CHAPTER XXV. SOLOMON'S TEMPLE; OR, THE HOUSE OF GOD WHICH SOLOMON BUILT AT JERUSALEM. 'Behold the Temple In undisturbed and lone serenity Finding itself a solemn sanctuary In the profound of heaven! It stands before us And down the long and branching porticoes, Glitters the homage of his parting beams.' MILMAN. OUR traditional history ascribes the foundation of Freemasonry to the building of King Solomon's Temple, or, as it is called in Scripture, the palace of Jehovah,' a designation intended to intimate that its splendour and magnificence were not intended to reflect honour on those engaged in its construction, but only that it should be rendered a fit dwelling for Him who is the King of kings, and Lord of lords.' As the ceremonies and lectures have many allusions to the Temple, a description of the building and its situation is essential to obtaining even a general notion of this remarkable structure. The following account is drawn from the historical books of the Old Testament and other trustworthy sources. Temple, the house of God, the sanctuary, the tabernacle of the Lord, the palace of the Most High, are terms often used synonymously in Scripture, though, strictly speaking, they import very distinct things. The sanctuary was 408 PREPARATIONS FOR BUILDING THE TEMPLE. but one part of the tabernacle or temple; neither does the word temple describe the tabernacle; nor tabernacle the temple. The Hebrews, before Solomon, could not properly be said to have had a temple, yet they did not scruple by the word temple to describe the tabernacle ; as, on the contrary, they sometimes, by the tabernacle of the Lord, expressed the temple built by Solomon. After the Lord had instructed David that Jerusalem was the place He had chosen, in which to fix His dwelling, that prince began to realize his design of preparing a temple for the Lord, that might be something worthy of His divine majesty. He opened his mind on this subject to the prophet Nathan, but the Lord did not think fit that he should execute his purpose, however laudable. The honour was reserved for Solomon, his son and successor, who was to be a peaceable prince, and not like David, who had shed much blood in war. David, however, applied himself to collect great quantities of gold, silver, brass, iron, and other materials for this undertaking. When David thought of the temple, his country was at rest, and the ascendancy he had gained greatly favoured the arts of peace and the blessings of civilized society. He looked to his neighbours, the Tyrians, for aid, as a people in possession, not only of architectural skill, but also men capable of constructing buildings. The flourishing state of the Phoenicians at the time of David indicates the growth of ages. In the book of Joshua, 600 years before Solomon's time, Tyre is called 'the great city." The old Testament in many places refers to the extent of their commerce and the wealth of their cities. They traded in timber, iron, copper, tin, glass, and especially in that brilliant dye and those rich fabrics of art which gave them their name, and awakened the songs of poets as they gazed on the sumptuous beauty of court dresses, and the dazzling decorations of thrones. Of this people, in the time of David, Hiram was king. The two sovereigns formed an alliance on the basis of mutual advantage, and as soon as Hiram heard that Solomon had been anointed king in the room of his father, he HIRAM ABIF, THE WIDOW'S SON. 409 sent him an embassy of congratulation. We learn that Solomon sent to Huram (in Kings he is called Hiram, in Chronicles Huram), saying, 'As thou didst deal with David my father, and didst send him cedars to build him an house to dwell therein, even so deal with me' (2 Chron. ii. 3). Solomon agrees to give him corn, wine, and oil in exchange for the services of his men, and the materials he required. At this period there lived at the court of Tyre an artificer of great celebrity, and whose name was the same as that of his royal master, and whom we are accustomed to designate Hiram Abif (an appellative said to mean his counsellor or head workman). This Hiram was a widow's son, his mother being of the tribe of Dan, or, according to some accounts, of Naphthali; his father, it is supposed, being a native of Tyre. The preliminary arrangements which Solomon made to carry out the great undertaking on which he had set his heart, appear in his message to the King of Tyre, and in the answer of Hiram, one of the oldest letters on record in the world, in which he assents to Solomon's request: 'Behold, I build an house to the name of the Lord my God, to dedicate it to Him, and to burn before Him sweet incense, and for the continual shewbread, and for the burnt offerings morning and evening, on the sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the solemn feasts of the Lord our God. This is an ordinance for ever to Israel. And the