The Bible Story Part 171

Used by special permission of the Detroit Photograph Company.

The center of the mosque is occupied by the top of the natural rock, shown in the foreground. It is possible that the great altar of Solomon's temple was at this place.

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SOLOMON'S PALACE.

_Costly and Beautiful_.

And Solomon was building his own house thirteen years, and he finished all his house. For he built the house of the forest of Lebanon; the length thereof was an hundred cubits, and the breadth thereof fifty cubits, and the height thereof thirty cubits, upon four rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams upon the pillars. And it was covered with cedar above over the forty and five beams, that were upon the pillars; fifteen in a row. And there were three rows of latticed windows. And he made the porch of pillars; the length thereof was fifty cubits, and the breadth thereof thirty cubits; and a porch before them; and pillars and thick beams before them. And he made the porch of the throne where he was to judge, even the porch of judgment: and it was covered with cedar from floor to floor. And his house where he was to dwell, the other court within the porch, was of the like work.

He made also an house for Pharaoh's daughter (whom Solomon had taken to wife), like unto this porch. All these were of costly stones, even of hewn stone, according to measure, sawed with saws, within and without, even from the foundation unto the coping, and so on the outside unto the great court. And the foundation was of costly stones, even great stones, stones of ten cubits, and stones of eight cubits.

And above were costly stones, even hewn stone, according to measure, and cedar wood. And the great court round about had three rows of hewn stone, {470} and a row of cedar beams; like the inner court of the house of the Lord, and the porch of the house.

THE DEDICATION OF THE TEMPLE.

_The Great a.s.sembly and Sacrifice_.

Then Solomon a.s.sembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the princes of the fathers' houses of the children of Israel, unto King Solomon in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the city of David, which is Zion. And they brought up the ark of the Lord, and the tent of meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the Tent.

And King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, that were a.s.sembled unto him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing sheep and oxen, that could not be told nor numbered for mult.i.tude. And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the Lord unto its place, into the oracle of the house, to the most holy place. There was nothing in the ark save the two tables of stone which Moses put there at h.o.r.eb, when the Lord made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt. And it came to pa.s.s, when the priests were come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the Lord, so that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord.

Then spoke Solomon, "The Lord hath said that he would dwell in the thick darkness. I have surely built thee an house of habitation, a place for thee to dwell in for ever."

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And the king turned his face about, and blessed all the congregation of Israel: and all the congregation of Israel stood. And he said, "Blessed be the Lord, the G.o.d of Israel, which spoke with his mouth unto David my father, and hath with his hand fulfilled it, saying, 'Since the day that I brought forth my people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel to build an house, that my name might be there; but I chose David to be over my people Israel.' Now it was in the heart of David my father to build an house for the name of the Lord, the G.o.d of Israel. But the Lord said unto David my father, 'Whereas it was in thine heart to build an house for my name, thou didst well that it was in thine heart: nevertheless thou shalt not build the house; but thy son, he shall build the house for my name.' And the Lord hath established his word that he spoke; for I am risen up in the place of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised, and have built the house for the name of the Lord, the G.o.d of Israel. And there have I set a place for the ark, wherein is the covenant of the Lord, which he made with our fathers, when he brought them out of the land of Egypt."

_The Prayer of the King_.

And Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven: and he said, "O Lord, the G.o.d of Israel, there is no G.o.d like thee, in heaven above, or on earth beneath; who keepest covenant and mercy with {472} thy servants, that walk before thee with all their heart: who hast kept with thy servant David my father that which thou didst promise him: yea, thou hast spoken with thy mouth, and hast fulfilled it with thine hand, as it is this day.

"Now therefore, O Lord, the G.o.d of Israel, keep with thy servant David my father that which thou hast promised him, saying, 'There shall not fail thee a man in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel; if only thy children take heed to their way, to walk before me as thou hast walked before me.' Now therefore, O G.o.d of Israel, let thy word, I pray thee, be verified, which thou hast spoken unto thy servant David my father. But will G.o.d in very deed dwell on the earth? behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded!

"Yet have thou respect unto the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplication, O Lord my G.o.d, to hearken unto the cry and to the prayer which thy servant prayeth before thee this day: that thine eyes may be open toward this house night and day, even toward the place whereof thou hast said, 'My name shall be there': to hearken unto the prayer which thy servant shall pray toward this place. And hearken thou to the supplication of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place: yea, hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place; and when thou hearest, forgive.

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JERUSALEM, FROM THE MOUNT OF OLIVES

From an old photograph in the possession of the Springfield Public Library and used by kind permission.

The view of Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives in the days of the city's glory, was one of splendor. Of this view in the time of Christ a writer says, referring especially to the temple, "In the setting even more than the rising sun, must the vast proportions, the symmetry, and the sparkling sheen of this ma.s.s of snowy marble and gold have stood out gloriously."

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"If a man sin against his neighbor, and an oath be laid upon him to cause him to swear, and he come and swear before thine altar in this house: then hear thou in heaven, and do, and judge thy servants, condemning the wicked, to bring his way upon his own head; and justifying the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness.

"When thy people Israel be smitten down before the enemy, because they have sinned against thee; if they turn again to thee, and confess thy name, and pray and make supplication unto thee in this house: then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel, and bring them again unto the land which thou gavest unto their fathers.

When heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against thee; if they pray toward this place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin, when thou dost afflict them: then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of thy people Israel, when thou teachest them the good way wherein they should walk; and send rain upon thy land, which thou hast given to thy people for an inheritance.

"If there be in the land famine, if there be pestilence, if there be blasting or mildew, locust or caterpillar; if their enemy besiege them in the land of their cities; whatsoever plague, whatsoever sickness there be; what prayer and supplication soever be made by any man, or by all thy people Israel, which shall know every man the plague of his own heart, and spread forth his hands toward this house: then hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, and do, and render unto every man according to all his ways, whose heart thou knowest (for thou, even thou only, knowest the hearts of all the children of men); {476} that they may fear thee all the days that they live in the land which thou gavest unto our fathers.

"Moreover concerning the stranger, that is not of thy people Israel, when he shall come out of a far country for thy name's sake (for they shall hear of thy great name, and of thy mighty hand, and of thy stretched out arm); when he shall come and pray toward this house: hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and do according to all that the stranger calleth to thee for; that all the peoples of the earth may know thy name, to fear thee, as doth thy people Israel, and that they may know that this house which I have built is called by thy name.

"If thy people go out to battle against their enemy, by whatsoever way thou shalt send them, and they pray unto the Lord toward the city which thou hast chosen, and toward the house which I have built for thy name: then hear thou in heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause.

"If they sin against thee (for there is no man that sinneth not), and thou be angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captive unto the land of the enemy, far off or near; yet if they shall bethink themselves in the land whither they are carried captive, and turn again, and make supplication unto thee in the land of them that carried them captive, saying, 'We have sinned, and have done perversely, we have dealt wickedly'; if they return unto thee with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies, which carried them captive, and pray unto thee toward their land, which thou {477} gavest unto their fathers, the city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name: then hear thou their prayer and their supplication in heaven thy dwelling place, and maintain their cause; and forgive thy people which have sinned against thee, and all their transgressions wherein they have transgressed against thee; and give them compa.s.sion before those who carried them captive, that they may have compa.s.sion on them: for they be thy people, and thine inheritance, which thou broughtest forth out of Egypt, from the midst of the furnace of iron: that thine eyes may be open to the supplication of thy servant, and unto the supplication of thy people Israel, to hearken unto them whensoever they cry unto thee. For thou didst separate them from among all the peoples of the earth, to be thine inheritance, as thou hast spoken by Moses thy servant, when thou broughtest our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord G.o.d."

And it was so, that when Solomon had made an end of praying all this prayer and supplication unto the Lord, he arose from before the altar of the Lord, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread forth toward heaven. And he stood, and blessed all the congregation of Israel with a loud voice, saying, "Blessed be the Lord, that hath given rest unto his people Israel, according to all that he promised: there hath not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised by Moses his servant. The Lord our G.o.d be with us, as he was with our fathers: let him not leave us nor forsake us: that he may incline our hearts unto him, to walk in all his ways, and keep his {478} commandments, and his statutes, and his judgments, which he commanded our fathers. And let these my words, wherewith I have made supplication before the Lord, be nigh unto the Lord our G.o.d day and night, that he maintain the cause of his servant, and the cause of his people Israel, as every day shall require: that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord, he is G.o.d; there is none else. Let your heart therefore be perfect with the Lord our G.o.d, to walk in his statutes, and to keep his commandments, as at this day."

And the king, and all Israel with him, offered sacrifice before the Lord. And Solomon offered for the sacrifice of peace offerings, which he offered unto the Lord, two and twenty thousand oxen, and an hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the children of Israel dedicated the house of the Lord.

A ROYAL PILGRIMAGE.

_The Visit of the Queen of Sheba_.

And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came to prove him with hard questions. And she came to Jerusalem with a very great caravan, with camels that bore spices, and very much gold, and precious stones: and when she was come to Solomon, she communed with him of all that was in her heart. And Solomon told her all her questions: there was not anything hid from the king which he told her not. And when the queen of Sheba had seen all the wisdom of Solomon, and the house that he had built, and the meat of his table and the seating of his servants, and the attendance of his ministers, and their apparel, and his cupbearers, and his ascent by which he went up unto the house of the Lord; there was no more spirit in her.

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JERUSALEM, FROM THE CITADEL, LOOKING TOWARD THE MOUNT OF OLIVES.

From a picture in the possession of the Forbes Library and used by kind permission.

This view reverses the position of the spectator in the previous picture Looking from the citadel, the slope of the Mount of Olives rises in the east.

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And she said to the king, "It was a true report that I heard in mine own land of thine acts, and of thy wisdom. Howbeit I believed not the words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it: and, behold, the half was not told me: thy wisdom and prosperity exceedeth the fame which I heard. Happy are thy men, happy are these thy servants, which stand continually before thee, and that hear thy wisdom. Blessed be the Lord thy G.o.d, which delighted in thee, to set thee on the throne of Israel: because the Lord loved Israel for ever, therefore made he thee king, to do judgment and justice."

And she gave the king an hundred and twenty talents of gold, and of spices very great store, and precious stones: there came no more such abundance of spices as these which the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.

And King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatsoever she asked, beside that which Solomon gave her of his royal bounty. So she turned, and went to her own land, she and her servants.

THE GREATNESS OF SOLOMON'S EMPIRE.

_Gold and Ivory Brought by s.h.i.+p and Caravan_.