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1 Kings Chapter
Seven
1 Kings 7
Chapter Contents
Solomon's buildings. (1-12) Furniture of the temple.
(13-47) Vessels of gold. (48-51)
Commentary on 1 Kings 7:1-12
(Read 1 Kings 7:1-12)
All Solomon's buildings
though beautiful
were intended
for use. Solomon began with the temple; he built for God first
and then his
other buildings. The surest foundations of lasting prosperity are laid in early
piety. He was thirteen years building his house
yet he built the temple in
little more than seven years; not that he was more exact
but less eager in building
his own house
than in building God's. We ought to prefer God's honour before
our own ease and satisfaction.
Commentary on 1 Kings 7:13-47
(Read 1 Kings 7:13-47)
The two brazen pillars in the porch of the temple
some
think
were to teach those that came to worship
to depend upon God only
for
strength and establishment in all their religious exercises.
"Jachin
" God will fix this roving mind. It is good that the heart be
established with grace. "Boaz
" In him is our strength
who works in
us both to will and to do. Spiritual strength and stability are found at the
door of God's temple
where we must wait for the gifts of grace
in use of the
means of grace. Spiritual priests and spiritual sacrifices must be washed in
the laver of Christ's blood
and of regeneration. We must wash often
for we
daily contract pollution. There are full means provided for our cleansing; so
that if we have our lot for ever among the unclean it will be our own fault.
Let us bless God for the fountain opened by the sacrifice of Christ for sin and
for uncleanness.
Commentary on 1 Kings 7:48-51
(Read 1 Kings 7:48-51)
Christ is now the Temple and the Builder; the Altar and
the Sacrifice; the Light of our souls
and the Bread of life; able to supply
all the wants of all that have applied or shall apply to him. Outward images
cannot represent
words cannot express
the heart cannot conceive
his
preciousness or his love. Let us come to him
and wash away our sins in his
blood; let us seek for the purifying grace of his Spirit; let us maintain
communion with the Father through his intercession
and yield up ourselves and
all we have to his service. Being strengthened by him
we shall be accepted
useful
and happy.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on 1 Kings》
1 Kings 7
Verse 1
[1] But
Solomon was building his own house thirteen years
and he finished all his
house.
House —
The royal palace for himself
and for his successors.
Thirteen years —
Almost double the time to that in which the temple was built; because neither
were the materials so far provided and prepared for this
as they were for the
temple: nor did either he or his people use the same diligence in this
as in
the other work; to which they were quickened by God's express command.
Verse 2
[2] He built also the house of the forest of Lebanon; the length thereof was
an hundred cubits
and the breadth thereof fifty cubits
and the height thereof
thirty cubits
upon four rows of cedar pillars
with cedar beams upon the
pillars.
Of the forest of Lebanon — An house so called
because it was built in the forest of Lebanon
for a
summer-seat
whither Solomon
having so many chariots and horses
might at any
time retire with ease.
The length — Of
the principal mansion; to which doubtless other buildings were adjoining.
Pillars —
Upon which the house was built
and between which there were four stately
walks.
Beams —
Which were laid for the floor of the second story.
Verse 3
[3] And
it was covered with cedar above upon the beams
that lay on forty five pillars
fifteen in a row.
Fifteen — So
in this second story were only three rows of pillars
which was sufficient for
the ornament of the second and for the support of the third story.
Verse 4
[4] And
there were windows in three rows
and light was against light in three ranks.
Against light —
One directly opposite to the other
as is usual in well-contrived buildings.
In ranks —
One exactly under another.
Verse 5
[5] And all the doors and posts were square
with the windows: and light was
against light in three ranks.
Windows — He
speaks
of smaller windows or lights
which were over the several doors.
Verse 6
[6] And
he made a porch of pillars; the length thereof was fifty cubits
and the
breadth thereof thirty cubits: and the porch was before them: and the other
pillars and the thick beam were before them.
A porch —
Supported by divers pillars
for the more magnificent entrance into the house;
upon which also it is thought there were other rooms built
as in the house.
The porch —
Now mentioned which is said to be before them; before the pillars on which the
house of Lebanon stood.
Pillars —
Or
and pillars; That is
fewer and lesser pillars for the support of the
lesser porch.
Beam —
Which was laid upon these pillars
as the others were verse 2.
Verse 7
[7] Then
he made a porch for the throne where he might judge
even the porch of
judgment: and it was covered with cedar from one side of the floor to the
other.
A porch —
Another porch or distinct room without the house.
The other —
The whole floor; or
from floor to floor
from the lower floor on the ground
to the upper floor which covered it.
Verse 8
[8] And
his house where he dwelt had another court within the porch
which was of the
like work. Solomon made also an house for Pharaoh's daughter
whom he had taken
to wife
like unto this porch.
Another court —
That is
between the porch and the house
called therefore the middle court
chap. 2 Kings 20:4.
Like this —
Not for form or quantity
but for the materials and workmanship
the rooms
being covered with cedar
and furnished with like ornaments.
Verse 9
[9] All
these were of costly stones
according to the measures of hewed stones
sawed
with saws
within and without
even from the foundation unto the coping
and so
on the outside toward the great court.
These —
Buildings described here and in the former chapter.
The measures —
Hewed in such measure and proportion as exact workmen use to hew ordinary
stones.
Within
… —
Both on the inside of the buildings which were covered with cedar
and on the
outside also.
To the coping —
From the bottom to the top of the building.
And so on —
Not only on the outside of the front of the house
which being most visible
men are more careful to adorn; but also of the other side of the house
which
looked towards the great court belonging to the king's house.
Verse 11
[11] And
above were costly stones
after the measures of hewed stones
and cedars.
Above —
That is
in the upper part; for this is opposed to the foundation.
Stones and cedars —
Intermixed the one
and the other.
Verse 12
[12] And
the great court round about was with three rows of hewed stones
and a row of
cedar beams
both for the inner court of the house of the LORD
and for the
porch of the house.
The court —
Namely
of Solomon's dwelling-house mentioned
verse 8.
Verse 14
[14] He
was a widow's son of the tribe of Naphtali
and his father was a man of Tyre
a
worker in brass: and he was filled with wisdom
and understanding
and cunning
to work all works in brass. And he came to king Solomon
and wrought all his
work.
In brass —
And Of gold
and stone
and purple
and blue
2 Chronicles 2:14. But only his skill in brass
is here mentioned
because he speaks only of the brasen things which he made.
Verse 16
[16] And
he made two chapiters of molten brass
to set upon the tops of the pillars: the
height of the one chapiter was five cubits
and the height of the other
chapiter was five cubits:
Five cubits —
The word chapiter is taken either more largely for the whole
so it is five
cubits; Or
more strictly
either for the pommels
as they are called
2 Chronicles 4:12
or for the cornice or crown
and so it was but three cubits
to which the pomegranates being added make it
four cubits
as it is below
verse 19
and the other work upon it took up one cubit
more
which in all made five cubits.
