These small group study notes on the book of 2nd Chronicles contain outlines, cross-references, Bible study discussion questions, lessons to learn, and key words. Feel free to print them, copy them, or share them. I only ask that you remember these are are personal study notes and are only meant as a supplement to your own study, not a replacement. May God be glorified! Visit our inductive Bible study main page for more studies on this and other books of the Bible. See the bottom of the page for the rest of the study on Second Chronicles chapter three.
2 Chronicles Chapter 3 Inductive Bible Study - Outline, Key Words, Cross References, Observations, Discussion Questions
A House for God
Chapter 3:1-17
Location, Starting Date, and Dimensions
1 Then Solomon began to build the house of the LORD in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the LORD had appeared to his father David, at the place that David had prepared on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.
2 He began to build on the second day in the second month of the fourth year of his reign.
3 Now these are the foundations which Solomon laid for building the house of God. The length in cubits, according to the old standard was sixty cubits, and the width twenty cubits.
The Exterior
4 The porch which was in front of the house was as long as the width of the house, twenty cubits, and the height 120; and inside he overlaid it with pure gold.
5 He overlaid the main room with cypress wood and overlaid it with fine gold, and ornamented it with palm trees and chains.
6 Further, he adorned the house with precious stones; and the gold was gold from Parvaim.
7 He also overlaid the house with gold — the beams, the thresholds and its walls and its doors; and he carved cherubim on the walls.
Holy of Holies
8 Now he made the room of the holy of holies: its length across the width of the house was twenty cubits, and its width was twenty cubits; and he overlaid it with fine gold, amounting to 600 talents.
9 The weight of the nails was fifty shekels of gold. He also overlaid the upper rooms with gold.
10 Then he made two sculptured cherubim in the room of the holy of holies and overlaid them with gold.
11 The wingspan of the cherubim was twenty cubits; the wing of one, of five cubits, touched the wall of the house, and its other wing, of five cubits, touched the wing of the other cherub.
12 The wing of the other cherub, of five cubits, touched the wall of the house; and its other wing of five cubits was attached to the wing of the first cherub.
13 The wings of these cherubim extended twenty cubits, and they stood on their feet facing the main room.
14 He made the veil of violet, purple, crimson and fine linen, and he worked cherubim on it.
Jachin and Boaz
15 He also made two pillars for the front of the house, thirty-five cubits high, and the capital on the top of each was five cubits.
16 He made chains in the inner sanctuary and placed them on the tops of the pillars; and he made one hundred pomegranates and placed them on the chains.
17 He erected the pillars in front of the temple, one on the right and the other on the left, and named the one on the right Jachin and the one on the left Boaz.
Key Words
· cubit 14
· house 10
· gold 9
· overlaid 7
· wings 7
· twenty 6
· made 6
· cherubim 5
· one 5
· room 5
· five 5
· width 4
· wall 4
· fine 3
· touch 3
· front 3
· build 3
· cherub 3
· chain 3
· pillar 3
Titles
Temple Specifications
A House for God
Outline
I. Location, Starting Date, and Dimensions 1-3
II. The Exterior 4-7
III. Holy of Holies 8-14
IV. Jachin and Boaz 15-17
Cross References, Questions, Observations
1 Then Solomon began to build the house of the LORD in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the LORD had appeared to his father David, at the place that David had prepared on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.
1 Ch 22:1
22:1 Then David said, "This will be the location for the Temple of the LORD God and the place of the altar for Israel's burnt offerings!" NLT
Ge 22:2
2 He said, "Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you."
a) How did Solomon decide upon the site to build the temple?
1)
2 He began to build on the second day in the second month of the fourth year of his reign.
a) Why did Solomon wait till the fourth year of his reign to begin construction of the temple?
1)
3 Now these are the foundations which Solomon laid for building the house of God. The length in cubits, according to the old standard was sixty cubits, and the width twenty cubits.
CUBIT
Some scholars maintain that Israel's system of linear measurement was primarily based on the Egyptian system. In view of the history of Israel, this is a reasonable position. A "cubit" ordinarily was the distance from one's elbow to the tip of the middle finger. Since this distance varied from individual to individual, the "cubit" was a rather imprecise measurement. Yet the first appearance of 'ammah Ge 6:15 refers to the measurement of Noah's ark, which implies that the word must refer to a more precise length than the ordinary "cubit."
