Solomon’s Priorities

~ Just the Facts! ~        

Someone has remarked that you can accurately determine a person’s real priorities by examining their checkbook register and their credit card statements. In 1 Kings 6-7 we find an accounting for Solomon’s building of God’s house and a similar accounting for Solomon’s building his private residence.

Construction Time 

Temple  ~  “And in the eleventh year, in the month of Bul, which is the eighth month, the house was finished in all its details and according to all its plans. So he was seven years in building it” (1 Kings 6:38).

Residence  ~  “But Solomon took thirteen years to build his own house; so he finished all his house” (1 Kings 7:1).

Comparison   

Solomon completed his temple in seven years.

Solomon completed his residence in thirteen years. 

Size of Structure

Temple  ~  “Now the house which King Solomon built for the Lord, its length was sixty cubits, its width twenty, and its height thirty cubits” (1 Kings 6:2). 

Residence  ~  “He also built the House of the Forest of Lebanon; its length was one hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits, with four rows of cedar pillars, and cedar beams on the pillars” (1 Kings 7:2).

Comparison   

Solomon’s temple was approximately 90’ x 30’ x 45’ high  or 121,500 cubic feet.

Solomon’s residence was approximately 150’ x 75’ x 45’ high or 506,250 cubic feet. 

Additional Comment 

It is well worth reading all of 1 Kings 6-7 for a more complete overview of Solomon’s building projects and his priorities. 

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW