11 And Solomon the son of David was strengthened in his kingdom, and Jehovah his God was with him and magnified him exceedingly. 2 And Solomon spoke to all Israel, to the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and to the judges, and to all the princes of all Israel, the chief fathers; 3 and Solomon, and all the congregation with him, went to the high place at Gibeon; for there was God's tent of meeting which Moses the servant of Jehovah had made in the wilderness. 4 But the ark of God had David brought up from Kirjath-jearim to the [place] that David had prepared for it; for he had spread a tent for it at Jerusalem. 5 And the brazen altar that Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, had made, was there before the tabernacle of Jehovah; and Solomon and the congregation sought unto it. 6 And Solomon offered there upon the brazen altar before Jehovah which was at the tent of meeting; and he offered up a thousand burnt-offerings upon it. 7 In that night God appeared to Solomon, and said to him, Ask what I shall give thee. 8 And Solomon said to God, Thou hast shewn unto David my father great loving-kindness, and hast made me king in his stead. 9 Now, Jehovah Elohim, let thy word unto David my father be firm; for thou hast made me king over a people numerous as the dust of the earth. 10 Give me now wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people; for who can judge this thy great people? 11 And God said to Solomon, Because this was in thy heart, and thou hast not asked riches, wealth, or honour, nor the life of them that hate thee, neither yet hast asked long life; but hast asked for thyself wisdom and knowledge, that thou mayest judge my people, over whom I have made thee king: 12 wisdom and knowledge are granted unto thee; and I will give thee riches and wealth and honour, such as none of the kings have had that have been before thee, neither shall any after thee have the like.
13 Then Solomon came back [from] the high place at Gibeon to Jerusalem, from before the tent of meeting, and reigned over Israel.
14 And Solomon gathered chariots and horsemen; and he had a thousand four hundred chariots and twelve thousand horsemen; and he placed them in the chariot-cities, and with the king at Jerusalem. 15 And the king made silver and gold in Jerusalem as stones, and cedars made he as the sycamores that are in the lowland for abundance. 16 And the exportation of horses that Solomon had was from Egypt: a caravan of the king's merchants fetched a drove [of horses], at a price. 17 And they fetched up and brought forth out of Egypt a chariot for six hundred [shekels] of silver, and a horse for a hundred and fifty; and so they brought [them] by their means, for all the kings of the Hittites and for the kings of Syria.
21 And Solomon purposed to build a house for the name of Jehovah, and a house for his kingdom. 2 And Solomon numbered seventy thousand men to bear burdens, and eighty thousand stone-masons in the mountain, and three thousand six hundred to superintend them. 3 And Solomon sent to Huram king of Tyre, saying, As thou didst deal with David my father, and didst send him cedars to build him a house to dwell therein [so do for me]. 4 Behold, I build a house unto the name of Jehovah my God to dedicate it to him, to burn before him sweet incense, and for the continual arrangement [of the shewbread], and for the morning and evening burnt-offerings [and] on the sabbaths and on the new moons, and on the set feasts of Jehovah our God. This is [an ordinance] for ever to Israel. 5 And the house that I will build is great; for great is our God above all gods. 6 But who is able to build him a house, seeing the heavens and the heaven of heavens cannot contain him? And who am I that I should build him a house, except to burn sacrifice before him? 7 And now send me a man skilful to work in gold, and in silver, and in bronze, and in iron, and in purple and crimson and blue, and experienced in carving, besides the skilful men that are with me in Judah and in Jerusalem, whom David my father provided. 8 Send me also cedar-trees, cypress-trees, and sandal-wood trees, out of Lebanon; for I know that thy servants are experienced in cutting timber in Lebanon; and behold, my servants shall be with thy servants, 9 even to prepare me timber in abundance: for the house that I build shall be great and wonderful. 10 And behold, I will give to thy servants the hewers that fell timber, twenty thousand measures of beaten wheat, and twenty thousand measures of barley, and twenty thousand baths of wine, and twenty thousand baths of oil.
11 And Huram king of Tyre answered in writing, which he sent to Solomon, Because Jehovah loved his people, he made thee king over them. 12 And Huram said, Blessed be Jehovah the God of Israel, that made the heavens and the earth, who has given to David the king a wise son, endued with prudence and understanding, who will build a house for Jehovah and a house for his kingdom. 13 And now, I send a skilful man, endued with understanding, Huram Abi, 14 the son of a woman of the daughters of Dan, and whose father was a man of Tyre, experienced in working in gold, and in silver, in bronze, in iron, in stone, and in timber, in purple, in blue, and in byssus, and in crimson, and for doing any manner of engraving, and for inventing every device which shall be put to him, besides thy skilful men, and the skilful men of my lord David thy father. 15 And now the wheat and the barley, the oil and the wine, which my lord hath spoken of, let him send unto his servants. 16 And we will cut wood out of Lebanon, as much as thou shalt need; and we will bring it to thee [in] floats by sea to Joppa, and thou shalt carry it up to Jerusalem. 17 And Solomon numbered all the strangers that were in the land of Israel, after the account that David his father had taken of them, and there were found a hundred and fifty-three thousand six hundred. 18 And he set seventy thousand of them to be bearers of burdens, and eighty thousand to be stone-masons in the mountains, and three thousand six hundred overseers to set the people to work.
31 And Solomon began to build the house of Jehovah at Jerusalem on mount Moriah, where he appeared to David his father, in the place that David had prepared in the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite. 2 And he began to build on the second of the second month, in the fourth year of his reign. 3 And this was Solomon's foundation for the construction of the house of God. The length by cubits after the first measure was sixty cubits, and the breadth twenty cubits. 4 And the porch which was in front was twenty cubits in length, in front of the house broadways, and the height was a hundred and twenty; and he overlaid it within with pure gold. 5 And the greater house he boarded with cypress-wood, which he overlaid with fine gold, and set on it palm-trees and chains. 6 And he overlaid the house with precious stones for beauty; and the gold was gold of Parvaim. 7 And he covered the house, the beams, the threshold, and its walls, and its doors with gold, and engraved cherubim on the walls. 8 And he made the house of the most holy place, the length of which was according to the breadth of the house, twenty cubits, and its breadth twenty cubits; and he covered it with fine gold, amounting to six hundred talents. 9 And the weight of the nails was fifty shekels of gold. And he covered the upper chambers with gold.
10 And in the house of the most holy place he made two cherubim of image work, and they overlaid them with gold. 11 And the wings of the cherubim were twenty cubits long: one wing of five cubits touched the wall of the house; and the other wing of five cubits touched the wing of the other cherub. 12 And the wing of the other cherub of five cubits touched the wall of the house; and the other wing was five cubits joining the wing of the other cherub. 13 The wings of these cherubim spread forth were twenty cubits; and they stood on their feet, and their faces were toward the house. 14 And he made the veil of blue, and purple, and crimson, and byssus, and made cherubim upon it.
15 And before the house he made two pillars thirty-five cubits long; and the capital that was on the top of each of them was five cubits. 16 And he made chains [as] in the oracle, and he put them on the top of the pillars; and he made a hundred pomegranates, and put them on the chains. 17 And he set up the pillars in front of the temple, one on the right hand and the other on the left; and he called the name of that on the right Jachin, and the name of that on the left Boaz.
101 Verily, verily, I say to you, He that enters not in by the door to the fold of the sheep, but mounts up elsewhere, he is a thief and a robber; 2 but he that enters in by the door is [the] shepherd of the sheep. 3 To him the porter opens; and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name, and leads them out. 4 When he has put forth all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, because they know his voice. 5 But they will not follow a stranger, but will flee from him, because they know not the voice of strangers. 6 This allegory spoke Jesus to them, but they did not know what it was [of] which he spoke to them.