There was an official "cubit" in Egypt. In fact, there were both a shorter "cubit" (17.6 inches) and a longer "cubit" (20.65 inches). The Siloam inscription states that the Siloam tunnel was 1,200 "cubits" long. This divided by its measurement in feet (1,749) demonstrates that as late as Hezekiah's day (cf. 2 Ch 32:4) the "cubit" was about 17.5 inches or the shorter Egyptian cubit. Ezekiel probably used the Babylonian "cubit" in describing the temple. The Egyptian shorter cubit is only about three inches shorter than the longer cubit; on the other hand, the Babylonian shorter cubit was about four-fifths the length of the official royal "cubit," about a handbreadth shorter: "And behold a wall on the outside of the house round about, and in the man's hand a measuring reed of six cubits long by the cubit and a handbreadth..." Eze 40:5. In other words, it was the width of seven palms rather than six.
Maximum temple dimensions: L103.25’ X W34.42’ X H206.5’ or
L31.471m X W10.49m X H62.942m
Minimum temple dimensions: L87.5’ X W29.17’ X H175.0’ or
L24.72m X W8.89m X H49.44m
1)
4 The porch which was in front of the house was as long as the width of the house, twenty cubits, and the height 120; and inside he overlaid it with pure gold.
a)
1) Several manuscripts omit the “100” making the height 20 cubits. Given the height of the pillars (v.15), the likely height of the temple was 20 cubits.
5 He overlaid the main room with cypress wood and overlaid it with fine gold, and ornamented it with palm trees and chains.
a)
1)
6 Further, he adorned the house with precious stones; and the gold was gold from Parvaim.
Rv 21:18-22
18 The material of the wall was jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass.
19 The foundation stones of the city wall were adorned with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation stone was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emerald;
20 the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprase; the eleventh, jacinth; the twelfth, amethyst.
21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each one of the gates was a single pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.
22 I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.
a) Why will there be no temple in heaven?
1)
7 He also overlaid the house with gold — the beams, the thresholds and its walls and its doors; and he carved cherubim on the walls.
a)
1)
8 Now he made the room of the holy of holies: its length across the width of the house was twenty cubits, and its width was twenty cubits; and he overlaid it with fine gold, amounting to 600 talents.
1 talent = 60 minas = 34.3kg = 75lbs. = 1,102.89389 troy oz. = $1,341,449.84 = ¥ 9,100,806.93
600 talents = 20,598kg = 45,000lbs = $804 869 904 = ¥ 5,460,484,158
2.2 Billion metric tons is the total amount of gold on the earth. – source is Jeff!
a) How much gold is that?
b) Why was gold used so extensively in the construction of the temple?
1)
9 The weight of the nails was fifty shekels of gold. He also overlaid the upper rooms with gold.
2 Ch 3:9
9 They used gold nails that weighed about twenty ounces each. The walls of the upper rooms were also overlaid with pure gold. NLT
Shekel; the chief unit of weight or measure
1) gold, 1/10,000 of a talent = 220 grains = 0.458333333 troy ounces = 14.2557602 g
The nails weighed 25.1428572 oz. or 712.788012 grams each
At today’s (08-13-10) price of gold, the value of each nail was $27,878.81 or ¥189,216.72
1 grain = 0.00228571429 ounces
1 grain = 64.79891 milligrams
a) In today’s dollars/yuan, about how much was each nail worth?
1)
10 Then he made two sculptured cherubim in the room of the holy of holies and overlaid them with gold.
Ge 3:24
24 So He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life.
Ex 25:18-22
18 "You shall make two cherubim of gold, make them of hammered work at the two ends of the mercy seat.
19 "Make one cheru at one end and one cherub at the other end;you shall make the cherubim of one piece with the mercy seat at its two ends.
20 " The cherubim shall have their wings spread upward, covering the mercy seat with their wings and facing one another; the faces of the cherubim are to be turned toward the mercy seat.
21 "You shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the testimony which I will give to you.
22 " There I will meet with you; and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony, I will speak to you about all that I will give you in commandment for the sons of Israel.
2 Sa 22:11
11 "And He rode on a cherub and flew; And He appeared on the wings of the wind.
