Introduction
Gill, in his commentary, gives us a useful summary of this chapter.
‘David, having convened the principal men of the nation, declared Solomon his successor, whom God had chosen both to be king, and to build the temple, 1 Chronicles 28:1, and exhorted both them and him to serve the Lord, and build a house for him, 1 Chronicles 28:8, then gave Solomon the pattern of it, and an account of the materials he had prepared for it, 1 Chronicles 28:11, and encouraged him to go about the work with alacrity and intrepidity, 1 Chronicles 28:20.’
David’s Plans For The Temple
‘David summoned all the officials of Israel to assemble at Jerusalem: the officers over the tribes, the commanders of the divisions in the service of the king, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, and the officials in charge of all the property and livestock belonging to the king and his sons, together with the palace officials, the warriors and all the brave fighting men. King David rose to his feet and said: “Listen to me, my fellow Israelites, my people. I had it in my heart to build a house as a place of rest for the ark of the covenant of the LORD, for the footstool of our God, and I made plans to build it. But God said to me, ‘You are not to build a house for my Name, because you are a warrior and have shed blood.’ “Yet the LORD, the God of Israel, chose me from my whole family to be king over Israel forever. He chose Judah as leader, and from the tribe of Judah he chose my family, and from my father’s sons he was pleased to make me king over all Israel. Of all my sons—and the LORD has given me many—he has chosen my son Solomon to sit on the throne of the kingdom of the LORD over Israel. He said to me: ‘Solomon your son is the one who will build my house and my courts, for I have chosen him to be my son, and I will be his father. I will establish his kingdom forever if he is unswerving in carrying out my commands and laws, as is being done at this time.’ “So now I charge you in the sight of all Israel and of the assembly of the LORD, and in the hearing of our God: Be careful to follow all the commands of the LORD your God, that you may possess this good land and pass it on as an inheritance to your descendants forever. “And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and understands every desire and every thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever. Consider now, for the LORD has chosen you to build a house as the sanctuary. Be strong and do the work.” 1 Chronicles 28:1-10
Nearing the end of his life because of health reasons, 1 Kings 1:1-4, David addresses Israel as their king, he tells them that his heart desired to build a house for God. He wants all generations to come to know that it was he who wanted a house for the God of Israel, 1 Chronicles 17:13-14 / 1 Kings 9:1.
The temple was to be built in a specific, prominent location, Psalm 121:1 / Psalm 122:4. The threshing floor on which the temple was constructed was Moriah, 2 Chronicles 3:1, which some believe was the very site where Abraham was called to offer his son, Isaac, Genesis 22:2.
Barnes in his commentary, says the following.
‘This is the only occasion in which eunuchs are mentioned in connection with David’s reign and it is to be remarked that they occupy, during the earlier period of the Jewish kingdom, a very subordinate position’.
David views the ark as God’s ‘footstool’, because he was enthroned above it visibly in the Shechinah, or luminous cloud, present from time to time above the mercy seat and between the cherubim.
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Besides the message sent to David through Nathan, he had a revelation, of which we have only the indirect account given here and in 1 Chronicles 22:8-10. He was told that one of his sons should be raised up to fill his throne after him and should build the temple. In the second revelation, it was distinctly declared to him that the son intended was Solomon.’
Coffman, in his commentary, says the following.
‘This and the following verse positively indicate that David was here basing what he said upon his understanding of the prophecy in 2 Samuel 7, however, that prophecy said nothing at all resembling what David here declared. Solomon, in no sense whatever, was God’s son, nor did God establish Solomon’s throne forever. All that was happening in this chapter was taking place during David’s lifetime, absolutely contrary to the specific declaration in 2 Samuel 7:12, that the promised Great One who would build that house for the name of God would do so, When thou, David, shalt sleep with thy fathers, and that the Promised One would be SET UP AFTER THEE, 2 Samuel 7:12. Solomon was not set up after David but during David’s reign, and God did not do it, as the prophecy indicated, but David did it!’