house which I build is great for great is our God above all gods. But who is able to build Him an house, seeing the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain Him? who am I then, that I should build Him an house, save only to burn sacrifice before Him? Send me now therefore a man cunning to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, and in iron, and in purple, and crimson, and blue, and that can skill to grave with the cunning men that are with me in Judah and in Jerusalem, whom David my father did provide. Send me also cedar trees, fir trees, and algum trees, out of Lebanon: for I know that thy servants can skill to cut timber in Lebanon; and, behold, my servants shall be with thy 410 BUILDING OF THE TEMPLE. servants, even to prepare me timber in abundance: for the house which I am about to build shall be wonderful great. And, behold, I will give to thy servants the hewers that cut timber, twenty thousand measures of beaten wheat, and twenty thousand measures of barley, and twenty thousand baths of wine, and twenty thousand baths of oil. Then Huram the king of Tyre answered in writing, which he sent to Solomon, Because the Lord hath loved His people, He hath made thee king over them. Huram said moreover, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, that made heaven and earth, who hath given to David the king a wise son, endued with prudence and understanding, that might build an house for the Lord, and an house for His kingdom. And now I have sent a cunning man, endued with understanding, of Huram my father's, the son of a woman of the daughters of Dan, and his father was a man of Tyre, skilful to work in gold, and in silver, in brass, in iron, in stone, and in timber, in purple, in blue, and in fine linen, and in crimson; also to grave any manner of graving, and to find out every device which shall be put to him, with thy cunning men, and with the cunning men of my lord David thy father. Now therefore the wheat, and the barley, the oil, and the wine, which my lord hath spoken of, let him send. unto his servants and we will cut wood out of Lebanon, as much as thou shalt need and we will bring it to thee in flotes by sea to Joppa; and thou shalt carry it up to Jerusalem.' The result soon appears. Tens of thousands are busy in the mountains of Lebanon. Stones are hewed, and cedar trees are felled. Ancient Joppa is in motion, for the Tyrian fleet and rafts have passed the Phoenician coast, and rounded the promontory of Carmel; and artisans and cunning workmen of all needful crafts, and the materials on which they will employ their skill, will soon be tossing amid the surf that here rolls violently in from the great sea, and should they land safely after a journey of nearly forty miles, they will find themselves COMPLETION OF THE TEMPLE. 411 and their burdens near the hallowed spot where they will be employed to aid a more sublime object than Phoenician ever thought of; and in the neighbouring territory Tyrians shall hear the voice of Him to whom Baal and Astarte are an insult and an abomination. Eastern empires, with all their magnificent resources, have at this time-about a thousand years before Christ -temples, altars, and idols, but the true and living God has no place, save among the Israelites, in the religions and worship of the world. The place chosen for erecting this magnificent structure was Mount Moriah, the summit of which, originally, was unequal and its sides irregular, but it was an object of ambition with the Jews to level and extend it. This they effected, and during the second temple, it formed a square of 500 cubits, or 304 yards on each side, allowing, as is commonly done, 21 888 inches to the cubit. Almost the whole of this space was arched underground, to prevent the possibility of pollution from secret graves; and it was surrounded by a wall of excellent stone 25 cubits, or 47 feet 7 inches high; without which lay a considerable extent of flat and gently sloping ground, which was occnpied by the buildings of the tower of Antonia, gardens, and public walks. The plan and the whole model of this structure was laid by the same Divine Architect as that of the tabernacle, viz., God Himself; and it was built much in the same form as the tabernacle, but was of much larger dimensions. The utensils for the sacred service were also the same as those used in the tabernacle, only several of them were larger, in proportion to the more spacious edifice to which they belonged. The foundations of this magnificent edifice were laid by Solomon in the year of the world 2992, and it was finished A. M. 3000, having occupied seven years and six months in the building. It was dedicated A.M. 3001, with peculiar solemnity, to the worship of Jehovah, who condescended to make it the place for the special manifestation of His glory (2 Chron. v. vi. vii.). The front or entrance to the temple was on |