2 Chronicles , Sarah Barry
THE TEMPLE'S FURNISHINGS
Passage: 2Chronicles 4:1~22  
Key verse: 19a
The Temple’s Furnishings(A)
4 He made a bronze altar(B) twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide and ten cubits high.[a] 2 He made the Sea(C) of cast metal, circular in shape, measuring ten cubits from rim to rim and five cubits[b] high. It took a line of thirty cubits[c] to measure around it. 3 Below the rim, figures of bulls encircled it—ten to a cubit.[d] The bulls were cast in two rows in one piece with the Sea.
4 The Sea stood on twelve bulls, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south and three facing east.(D) The Sea rested on top of them, and their hindquarters were toward the center. 5 It was a handbreadth[e] in thickness, and its rim was like the rim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It held three thousand baths.[f]
6 He then made ten basins(E) for washing and placed five on the south side and five on the north. In them the things to be used for the burnt offerings(F) were rinsed, but the Sea was to be used by the priests for washing.
7 He made ten gold lampstands(G) according to the specifications(H) for them and placed them in the temple, five on the south side and five on the north.
8 He made ten tables(I) and placed them in the temple, five on the south side and five on the north. He also made a hundred gold sprinkling bowls.(J)
9 He made the courtyard(K) of the priests, and the large court and the doors for the court, and overlaid the doors with bronze. 10 He placed the Sea on the south side, at the southeast corner.
11 And Huram also made the pots and shovels and sprinkling bowls.
So Huram finished(L) the work he had undertaken for King Solomon in the temple of God:
12 the two pillars;
the two bowl-shaped capitals on top of the pillars;
the two sets of network decorating the two bowl-shaped capitals on top of the pillars;
13 the four hundred pomegranates for the two sets of network (two rows of pomegranates for each network, decorating the bowl-shaped capitals on top of the pillars);
14 the stands(M) with their basins;
15 the Sea and the twelve bulls under it;
16 the pots, shovels, meat forks and all related articles.
All the objects that Huram-Abi(N) made for King Solomon for the temple of the Lord were of polished bronze. 17 The king had them cast in clay molds in the plain of the Jordan between Sukkoth(O) and Zarethan.[g] 18 All these things that Solomon made amounted to so much that the weight of the bronze(P) could not be calculated.
19 Solomon also made all the furnishings that were in God’s temple:
the golden altar;
the tables(Q) on which was the bread of the Presence;
20 the lampstands(R) of pure gold with their lamps, to burn in front of the inner sanctuary as prescribed;
21 the gold floral work and lamps and tongs (they were solid gold);
22 the pure gold wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls, dishes(S) and censers;(T) and the gold doors of the temple: the inner doors to the Most Holy Place and the doors of the main hall.
Footnotes
- 2 Chronicles 4:1 That is, about 30 feet long and wide and 15 feet high or about 9 meters long and wide and 4.5 meters high
- 2 Chronicles 4:2 That is, about 7 1/2 feet or about 2.3 meters
- 2 Chronicles 4:2 That is, about 45 feet or about 14 meters
- 2 Chronicles 4:3 That is, about 18 inches or about 45 centimeters
- 2 Chronicles 4:5 That is, about 3 inches or about 7.5 centimeters
- 2 Chronicles 4:5 That is, about 18,000 gallons or about 66,000 liters
- 2 Chronicles 4:17 Hebrew Zeredatha, a variant of Zarethan
Cross references
- 2 Chronicles 4:1 : 4:2-6, 10–5:1pp — 1Ki 7:23-26, 38-51
- 2 Chronicles 4:1 : S Ex 20:24; S 40:6; S 1Ki 8:64
- 2 Chronicles 4:2 : Rev 4:6; 15:2
- 2 Chronicles 4:4 : Nu 2:3-25; Eze 48:30-34; Rev 21:13
- 2 Chronicles 4:6 : S Ex 30:18
- 2 Chronicles 4:6 : Ne 13:5, 9; Eze 40:38
- 2 Chronicles 4:7 : S Ex 25:31
- 2 Chronicles 4:7 : Ex 25:40
- 2 Chronicles 4:8 : S Ex 25:23
- 2 Chronicles 4:8 : S Nu 4:14
- 2 Chronicles 4:9 : 1Ki 6:36; 2Ch 33:5
- 2 Chronicles 4:11 : 1Ki 7:14
- 2 Chronicles 4:14 : 1Ki 7:27-30
- 2 Chronicles 4:16 : S 1Ki 7:13
- 2 Chronicles 4:17 : S Ge 33:17
- 2 Chronicles 4:18 : S 1Ki 7:23
- 2 Chronicles 4:19 : S Ex 25:23, 30
- 2 Chronicles 4:20 : Ex 25:31
- 2 Chronicles 4:22 : S Nu 7:14
- 2 Chronicles 4:22 : S Lev 10:1
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Source:  BibleGateway
1. The bronze altar (1-18)
The bronze altar was for sacrificing animals as burnt offerings. The basins were for cleansing. Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sin. The sacrificial system was the main point of the temple, for this was the way God provided for sinful man to be forgiven and restored to a right relationship with himself. It points to the perfect sacrifice of Christ (Heb 9:14). The bronze Sea was not in the original tabernacle. In Exe 47 and Rev 22 it becomes a river flowing from God for life and healing. Huram-Abi of Tyre was the skilled craftsman who made the temple beautiful and functional.
2. The golden altar (19-22)
The golden altar was for burning incense. It was the place of prayer. It stood before the curtain to the Most Holy Place. The old tabernacle in the desert had only one table and one lampstand; the temple had 10 of each. The lampstands and the bread of the Presence placed on the tables represented the presence of the living God in his house.
Prayer: Lord, thank you for Jesus, the perfect sacrifice for the sins of the world.
One Word: Repent, be cleansed and pray