Ps 18:10
10 He rode upon a cherub and flew; And He sped upon the wings of the wind.
Eze 1:5-21
5 Within it there were figures resembling four living beings. And this was their appearance: they had human form.
6 Each of them had four faces and four wings.
7 Their legs were straight and their feet were like a calf's hoof, and they gleamed like burnished bronze.
8 Under their wings on their four sides were human hands. As for the faces and wings of the four of them,
9 their wings touched one another; their faces did not turn when they moved, each went straight forward.
10 As for the form of their faces, each had the face of a man; all four had the face of a lion on the right and the face of a bull on the left, and all four had the face of an eagle.
11 Such were their faces. Their wings were spread out above; each had two touching another being, and two covering their bodies.
12 And each went straight forward; wherever the spirit was about to go, they would go, without turning as they went.
13 In the midst of the living beings there was something that looked like burning coals of fire, like torches darting back and forth among the living beings. The fire was bright, and lightning was flashing from the fire.
14 And the living beings ran to and fro like bolts of lightning.
15 Now as I looked at the living beings, behold, there was one wheel on the earth beside the living beings, for each of the four of them.
16 The appearance of the wheels and their workmanship was like sparkling beryl, and all four of them had the same form, their appearance and workmanship being as if one wheel were within another.
17 Whenever they moved, they moved in any of their four directions without turning as they moved.
18 As for their rims they were lofty and awesome, and the rims of all four of them were full of eyes round about.
19 Whenever the living beings moved, the wheels moved with them. And whenever the living beings rose from the earth, the wheels rose also.
20 Wherever the spirit was about to go, they would go in that direction. And the wheels rose close beside them; for the spirit of the living beings was in the wheels.
21 Whenever those went, these went; and whenever those stood still, these stood still. And whenever those rose from the earth, the wheels rose close beside them; for the spirit of the living beings was in the wheels.
Eze 10
Then I looked, and behold, in the expanse that was over the heads of the cherubim something like a sapphire stone, in appearance resembling a throne, appeared above them.
2 And He spoke to the man clothed in linen and said, "Enter between the whirling wheels under the cherubim and fill your hands with coals of fire from between the cherubim and scatter them over the city." And he entered in my sight.
3 Now the cherubim were standing on the right side of the temple when the man entered, and the cloud filled the inner court.
4 Then the glory of the LORD went up from the cherub to the threshold of the temple, and the temple was filled with the cloud and the court was filled with the brightness of the glory of the LORD.
5 Moreover, the sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard as far as the outer court, like the voice of God Almighty when He speaks.
6 It came about when He commanded the man clothed in linen, saying, "Take fire from between the whirling wheels, from between the cherubim ," he entered and stood beside a wheel.
7 Then the cherub stretched out his hand from between the cherubim to the fire which was between the cherubim , took some and put it into the hands of the one clothed in linen, who took it and went out.
8 The cherubim appeared to have the form of a man's hand under their wings.
9 Then I looked, and behold, four wheels beside the cherubim, one wheel beside each cherub ; and the appearance of the wheels was like the gleam of a Tarshish stone.
10 As for their appearance, all four of them had the same likeness, as if one wheel were within another wheel.
11 When they moved, they went in any of their four directions without turning as they went; but they followed in the direction which they faced, without turning as they went.
12 Their whole body, their backs, their hands, their wings and the wheels were full of eyes all around, the wheels belonging to all four of them.
13 The wheels were called in my hearing, the whirling wheels.
14 And each one had four faces. The first face was the face of a cherub, the second face was the face of a man, the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.
15 Then the cherubim rose up. They are the living beings that I saw by the river Chebar.
16 Now when the cherubim moved, the wheels would go beside them; also when the cherubim lifted up their wings to rise from the ground, the wheels would not turn from beside them.
17 When the cherubim stood still, the wheels would stand still; and when they rose up, the wheels would rise with them, for the spirit of the living beings was in them.
18 Then the glory of the LORD departed from the threshold of the temple and stood over the cherubim .
19 When the cherubim departed, they lifted their wings and rose up from the earth in my sight with the wheels beside them; and they stood still at the entrance of the east gate of the LORD'S house, and the glory of the God of Israel hovered over them.
20 These are the living beings that I saw beneath the God of Israel by the river Chebar; so I knew that they were cherubim.
21 Each one had four faces and each one four wings, and beneath their wings was the form of human hands.
22 As for the likeness of their faces, they were the same faces whose appearance I had seen by the river Chebar. Each one went straight ahead.
