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2 Chronicles Chapter Four

 

2 Chronicles 4

Chapter Contents

The furniture of the temple.

Here is a further account of the furniture of God's house. Both without doors and within there was that which typified the grace of the gospel and shadowed out good things to come of which the substance is Christ. There was the brazen altar. The making of this was not mentioned in the book of Kings. On this all the sacrifices were offered and it sanctified the gift. The people who worshipped in the courts might see the sacrifices burned. They might thus be led to consider the great Sacrifice to be offered in the fulness of time to take away sin and put an end to death which the blood of bulls and goats could not possibly do. And with the smoke of the sacrifices their hearts might ascend to heaven in holy desires towards God and his favour. In all our devotions we must keep the eye of faith fixed upon Christ. The furniture of the temple compared with that of the tabernacle showed that God's church would be enlarged and his worshippers multiplied. Blessed be God there is enough in Christ for all.

── Matthew HenryConcise Commentary on 2 Chronicles

 

2 Chronicles 4

Verse 7

[7] And he made ten candlesticks of gold according to their form and set them in the temple five on the right hand and five on the left.

Their form — The old form which God prescribed to Moses.

Verse 8

[8] He made also ten tables and placed them in the temple five on the right side and five on the left. And he made an hundred basons of gold.

Ten tables — Whereon the shew-bread was set verse 19. Perhaps each of these had twelve loaves on it. As the house was enlarged so was the provision.

Verse 16

[16] The pots also and the shovels and the fleshhooks and all their instruments did Huram his father make to king Solomon for the house of the LORD of bright brass.

His father — He is so called because Solomon usually called him by that name out of that great respect which he bare to him for his excellent art and service which he did for him: it being usual to call great artists and inventors of things by this name.

Verse 20

[20] Moreover the candlesticks with their lamps that they should burn after the manner before the oracle of pure gold;

The manner — According to the prescription of God to Moses.

Verse 22

[22] And the snuffers and the basons and the spoons and the censers of pure gold: and the entry of the house the inner doors thereof for the most holy place and the doors of the house of the temple were of gold.

Of gold — In part; they were made of wood but covered with golden plates.

── John WesleyExplanatory Notes on 2 Chronicles

 

04 Chapter 4

 

Verses 1-22


Verses 1-10

2 Chronicles 4:1-10

Moreover he made an altar of brase

The furniture of the holy court

1.
The altar of brass. Larger than that in tabernacle. When God enlarges our borders and business we should increase our gifts.

2. The sea of brass. God requires sanctity in all that approach Him (James 4:8).

3. The ten layers. Not only the priests but the sacrifices must be washed. We must purify our persons and performances. Iniquity cleaves to our holy things.

4. The ten golden candlesticks. One in tabernacle. Light increases.

5. The ten tables.

6. The golden altar. Christ makes atonement and intercedes for ever in virtue of that atonement. (J. Wolfendale.)

Also he made a molten sea of ten cubits.

The molten sea

I. Its use. Suggests purification for God’s service.

II. Its size. Suggests abundant provision for purification. A type of the “fountain opened.”

III. Its construction.

1. The material precious and durable.

2. The oxen sacrifices of priests emblems of strength and patience--looking all ways. The blessings procured by a holy priesthood would be universally diffused. (Homiletical Commentary.)


Verse 22

2 Chronicles 4:22

And the entry of the house.

The entry of the house

This central conspicuous and attractive suggesting--

I. Access to God in Christian worship.

II. Access to symbolic beauty in Christian worship.

1. Perfection of gold or material prosperity given to God.

2. Palms--growth and fruitfulness in Christian life.

3. Flowers--beauty and fragrance in Christian character.

4. Cherubims--alacrity in God’s service. (J. Wolfendale.)

The worth of grandeur

A fine house cannot make a fine tenant; a first-class carriage cannot make a first-class traveller; a man might sit down on a monarch’s throne and not be a sovereign; he might even look like a king and be only a clown. Decoration is useless if it does not express something beyond itself something spiritual ideal transcendental. The picture is nothing if it does not in reality speak not indeed to the ear of the body but to the attention of the soul. It is an amusing irony to see some people clothed in purple and fine linen because there is really no connection between them and their clothes; we expect them to speak musically and lo! their tones fill our mouths as with gravel-stones. We expect a man to be at least as elegant as his clothes and when he is not we do not blame the garments; it is more their misfortune than their fault that they should be where they are. So when we read the specification of temples and palaces we say “What does it amount to? What is this grandeur worth in helping and blessing the world? What is civilisation to end in?” (J. Parker D.D.)

──The Biblical Illustrator