Verse 17
[17] And
nets of checker work
and wreaths of chain work
for the chapiters which were
upon the top of the pillars; seven for the one chapiter
and seven for the
other chapiter.
The chapiters —
Which those nets and wreathes encompass
either covering
and as it were
receiving and holding the pomegranates
or being mixed with them.
Verse 18
[18] And
he made the pillars
and two rows round about upon the one network
to cover
the chapiters that were upon the top
with pomegranates: and so did he for the
other chapiter.
Two rows —
Either of pomegranates
by comparing this with verse 20
or of some other curious work.
Verse 19
[19] And
the chapiters that were upon the top of the pillars were of lily work in the
porch
four cubits.
Lilly work —
Made like the leaves of lillies.
In the porch —
Or
as in the porch; such work as there was in the porch of the temple
in which
these pillars were set
verse 21
that so the work of the tops of these
pillars might agree with that in the top of the porch.
Verse 20
[20] And
the chapiters upon the two pillars had pomegranates also above
over against
the belly which was by the network: and the pomegranates were two hundred in
rows round about upon the other chapiter.
The belly — So
he calls the middle part of the chapiter
which jetted farthest out.
Two hundred —
They are said to be ninety and six on a side of a pillar; in one row and in all
an hundred
Jeremiah 52:23
four great pomegranates between
the several checker-works being added to the first ninety six. And it must
needs be granted
that there were as many on the other side of the pillar
or
in the other row
which makes them two hundred upon a pillar
as is here said
and four hundred upon both pillars
as they are numbered
2 Chronicles 4:13.
Verse 21
[21] And
he set up the pillars in the porch of the temple: and he set up the right
pillar
and called the name thereof Jachin: and he set up the left pillar
and
called the name thereof Boaz.
Jachin —
Jachin signifies he; That is
God shall establish
his temple
and church
and
people: and Boaz signifies
in it
or rather
in him (to answer the he in the
former name) is strength. So these pillars being eminently strong and stable
were types of that strength which was in God
and would be put forth by God for
the defending and establishing of his temple and people
if they were careful
to keep the conditions required by God on their parts.
Verse 23
[23] And
he made a molten sea
ten cubits from the one brim to the other: it was round
all about
and his height was five cubits: and a line of thirty cubits did
compass it round about.
A Sea — He
melted the brass
and cast it into the form of a great vessel
for its vastness
called a sea
which name is given by the Hebrews to all great collections of
waters. The use of it was for the priests to wash their hands and feet
or
other things as occasion required
with the water which they drew out of it.
Verse 24
[24] And
under the brim of it round about there were knops compassing it
ten in a
cubit
compassing the sea round about: the knops were cast in two rows
when it
was cast.
Knops —
Carved or molten figures: for this word signifies figures or pictures of all
sorts.
Ten
… — So
there were three hundred in all.
Cast —
Together with the sea; not carved.
Two rows — It
seems doubtful whether the second row had ten in each cubit
and so there were
three hundred more; or
whether the ten were distributed into five in each row.
Verse 25
[25] It
stood upon twelve oxen
three looking toward the north
and three looking
toward the west
and three looking toward the south
and three looking toward
the east: and the sea was set above upon them
and all their hinder parts were
inward.
Oxen — Of
solid brass
which was necessary to bear so great a weight.
Verse 26
[26] And
it was an hand breadth thick
and the brim thereof was wrought like the brim of
a cup
with flowers of lilies: it contained two thousand baths.
Baths —
Which amounts to five hundred barrels
each bath containing about eight
gallons; the bath being a measure of the same bigness with an ephah.
Verse 27
[27] And
he made ten bases of brass; four cubits was the length of one base
and four
cubits the breadth thereof
and three cubits the height of it.
Bases —
Upon which stood the ten lavers mentioned below
verse 38
in which they washed the parts of the
sacrifices.
Verse 28
[28] And
the work of the bases was on this manner: they had borders
and the borders
were between the ledges:
Borders —
Broad brims
possibly for the more secure holding of the lavers.
Verse 29
[29] And
on the borders that were between the ledges were lions
oxen
and cherubims:
and upon the ledges there was a base above: and beneath the lions and oxen were
certain additions made of thin work.
Base above — So
he calls the upper-most part of the base: for though it was above
yet it was a
base to the laver
which stood upon it.
Additions —
Either as bases for the feet of the said lions and oxen: or
only as farther
ornaments.
Verse 30
[30] And
every base had four brasen wheels
and plates of brass: and the four corners
thereof had undersetters: under the laver were undersetters molten
at the side
of every addition.
Wheels —
Whereby the bases and lavers might be removed from place to place as need
required.
Under-setters —
Heb. shoulders; fitly so called
because they supported the lavers
that they
should not fall from their bases
when the bases were removed together with the
lavers.
Verse 31
[31] And
the mouth of it within the chapiter and above was a cubit: but the mouth
thereof was round after the work of the base
a cubit and an half: and also
upon the mouth of it were gravings with their borders
foursquare
not round.
The mouth — So
he calls that part in the top of the base which was left hollow
that the foot
of the laver might be let into it.
The chapiter —
Within the little base
which he calls the chapiter
because it rose up from
and stood above the great base.
Above —
Above the chapiter; for the mouth went up
and grew wider like a funnel.
A cubit — In
height
verse 35
whereof half a cubit was above the chapiter
or little base
and the other half below it.
A cubit and half — In
compass.
Four square — So
the innermost part
called the mouth
was round
but the outward part was
square
as when a circle is made within a quadrangle.
Verse 33
[33] And
the work of the wheels was like the work of a chariot wheel: their axletrees
and their naves
and their felloes
and their spokes
were all molten.
Molten —
And cast together with the bases.
Verse 34
[34] And
there were four undersetters to the four corners of one base: and the
undersetters were of the very base itself.
Of the base —
Not only of the same matter
but of the same piece
being cast with it.
Verse 36
[36] For
on the plates of the ledges thereof
and on the borders thereof
he graved
cherubims
lions
and palm trees
according to the proportion of every one
and
additions round about.
The proportion —
Or
empty place
that is
according to the bigness of the spaces which were
left empty for them
implying that they were smaller than those above
mentioned.
Verse 39
[39] And
he put five bases on the right side of the house
and five on the left side of
the house: and he set the sea on the right side of the house eastward over
against the south.
Right side — In
the south side
not within the house
but in the priests court
where they
washed either their hands or feet
or the parts of the sacrifices.
Left side — On
the north side.
The south — In
the south-east part
where the offerings were prepared.
Verse 45
[45] And
the pots
and the shovels
and the basons: and all these vessels
which Hiram
made to king Solomon for the house of the LORD
were of bright brass.
The pots — To
boil those parts of the sacrifices which the priests
etc. were to eat.
Verse 48
[48] And
Solomon made all the vessels that pertained unto the house of the LORD: the
altar of gold
and the table of gold
whereupon the shewbread was
Vessels —
Such as Moses had made only these were larger
and richer
and more.
Table of gold —
Under which
are comprehended both all the utensils belonging to it
and the
other ten tables which he made together with it.
