Solomons Temple Spiritualized, Chapter 4 – Chapter 9
IV. Of what the Temple was built.
THe Materials with which the Temple was built, was such as were in their own Nature common to that which was left behind. Things that naturally were not fit without art to be laid on so holy a house. And this shews that those of whom Christ Jesus designs to build his Church, are by Nature, no better than others: But as the trees and stones of which the Temple was built, was first hewed and squared before they were fit to be laid in that house; so sinners of which the Church is to be built, must first be fitted, by the Word and Doctrine, and then fitly laid in their place in the Church.
For though, as to Nature, there is no difference betwixt those made use of to build Gods house with, yet by Grace they differ from others; even as those trees and stones that are hewed and squared for building, by Art are made to differ from those which abide in the Wood or Pitt.
The Lord Jesus therefore, while he seeketh Materials wherewith to build his house, he findeth them, The Clay of the same Lump that he rejecteth, and leaves behind. Are we better than they? No, in no wise: Rom. 3. Chap. 9. Nay, I think, if any be best, 'tis they which are left behind: He came not to call the Righteous, but Sinners to Repentance; Mark 2.17. And indeed, in this he doth shew both the greatness of his Grace and Workmanship. His Grace, in taking such; and his Workmanship, in that he makes them meet for his Holy Habitation.
This the current of Scripture maketh manifest: wherefore it is needless now to cite particulars: Only we must remember, that none are laid in this Building, as they come out of the Wood or Pitt: But as they first pass under the Hand and Rule of this great Builder of the Temple of God.
V. Who was to fell those Trees, and to dig those Stones with which Solomon built the Temple.
AS the Trees were to be felled, and Stones to be digged, so there was for that matter, Select Workmen appointed.
These were not of the Sons of Jacob, nor of the house of Israel: they were the Servants of Hiram King of Tyre, and the Gibeonites, namely, their Children that made a league with Joshua, in the day that God gave the land of Canaan to his People, Josh. 9.22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28. 1 King 5. 2 Chron. 27, 28.
And these were Types of our Gospel-Ministers, who are the men appointed by Jesus Christ to make Sinners by their preaching meet for the house of God. Wherefore as he was famous of old, who was strong to lift up his Axe upon the thick boughs, to square Wood for the building of the Temple: So a Minister of the Gospel now, is also famous, if much used by Christ for the converting of Sinners to himself, that he may build him a Temple with them, Psal. 7.4, 5, 6. Rom. 16.7.
But why, may some say, do you make so homely a Comparison? I Answer, because I believe it is true; for 'tis Grace, not Gifts, that makes us Sons, and the beloved of God. Gifts make a Minister; and as a Minister, one is but a servant to hew Wood, and draw Water for the house of my God. Yea Paul, tho' a Son, yet counted himself not a Son but a Servant, purely as he was a Minister: A Servant of God, a Servant of Christ, a Servant of the Church, and your Servant for Jesus sake, Tit. 1.
Rom. 1.1. 2 Cor. 4.5.
A man then is a Son as he is begotten and born of God to himself, and a servant as he is gifted for work in the house of his Father: And though it is truth, the servant may be a Son, yet he is not a Son, because he is a servant. Nor doth it follow, that because all Sons may be servants, that therefore all servants are Sons; no, all the servants of God are not Sons; and therefore when time shall come, he that is only a servant here, shall certainly be put out of the house, even out of that house himself did help to build. The servant abideth not in the house for ever: The servant, that is, he that is only so. Ezek. 46.16, 17. John 8.35.
So then, As a Son, thou art an Israelite; as a Servant, a Gibeonite. The Consideration of this made Paul start; He knew that Gifts made him not a Son, 1 Cor. 12.28, 29, 30, 31. Chap. 13.1, 2.
The summ then is, A man may be a servant and a Son; a servant as he is imployed by Christ in his house for the good of others: And a Son, as he is a partaker of the Grace of Adoption: But all servants are not sons, and let this be for a Caution, and a Call to Ministers to do all acts of service for God, and in his house, with Reverence and godly Fear. And with all Humility, let us desire to be partakers our selves of that Grace we preach to others, 1 Cor. 9.25.
That is a great saying, and written, perhaps to keep Ministers humble; And Strangers shall stand and feed your Flocks, and the Sons of the Alien shall be your Plowmen, and your Vine-dressers, Isaiah 61.5.
To be a Plow-man here, is to be a Preacher; and to be a Vine-dresser here, is to be a Preacher. Luke 9.59, 60, 61, 62. & 1 Cor. 9.27. Matt. 2.1, 2, 3, 4, 8. Chap. 21.28. 1 Cor. 9.7.
And if he does this Work willingly, he has a Reward; if not, a Dispensation of the Gospel is committed to him, and that's all; 1 Cor. 9.17.