‘Then David gave his son Solomon the plans for the portico of the temple, its buildings, its storerooms, its upper parts, its inner rooms and the place of atonement. He gave him the plans of all that the Spirit had put in his mind for the courts of the temple of the LORD and all the surrounding rooms, for the treasuries of the temple of God and for the treasuries for the dedicated things. He gave him instructions for the divisions of the priests and Levites, and for all the work of serving in the temple of the LORD, as well as for all the articles to be used in its service. He designated 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: the weight of gold for the gold lampstands and their lamps, with the weight for each lampstand and its lamps; and the weight of silver for each silver lampstand and its lamps, according to the use of each lampstand; the weight of gold for each table for consecrated bread; the weight of silver for the silver tables; the weight of pure gold for the forks, sprinkling bowls and pitchers; the weight of gold for each gold dish; the weight of silver for each silver dish; and the weight of the refined gold for the altar of incense. He also gave him the plan for the chariot, that is, the cherubim of gold that spread their wings and overshadow the ark of the covenant of the LORD. “All this,” David said, “I have in writing as a result of the LORD’s hand on me, and he enabled me to understand all the details of the plan.” David also said to Solomon his son, “Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the temple of the LORD is finished. The divisions of the priests and Levites are ready for all the work on the temple of God, and every willing person skilled in any craft will help you in all the work. The officials and all the people will obey your every command.” 1 Chronicles 28:11-21
We must note that David didn’t invent the pattern here, God gave it to him, having first given it to Moses and David learned all about it from Exodus 25:10 / Exodus 25:17-22 / Exodus 31:7 / Exodus 40:20 / Numbers 7:89. The pattern was given to him by the Spirit, that is, God’s Spirit revealed all of these things to Moses.
David said that the Lord had inspired him to make the design for the temple. God gave the design for the construction of the original tabernacle, and here He possibly did the same in reference to the building of the temple.
The only plans that existed were those of the tabernacle, which tabernacle God intended should be with Israel until the coming of the Messiah. However, David wanted to build a temple, and so, God allowed it to be built.
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following.
‘As God had revealed to Moses the pattern of the tabernacle, Exodus 26-27, so He had made known by revelation to David the pattern of the temple and its furniture. This pattern, which consisted of a set of directions in writing, David now handed over to Solomon.’
The ‘holy place’ and the ‘holy of holies’ are called respectively ‘the house’ and the ‘inner house’, 1 Kings 6:17 / 1 Kings 6:27 / 2 Chronicles 3:5 / 2 Chronicles 3:8, ‘the greater house’ and ‘the most holy house’. The upper chambers, 2 Chronicles 3:9, the inner parlours, that is, the small rooms of the ‘lean-to’, 1 Kings 6:5, entered one from another.
Coffman, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The very names, descriptions and instructions regarding all of these things were derived by David from the Mosaic Law as given in the Pentateuch. Any good reference Bible lists the following references in this single paragraph to the Law of Moses, Exodus 20:16 / Exodus 25:9 / Exodus 25:18-22 / Exodus 25:37 / Exodus 26:31-39 / Exodus 28:16 / Exodus 30:1-19 / Exodus 30:34 / Exodus 36:9 / Leviticus 16:2 / Leviticus 16:14-15 / Numbers 1:47. Thus, what we have here is David’s relay of the instructions Moses received from God for the building of the tabernacle accommodated to the requirements of the temple. We know that Solomon did not strictly follow David’s instructions and there were enough departures from the true pattern to justify the author of the Book of Hebrews in by-passing the Jewish Temple altogether and going back to the tabernacle for all of true symbolism supposed to be in the temple.’
The cherubim are themselves the chariot upon which the Lord rides, they are made of gold, 1 Kings 6:23 / Psalm 18:10 / Psalm 68:17 / Psalm 99:1 / Ezekiel 10:18.
Gold was used extensively in the construction of the temple and after Solomon went through all the efforts to enrich Israel, the Pharaoh of Egypt came and plundered the temple within five years after his death, 2 Kings 24:13. The temple would have a treasury, where all the taxes collected from the people were stored.
Gill, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Whatever was to be made of gold, David was directed by the Spirit of God what weight or quantity of gold should be made use of in making it, as appears from some following instances, silver also for all instruments of silver by weight, for all instruments of every kind of service, so likewise whatever instruments or vessels, for the service of the temple, were to be made of silver, he had a direction from the Spirit of God what weight each was to be of, or what quantity of silver was to be used in it.’
David encourages Solomon and tells him to be strong and do it, don’t be afraid or discouraged, Joshua 1:5-7, David knows that the building of the temple wasn’t going to be easy. He laid the solemn charge upon his son Solomon to build the temple. Because David gathered all the materials needed to build the temple, it should have been called David’s temple.
After David encourages his son, Solomon and hands the plans over to him to build the temple, Solomon has all the skilled men around him to do the task. Now, he must get on and do it.