Verse 49
[49] And
the candlesticks of pure gold
five on the right side
and five on the left
before the oracle
with the flowers
and the lamps
and the tongs of gold
Candlesticks —
Which were ten
according to the number of the tables
whereas Moses made but
one: whereby might be signified the progress of the light of sacred truth
which was now grown clearer than it was in Moses's time
and should shine
brighter and brighter until the perfect day of gospel light.
Pure gold — Of
massy and fine gold.
The oracle — In
the holy place.
Flowers —
Wrought upon the candlesticks
as it had formerly been.
Verse 51
[51] So
was ended all the work that king Solomon made for the house of the LORD. And
Solomon brought in the things which David his father had dedicated; even the
silver
and the gold
and the vessels
did he put among the treasures of the
house of the LORD.
Silver and gold — So
much of it as was left.
And vessels —
Those which David had dedicated
and with them the altar of Moses
and some
other of the old utensils which were now laid aside
far better being put in
the room of them.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on 1 Kings》
07 Chapter 7
Verses 1-51
Verses 1-12
Solomon was building his own house thirteen years.
Building God’s house and one’s own
A very curious thing this
that whilst Solomon was building the
temple of God he was also building his own house. It does not follow that when
a man is building his own house he is also building the temple of God; but it
inevitably follows that when a man is deeply engaged in promoting the interests
of the Divine sanctuary
he is most truly laying the foundations of his own
house
and completing the things which most nearly concern himself. “Seek ye
first the kingdom of God
and His righteousness
and all these things shall be
added unto you.” No man loses anything by taking part in the building of the
temple of God. He comes away from that sacred erection with new ideas
concerning what may be made of the materials he is using in the construction of
his own dwelling-place. The Spirit of God acts in a mysterious manner along all
this line of human conduct. The eyes are enlightened in prayer: commercial
sagacity is sharpened in the very process of studying the oracles of God: the
spirit of honourable adventure is stirred and perfected by the highest
speculations in things Divine
when those speculations are balanced by
beneficence of thought and action in relation to the affairs of men. (J.
Parker
D. D.)
The satisfaction of completing a work
Mr. Charles had a strong and ardent desire to procure a correct
and indefective edition of the Bible for his Welsh countrymen; therefore his
toil and labour were very great
though without any remuneration from man.
While engaged in this work
he acknowledged that he had a strong wish to live
until it was completed; “and then
” said he
“I shall willingly lay down my
head and die.” He lived to see it completed; and he expressed himself very
thankful to the Lord for having graciously spared him to witness the work finished;
and the last words ever written by him
as it is supposed
were these
with
reference to this work--“It is now finished.”
Verse 6
And he made a porch of pillars.
The porch
Since this porch was the common place of reception for all
worshippers
and the place also where they laid the beggars
it looks as if it
were to be a type of the church’s bosom for charity. Here the proselytes were
entertained
here the beggars were relieved
and received alms. These gates
were seldom shut; and the houses of Christian compassion should be always open.
This therefore beautified this gate
as charity beautifies any of the churches.
Largeness of heart
and tender compassion at the church door
is excellent; it
is the bond of perfectness (1 Corinthians 12:31; 1 Corinthians 13:1-4; John 5:5; John 5:7; Colossians 3:14). (John Bunyan.)
The pillars of the house of Lebanon
(1 Kings 7:6-22):--These pillars were
sweet-scented pillars
for they were made of cedar; but what cared the enemy
for that
they were offensive to him
for that they were placed for a
fortification against him. Nor is it any allurement to Satan to favour the
mighty ones in the church in the wilderness for the fragrant smell of their
sweet graces; nay
both he and his angels are the more beset to oppose them
because they are so sweet scented. The cedars
therefore
got nothing because
they were cedars at the hands of the barbarous Gentiles--for they would burn
the cedars--as the angels or pillars get nothing of favour at the hands of
Antichrist
because they are pillars and angels for the truth
yea
they so
much the more by her are abhorred. Well
but they are pillars for all that
yea
pillars to the church in the wilderness
as the others were in the house
of the forest of Lebanon. The glory of the temple lay in one thing
and the
glory of this house lay in another; the glory of the temple lay in that she
contained the true form and modes of worship
and the glory of the house of
Lebanon lay in her many pillars and thick beams
by which she was made capable
through good management
to give check to those of Damascus when they should
attempt to throw down her worship. (John Bunyan.)
Verses 13-51
Verse 13-14
King Solomon sent and fetched Hiram out of Tyre.
Hiram
the master builder
I. Hiram was a
born master builder. The influence of heredity needs no more signal
illustration. He combines his mother’s heart and his father’s mind. Strange
that in a correspondence between Eastern kings of antiquity
with whom woman’s
fame was of less than cypher value
Hiram’s mother should be mentioned at all;
stranger still
that the premier place is given to her
implying that
while
both parents were eminent
the mother was pre-eminent. Who was she? “A woman of
the daughters of Dan” (2 Chronicles 2:13-14). The Danites
bore the brunt of all the Sidonian incursions
until
driven from hearth and home
for refuge to the hills
privation and isolation but varied the form of the
disasters that dogged them. Finally
submitting to capture or surrender
they
were taken across the border into Tyre to suffer further ignominy amid alien
surroundings. But never did the sons and daughters of Dan forget their tribal
ancestry or affinities. Their traditions and Pride became a splendid
inheritance
and their faith sustained them under the sharpest persecution.
Even their oppressors grew to respect them
and permitted them to thrive in
their midst. Hiram’s mother had the tribal grit
the unswerving courage of her
people
so that when named at the Tyrian Court
it is as “a woman of the
daughters of Dan.” And
in his letter to Solomon
Hiram the King lets drop this
bit of feminine biography that is a tribute to her fine fidelity to conscience.
Do not think that this passes in the record as of no account. You can prophesy
with tolerable certainty as to Hiram’s future when you read his mother’s story
and you can as surely anticipate as much for every child of promise whose
mother is true to the form of faith that holds her to the people of God--call
it what you will
whether Danism or Methodism. Keep your eyes open for these
embryo workers
who are
like poets
born
not made. It is the self-constituted
man we want. It is character
and not birth
that mainly tells. The river has
its source in the mountain torrent
but the true test of its strength is in the
assimilative power with which
while preserving its identity
it absorbs its
tributaries. Therefore we judge Hiram as we would judge ourselves
at the bar
of self-examination--and he emerges from the ordeal admirable.
II. Hiram the
master builder had a mastermind.
1. He was a cunning man. When the Saxons said a man was “cunnen” they
meant that he was knowing--that he had his wits about him. And they implied
more. The root of the word obtained amongst the Latins also. It means a wedge
and we get its signification in the word cuneated
which precisely hits off the
disposition of the man Hiram. He was a wedge-shaped man. Let opportunity give
him but the smallest conceivable opening
and in he went
especially if the
hammer of necessity but tapped home the wedge. Every Christian worker should be
of wedge-shaped character.
