God’s Word for You

2 Chronicles 4:16b-22 Shadows of bronze and gold

by Pastor Timothy Smith on Wednesday, September 25, 2024

Huram-abi made all the polished bronze for King Solomon for the house of the LORD. 17 The king had them cast in the thickets of the rounded banks of the Jordan between Succoth and Zeredathah. 18 Solomon made all these things in such great quantities that the weight of the bronze was not determined.

The rounded banks of the Jordan and the thickets there were sometimes places the people sought to hide in (Jeremiah 4:29). Solomon took advantage of the wet sandy soil as the ideal place to cast bronze. Although there was a place that the Israelites called Succoth along the route of the exodus (Exodus 12:37), this Succoth was the place named in ancient times by Jacob himself, where the sheds for his livestock were the ”huts” (Hebrew succoth) that gave the place its name (Genesis 33:17). Jacob’s Succoth is about two miles east of the present course of the Jordan, across the river from the peak of Mount Gerezim some 13 miles to the west, rising in a high, rounded slope toward the sunset.

The name Zeredathah is unknown, but there are two possibilities that present a similar understanding of the text and of the location of Solomon’s bronze foundries. First, Zeredathah could be related geographically to the River Zered which forms the border between Edom and Moab just beyond the southern rim of the Dead Sea (Numbers 21:12; Deuteronomy 2:13-14). But I doubt that the text is describing an area this large (it would be something like 80 miles).

The other (and for more likely) possibility for Zeredathah is the village of Zarethan (Zarthan, KJV) just about five miles south of Succoth. Both places are above the east bank of the Jordan, both are located on the Jabbok River, and both have ample supplies of the moist sand necessary for the foundries to be close by. These details point to Solomon casting the bronze on the east side of the Jordan, “in the thickets,” that is, the wild country on the Jabbok in the tribal lands of Gad, which was possibly favored by Solomon to keep the project out of the eyes of onlookers, whether friendly to his kingdom or not.

19 Solomon also made all the furnishings that were in the house of God: the golden altar, the tables for the bread of the Presence, 20 the lampstands and their lamps of pure gold to burn before the inner sanctuary, according to the specifications. 21 The floral details, the lamps, and the tongs were solid gold. 22 The wick trimmers, bowls, dishes, censers and fire pans, were of pure gold. Also, the doors of the temple, both the inner doors to the Most Holy Place and the doors of the front room of the temple were of gold.

Besides the massive amount of bronze, an additional number of golden items were constructed. Many of these were cast in solid gold, sometimes in one casting (such as the bowls and tongs) and others had to be assembled from separately cast pieces.

We should remember about the sacrifices in the temple that all of these things were used in some way as a sermon, a proclamation of the gospel of the forgiveness of sins. Paul says: “Do not let anyone judge you in matters of food and drink or of observing festivals, New Moons, or Sabbaths. These are only a shadow of things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ” (Colossians 2:16-17). If we examine what they could see in Solomon’s time of this shadow, we see especially these three things in the daily sacrifices: (1) the burning of the lamb, (2) the drink offering, and (3) the offering of flour (bread). In our Confession, the Lutheran Church declares: “The Old Testament had pictures or shadows of what was to come. The burning of the lamb symbolizes the death of Christ. The drink offering symbolizes the sprinkling, that is, the sanctifying of believers throughout the world with the blood of the lamb, by the proclamation of the gospel, as Peter says (1 Peter 1:2): “Sanctified by the Spirit for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood.” The offering of flour or bread symbolizes faith, prayer, and thanksgiving in the heart. Therefore, as we discern the shadow in the Old Testament, so in the New we should look for what it represents and not for another symbol that seems to be a sacrifice” (Apology of the Augsburg Confession, XXIV:36-37). Our confessors were correct in their explanation, although the mind of the believer might be inclined to think, “Drink and bread? Surely these are the Lord’s Supper, or baptism and the Lord’s Supper together!” But the sacraments are not offerings we make; they are our own hands receiving blessings from God, namely faith and forgiveness. Therefore our Lutheran Fathers were absolutely right in commending us to the works of believers done out of thanks for Christ:

Christ offered himself; this is his passive obedience on our behalf to atone for our sins. We proclaim the gospel to one another; this is the sprinkling, in which we are sometimes active (as preachers and teachers) and sometimes passive (as parishioners and listeners) to receive the blessing of the preached explanation of the word. And finally we offer our spiritual bread out of thanks, giving our prayers, songs, and other means of thanksgiving in whatever ways we can. For the nation we belong to is heaven, and we eagerly await a Savior from there, who is our Lord, Jesus Christ. Until then, we offer thanks day by day, trouble after trouble, because we know that after all we have life.

In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith

 

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