Jun 19, 2022. I Kings 7:23-51

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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.

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