2. Hiram
the cunning man
was endued with understanding. To have an
understanding is to be able to get to the bottom of things; and to Re endued
with understanding
as Hiram was
is to exercise this faculty from
circumference to centre. It means that he had not only a mental bias
but also
a mental equipment
thoroughly comprehensive.
III. Hiram of the
master mind was also a master craftsman.
1. Hiram wrought in gold
to him the most precious of metals; of
supreme quality
of standard value
capable of sovereign impress
non-rusting
non-corroding. Gold is the one mineral that does not depreciate; it is
immutable amid all change of time and circumstance; it is gold--always gold.
This he used for overlay work
for the decoration of the holy place
and for the
consecrated vessels. We
too
work in gold when we work in Divine truth. We
cannot alter the material
but do we make its presentation attractive or
repellant? Is the image and superscription of the King upon it? When we use it
in the holy place
does it shine as the wings of a seraph or an overlaid panel
would when Hiram wrought? Are the “vessels unto honour sanctified
and meet for
the Master’s use”?
2. Hiram wrought also in silver--fair and chaste. Silver is subject
to market fluctuation
but it is increased manifold in value when it receives a
sovereign impression. It is the rich man’s plenty
and the poor man’s wealth.
We
too
work in silver
when we serve in human sympathy
that is brightened by
use
and that
when beautified with the Divine likeness
as “the liquid drops
of tears that you have shed
” “brings ten times double gain of happiness.” And
when you work your silver into the Gospel trumpet
the world will hear sounds
that for thrill and cadence will rival the music of a thousand harps.
3. Hiram wrought in brass. The word is used technically for a
compound of metals
that should be rendered bronze. It is a fusion of
copper--the only alloy with gold--and tin. And our thoughts
like the sea
must
be wide and deep
generous and cleansing. Join prayer and thought
and you will
get a spiritual amalgam of the utmost use in temple service.
4. Hiram wrought in iron
that is rough
resistant
obdurate; but in
his hands it became ductile
and exceeding serviceable. When we forge these our
wills
we
too
toil in iron. Proud
repellant
unlovely they are; yet
when
by the grace of God
they become wrought-work
they are marvels of resource
strength
control
support.
5. He worked upon stone
rugged and hard; but
by patient continuance
in well-doing
he formed the useful block that helped to make the temple
and
brought out upon it the
artistic form and beauty of the sculptured decoration. This is just what we do.
6. Hiram wrought upon timber
that supported the roof
that panelled
the holy place
that formed the tables for the shewbread
which was the symbol
for the bread of life.
7. Hiram wrought upon textiles
and in their subdued colours he could
see mysteries. Perhaps only mysteries; whereas
to you and me
the mysteries
seem revealed. But
small blame to the worker Hiram. It was the purpose of his
dispensation to make the marvel
and sustain it.
IV. Hiram had the
master spirit. He came to Solomon a man skilful “to grave every manner of
graving
and to find out every manner of device.” Nothing issues from his
master mind that is not a sublimely pure conception; the Divine touch glorifies
everything he fashions. That is true sacrifice; it is the master art
and you
know it to be true
for it is your Master’s art.
V. For such
service as Hiram’s
what was the reward? No man labours as he did without
recognition
for no man serves God for naught. The upraised temple; its outer
ornamentation; its inner splendour; its acknowledgment of the people; the
accepted sacrifice
and the consummate approval of the Divine presence--surely
these tokens were enough? Shall we each be a master builder? Then let us
remember that he who would seek to fulfil this high calling must have a master
mind; that he who would have the master mind must have the Master’s spirit;
that he who would have the Master’s spirit must be much in the presence of the
Master. There
amid the silences
he will hear the Master’s voice: there are
the hidden victories that overcome
the world. (J. R. Jackson.)
Verse 22
Upon the top the pillars was lily-work.
Lily-work
1. Strength. These pillars were deemed of such importance as to
deserve a name
a name for each. The one was called Jachin
which means “He
will establish”; and the other was called Boaz
which means “in strength.” The
two ideas are near akin
and together express stable strength. Why these names
were given we are not told; whether to indicate the magnitude and fixedness of
the pillars
or the stability
of the religion which was to be represented in that temple
we cannot say. But
we read--and probably in allusion to these pillars with their crowns of
lily-work--“strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.” These pillars are
symbolic
or may be considered as symbolic
of truth
not merely in the world
of grace
but in the world of nature. The world in which we live may be justly
regarded as a temple reared gradually and progressively through long ages under
the ever-active hand of the Divine Architect. But look at the order. It did not
begin with what we call beauty. No doubt every atom of it was beautiful to Him
whose eye seeth all things
but relatively to us the beauty was not at the
beginning. The strength and firmness came first. “The world is established that
it cannot be moved.” “The earth He hath established for ever.” Here
indeed
you have the Jachin
and Boaz of our text
the two kindred and complementary ideas of “strength” and
“stability.” You have the firm
deep
compact rock
hidden for the most part
beneath your feet
or piled in massive mountains. Then in due time come the
living things
which could only live on firm foundations. Let the foundations
be destroyed
and all the beauty will perish with them; as when an earthquake
swallows in its devouring abyss gardens and orchards which were laden with the
richest flowers and the sweetest perfumes. Now man is a temple
as the earth
may be viewed as a temple. He is designed to be the temple of the Holy Ghost;
and in this temple are meant to be strength and beauty
the pillars of Jachin
and Boaz
and on their top “lily-work.” And the religion of Christ starts with
the conceptions of strength and stability. Its very first notion and
foundation-idea is that of “a stone laid in Zion
a sure foundation-stone
a
stone elect and precious.” It is a rock on which God builds His Church
and the
gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Great pains are taken to set forth
this as the first idea
on which all the others depend. The same idea in
another form is found in the fact that the Gospel is called a kingdom and
therefore a thing of power and strength. The Christian
therefore
is to be
and must be in proportion as he is a Christian
a man in whom strength and
stability are to be found in conspicuous force and play. For he is in a world
in which he cannot hold his ground without them. It is not an uncommon thing
for men of the world to look on the Christian Church as if it were a refuge for
the weaklings of the race. What is it that the Christian does which shows his
weakness? He confesses his sins; but is that weakness or is it strength when a
man is a sinner and brazens it out before the face of Almighty God? He asks for
mercy; but is that weakness when to ask for mercy is to acknowledge the
righteous claims of God? He seeks for Divine guidance; but is that a weakness
in a world like this in which it is so easy to err and lose oneself
and in
which “it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps”? And what are these
robuster graces
these rocky principles of the Christian life? There must be
truth
the lip that will not lie. There must be honour and justice
which will
not swerve to the right hand or left from fear or for reward. These things
there must be as the primary formation at the basis of a Christian life. The
pillar of the Christian character must be upright whatever else it be
and
sound in its structure from base to capital and from side to side. Jachin and
Boaz were of this character.
2. Beauty. We have looked at the elements of strength
let us now
glance at the elements of beauty as set forth in the lily-work which crowned
and glorified the heads of the two columns. As we have seen
the world itself
has grown up from strength to beauty. Hiram did not invent his decorations.