7 Jesus therefore said again to them, Verily, verily, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All whoever came before me are thieves and robbers; but the sheep did not hear them. 9 I am the door: if any one enter in by me, he shall be saved, and shall go in and shall go out and shall find pasture. 10 The thief comes not but that he may steal, and kill, and destroy: I am come that they might have life, and might have [it] abundantly. 11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep: 12 but he who serves for wages, and who is not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf seizes them and scatters the sheep. 13 Now he who serves for wages flees because he serves for wages, and is not himself concerned about the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd; and I know those that are mine, and am known of those that are mine, 15 as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 And I have other sheep which are not of this fold: those also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one flock, one shepherd. 17 On this account the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have authority to lay it down and I have authority to take it again. I have received this commandment of my Father.
19 There was a division again among the Jews on account of these words; 20 but many of them said, He has a demon and raves; why do ye hear him? 21 Others said, These sayings are not [those] of one that is possessed by a demon. Can a demon open blind people's eyes?
22 Now the feast of the dedication was celebrating at Jerusalem, and it was winter. 23 And Jesus walked in the temple in the porch of Solomon.
(Read John 10:1-5)
Here is a parable or similitude, taken from the customs of the East, in the management of sheep. Men, as creatures depending on their Creator, are called the sheep of his pasture. The church of God in the world is as a sheep-fold, exposed to deceivers and persecutors. The great Shepherd of the sheep knows all that are his, guards them by his providence, guides them by his Spirit and word, and goes before them, as the Eastern shepherds went before their sheep, to set them in the way of his steps. Ministers must serve the sheep in their spiritual concerns. The Spirit of Christ will set before them an open door. The sheep of Christ will observe their Shepherd, and be cautious and shy of strangers, who would draw them from faith in him to fancies about him.
(Read John 10:6-9)
Many who hear the word of Christ, do not understand it, because they will not. But we shall find one scripture expounding another, and the blessed Spirit making known the blessed Jesus. Christ is the Door. And what greater security has the church of God than that the Lord Jesus is between it and all its enemies? He is a door open for passage and communication. Here are plain directions how to come into the fold; we must come in by Jesus Christ as the Door. By faith in him as the great Mediator between God and man. Also, we have precious promises to those that observe this direction. Christ has all that care of his church, and every believer, which a good shepherd has of his flock; and he expects the church, and every believer, to wait on him, and to keep in his pasture.
(Read John 10:10-18)
Christ is a good Shepherd; many who were not thieves, yet were careless in their duty, and by their neglect the flock was much hurt. Bad principles are the root of bad practices. The Lord Jesus knows whom he has chosen, and is sure of them; they also know whom they have trusted, and are sure of Him. See here the grace of Christ; since none could demand his life of him, he laid it down of himself for our redemption. He offered himself to be the Saviour; Lo, I come. And the necessity of our case calling for it, he offered himself for the Sacrifice. He was both the offerer and the offering, so that his laying down his life was his offering up himself. From hence it is plain, that he died in the place and stead of men; to obtain their being set free from the punishment of sin, to obtain the pardon of their sin; and that his death should obtain that pardon. Our Lord laid not his life down for his doctrine, but for his sheep.
(Read John 10:19-21)
Satan ruins many, by putting them out of conceit with the word and ordinances. Men would not be laughed out of their necessary food, yet suffer themselves thus to be laughed out of what is far more necessary. If our zeal and earnestness in the cause of Christ, especially in the blessed work of bringing his sheep into his fold, bring upon us evil names, let us not heed it, but remember our Master was thus reproached before us.
(Read John 10:22-30)
All who have any thing to say to Christ, may find him in the temple. Christ would make us to believe; we make ourselves doubt. The Jews understood his meaning, but could not form his words into a full charge against him. He described the gracious disposition and happy state of his sheep; they heard and believed his word, followed him as his faithful disciples, and none of them should perish; for the Son and the Father were one. Thus he was able to defend his sheep against all their enemies, which proves that he claimed Divine power and perfection equally with the Father.