VI. In what condition the Timber and Stones were, when brought to be laid in the building of the Temple.
THe timber and stones with which the Temple was builded, was squared and hewed at the Wood or Pitt; and so there made every way fit for that Work, even before they were brought to the place where the house should be set up. So that there was there, neither Hammer, nor Axe, nor any Tool of Iron heard in the house while it was in Building, 1 King 6.7.
And this shews, as was said before, that the Materials of which the House was builded, were (before the hand of the Work-man touched them) as unfit to be lay'd in the building, as was those that were left behind; consequently that themselves none otherwise but by the Art of others, were made fit to be laid in this building.
To this our New-Testament-Temple answers. For those of the Sons of Adam, who are counted worthy to be laid in this building, are not by Nature, but by Grace made meet for it; not by their own Wisdom, but by the Word of God. Hence, He saith, I have hewed them by the Prophets. And again, Ministers are called Gods Builders and Labourers, even as to this Work, Hos. 6.5. 1 Cor. 3.10. and 2 Cor. 6.1. Col. 1.28.
No man will lay Trees, as they come from the Wood, for Beams and Rafters in his house; nor Stones, as digged in the Walls. No, the Trees must be hewed and squared, and the Stones sawn and made fit, and so be lay'd in the house.
Yea, they must be SO Sawn, and SO Squared, that in coupling they may be joined exactly; else the Building will not be good, nor the Workman have credit of his doings.
Hence our Gospel-Church, of which the Temple was a type, is said to be fitly formed, and that there is a fit supply of every joynt for the securing of the whole, 1 Pet. 3.5. Ephes. 4.20, 21. Chap. 4.16. Col. 2.19.
As they therefore build like Children, that build with Wood, as it comes from the Wood or Forrest; and with Stones as they come from the Pitt, even so do they, who pretend to build God an house of Unconverted Sinners, unhewed, unsquared, unpolished. Wherefore Gods Workmen, according to Gods advice, prepare their Work without, and make it fit for themselves in the Field, and afterwards build the house, Prov. 24.27.
Let Ministers therefore look to this, and take heed, lest instead of making their Notions stoop to the Word, they make the Scriptures stoop to their Notions.
VII. Of the Foundation of the Temple.
THe Foundation of the Temple is that upon which it stood, & it was twofold: First the hill Moriah, and then those great Stones upon which it was Erected. This Hill Moriah, as was said afore, did more properly typify Christ. Hence Moriah is called The Mountain of the house, it being the Rock on which it was built: those great Stones called Foundation-Stones, were Types of the Prophets and Apostles, Matt. 16.18. Ephes. 2.20, 21. Heb. 11.10.
Wherefore, These Stones were Stones of the biggest Size, Stones of Eight Cubits, and Stones of Ten Cubits, 1 King 7, 10.
Now as the Temple had this double Foundation: so we must consider it respectively and distinctly. For Christ is the Foundation one way, the Prophets and Apostles a Foundation another; Christ is the Foundation personally and meritoriously, but the Prophets and Apostles by Doctrine Ministerially. The Church then, which is Gods New-Testament Temple, as it is said to be builded on Christ the Foundation: SO none other is the Foundation but He, 1 Cor. 3.11, 12. But as it is said to be Builded upon the Apostles: So it is said to have Twelve Foundations, and must have none but they, Rev. 21.14.
What is it then? Why we must be Builded upon Christ, as he is our Priest, Sacrifice, Prophet, King, and Advocate; and upon the other, as they are Infallible Instructors and Preachers of him; not that any may be an Apostle that so shall esteem of himself, nor that any other Doctrine be Administred, but what is the Doctrine of the Twelve; for they are set forth as the chief and last. These are also they, as Moses, which are to look over all the Building, and to see that all in this House be done according to the Patern shewed to them in the Mount, Exod. 39.43. John 20.21, 22, 23. 1 Cor. 3.9. Chap. 4.9.
Let us then keep these distinctions clear, and not put an Apostle in the room of Christ, nor Christ in the place of one of those Apostles. Let none but Christ be the High Priest and Sacrifice for your Souls to God; and none but that Doctrine which is Apostolical be to you as the Mouth of Christ for Instruction to prepare you, and to prepare materials for this Temple of God, and to Build them upon this Foundation.
VIII. Of the richness of the Stones which were laid for the Foundations of the Temple.
THese Foundation Stones, as they were great, so they were costly Stones. Tho as I said, of themselves, of no more worth then they of their nature that were left behind. Their costliness therefore lay in those additions which they received from the Kings charge.
First, In that labour which was bestowed upon them in Sawing, Squaring, and Carving. For the Servants, as they were cunning at this work, so they bestowed much of their Art and Labour upon them, by which they put them into excellent form, and added to their Bigness, Glory and Beauty, fit for Stones upon which so goodly a Fabrick was to be builded.