They were furnished to his hand from another and more skilful hand. “Behold the
lilies of the field
how they grow
” etc. He borrowed his art from nature
that
is
from God
from whom
indeed
all the noblest and purest art has ever been
borrowed
and must be to the end of time. The Greeks
pagan though they were
seem to have seized this secret with a firm hand
for their name for the world
was “Beauty.” They saw beauty everywhere
and they saw it because it was there.
They saw what God had seen before them
and had put there that it might be seen
by them. Oh
what infinite beauty there must be in the Divine nature
seeing
that all the beauty of the world comes from it as from a fountain
and still
comes from year to year! And just as the world has grown from strength to
beauty
and just as the pillars of Jachin and Boaz were not finished till their
capitals bloomed
as it were
in “lily-work
” so must it be with a true human
life and character. This is not completed without its capital
a capital which
need not be of lily-work
but must be the reproduction of some Divine flower.
It is a still more mournful imperfection and defect when men are dead to the
sense of what is beautiful in the moral and religious life. And some are thus
dead. They believe
and they do well to believe
in the sterner qualities of
that life. They believe in the firm grit of character
granitic compactness and
strength. They like the heroic nerve which never shakes
the eye which blenches
at no danger
the tongue which can utter boldly unwelcome words to an age which
needs them though it hates them
the valiant courage which dares not lie
but
dares to die. These are the only forms of character for which they care. They
have a touch about them of stern sublimity
like bold headlands that shatter
the waves into spray
or mountains that challenge and defy the storms of
heaven. Still it must be repeated that Christian character is very incomplete
until it rises up to the efflorescence which crowns strength with beauty. It
may be thought that the two are incompatible
that you may have your choice
between men whose characteristics are those of strength or those of beauty
but
you cannot have them both in one. But this is a mistake. We have them both in
one
and in perfect union and harmony in Him who is the Son of man
and the
type of that perfect humanity which by His redemptive work He came to create.
The full
true man was Christ
and to become a perfect man in Christ is to
become transformed into His image
and to re-embody in ourselves all the
elements of His character. And what were these elements? Were they not strength
and beauty? Now
the more tender
gracious
and softer aspects of the Christian
life are to find their authority
inspiration
and nourishment in the example
and work of our blessed Lord. And if you read the Epistles carefully
you will
observe how deeply their writers had drunk into the spirit of their Lord. The
strength is there
and also the beauty. We are not to lie
to defraud; we are
to abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul; we are to endure
hardness as good soldiers of Jesus Christ; we are to put on the whole armour of
God
to watch
to stand in the evil day
and having done all to stand
These
ideas form the pillar of the Christian life. But the lily-work is also set forth
again and again. “Be kind one to
another
tender-hearted
forbearing one another
and forgiving one another
even as God in Christ hath forgiven you.” “Above all things
have fervent
charity among yourselves
which is the bond of perfectness.” “Bear ye one
another’s burdens
and so fulfil the law of Christ.” “Be courteous.” “Use
hospitality one towards another without grudging.” It is not enough to speak
the truth
we must speak it in love. It is not enough to be just
the justice
must be tempered with compassion. (E. Mellor
D. D.)
Lily-work
In the porch of this building were two pillars
strength and
“beauty.” Even they
besides their immediate purpose
would suggest meanings to
the reverent observer. Solomon was not what we should call a utilitarian. The
pillars could and Should be made beautiful as well as useful. People might say
“Why this waste?” But he did not think it waste at all
and he was right. God
has given to some men special genius for things of beauty
men like Aholiab and
Bezaleel and Hiram. And such genius can hardly be better employed than in
making God’s house beautiful. But the temple was used by prophets and by
apostles as a type of the great spiritual church. And do not these pillars
divinely designed
in the material temple
bring home to ministers and all
church officers
the pillars of our churches
some qualities which they also
should possess?
I. Essential
qualities.
1. Strength. The pillars had to uphold
to give security to the
building. They must be strong enough to sustain the weight which is to rest
upon them. So pillars of the church should be strong men
with a faith in God
which makes them upright
reliable characters. They should be men who do not
need propping and persuading
but with an independent and tenacious strength.
2. Soundness. Some hidden flaw in a pillar might one day be the cause
of disaster to the whole edifice. The discovery of a serious flaw in the moral
character of a leading man in a church has sometimes wrought irremediable
mischief.
3. Suitable and staunch material. Any substance will not do for a
pillar. Wood will not. It is not stern enough
and it is liable to catch fire.
But it would be madness to use unseasoned wood for such a purpose. So all
members are not made for pillars. There needs endurance and firmness. A pillar
must always be there--should uphold his church in good report and evil report
should be present whenever possible
night as well as morning
week-night as
well as Sunday. This steadiness and fidelity is an invaluable quality in a pillar.
Between the pillars Hiram made five mouldings in imitation of pomegranates.
There should be a connection of mutual trust and reciprocal courtesies between
the officers of a church. Now on the top of the pillars was lily-work.
II. Non-essential
but very desirable qualities. The lily-work did not add to the strength of the
pillar. There have been very useful pillars of the church who had little enough
lily-work about them. But these men would have been still more useful if their
characters had been winsome too. A church is not like a prison. It needs to
attract men. For this it should be beautiful as well as strong. (David
Brook
M. A.)
Strength and beauty
I. God finds room
for strength and beauty. Is it not by these that God makes the world what it is to us? The
rugged rock affords a home for the soft mosses and the plumes of ferns as if
these things paid for board and lodging by their adorning. The trees with roots
thrust deep into the earth
with thick black branches
stretching into
heaven--how are they decked with the leaves
and how are they now gay with
blossoms and now rich with fruit
Strength and beauty. Is it not the very
picture and the very perfection of the home? Here comes the man stained and
soiled by his day’s toil; and here is she who keeps home sweet and clean
and
makes his heart bless her as he sets foot within the place. Strength and
beauty--yet more complete if possible as the toiling father and the busy mother
bend over the little one that looks and laughs its music at them. So God blesses
the world with strength and beauty.
II. First strength
then beauty. The constant emblem of our religion is the rock. The house built
upon the rock
against which the winds blow and rains beat
but the house
abides
for that its foundation standeth sure. The Church of God is built upon
the rock
the Rock of Ages
that abideth for ever. Religion is not a matter of
sentiment
of feeling
of changeful emotion. It is rooted and grounded in the
everlasting Word of the living God. What triumphant strength is begotten within
the soul when it can cry
“I know whom I have believed
and am persuaded that
He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day.” That
first
always and everywhere--strength. Is there anything in the world more miserable
than religion without any bones
a thing that you can squeeze into any shape
you like?--religious sentiment that can talk piously and yet is not exact in
its sayings and doings
that can be particular about its creed
and yet
slipshod in business? There are some people who affect to despise beauty
and
consider it a weakness. “Give me a brass pillar
” say they
“solid and
substantial. I don’t want any nonsensical lily-work about the top of it.” Now
such people may do much harm in the world--more harm than good. Strength and
beauty--how shall we combine the two? In one way
and in one way only. Love is
both. He that loveth hath the secret. For is there any strength like love? Is
there any endurance like love’s? Is there any defiance like the defiance of
love? Love is strength and love is beauty. And love is ours as nothing else
could make it ours but the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Here is love
compelling love that sustains our strongest service and our tenderest thought.
