Introduction
Chapters 1 and 2
Chapter 3
Chapters 4 and 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapters 11 and 12
Chapter 13
Chapters 14 to 16
Chapters 17 and 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Conclusion
|
The two aspects of God's house
The house may be looked at in two ways — as a type of the
Father's house, and as in fact the habitation of God on the earth
when Jesus reigns. In the latter aspect I only look for the grand
thoughts and character of the government revealed in it. In the
former, as a typical house, two circumstances give it its
character. It is, first of all, God's house, His dwelling; and
then there are chambers all around it.* God surrounded Himself
with dwellings, in the very place where He had fixed His
habitation.
{* It is to this, I doubt not, that the Lord alludes, when He
says, "In my Father's house are many dwellings" — at any rate, to
the fact that other priests besides the high priest dwell
there.}
As the dwelling-place of God at that time in the midst
of His people, the presence of God in the temple depended on the
faithfulness of Solomon.
What characterized the house
That which characterised the house in general is that nothing
except gold was to be seen in it. All was bright with the glory of
divine righteousness that distinguished the throne of God which
was placed there. But it is not transparent as glass. Beauty and
holiness are not what characterise the earthly throne, but
righteousness and judgment. Nor are there seraphim.
In the
Revelation we have the seraphic character added to the cherubim,
and the gold is transparent as glass. Emblems, as we have seen, of
judicial power, the cherubim had a new position (those belonging
to the ark remained the same); the wing of one of these new
cherubim touched the wall of the house on one side, and on the
other the wing of the other cherub. Their wings extended from one
side of the house to the other. They looked not towards the ark,
but outwards.* At this time, righteousness reigning and being
established, these symbols of God's power can look outwards in
blessing, instead of having their eyes fixed on the covenant
alone. During the time that there was nothing but the covenant,
they gazed upon it; but when God has established His throne in
righteousness, He can turn towards the world to bless it according
to that righteousness.
{* The word in Hebrew is "towards the house," which is used as
a preposition for inwards; but here, being at the bottom of the
most holy place, "towards the house "was outwards.
I anticipate
the Chronicles here a little. This circumstance of their looking
outwards, which is not brought in here by the Holy Ghost, refers
to the aspect of this history given in the Chronicles, that is, to
the glorious reign of the Son of David. Here, the typical
character of the heavenly house and glory being the object, the
veil is not seen, nor the circumstance as to the cherubim which
gave its character to the governmental blessing of the earth. Both
are in Chronicles. Here, while the veil is not mentioned, in its
place are folding doors. I make this allusion to that which is
written in the Chronicles, in order to give a general idea of the
whole, and to link the two accounts together.
I will give here
something more definite, as to the contents of chapters 6 and 7 of
the book that occupies us.
There are three parts in this
description: the temple itself; the different houses of cedar;
and, lastly, the brazen vessels.
1. The temple. The idea which it
presents has been already pointed out. It is the dwelling-place,
the house of God: there are chambers all around; but it is the
house of God. Within, all is gold. Nothing is said about the
veil. Dwelling, not drawing near, is the idea. But there are
folding doors which open.
2. After this comes the royal
connection of Solomon and Pharaoh's daughter with the world
without, but with a view to the glory and elevation of this
position. It is not the dwelling-place of God, but the royal
position of the king, the judge, and of his bride. It is Christ
in His glorious administration. All is solidity, magnificence, and
grandeur, within and without.
3. Then comes the manifestation,
according to the power of the Spirit of God, and in a glorious
manner, of all that belonged to His reign here below. All was of
brass, the pillars and the sea. Nothing is said of the altar,
because drawing near to God is not the question; but the
manifestation of God in Christ who reigns in sight of the world — divine righteousness in respect of man's responsibility, not of
approach to God Himself.
Thus we behold the dwelling-place of God
where all is gold, the glory of divine righteousness; the house as
the dwelling of the king, and the porch of judgment: the house of
his bride. It is the sovereign glory of Christ in manifestation
according to the dispensation of glory; and then the development,
in this world, by the power of the Spirit, of what Christ is, of
what God Himself is. There is no mention of silver — the type of
the immutable stedfastness of God's purposes and ways in the
wilderness. It is gold; the house of cedar; brass.
In the
description given by the Book of Chronicles there are an altar and
a veil, because there the positive administration of the things
and circumstances of the true Solomon's reign is much more the
question; the state of things which will in fact exist upon earth,
rather than the abstract idea, and the type of that which is
manifested of God Himself, as well as of the king's glory; and
this, whether in the dwelling-place of God, or on the earth, as
the sphere where He will unfold that which He is according to the
Spirit.}
|
|