Day 116 2 Chronicles 4-6 Supplemental Note

2 Chronicles Chapter 4
The design for the interior and external areas of the Temple (see Layout Of Solomon's Temple for the key to the illustration below; also Temples) was given to Solomon by The Lord (to understand just Who "The Lord God" was and is, see "The God Of The Old Testament" and Why Did Christ Put Moses To Death?). Everything was specific in place and symbolic purpose.
The Sea (see also The Sea) provided water for the ceremonial washings (see The Origin of Baptism).

"He made an altar of bronze [see Brass, Bronze, Copper], twenty Cubits long, and twenty cubits wide, and ten cubits high. Then he made the molten sea; it was round, ten cubits from brim to brim, and five cubits high, and a line of thirty cubits measured its circumference. Under it were figures of gourds, for thirty cubits, compassing the sea round about; the gourds were in two rows, cast with it when it was cast. It stood upon twelve oxen, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east [see also Why Did They Face East?]; the sea was set upon them, and all their hinder parts were inward. Its thickness was a handbreadth [see Biblical Weights and Measures]; and its brim was made like the brim of a cup, like the flower of a lily; it held over three thousand baths.
He also made ten lavers in which to wash, and set five on the south side, and five on the north side. In these they were to rinse off what was used for the burnt offering, and the sea was for the priests to wash in." (2 Chronicles 4:1-6 RSV)

All of the furnishings of The Temple were symbolic of Christianity (e.g. see Christ's Mercy Seat)

"And he made ten golden lampstands [see The Menorah] as prescribed, and set them in the temple, five on the south side and five on the north. He also made ten tables, and placed them in the temple, five on the south side and five on the north. And he made a hundred basins of gold [see Bread of the Presence].
He made the Court of the priests, and the great court, and doors for the court, and overlaid their doors with bronze; and he set the sea at the southeast corner of the house." (2 Chronicles 4:7-10 RSV)

Most of the mold casting was done using the clay along The Jordan River.

"The pots, the shovels, the forks, and all the equipment for these Huram-abi made of burnished bronze for King Solomon for the house of The Lord [see YHVH, Adonai, Jehovah, LORD]. In the plain of the Jordan the king cast them, in the Clay ground between Succoth and Zeredah." (2 Chronicles 4:16-17 RSV)

2 Chronicles Chapter 5
When the building of The Temple was completed, Solomon brought in the many things that his father King David had provided as well (including the peace that David had won for Solomon and Israel; see also Christ the Conqueror For Peace).

"Thus all the work that Solomon did for the house of The Lord was finished. And Solomon brought in the things which David his father had dedicated, and stored the silver, the gold, and all the vessels in the treasuries of the house of God." (2 Chronicles 5:1 RSV)

The Temple was completed at the time of the Feast of Tabernacles (see Christ's Feast of Tabernacles), in the seventh month of God's Calendar (see Bible Calendar and Bible Months).

"Then Solomon assembled the elders [see The Senate] of Israel and all the heads of the tribes [see also Family, Clan, Tribe, Nation], the leaders of the fathers' houses of the people of Israel, in Jerusalem, to bring up The Ark Of The Covenant of The Lord out of The City of David, which is Zion [see the Fact Finder question below]. And all the men of Israel assembled before the king at the feast which is in the seventh month." (2 Chronicles 5:2-3 RSV)

The specific Levites who were authorized to handle The Ark then brought it to the Temple (see also Raiders Of The Lost Ark and How Does The Ark Get To Heaven?).

"So the priests brought the ark of the covenant of The Lord to its place, in the inner sanctuary of the house, in the most holy place, underneath the wings of the cherubim. For the cherubim spread out their wings over the place of the ark, so that the cherubim made a covering above the ark and its poles. And the poles were so long that the ends of the poles were seen from the holy place before the inner sanctuary; but they could not be seen from outside; and they are there to this day. There was nothing in the ark except the two tables which Moses put there at Horeb [see What Did The Ten Commandments Look Like?], where The Lord made a covenant with the people of Israel, when they came out of Egypt." (2 Chronicles 5:7-10 RSV)

Amidst the joyous celebration of the arrival of The Ark, "the house of The Lord, was filled with a cloud" (see The Clouds of Heaven and He That Sat On The Cloud).

"Now when the priests came out of the holy place, for all the priests who were present had sanctified themselves, without regard to their divisions; and all the Levitical singers, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun, their sons and kinsmen, arrayed in fine linen, with cymbals, harps [see also The Harp String Verses], and lyres [see Lyre], stood east of the altar with a hundred and twenty priests who were trumpeters; and it was the duty of the trumpeters and singers to make themselves heard in unison in praise and thanksgiving to The Lord, and when the song was raised, with trumpets and cymbals and other musical instruments, in praise to The Lord, "For he is good, for his steadfast love endures for ever," the house, the house of The Lord, was filled with a cloud, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud; for the glory of The Lord filled the house of God." (2 Chronicles 5:11-14 RSV)

2 Chronicles Chapter 6
Solomon then proclaimed a prayer of dedication for the Temple, "O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like Thee, in heaven or on earth."

"Solomon had made a bronze platform five cubits long, five cubits wide, and three cubits high, and had set it in the court; and he stood upon it. Then he knelt upon his knees in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven; and said, "O Lord, God of Israel [again, see "The God Of The Old Testament" to understand Who Solomon was praying to], there is no God like Thee, in heaven or on earth, keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to Thy servants who walk before Thee with all their heart; who hast kept with Thy servant David my father what thou didst declare to him; yea, thou didst speak with Thy mouth, and with thy hand hast fulfilled it this day." (2 Chronicles 6:13-15 RSV)

Solomon's "will God dwell indeed with man on the earth" was not merely a rhetorical statement of God's presence throughout His entire Creation - God is going to dwell on earth after Christ has prepared the way (see Preparing The Way For God's Arrival and What Is Jesus Christ Doing Right Now?).

"But will God dwell indeed with man on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain Thee; how much less this house which I have built! Yet have regard to the prayer of thy servant and to his supplication, O Lord my God, hearkening to the cry and to the prayer which thy servant prays before Thee; that Thy eyes may be open day and night toward this house, the place where Thou hast promised to set Thy Name, that Thou mayest hearken to the prayer which Thy servant offers toward this place." (2 Chronicles 6:18-20 RSV)

Solomon then also inadvertently prophesied the fall of Judah and the destruction of the Temple that he was just then dedicating upon its completion (see Why Babylon?) and the return and restoration in the time of Ezra and Nehemiah.

"If they sin against thee - for there is no man who does not sin - and thou art angry with them, and dost give them to an enemy, so that they are carried away captive to a land far or near; yet if they lay it to heart in the land to which they have been carried captive, and repent, and make supplication to thee in the land of their captivity, saying, 'We have sinned, and have acted perversely and wickedly'; if they repent with all their mind and with all their heart in the land of their captivity, to which they were carried captive, and pray toward their land, which thou gavest to their fathers, the city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name, then hear thou from heaven thy dwelling place their prayer and their supplications, and maintain their cause and forgive thy people who have sinned against thee." (2 Chronicles 6:36-39 RSV)