How graciously are these two combined in that word concerning Jesus Christ: “As
many as received Him to them gave He power to become the children of God.”
Authority and strength to become children
simple
trustful
loving
obedient.
Strong that we may be made beautiful. Thus doth our God seek to make us pillars
in His temple
strong with His strength
beautiful with the beauty of the Lord
our God. (M. G. Pearse.)
Strength and beauty
I. The handiwork
of God in the wide field of nature. The rocky steeps of the mountain are belted
with pines; the rivers that fertilise the soft nourish the flowers which grow
on their banks; “the great wide sea” is often surpassingly lovely on its
surface
and there are beautiful-corals in its depths
brilliant shells on Its
shores; on the broad
unmeasured plains and moors are the blue-bell and the
purple heather. If this earth be a temple in which God manifests His presence
His wisdom
and His power
then are the mighty and massive objects upon it the
pillars of that temple
and all exquisite and delicate things are the flowers
His hand has fashioned upon them. We have it also in--
II. The Gospel of
Jesus Christ. In the Gospel are many mighty and massive truths which may be
said to be the very pillars of the sacred edifice: such as the leading truth
that “God Is a Spirit
” etc.; but in close connection with these great and
solid truths is that which is exquisite
delicate
beautiful. Such is the truth
that the faintest whisper of prayer that comes from the lips of the little
child may enter the ear and touch the hand of God
and bring down His
benediction; or that the first sigh of the relenting human spirit is dearer to
the Father’s heart than the finest anthems of the angels; or that the
cherishing of a pure feeling of forgiveness or the doing one act of real
peace-making brings us further into the likeness and childhood of God than
would the accomplishment of the most brilliant intellectual achievement.
III. Christian
character. We have in our churches strong men
helpful
influential
sustaining--men who are pillars. They may be strong in virtue of adventitious
aids
or of natural endowments
or of acquired
powers
or of spiritual
acquisition: and these “pillars” may be either as beams m a mine
rude
rough
unpolished; or they may be as the fluted columns of a cathedral
as these
pillars of Solomon’s temple with lily-work on the top of them.
IV. Christian
service. The worship of God
the service of Jesus Christ
is the power for good
in human society; it upholds the goodness and the happiness of the world. Its
strength and its beauty are determined partly by the stage to which we here
come in our Christian course.
1. The strength of service in age is in submission
willingness to
decline
to take the lower
place
to be of diminishing account; and the beauty of submission is
cheerfulness of spirit.
2. The strength of service in prime is in activity
in usefulness
in
putting out our “talents” for the glory of Christ and the well-being of the
world; and the beauty of activity is thoroughness
regularity
punctuality
heartiness
doing effectively and continuously what has been undertaken.
3. The strength of service in childhood and youth is obedience and
self-denial; and the beauty of this is alacrity
promptness
rendering it not
tardily and reluctantly
but readily and sweetly
with willing feet and
cheerful voice. It is well to have strength and beauty in our Christian
buildings; it is far better
in the estimate of Christ
to have these two
harmoniously combined in the character we are forming and the life we are
living. (W. Clarkson.)
Strength and beauty in character
In this divinely planned structure I know of nothing outside the
Holy of Holies more impressive than the pillars built by Hiram. These were of
the finest brass
of great height
splendid in symmetry and crowned with
lilies. It is a law of art that the most perfect and enduring effects are
produced by the combination of things unlike each other. A painter throws into
his picture the darkest shadows that he may intensify his clearest lights. A sculptor
carves for the top of his columns capitals of delicate design
An architect
relieves the heavy masonry of his walls with items of exquisite device and
forms of sculptured beauty. God Himself is our original teacher; for whilst He
“setteth fast the mountains
being girded with power
” He hath woven around
their summits tender vines and rooted in their crevices sweet scented flowers
that warmly clasp and colour the cold grey cliffs. That widow’s son from Tyre
was not a stranger to this alliance
and so wrought his pillars as to adorn the
sanctuary of the Highest with both strength and beauty. Observe that the
strength was first and the beauty of lilies afterward. We have here the
uplifting of those two qualites which are worshipped by the soul of man the
world over. Power and beauty alike win his homage
but not unfrequently he
yields himself to that which is but the sham of strength
and renders service
to that which has but the semblance of beauty; to power ungifted with love
and
to beauty unadorned by holiness. It is the lie of the world
often uttered and
often believed
that the righteous must needs be the weak and the pure the
uncomely. God declares the right to be the only strong
and the good
the only
beautiful. The power that enters human life to rule it within and without must
be a power of conquest
having the inherent qualities of stability. Man is born
in battle. His cradle is rocked by his own strugglings. His history is that of
a shifting factor in a shifting world. He can neither command himself nor
control his surroundings. Antagonisms swarm on his path. Struggling alone
he
can have but one experience: the shame that comes of perpetual impotency and
the confusion that arises from continued defeat. Sooner or later he learns this
truth
that “all power is of God
” and that the strength that conquers for the
spiritual--that takes hold of eternal things and abides
that elevates life
into firmness of character and adorns it with real beauty
is possible only
through the patient
helpful
regenerative ministry of Jesus Christ. (R. W.
Davis.)
Strength and beauty
1. The Divinity of labour. Hiram
who wrought these pillars
was the
son of a widow in Tyre. To him labour was a divinely ordered force
which a man
took into his life and into his faculties
and which taught him that he was a
workman
not simply for himself
or for some taskmaster
who was set over him
to watch him; but that he was a workman for God
and that the fidelity of his
toil must represent the purity of his worship. Whether he sculptured a column
carved lilies
drove a nail
or set the plough in the furrow
he believed he
was doing a Divine thing. The curse of labour to-day is that men have lost God
out of it. The highest conception of Christianity is the idea that Christianity
can get itself down into the ordinary processes of life
can find a God there
and
grasping the details of things
can change them and beautify them as life
goes on; that no matter what our work may be
it is worship
and if faithfully
done
every day that comes and goes will leave behind it something in the
reservoir of life
some deposit of character which
when all days are over
shall constitute our treasure laid up in heaven.
2. Beauty without strength. In our day there is a great desire for
the lily work without the pillars
a vain longing for the graces of life and
for the beauties of character without the supporting power of truth and duty.