Eze 28:12-14
12 "Son of man, take up a lamentation over the king of Tyre and say to him, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "You had the seal of perfection, Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
13 "You were in Eden, the garden of God; Every precious stone was your covering: The ruby, the topaz and the diamond; The beryl, the onyx and the jasper; The lapis lazuli, the turquoise and the emerald; And the gold, the workmanship of your settings and sockets, Was in you. On the day that you were created They were prepared.
14 "You were the anointed cherub who covers, And I placed you there. You were on the holy mountain of God; You walked in the midst of the stones of fire.
a) What is a cherub?
b) How many cherubim were to be in the holy of holies?
c) What did the cherubim represent?
d) Name the best known cherub.
1)
11 The wingspan of the cherubim was twenty cubits; the wing of one, of five cubits, touched the wall of the house, and its other wing, of five cubits, touched the wing of the other cherub.
a) How large is a real cherub?
1)
12 The wing of the other cherub, of five cubits, touched the wall of the house; and its other wing of five cubits was attached to the wing of the first cherub.
a)
1)
13 The wings of these cherubim extended twenty cubits, and they stood on their feet facing the main room.
a)
1)
14 He made the veil of violet, purple, crimson and fine linen, and he worked cherubim on it.
Ex 26:31-35
31 "You shall make a veil of blue and purple and scarlet material and fine twisted linen; it shall be made with cherubim, the work of a skillful workman.
32 "You shall hang it on four pillars of acacia overlaid with gold, their hooks also being of gold, on four sockets of silver.
33 "You shall hang up the veil under the clasps, and shall bring in the ark of the testimony there within the veil; and the veil shall serve for you as a partition between the holy place and the holy of holies.
34 "You shall put the mercy seat on the ark of the testimony in the holy of holies.
35 "You shall set the table outside the veil, and the lampstand opposite the table on the side of the tabernacle toward the south; and you shall put the table on the north side.
Mt 27:51
51 And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth shook and the rocks were split.
Heb 9:1-3
1 Now even the first covenant had regulations of divine worship and the earthly sanctuary.
2 For there was a tabernacle prepared, the outer one, in which were the lampstand and the table and the sacred bread; this is called the holy place.
3 Behind the second veil there was a tabernacle which is called the Holy of Holies,
Heb 10:20
20 by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh,
a) What does the veil represent?
1)
15 He also made two pillars for the front of the house, thirty-five cubits high, and the capital on the top of each was five cubits.
1 Ki 7:15-22
15 He fashioned the two pillars of bronze; eighteen cubits was the height of one pillar, and a line of twelve cubits measured the circumference of both.
16 He also made two capitals of molten bronze to set on the tops of the pillars; the height of the one capital was five cubits and the height of the other capital was five cubits.
17 There were nets of network and twisted threads of chainwork for the capitals which were on the top of the pillars; seven for the one capital and seven for the other capital.
18 So he made the pillars, and two rows around on the one network to cover the capitals which were on the top of the pomegranates; and so he did for the other capital.
19 The capitals which were on the top of the pillars in the porch were of lily design, four cubits.
20 There were capitals on the two pillars, even above and close to the rounded projection which was beside the network; and the pomegranates numbered two hundred in rows around both capitals.
21 Thus he set up the pillars at the porch of the nave; and he set up the right pillar and named it Jachin, and he set up the left pillar and named it Boaz.
22 On the top of the pillars was lily design. So the work of the pillars was finished.
a)
1)
16 He made chains in the inner sanctuary and placed them on the tops of the pillars; and he made one hundred pomegranates and placed them on the chains.
a)
1)
17 He erected the pillars in front of the temple, one on the right and the other on the left, and named the one on the right Jachin and the one on the left Boaz.
1 Ki 7:39
39 Then he set the stands, five on the right side of the house and five on the left side of the house; and he set the sea of cast metal on the right side of the house eastward toward the south.
a) What was the significance of the pillars?
1) Jachin was the south pillar ="he will establish," implying "stability."
2) Boaz the the north pillar = "in it (is) strength."
3) The pillars, which were hollow, were broken up and carried to Babylon at the fall of Jerusalem before Nebuchadnezzar.
Key Verse
1 Then Solomon began to build the house of the LORD in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the LORD had appeared to his father David, at the place that David had prepared on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.
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