CHAPTER 28

(1015 B.C.)

DAVIDS COUNSEL TO ISRAEL

¹And David assembled all the princes of Israel, the princes of the Tribes, and the captains of the companies who ministered to the king by course, and the captains over the thousands, and captains over the hundreds, and the stewards over all the substance and possession of the king, and of his sons, and with the officers, and with the mighty men, and with all the valiant men, unto Jerusalem (this was Davids last assembly for Israel).

²Then David the king stood up upon his feet, and said, Hear me, my brethren, and my people: As for me, I had in my heart to build an house of rest for the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD, and for the footstool of our God, and had made ready for the building (this address will show that David, in his dying hour, was more concerned with the House of God than with anything else in his kingdom):

³But God said unto me, You shall not build an House for My Name, because you have been a man of war, and have shed blood.

⁴Howbeit the LORD God of Israel chose me before all the house of my father to be king over Israel for ever (his lineage, culminating in Christ): for He has chosen Judah to be the ruler (Gen. 49:10); and of the house of Judah, the house of my father (of Jesse); and among the sons of my father He liked me to make me king over all Israel:

⁵And of all my sons, (for the LORD has given me many sons,) He has chosen Solomon my son to sit upon the throne of the kingdom of the LORD over Israel (this expression, not found in its entirety elsewhere, is an emphatic statement of the true theocracy, which should have ever prevailed among the people of Israel, but was set aside because of failure on the part of Israel; it is now paralleled by the Kingship of our Lord in His Own Church).

⁶And He said unto me, Solomon your son, he shall build My House and My Courts: for I have chosen him to be My son, and I will be his father.

⁷Moreover I will establish his kingdom for ever, if he be constant to do My Commandments and My Judgments, as at this day (this provision is emphatically presented again to the attention of Solomon, when the time comes for the direct appeal of God to him [I Ki. 3:14; 8:61; 9:4]).

⁸Now therefore in the sight of all Israel the congregation of the LORD, and in the audience of our God, keep and seek for all the Commandments of the LORD your God: that you may possess this good land, and leave it for an inheritance for your children after you for ever. (For a time, Solomon was a Child of God. He loved the Lord and walked in all His Statutes [I Ki. 3:3], and the Lord loved him [II Sam. 12:24]. However, in later life, Solomon grew cold toward Jehovah and loved many strange women, who turned his heart away from God [I Ki. 11:1-8]. The Lord then became angry with Solomon and turned against him in his backslidings [I Ki. 11:9-40]. The Lord then took his kingdom from him and finally destroyed it, all because of sin. The Kingdom will be renewed again when Israel comes to Repentance [Zech. 12:10]. Under the Messiah, this Kingdom shall continue eternally.)

DAVIDS CHARGE TO SOLOMON

⁹And you, Solomon my son, know you the God of your father, and serve Him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind (actually, this is the only thing that any individual can give to God): for the LORD searches all hearts, and understands all the imaginations of the thoughts (the Lord sees all things and knows all things, past, present, and future): if you seek Him, He will be found of you; but if you forsake Him, He will cast you off for ever. (This is one of the greatest Promises found in the entirety of the Word of God. Irrespective of the disposition of the individual involved, if the person seeks the Lord with all his heart, the Lord will be found. What a consolation! Conversely, if we turn our back on the Lord, He will turn His back on us; consequently, this completely refutes the unscriptural doctrine of Unconditional Eternal Security.)

¹⁰Take heed now; for the LORD has chosen you to build an house for the Sanctuary: be strong, and do it.

¹¹Then David gave to Solomon his son the pattern of the porch, and of the houses thereof, and of the treasuries thereof, and of the upper chambers thereof, and of the inner parlours thereof, and of the place of the Mercy Seat,

¹²And the pattern of all that he had by the Spirit (Holy Spirit), of the Courts of the House of the LORD, and of all the chambers round about, of the treasuries of the House of God, and of the treasuries of the dedicated things:

¹³Also for the courses of the Priests and the Levites, and for all the work of the service of the House of the LORD, and for all the vessels of service in the House of the LORD. (These Verses declare that the Temple of Solomon was wholly planned by God, and an absolutely full pattern of it and its vessels given to David nothing was left to his or to Solomons imagination.)

EXACT MEASUREMENTS

¹⁴He gave of gold by weight for things of gold, for all instruments of all manner of service; silver also for all instruments of silver by weight, for all instruments of every kind of service:

¹⁵Even the weight for the candlesticks of gold, and for their lamps of gold, by weight for every candlestick, and for the lamps thereof: and for the candlesticks of silver by weight, both for the candlestick, and also for the lamps thereof, according to the use of every candlestick.

¹⁶And by weight he gave gold for the tables of shewbread, for every table; and likewise silver for the tables of silver:

¹⁷Also pure gold for the fleshhooks, and the bowls, and the cups: and for the golden basons he gave gold by weight for every bason; and likewise silver by weight for every bason of silver:

¹⁸And for the Altar of Incense refined gold by weight; and gold for the pattern of the chariot of the cherubims, that spread out their wings, and covered the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD.

THE HAND OF THE LORD

¹⁹All this, said David, the LORD made me understand in writing by His Hand upon me, even all the works of this pattern (David says that this Divine Pattern was communicated to him by him being compelled by the Hand, or the Spirit, of Jehovah, to record it all in writing, which he did!).

²⁰And David said to Solomon his son, Be strong and of good courage, and do it: fear not, nor be dismayed: for the LORD God, even my God, will be with you; He will not fail you, nor forsake you, until you have finished all the work for the service of the House of the LORD.

²¹And, behold, the courses of the Priests and the Levites, even they shall be with you for all the service of the House of the God: and there shall be with you for all manner of workmanship every willing skillful man, for any manner of service: also the princes and all the people will be wholly at your commandment. (Nothing was left, as stated, to Solomons or Davids genius or taste. All was by the Spirit; all was Divine!)