There are thousands of men who would like the virtues of the fathers
but who
do not want the faith which made them virtuous. They would like to have
reproduced in their life the qualities of soul which marked the early
Christians
the Reformers
and the Puritans; but not their sturdy faith
nor
their tenacity of conviction
not their majestic conscience or their tremendous
hold on things unseen. They want the simplicity and affection of the Waldenses
but not their
faith in God; the audacity and fearlessness of John Knox and Oliver Cromwell
without their vivid sense of the Divine Presence; the morality of John Robinson
and Miles Standish
without their heroic creed; the integrity of Washington and
Lincoln
without their trust in a sustaining and over-ruling God. Mothers are
anxious that their daughters should shine in every social accomplishment; that
their sons should be men of talent and of skill; that their homes should be
beautiful with music and art and all kindly grace. But they are not so
solicitous about the solid foundations of character. The spirit of the time is
to dwell on the surface. To dig deep is to contradict the age. Glittering
pinnacles on insecure foundations! Remember all skaters are not navigators. It
is one thing to skim the surface of a pond
and quite another to sail upon the
angry deep. The twittering sparrow has as many wings as the eagle
but he
cannot dip them in the glory which burns just beneath the sun. A candle is not
a comet. The keels of mighty ships are not built of mushrooms. Depth of
character first
not ornament
is to be sought for. In house building digging
must precede decoration. You do not begin with the painter and the gilder
but
with the stone-layer. A pasteboard hut is not a castle
it will be borne away
by the mocking winds. It is dangerous to reckon the virtues of a man’s
character by buttons on his coat
for some are all coat and no character. The
looking-glass is the only book some people read. They are splendid
advertisements for their tailor
but a sorry disgrace to their schoolmaster.
Never mistake the mystery of an echo for the originality of a voice.
3. The foundation of faith. I tell you the quickest way to produce a
sweet and beautiful life
either individual or national
is by placing
underneath it a strong
unwavering faith. “The Parthenon
which lifts toward
the golden-tinted sky the whiteness of its untarnished front
must repose on
the immovable Acropolis of truth and goodness.” The modern professor of fine
arts
who prefers form and finish to substance and thought
who
forgetting all
that is greatest in architecture and sculpture
in painting and music and
poetry
asserts that ethics and aesthetics have nothing in common
who prates
about “art for art’s sake
”
who scorns the teaching of Schelling that the aesthetic lies in character
and
of Dante that art is a descendant of God
is the apostle of the unwholesome
the tawdry
and the lustful
the art of literary fops and the disciples of what
Carlyle called the gospel and the philosophy of dirt. But the highest art
which lifts us to the joy of elevated thoughts as in imagination we watch the
hand that pencilled Madonna
or the greater--
Hand
that rounded Peter’s dome
And
groined the aisles of Christian Rome
is always found the friend and promoter of truth and goodness
of
aspiration and of faith. “The highest art
” as Professor Blackie has said
“is
always the most religious. A scoffing Raphael or an irreverent Michael Angelo
is not conceivable.” We must have the strength first
and beauty afterward. It
is disaster to reverse this order--to try to get beauty and then have strength.
The magnificent Brooklyn Bridge
when viewed at a distance
is a beautiful
poem. But the beauty is dependent on the strength of mighty abutments which
reach down far below the river bed
and take hold of the foundations of the
earth. In everything
both artistic and moral
strength is the stalk; beauty is
the flower that blooms on it.
4. Divine deliberation. The Almighty shows great deliberation in all
His works. Haste
a hurry
fussy activity is always an evidence of weakness.
The six days of creation may have been six sunsets or six millenniums; but the
days moved slowly and majestically forward toward man as a child of God’s
infinite Spirit
and in that result the process finds its climax and its
justification. If God pronounces each of these days of creation to be very
good
it is because He beholds them in the unclouded light of that seventh
glorious morning when He finds Himself not Creator merely
but
since He can commune
with a spirit kindred to His own
finds Himself a Father of immortals. Study
the bases of the mountains and the foundations of the everlasting hills. He who
is girded with power has settled them in their sockets unchangingly. Then He
gave the earth beauty
the forests and ferns
the waving grasses and the
flowers. And the young woman who concentrates all her life on attitudes
effects
sensations
impressions
striving to get the ornamentation
oblivious
to the sterling
splendid qualities that should be wrought into the womanly
character--she asks only for lilies. But there are no lilies worth having that
do not come out of columns. If you were to knock the pillars from under the
globe
where would your flower-gardens be next morning? We have most excellent
illustrations of strength and beauty in the study of two national
characteristics--Hebraism and Hellenism. It is in the ultimate realisation of a
union of the Hebraistic and Hellenistic elements that ultimate perfection is to
be found; the son of Abraham is to join hands with the son of Hellas. The
Hebrew furnished the indispensable basis of faith
of conduct
of self-control;
the immovable foundation upon which alone the perfection aimed at by Greece was
to come to bloom. The Hebrew Bible is not wanting in suggestions of the radiant
beauty of God’s thoughts and works
but there the beauty is subordinate to morality
it is a blossom on the stalk of strength. As the indestructible azure in sea
and sky
as the golden ghory of the sunshine
so this characteristic of beauty
shines forth from strength all through the Bible
immortal in God.
5. God’s love of beauty. There are qualities aside from strength and
truth and courage that every life ought to cultivate. We see that He who
setteth fast the mountains also garnishes the heavens and the hills. Charles
Kingsley used to say
“Study matter as the countenance of God.” “Strength and
beauty are in His sanctuary.” And
God wants beauty incorporated into religion. Strength and beauty
have been divinely joined--what God hath joined together let no man put
asunder.
6. The transforming power of beauty. Beauty dwells in and finds its
basis in strength
as sunshine breaks into glory through the mist
as life
beats and blushes in the flesh
as an impassioned thought breathes out of a
thinker’s face. There are numberless analogies in human life--if we could stop
to consider them--of the way in in which one life can influence another by the
impartation of strength or beauty. Here is a man who has been always stern
truthful
moral
cold--a human pillar. Some day he loves a noble woman
full of
all womanly and lovely graces. That transforms and transfigures him. Under her
influence his sternness flowers into grace. And Tennyson shows us how the ideal
union will be that one where--
The
man is more of woman
she of man;
He
gain in sweetness and in moral height
Nor
lose the wrestling thews that throw the world;
Till
at the last she set herself to man
Like
perfect music unto noble words.
With every man the real man is the woman he carries in his heart.
He is her strength; she is his grace. He upholds; she adorns. The one is the
complement of the other. History is full of the names of men who had strength;
how few there are who had both strength and beauty. I shall never forget the
lessons I learned at the tombs of two men born in almost the same year
men
equally though differently famous--Napoleon Bonaparte and Walter Scott.
Napoleon was born two years before Scott
in the same month and on the same day
of the month
August 15. The years passed by. Both do their work and die. I
have stood under the “Column of Napoleon
” built by himself from twelve hundred
pieces of cannon taken from the Austrian and the Prussian
and crowned with a
statue of the emperor in his imperial robes
and I could not help contrasting
it with that noble monument in Edinburgh
not built by Scott to commemorate his
own glory
but by the generosity and love of his fellow-countrymen to honour
one they loved. And when I stood at the tomb of that great soldier
guarded by
the stained flags of so many battlefields
arranged in his fated number of
nine
I could but think how many burning cities had been laid waste
with
suffering and starving populace
and all for one man’s glory. How different
from all this hollow mockery and fictitious grandeur is the hallowed peace of
St. Mary’s ruined aisle in the Abbey of Dryburgh. In May 1871 the “Column of
Napoleon” was hurled to the ground by his own infuriated countrymen
though
since rebuilt. And in the same year Scott’s magnificent monument at Edinburgh
was wreathed with flowers. Napoleon had only strength
and lives mainly in the
recollection of the ruin he wrought and his blasted ambitions. Scott had both
strength and beauty. He did something good and lasting for mankind. His life
was a real blessing to humanity. He never wrote an impure or hateful or
revengeful word. Amid crushing financial disaster he kept his temper and his
faith in God.
