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PERIOD V.] THE AGREEMENT WITH KING HIRAM.

and understanding, that might build a house for the Lord, and a house for his kingdom." He said moreover, "I will do all thy desire concerning timber of cedar and timber of fir; my servants shall bring them down from Lebanon unto the sea; and I will convey them by sea in floats, unto the place that thou shalt appoint me, and will cause them to be discharged. there, and thou shalt receive them; and thou shalt accomplish my desire in giving food for my household." And Solomon gave Hiram twenty-thousand measures of wheat, for food to his household, and twenty measures of pure oil; thus gave Solomon to Hiram year by year. Solomon appointed

three-score-and-ten-thousand men to bear burdens; fourscore-thousand to hew in the mountains; and three-thousandand-six-hundred to oversee them. Solomon also desired Hiram to send him a skilful man to work in gold, silver, brass, and iron; in purple, and crimson, and blue. King Hiram sent Hiram, a widow's son; the widow was of the tribe of Dan, but her deceased husband was a man of Tyre. And the Lord gave Solomon wisdom, as he promised him; and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon; and they two made a league together.

After three years, two of the servants of Shimei ran away to Gath. Shimei went after them, and brought them to Jerusalem. It was told Solomon that Shimei had been at Gath, and was returned. Solomon sent for Shimei, and told him of the oath he had sworn not to leave Jerusalem. He also reminded him of his wickedness towards David, his father, and then commanded Benaiah 'to slay him.

NOTES AND EXPLANATIONS.

daughter of Egypt was at this time governed by a prince of great power and influence. From the time of Moses till now

no mention is made of Egypt in the history

of Israel. The fact that Solomon formed an alliance with so powerful a nationwhose ancestors had kept the Israelites in

bondage-shews the importance into which the Hebrew kingdom had risen. Les. 70, 'my wife.'

city of David-Les. 56, called it.'

wall-he extended, raised, and fortified the wall.

reigned-the influence of his piety and wisdom, and the knowledge of his wealth and power, brought the neighbouring nations to a voluntary acknowledgment of

his greatness, so that his royal sway was

not confined to the tribes of Israel.

from the river-from the Euphrates to the Mediterranean Sea.

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this time Solomon had not yet established maritime commerce. Les. 70, navy.'

unto the sea-Tyre was on the sea-coast; heights of Lebanon; the Tyrians could being flanked on the west by the towering easily command its vast resources of cedars and firs. Launching the spars at Tyre they formed them into floats or rafts, and coasted

chariot cities-cities used as magazines for them to Japho (Joppa), the chief maritime military armaments and stores.

Hiram-Les. 56, Hiram.'

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cedar-trees-Les. 64, cedar-trees.'

fir-trees-they grew abundantly on Mount Lebanon and in other parts of Palestine and Syria; they rose to a great height, and their timber was much esteemed, and applied in building, in various arts, and for instruments of different kinds.

said this congratulatory message proves that Hiram was a worshipper of the True God.

I will do, &c.-if Hiram had not acceded to Solomon's desire, the design of building the temple could scarcely have been carried out. Solomon might have obtained all he wanted for the work, except timber, from Egypt, but Egypt wanted timber more than any other nation. At

port of Judea, from whence they were conveyed to Jerusalem.

food-the want of money, or a national current coin, obliged Solomon to pay for the timber in goods; this mode of business is called barter. Tyre supplied Israel with craftsmen, and Israel supplied Tyre with corn and oil.

20,000 measures-namely 400,000 pints of wheat.

20 measures-or four-hundred pints.

to slay-in eastern courts executioners form a necessary appendage to regal establishments; for the kings or emperors, being armed with despotic powers, find it prudent sometimes to command the immediate decapitation of offenders. Shimei's life was spared on the condition recorded in Lesson 62, which he now violated, and thus brought ruin upon himself.

BLESSING.

"BLESSED BE THE LORD GOD OF ISRAEL."

Blessed be thy name for ever,

Thou of life the guard and giver;

Thou canst guard thy creatures sleeping;
Heal the heart long broke with weeping.
God of stillness and of motion,

Of the desert and the ocean,

Of the mountain, rock, and river,
Blessed be thy name for ever.

Thou who slumberest not, nor sleepest,
Blest are they thou kindly keepest;
God of evening's parting ray,

Of midnight's gloom and dawning day
That rises from the azure sea,
Like breathings of eternity;

God of life that fade shall never,
Blessed be thy name for ever.

HOGG.

68. THE TEMPLE BUILT.

1 Kings vi. vii. 2 Chronicles iv.

The Temple was built at Jerusalem on Mount Moriah. Here stood the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite, where David had erected an altar to the Lord. It was commenced in the fourth year of Solomon's reign. Within, it was overlaid with fine gold, and garnished with precious stones. It was built of stone, which was made ready before it was brought thither, so that there was neither hammer, nor ax, nor any tool of iron heard in the house, while it was building. And the length of the house which king Solomon built for the Lord, was threescore cubits, and the breadth twenty cubits, and the height thirty cubits. And the porch before the temple of the house, twenty cubits was the length thereof, according to the breadth of the house; and ten cubits was the breadth thereof before the house. And he made the most holy house, the length whereof was according to the breadth of the house twenty cubits, and the breadth thereof twenty cubits; and he overlaid it with fine gold, amounting to six-hundred talents.

