in diameter
a3. 300 ornamental buds (app. 1.8” ea.) decorated the rim
a4. Sitting on 12 oxen (3 each facing N,E,W,S)
a5. Held 12,000 gallons of water (1 bath ≈ 5.8 gal.; fill a pool 14 x 28 x 4)
c. Sea was on right side of the inner court
2. Carts and lavers
a. 10 carts or stands
a1. All of bronze
a2. 6 x 6 x 4.5
a3. Decorated with oxen, lions, & cherubim
b. 27” bronze wheels attached to 4 supports
c. Round top 9” high with lions, cherubim, & palm trees around the rim
d. 10 bronze lavers (basins)
a1. 240 gallons each (app. 3 bathtubs full)
a2. Could be heated with firepans
e. Made bronze shovels, bowls, lavers, tongs, firepans and other utensils
f. The bronze was so much that Solomon did not bother to try to count it all
3. The finished job
a. Several observations of the temple furnishings:
a1. Made to God’s specifications
a2. Skilled craftsmen produced each item
a3. Every detail was meticulously made
a4. All items had a practical use
a5. All items were aesthetically pleasing
a6. Everything needed for work or of the temple was made
a7. Both the material & craftsmanship were of high quality
b. All the items in the Temple served to contribute to one purpose: sacrifice for sins of Israel
a1. The durable material was meant to last for centuries of usage
a2. The sacrifices never atoned for sin
c. God needed only 3 entities to finish the sacrifice for sin: His Son, nails, & a cross
a1. Christ’s sacrifice put an end to the need for altars, lavers, The Sea, shovels, tongs, firepans, animals, & bowls
a2. The cost & work simply to cover sin was enormous & ongoing
a3. The cost to remove sin was far higher than to cover sin, but God paid the entire cost
d. There now is no altar, Bronze Sea, lavers, shovels, firepans, or sacrificial animals
a1. None is needed
a2. God in Christ has eliminated all temple work (it is finished!)
e. Adam went from fellowshipping with God to being alienated from him to needing to sacrifice often
a1. Under Mosaic Covenant = elaborate sacrifices
a2. Under Christ all sacrifices are over
f. No longer need for altars, priests, lavers, & offerings