God’s Word for You
1 Chronicles 28:11-18 The plans
by Pastor Timothy Smith on Wednesday, May 15, 2024
11 Then David gave his son Solomon the plans for the temple entrance, its buildings, its storerooms, its upper rooms, its inner rooms and the place of atonement. 12 He gave him the plans of all that he had in mind for the courts of the house of the LORD, all the surrounding rooms, the treasuries of the house of God and for the treasuries for the dedicated things, 13 for the divisions of the priests and Levites, and for all the work of service in the house of the LORD, as well as for all the vessels to be used in its service.
The plans David made must have been written down on some substance other than stone or clay. Parchment (“paper” made from dried, stretched animal skins) was not yet available in David’s time, but papyrus was available in large quantities from nearby Egypt, made from the reeds that grow along the banks of the Nile. Papyrus sheets of any size were possible. There is no answer or reason to speculate more about the substance of David’s “plans,” but he clearly had something firm written down that he could hand over to Solomon. There were detailed plans of the front entrance of the temple, which is called “the porch” or “the portico” in some translations. The many rooms described here formed the sides of the temple itself, with the Most Holy Place forming the rear (except perhaps for some additional storerooms behind the Most Holy Place).
The Scriptures do not feature things like sketches, plans, or maps. What we have here is more like an index or a table of contents. It tells us just how detailed David was in his planning, since he certainly would have such things as plans, sketches, bills of materials, the lists of names in the divisions in verse 13, and so on. What we notice here is David’s repeated emphasis about whose house this is: “The house of the Lord…, the house of God…, the house of the Lord.” It had been David’s idea, but it was not David’s house at all; nor would it be Solomon’s house.
14 In the plans were the weight of gold for all the gold articles to be used in various kinds of service, and the weight of silver for all the silver articles to be used in various kinds of service, 15 the weight of gold for the gold lampstands and their lamps, and the weight of silver for each silver lampstand and its lamps, according to the use of each lampstand; 16 the weight of gold for each table for the consecrated bread; the weight of silver for the silver tables; 17 the weight of pure gold for the forks, sprinkling bowls and pitchers; the weight of gold for each gold bowl; the weight of silver for each silver bowl; 18 and the weight of the refined gold for the altar of incense.
The weight of gold and silver for these items was directly related to the size of each item. A new item here is the appearance of silver lampstands. Since the temple was larger and had many rooms beside the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place, there needed to be more lights. Silver lampstands were attractive and long-lasting, but also far less expensive than gold. David also mentions lamps “according to the use of each lampstand,” proving that there was more than one variety.
We don’t know what the many articles, dishes and utensils were, apart from a few. When I think back to my mother’s kitchen, I realize that even though I learned to cook and prepare meals there, I don’t think that I could produce anything like an inventory of the dishes and utensils that were there.
Some of the items here hint at what we will learn later about the larger size of the temple and the larger number of items. For example, the tabernacle of Moses only had one table for the consecrated bread. David says “each table” in verse 16, and we’re going to find out that there were going to be ten of them (2 Chronicles 4:8).
He also gave him the plan for the chariot for the golden cherubim that spread their wings and cover the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD.
The most unusual item in this part of David’s inventory is the mention of “the chariot.” The Lord is poetically said to ride upon his cherubim (Psalm 18:10) or on the clouds (Psalm 68:4; Isaiah 19:1). Perhaps “chariot” was a fitting nickname used by David or among the Israelites at this time. The reference seems to be of the large cherubim that sheltered over the ark, not the pair that were cast in gold that sat on top of it (2 Chronicles 3:10-13). Perhaps David is using wordplay to describe the inner room, the Most Holy Place, as a “chariot,” since hammerkaba “the chariot” sounds something like hakerubim “the cherubim.” We do not need to wonder whether an actual golden chariot was constructed, which would have been a strange nuisance in the Most Holy Place, but simply that the platform for the huge towering cherubim either had the name or nickname of “chariot” or else the low pedestal or pedestals (perhaps only inches tall) upon which the two cherubim stood was stylistically made in the impression of being a representation of a chariot, either “squashed down” or otherwise.
The presence of the angels showed David’s understanding that the angels are God’s servants, that they are powerful beings of spirit who are used by God for his purposes, and that the angels are not to be worshiped or specially honored by men. Most emphatically, the angels are never to be worshiped, invoked, or prayed to. They are not gods, demi-gods, or subordinate gods of any kind. Like man, they are creatures made by God for his own special purpose. They do not pray to us, and we must not pray to them or worship them. This is shown twice in John’s Revelation when the Apostle himself, filled with awe and fear, almost does these things, but is rebuked the same way: “Do not do it! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who hold this testimony of Jesus” (Revelation 19:10, and see also Revelation 22:9). The function of the two pairs of angels over the Ark and over the cover of the Ark was to depict reverence for the presence of God in his Holy Place. We do well to imitate their reverence, as the High Priests surely did when they entered in on the Day of Atonement year after year.
“The Lord reigns! He sits enthroned between the cherubim.
Great is the Lord; he is exalted over all” (Psalm 99:1-2).
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in New Ulm, Minnesota. To receive God’s Word for You via e-mail, please visit the St. Paul’s Lutheran Church website.