Secondly, These Stones, as they were thus wrought within and without, so, as it seems to me, they were inlaid with other Stones, more precious than themselves. Inlaid, I say, with Stones of divers colours. According as it is written, I will lay thy Foundations with Saphires, Isa. 54.11. not that the Foundations were Saphires, but they were laid, inlaid with them: or as he saith in another place, They were adorn'd with goodly Stones and Gifts, Luk. 21.5.
This is still more Amplified, where it is written of the New Jerusalem (which is still the New Testament-Church on Earth, and so the same in substance with what is now) The Foundations of the Wall of the City, saith he, were garnished with all manner of precious Stones, Revel. 21.19. True, these there are called, The Foundations of the WALL of the City, but it has respect to the matter in hand, for that which is before called a Temple, for its comparitive smallness, is here called a City, for, or because of its great Increase: And both the Foundations of the Wall of the City as well as of the Temple, are the twelve Apostles of the Lamb, Rev. 21.14.
For these Carvings and Inlayings, with all other Beautifications, were types of the extraordinary Gifts and Graces of the Apostles. Hence the Apostle calls such gifts, signs of Apostleship, Rom. 15.19. 2 Cor. 12.21. Heb. 2.4. For as the Foundation Stones of the Temple were thus garnished, so were the Apostles beautified with a Call, Gifts and Graces peculiar to themselves. Hence he says, First Apostles, for that they were first and chief in the Church of Christ, 1 Cor. 12.28.
Nor were these stones only laid for a Foundation for the Temple, the great Court, the inner Court, as also the Porch of the Temple, had round about them three rows of these stones for their Foundation, 1 King. 7.12.
Signifying, as it seems to me, that the more outward and External Part, as well as that more Internal Worship to be performed to God, should be grounded upon Apostolical Doctrine and Appointments, 1 Cor. 3.10, 11, 12. 2 Thes. 2.15. Chap. 3.6. Heb. 6.1.2, 3, 4.
IX. Which way the Face or Front of the Temple stood.
1. THe Temple was Builded with its Face or Front towards the East, and that, perhaps, because the Glory of the God of Israel was to come from the way of the East unto it, Ezek. 43.1, 2, 3, 4. Chap. 47.1. Wherefore in that its Front stood towards the East, it may be to shew that the true Gospel Church would have its Eye to, and Expectation from the Lord. We look said Paul, but whither? We have our Conversation, said he, in Heaven, from whence our Expectation is, 2. Cor. 4.18. Phil. 3.20, 21. Psal. 62.5.
2. It was set also with its Face towards the East, to keep the People of God from committing of Idolatry, to wit, from worshiping the Host of Heaven, and the Sun whose rising is from the East. For since the Face of the Temple stood toward the East, and since the worshippers were to worship at, or with their Faces towards the Temple, it follows, that both in their going to, and worshiping God towards that place, their Faces must be from, and their Backs towards the Sun. The thus Building of the Temple, therefore was a Snare to Idolators, and a proof of the Zeal of those that were the true worshippers: As also to this day the true Gospel instituted worship of Jesus Christ is: Hence he is said to Idolaters to be a Snare and Trap, but to the Godly a Glory, Isa. 8.14. Chap. 60.19.
3. Do but see how God catcht the Idolatrous Jews by this means in their naughtiness; And he brought me, said the Prophet, into the inner Court of the Lords House, and beheld at the Door of the Temple of the Lord, even between the Porch and the Altar, were about five and twenty men with their Backs towards the Temple of the Lord, and their Faces towards the East, Ezek. 8.16.
It was therefore, as I said, set with its Face towards the East, to prevent false Worships and detect Idolaters.
4. From the East also came the most Blasting Winds, Winds that are destructive to Man and Beasts; to Fruit, and Trees; and Ships at Sea, Exo. 10.13. Job 27.21. Ezek. 17.10. Chap. 19.12. Psal. 48.7. Ezek. 27.26.
I say, The East Wind, or that which comes from thence, is the most hurtful; yet you see, the Temple hath set her Face against it, to shew that the true Church cannot be blasted or made turn back by any Affliction. 'Tis not East Winds, nor none of their blastings, that can make the Temple turn about. Hence he saith, That Jacobs Face shall not wax pale. And again, I have made thy Face strong against their Faces, and that the Gates of Hell shall not prevail against it. Isa. 29.22. Ezek. 3.8. Mat. 16.18.
5. It might be also built with its Face towards the East, to shew that the true Church looketh, as afore I hinted, for her Lord and King from Heaven, knowing that at his coming he will bring healing in his Wings: for from the East he will appear when he comes the second time without Sin unto Salvation, of which the Sun gives us a Memento in his rising there every Morning. For as the Lightning cometh out of the East, and shineth unto the West; So shall also the coming of the Son of Man be, Mal. 4.2. Heb. 9.28. Col. 3.3. 2 Pet. 11.12, 13, 14. Mat. 24.27.
6. Christ, as the North-pole, draws those touched with the Load-stone of his Word, with the Face of their Souls towards him, to look for, and hasten to his coming. And this also is signified by the Temple standing with his Face towards the East.