>> Jen: Good morning, faithful listeners. You've tuned into the Bible explained podcast. Today we'll be discussing first kings, chapter seven. All right, I made a mistake last week when I was talking about King Hierom. I made two mistakes actually, the first being that I was pronouncing his name incorrectly, which, uh, somebody who listens to this podcast brought that to my
attention. She even sent me the correct pronunciation of it, like a YouTube video that links to the correct pronunciation of Hiram. Apparently it's Hiram, and I was saying his name incorrectly the entire time. That's the first mistake I made. The second mistake I made is that I mentioned briefly that King Hiram was half israelite. And that's because when I looked this up, I was mixing him up with the guy we're going to talk about today. King Hiram was certainly not half israelite
that we know of. He was probably full phoenician or fully from the area of Tyre. But this Hiram that we're going to talk about today is half israelite and also lived in the land of Tyre. And so that's why I got King Hiram And the Hiram we're going to talk about today confused and mixed up. So forgive me for that. But today, to add even more confusion to all of this, today we're going to be reading out, ah, the NLT version. And in the NLT, they don't pronounce Hyrum's name as
Hyrum. They call him Huram. So hopefully that isn't too confusing to everybody. But we're going to go ahead and read this. This is one Kings chapter 713 through 15. We're going to talk about all of the different furnishings for the temple and this guy Hyrum or Huram, h u r a m that comes to Israel and makes all of these beautiful things for the
temple. I'll be reading this out of the NLT today, so make sure to grab your version of the Bible that you prefer, and also your cup of coffee or tea or hot beverage, whatever you are drinking this morning, and share that with me as we discuss first kings 713 51. King Solomon then asked for a man named Huram to come to Tyre. He was half israelite since his mother was a widow from the tribe of Naphtali and his father had been a
craftsman in bronze from Tyre. Huram was extremely skillful and talented in any work in bronze, and he came to do all the metalwork for King Solomon. Huram cast two bronze pillars, each 27ft tall and 18ft in circumference. For the tops of the pillars, he cast bronze bronze capitals, each seven and a half feet tall. Each capital was decorated with seven sets of latticework and interwoven chains. He also encircled the latticework with two rows of pomegranates to decorate the capitals over the
pillars. The capitals on the columns inside the entry room were shaped like water lilies, and they were 6ft tall. The capitals on the two pillars had 200 pomegranates in two rows around them. Beside the rounded surface next to the latticework, Huram set the pillars at the entrance of the temple, one toward the south and one toward the north. He named the one on the south Jakin and the one on the north boaz.
The capitals on the pillars were shaped like water lilies, and the work on the pillars was finished. Then Huram cast a great round basin 15ft across from rim to rim, called the sea. It was seven and a half feet deep and about 45ft in circumference. It was encircled just below its rim by two rows of decorative gourds. There were about six gourds per foot all the way around, and they were cast as part of the basin. The sea was placed on a base of twelve bronze
oxen, all facing outward. The three faced north, the three faced west, and three faced south, and three faced east, and the sea rested on them. The walls of the sea were about three inches thick, and its rim flared out like a cup and resembled a, uh, water lily blossom. It could hold about 11,000 gallons of water. Huram also made ten bronze water carts, each 6ft long, 6ft wide, and four and a half feet tall. They were constructed with side panels
braced with crossbars. Both the panels and the crossbars were decorated with carved lions, oxen, and cherubim. Above and below the lions and oxen were wreath decorations. Each of these carts had four bronze wheels and bronze axles. They were supporting posts for the bronze basins at the corner of the carts. These supports were decorated on each side with carvings of wreaths. The top of each cart had a rounded
frame for the basin. It projected one and a half feet above the cart's top like a round pedestal, and its opening was two and a half feet across, and it was decorated on the outside with carvings of wreaths. The panels of the carts were square, not round. Under the panels were four wheels that connected to the axles that had been cast as one unit with the cartae. The wheels were two and a half feet in diameter, and they were similar to chariot wheels.
