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Solomon's Temple

2 Chronicles 2

The importance of the Ark of the Covenant is seen in King David's desire "to build a house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the Lord" (1 Chronicles 28:2). For centuries, the Ark had been carried from place to place as the people of God made their way from Egypt to their Promised Land. Now that David had secured Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, it was time to give the Ark—and by connection, the God who attached His presence to the Ark—a permanent resting place.

As a man of war, David was prevented from building a temple himself (1 Kings 5:3; 1 Chronicles 22:7-8). The Holy Spirit gave David the plans for the temple (1 Chronicles 28:12) and David conveyed those plans to Solomon, his son and successor to the throne, along with instructions for the Levites who would "run" the temple complex (1 Chronicles 23-26). David also raised the money for construction, giving generously from his own resources and leading the officials and leaders in Israel to give as well (1 Chronicles 29:1-9).

After David's death and Solomon's accession to the throne, the new king began building the temple, as well as a palace for himself in Jerusalem. It took seven years to complete the temple and 13 years to complete Solomon's palace (1 Kings 6:38-7:1). Solomon took a census of all the "aliens" (non-Jews) living in Israel and conscripted them for service as builders: 70,000 laborers, 80,000 stonecutters, and 3,600 foremen (2 Chronicles 2:17-18). He arranged to have cedars from the forests of Lebanon floated as giant rafts down the coast of Israel to the port of Joppa, from where the logs were hauled up to Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 2).

When the temple was complete, Solomon moved the Ark of the Covenant from the lower City of David to the new temple mount and presided over a magnificent dedication ceremony (2 Chronicles 5:2–7:22).

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