When Solomon was set to build the temple, a suitable dwelling place for the all glorious God, he explained the details of his plan:
Now I have prepared with all my might for the house of my God the gold for things to be made of gold, and the silver for things of silver, and the brass for things of brass, the iron for things of iron, and wood for things of wood; onyx stones, and stones to be set, glistering stones, and of divers colors, and all manner of precious stones, and marble stones in abundance (1 Chron. 29:2).
I think we can draw three obvious applications from this materials list that was to be used for the magnificent home of Jehovah on earth.
First, the king had to know the difference between wood things and gold things. It is a recurring tendency in temple building to confuse such things, a tendency not limited to Solomon’s day. In fact Paul, a thousand years later, addressed his own instructions on temple building to “…all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord” (1 Cor. 1:2). This is what he wrote:
According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward (1 Cor. 3:10-14).
Obviously it still matters how we go about building the temple of the Lord today, for, as Paul concludes, “If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire. Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?” (1 Cor. 3:15-16). How important it is, then, to do things so that they are pleasing to the gracious Spirit who dwells within.
But there is a second application we also would do well to note. Don’t make wood things into gold things. In other words, don’t make more of a thing than God does. How often this tendency has dogged the pathway of Church history. Not everything is of equal value in the sight of God. It is possible to spend so much time debating the timing of the Lord’s coming that we lose the joy of the hope of His coming. It is a danger that we become known merely for our idiosyncrasies. We can make much of the head covering and little of the Lord’s practical Headship; we can be known as those “very particular about breaking bread, but not too particular about breaking hearts.” It is possible to pay careful attention to the essential activities mentioned in Acts 2:42, but forget the activities recorded in the rest of the chapter—loving each other in practical ways, sharing our time and our goods with one another. We can become known for our loyalty to truth but not for our love and kindness, or for our “gladness and singleness of heart” (v. 46).
But I would like to quickly add a third application from Solomon’s checklist. The bronze and iron things had their place in the temple as surely as the gold and silver. No, they were not as valuable, or perhaps as attractive to the eye. But they also must have their place if the temple was to be complete. As the Lord said to the Pharisees, “Ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone” (Mt. 23:23). May the Lord help us to “take heed” of such details in our God-given building project.
Written by J. B. Nicholson Jr