And Hiram made a molten sea: it measured ten cubits from the one brim to the other; it was round all about, and its height was five cubits, and a line of thirty cubits did compass it round about. It stood upon twelve oxen, three looking towards the north, and three looking towards the west, and three looking towards the south, and three looking towards the east, and the sea was set above upon them, and all their hinder parts were inward. And Solomon made all the vessels that pertained unto the house of the Lord; the altar of gold, and the table of gold, whereupon the shewbread was, and the candlesticks of pure gold, five on the right side, and five on the left, before the oracle, with the flowers, and the lamps, and the tongs of gold, and the bowls, and the snuffers, and the basons, and the spoons, and the censers of pure gold; and the hinges of gold, both for the doors of the inner house, the most holy place, and for the doors of the house, to wit of the temple. So was ended all the work that king Solomon made for the house of the Lord. And Solomon brought in the things which David his father had dedicated; even the silver, and the vessels, did he put among the treasures of the house of the Lord. The ark, from Mount Zion, and all the holy vessel

THE TEMPLE FINISHED. [1095-975 B.C. were brought into the temple by the Levites. There was nothing in the ark save the two tables of stone, which Moses put therein at Horeb. Solomon was seven years in building the temple. And the word of the Lord came to Solomon, saying, "Concerning the house which thou art building, if thou wilt walk in my statutes, and execute my judgments, and keep all my commandments to walk in them; then will I perform my word with thee which I spake unto David thy father and I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will not forsake my people Israel." So Solomon built the house and finished it.

NOTES AND EXPLANATIONS.

Temple-Lesson 57, 'temple;' this magnificent edifice-the glory of Jerusalem, and the admiration of surrounding nations and succeeding ages, formed the permanent place of ritual worship for the Jewish nation, during a period of four-hundred-and-twenty years. Less. 122. The inner apartments were similar in plan to the two divisions of the tabernacle, & served a similar purpose; Les. 23, tabernacle ;' '65, 'sanctuary.' The front of the temple, like that of the tabernacle, looked towards the east, so that the worshippers, on entering the house of the Lord, had their backs turned upon the sun-that great object of pagan idolatry. The splendid porch extended across the entire front of the building, supported by two massive pillars of brass, or rather copper, called Jachin and Boaz, which mean, "it shall stand" "in strength." On each side of the Temple, and in the rear, there were erected three stories of chambers, which were connected with the main building by means of a gallery that surrounded the house. Two courts, or areas, called the inner and the outer courts, formed the entrances.

Mount Moriah--the summit of this hill did not afford space sufficiently large for the foundation; it had to be levelled, and portions of the valley on either side had to be filled up before the building could be commenced.

threshing-floor-L. 63, 'threshing-floor.' stone-the stones used were of extraordinary dimensions, some measuring fourteen feet long by four feet high.

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if thou wilt--hence we see that the peculiar and distinguishing privileges of the Mosaic dispensation were conditionally conferred upon the people of Israel. Solomon was not to presume upon the duration of the covenant unless he and the people of Israel con

tinued in obedience.

finished it-in the eleventh year of his reign.

GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES.

MOUNT MORIAH-the name of a mountain on the north-east of Jerusalem; it was at first without the city, but David purchased it from Araunah the Jebusite, and erected on it an altar to God; it was afterwards chosen as the situation for the Temple which Solomon built, when it was included within the walls of the city.

MOUNT ZION--the strong hold, or the hill on which was the fort so called; forming the south-western portion of the ground, on which, at a later period Jerusalem stood.

PERIOD V.] THE TEMPLE DEDICATED TO GOD.

PSALM.

"ALL NATIONS SHALL SERVE HIM."

Fall down ye nations and adore
Jehovah on the mercy seat;

Like prostrate seas on every shore,
That cast their billows at your feet.
Let hallelujahs to the skies,
With ocean's everlasting sound-
The voice of many waters rise

Day without night, as time goes round.
Come from the East-with gifts, ye kings
Bring gold, and frankincense and myrrh;
Where'er the morning spreads her wings
Let man to God his vows prefer.

Come from the West,-the bond, the free,
His easy service make your choice;
Ye isles of the Pacific sea

Like halcyon-nests; in God rejoice.

Come from the South ;--through desert-sands
A highway for the Lord prepare;

Let Ethiopia stretch her hands,

And Lybia pour her soul in prayer.

Come from the North; let Europe raise
In all her languages one song

Give God the glory, power, and praise,
That to his holy name belong.

J. MONTGOMERY.

69. THE TEMPLE DEDICATED AND ACCEPTED. 1 Kings viii.-ix. 9; 2Chron. v.-vii.

When Solomon dedicated the Temple to God he assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes at Jerusalem. All the priests were 'sanctified; and when they came out of the holy place, the singers and trumpeters were praising the Lord, saying, " For he is good, for his mercy endureth for ever." Then the house of the Lord was filled with a cloud, for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of God.

Great sacrifices were then offered by the king and all the people. The king kneeled down before all the congregation

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