7. Goodness and grace. As all adornment of life finds its basis in
truth
it is equally necessary that all truth should find expression in a noble
life
that all the pillars should blossom at last in lily work. Nature is full
of genuine reality as one true existence
yet manifested in the endless variety
with which the earth teems. There is the solemn
stately mountain standing in
its serene strength--but upon the mountain nature takes up endless incarnations
of loveliness. The bird sings
the lily blossoms
the sunbeam dances
the brook
flashes--and they are all one
while yet our eyes and ears and all our senses
are tingling with the tidings of the difference which they always express. The
mountain
the ocean
and the man--first strong each in its own way
and then
each beautiful with the superadded things
great and gracious. That is what
makes life so full of fascination to the man who has eyes--the eternal
undivided unity of strength
of permanence
of Divine stability
ever unfolding
itself “into one glory of the sun
and another glory of the stars
” and all
together fill the radiant sky. And when Paul comes to speak of the flowering of
Christian character
he shows how healthy and rational he is when he says it is
a change from glory to glory. (F. L. Goodspeed
A. B.
S. T.
B.)
The lotus
The lily referred to as adorning the capitals of Solomon’s temple
pillars was the lotus or water-lily. Graceful in form and delicately beautiful
in colour
serenely floating on the surface of the rising Nile
the sacred
Ganges
and inland lakes of the old world
apparently anchored to the soft yet
rising and falling with the flood
and opening its peerlessly fair petals to
the sun
the mystic ship-flower of the waters naturally found a place in the
ornamental symbolism of every temple-building race. To the Egyptians it was a
token of blessing because it appeared with the annual overflow of the Nile
a
type of immortality
of the creation of the world
of the Deluge and the Ark
and other sacred mysteries. It adorned and finished the capitals of Jachin and
Boaz in Jehovah’s temple at Jerusalem. It was an emblem of purity. Over the
gateway of the temple of Phocis was written
“Let no one enter here whose hands
are unclean.” David says
“I will wash my hands in innocency: so will I compass
Thine altar
O Jehovah.” Purity of heart and life was the lesson of the lily
work over the pillars of God s house in Solomon’s day
as it is in ours. (W.
Balgarnie.)
Simplicity in decoration
The character of sublimity is chaste and simple. In the arts
dependent on design
if the artist aim at this character
he must disregard all
trivial decorations
nor must the eye be distracted by a multiplicity of parts.
In architecture there must be few divisions of the principal members of the
building
and the parts must be large and of ample relief; there must be a
modesty of decoration
contemning all minuteness of ornament
which distracts
the eye that ought to be filled with the general mass and with the proportions
of the greater parts to each other. In this respect the Doric is confessedly
superior to all the other orders of architecture
as it unites strength and
majesty with a becoming simplicity
and the utmost symmetry of proportions. (Tytler’s
History.)
Alliance of strength with beauty
Beauty is ever seen to best advantage in its natural alliance with
strength. The lotus on the river
the dove in the cleft of the rock
the wife
by her husband’s side at church
the infant in the parent’s arms
the voices of
young men and maidens . . . blended
in harmony in the praise of the sanctuary
the wrestling power and child-like pleading at the throne
the force and
tenderness of the Gospel
are combinations in nature and grace that are doubtless
intended to teach us how all forms of strength may become beautiful
and all
that is beautiful may become strong. Is it not when our Lord is seen in the
might of His Deity and the peerless beauty of His humanity that He becomes to
us all our salvation and all our desire? God in Christ is Omnipotence become
beautiful to us in its condescension and love; Christ in God is our security
and strength. When at last the Bridegroom shall come to take his Bride to
Himself
and the Church puts on “her beautiful garments” to receive Him
when
they enter the Father’s house together
then strength and beauty in their
completeness will be seen in the sanctuary. On the top of the pillars there
will be lily work
and the work of the pillars will be finished. (W. Balgarnie.)
Sensitive to the beautiful
I am sorry for persons who always see the bad first
and the good
last
or never. Whether it be in art
or whether it be the conduct of affairs
or whether it be in social life
one should know what is harmony and what is discord
what
is straight and what is crooked
what is right and what is wrong. A man that is
strongly sensitive to the beautiful
and true
and right
is in a healthy
condition of mind--and health is the most beautiful thing in the world. In the
plant
in its place; in the animal
in its place; in society
in its place; in
all parts of the mental economy
a healthy
normal condition--that is the thing
which is the most beautiful
and which ought to be the most attractive. (H.
W. Beecher.)
Character attractive
Character is not determined by a single act
but by habitual
conduct
says the Rev. Theodore L. Cuyler
D.D. It is a fabric made up
of thousands of threads
and put together by uncounted stitches. Some
characters are stoutly sewed
others are only basted. A Christian ought not
only to have his spiritual garments well sewed
but kept clean--in fact
as a
representative of Jesus Christ
he ought to present such an attractive apparel
before the world that others should say to him: “Where did you get this? I want
one just like it.”
Verse 50
Snuffers.
Snuffers
(Children’s service):--You smile at such a text
and no wonder!
But snuffers were very useful in the temple; they kept the lights trim and
bright.
1. Now you see what snuffers are for; they are for making a dull
light shine brighter. When the candle has been burning for some time it seems
to get dull and drowsy
then “snap” go the snuffers
and the light gets bright!
There are snuffers which do that for boys and girls
and men and women
too
for that matter. There was that sum you worked out on your slate. It was all
wrong. What did the master do? Rub it all out. That was the snap of the
snuffers. It made you brighter; you took more care over your sums next time.
You see these men lopping the trees? Why do they do that? To make them bear
more fruit. The
trees are the better for the sharp snuffers--and so are you. Never be
discouraged.
2. Sometimes you are the snuffers. There’s your little brother
for
instance
he isn’t half so wise as you
and sometimes he makes mistakes. Put
him right; but take care how you use the snuffers. If you use them carelessly
you may put out the light altogether. What I mean is this--you may so
discourage him that he won’t have any heart to try to do better. Therefore
use
the snuffers gently. Don’t call him “stupid
” or ridicule him. Remember
God
wants your light to shine that others may get blessing by it; so you must
expect Him now and again to trim it. By one way or other He tries to trim our
light that it may shine the brighter. Think of this when any trouble comes: God
wants to make use of it to make you braver
better
purer. (J. Reid Howatt.)
──《The Biblical Illustrator》