The axles, spokes rims and hubs were all cast from molten bronze. There were handles at each of the four corners of the carts, and these two were cast as one unit with the cart. Around the top of each cart was a rim nine inches wide. The corner supports and side panels were cast as one unit with the cart. Carvings of cherubim, lions and palm trees decorated the panels and corner supports wherever there was room,
and there were wreaths all around. All ten water carts were the same size and were made alike, for each was cast from the same mold. Huram also made ten smaller bronze basins, one for each cart. Each basin was 6ft across and could hold 220 gallons of water. He set five water carts on the south side of the temple and five on the north side. The great bronze basin, called the sea, was placed near the southeast corner of the temple. He also made the necessary washbasins, shovels and
bowls. So at last, Hiram completed everything King Solomon had assigned to him to make for the temple to the lord. The two pillars. The two bowl shaped capitals on the top of the pillars. The two networks of interwoven chains that decorated the capitals. The 400 pomegranates that hung from the chains on the capitals. Two rows of pomegranates for each of the chain networks that decorated the capitals on the top
of the pillars. The ten water carts holding the ten basins, the sea and the twelve oxen under it. The ash buckets, the shovels and the bowls. Hero made all these things of burnished bronze for the temple of the Lord, just as King Solomon had directed. The king had them cast in clay molds in the Jordan valley between Sakath and Zarathan. Solomon did not weigh all these things because there were so many, the weight of the bronze could not be measured.
Solomon also made all the furnishings of the temple of the LORD. The gold altar, the gold table for the bread of the presence, the lampstands of solid gold, five on the south and five on the north, in front of the most holy place, the flower decorations, lamps and tongs, all of gold. The small bowls, lamp snuffers, bowls, ladles and incense burners, all of solid gold. The doors for the entrances to the most holy place and the main room of the temple with their fronts overlaid with
gold. So King Solomon finished all his work at the temple of the LORD. Then he brought all the gifts his father David had dedicated, the silver, the gold and the various articles, and he stored them in the treasuries of the Lord's temple.
So at this point in time, I'm not sure, if the temple was completed or was in the process of being completed, but Solomon now needs somebody to come and make all of the temple furniture, because as it was, the temple didn't have any furniture, and it needed to have these articles and these, this furniture in order to both beautify it and also to help it to function properly.
Because back when God first told Moses to build the tabernacle out in the wilderness, God told Moses to make specific furniture for his tabernacle. For example, you guys remember me talking about the showbread table? I talked for a really long time about the showbread table and also the lampstands and the altar of incense and all of these things God bless commanded for use in his tabernacle. So now Solomon needs to make all of these things for
the temple. And it's possible that, yes, the priests had some of these things, but Solomon wants to update it. You know, God bless is getting a new temple. Why wouldn't he get new temple furniture and new temple, uh, you know, articles and stuff like that? He wants to make everything as beautiful as possible, so he finds the best of the best to come and do this work for him. This guy is named Huram, or
Hiram, depending on the version that you read. And he was a man who was born in a mixed culture family, so his mom would have been jewish and his dad would have been from Tyrez. And it turned out that his dad was a worker of bronze. And Huram grew up learning everything you could know about bronze work, and he turned out to be a fantastic artist. So Solomon hires him to come and make all of this wonderful stuff for the
temple. It says, huram was extremely skillful and talented in any work in bronze, and he came to do all the metalwork for King Solomon. And I'm sure he got paid too do all of this as well. So, to start, Hiram makes huge bronze pillars to decorate the outside of the temple. It says they were 27ft tall and 18ft in circumference. So, man, these things are huge. These are like, as big as trees. And then the tops of the pillars were decorated to
look like water lilies. And those added an extra seven and a half feet to the. To the pillar. So these things were huge. It says each capital was decorated with seven sets of latticework and interwoven chains. He encircled the lattice work with two rows of pomegranates to decorate the capitals over the pillars. And then if you go down to almost the bottom of this chapter, it mentions that the pomegranates were hanging from the chains.
It says in verse 42, the 400 pomegranates that hung from the chains on the capitals was something that he made. These pillars were like a work of art because it says that he cast them both pretty much exactly the same. That means that Hiram was making these casts by hand and doing all of this work by hand and then filling them with bronze, like a ton of bronze, to make these pillars. That is insane to me, how much work, I'm sure, went into just making the cast
for these bronze pillars. I actually, um, I'm not really into ceramics or anything, but I like to do random hobbies sometimes. And I, uh, ended up going with my mother in law to this, like, this ceramic store. And it was really amazing, some of these casts that this woman had. And we watched her, like, fill up some of these casts with the ceramic, and then we watched her uncast some of the ones that were dry. And, man, you can get some really neat things
out of those casts. But m imagine this day and age when there was no automation. That means Huram was sitting there carving out this cast by hand. And this shows how good of an artisan he really was. He was an excellent artist to be able to make something so beautiful for the temple. Now, of course, once the cast was done, he could use it as many times as was necessary. But still, just the amount of work that goes into making one of these casts, I imagine, is
monumental. So these huge pillars were set up, it says, at the entrance of the temple. And this was to beautify the entrance into the temple. One toward the south and one toward the north, it says, he named one on the south Jacon, and the other one on the north Boaz. It says the capitals on the pillars were shaped like water lilies. And so the work on the pillars was finished. So nothing about these pillars were, like, structural. They were primarily, and only used for
beautification. So after Hiram is done beautifying the, the entrance to the temple with these pillars, which, by the way, these pillars were so amazing, they ended up getting named. One was named Jacon and the other was named Boaz. And those names, Jacon means he establishes, and Boaz means in him is strengthen. So, yeah, the pillars, because of their beauty, ended up getting named. Then it says, hiram cast a great round basin 15ft across from rim to rim and called it the sea. That is a
big giant basin. You can imagine, you know, 15ft, that's like the size of my entire deck. I'm, like, looking outside right now, and I'm pretty sure my deck is about 15ft I imagine, maybe shorter. Actually, my deck might be a little bit smaller than that. It doesn't matter. 15ft across from rim to rim, called the sea, it was seven and a half feet deep and about 45ft in circumference. It was encircled just below its rim by two rows of decorative gourds.
So 45ft around seven and a half feet deep and 15ft across. This thing was gigantic and ended up getting named the sea. What this was used for, this giant basin, this swimming pool, practically, it was for the priests to wash themselves in the water before they go do their temple duties, which. Cleanliness was very important when doing the work of God, because God bless wanted his people to be clean, not just physically,
but spiritually as well. And so the physical act of cleansing yourself was a representation of how the spiritual was supposed to be. So that is why the priests were supposed to wash themselves before they went and did their temple work, thinking about the things that make them unclean. It was supposed to be a time of reflection. And it's amazing because this basin is called the sea. And I'm sure that water was crystal clear
in this beautiful bronze basin. It was reflective, and so the priests were supposed to be up there while they're washing their hands, reflecting on their sins and the things that make them unclean. So it says that the sea, this big basin, was placed on a base of twelve bronze oxen, all facing outward. Three faced north, three faced west, three faced south and three faced east. So all of these bronze oxen that Hiram cast held the giant basin. And it was, once again, just
for beautification. The walls of the sea were three inches thick, and its rim flared out like a cup and resembled a water lily blossom. I can't even imagine what that looked like. That was probably so beautiful. It could hold about 11,000 gallons of water, is what it says. So, after Hiram is done making the sea, it says he also fashioned bronze water carts. Ten of these. They were 6ft long, 6ft wide and four and a half feet
tall. Now, these water carts were used to get the basins, the little basins, not the giant sea basin, the little basins, from one end of the temple to the next, depending on where they were needed and what the priests were doing. And these carts themselves were gorgeous. It says they were decorated to the nines. Any single place that Hiram could find that was empty, he would place a decoration. That's what it says in verse
36. Carvings of cherubim, lions and palm trees decorated the panels in the corner supports. Wherever there was room, and there were wreaths all around. The ten water carts were the same size and were all made alike, for each was cast from the same mold. And it goes into what went into Hiram making these things. Basically, he made them all one solid piece, which is really amazing to me, I, um, think, minus the wheels, if I'm understanding
correctly. But he made these carts, like, all from the same mold, all one piece, which is really fantastic. So after he was done making the carts, he also made ten smaller bronze basins, which. These are the ones that the carts would transport back and forth across the temple, uh, grounds, depending on where the priest needed them. And these smaller basins would be for, you know, cleansing your hands after you do a sacrifice or something.
You wouldn't want to put that blood in the beautiful sea for when you're, like, initially washington yourself. The bronze basins would be more for, like, water that you can dirty, which would be changed every day. Basically, it says each basin was 6ft across and could hold 220 gallons of water. He set the five water carts on the south side of the temple and five on the north side. And the great bronze basin, called the sea, was placed near the southeast corner of the temple.
He also made the necessary wash basins, shovels and bowls. So everything needed for the temple, basically, specifically for the outside the temple, it looks like, is what Hiram, um, mostly worked on. It doesn't look like he worked on anything inside the temple, it says. So, at last, Hiram completed everything King Solomon had assigned to him to make for the temple to the
Lord. Two pillars, two bowl shaped capitals on top of the pillars, the two networks of interwoven chains that decorated the capitals, the 400 pomegranates that hung from the chains. It might be like, why pomegranates? And why, like, gourds and cherubim and all these, like, strange decorations. Well, these were things that, once again, God had actually asked Moses to make for the tabernacle, to beautify it. Not sure why. Maybe God just likes pomegranates more so than other fruits.
Don't know. But those are the things that God chose to, uh, to use to beautify the first tabernacle. And that was why Solomon was having Hiram make similar decorations for the temple to God. It was because God had mentioned before that he likes pomegranates and stuff like that. Then he also made the ten water carts holding the ten basins, the sea and the twelve oxen under it, the ash buckets, the shovels and the bowls. Huram made all these things of burnished bronze for the temple of the Lord.
Just as King Solomon had directed, the king had them cast in clay molds in the Jordan valley between Sakath and Zarathan. So these were, once again, everything was done away from the temple, pretty much like all of the construction of the materials for the temple was not at the temple site.
This was very important to Solomon because for some reason, he just wanted the temple to be a quieter location, or it could be that he just wanted the temple to be almost inconspicuous as they were building it, so as to not draw attention to the artisans and to the workers that were building this temple, but instead have the people keep their focus on God, rather than like the creators of the temple, basically.
So that could be why it also mentions that Solomon made the furnishings for the inside of the temple, which included the gold altar, the gold table for the bread of the presents, meaning the showbread, the lampstands of solid gold, which he made. Ten of those he made flower decorations, lamps and tongs, all of gold, small bowls, lamp snuffers, bowls, ladles
and incense burners, all of solid gold. And then the doors to the entrance of the most holy place, and the main door that goes into the temple, which their fronts were overlaid with gold. So now, in first kings, the temple is complete. It is fully finished, and it is ready to be dedicated to God. So after the temple is fully finished, it mentions that Solomon brought all the gifts that his father David had dedicated, the silver, the gold, and the various articles, and he stored them in the
treasuries of the Lord's temples. So the treasuries would have been those, like, side rooms, you know, that didn't really connect. They kind of did to the main temple. You had to go outside to get to these side rooms of the temple. But that's where Solomon stored all these things that David had dedicated to the temple. But that is some faith on the part of David. David was gathering all of these items so that he could dedicate them to the temple.
That is how much David's heart was in all of this, and how much, how much faith David had that this project would be complete. David truly had a heart for God and truly wanted this temple to be finished. So now the temple is finished, and on Wednesday, we will go into Solomon beginning the dedication of the temple to God and what goes into all of that. So make sure to stay tuned for that. But also don't forget that advent
is right around the corner. We only have about a month and a half before Advent begins. Advent starts December 1, and you're gonna want to get a copy of the Teen Girls Guide to Advent, which is a Bible study that I wrote, and it explains Advent in a really festive, nice way, specifically for
teenage girls. So if you're interested in grabbing a copy of that, you gotta go over to Amazon and get it, because advent is coming very, very soon, and you're not gonna want your teenage daughter to miss out on a nice advent study. Faithful listeners, I hope you all have a really great rest of your day. I will see you guys tomorrow for an episode from first corinthians. Happy listening and God bless.