“The foundation of the house of Adonai was laid in the fourth year, in the month of Ziv. In the eleventh year, in the month of Bul, which is the eighth month, all parts of the house were completed exactly as designed. Thus, he was seven years building it.“ – 1 Kings 6:37-38
The last 2 verses (copied above) nicely wrap up what was stated in the very 1st verse of this chapter.
Namely, that it was…
“…in the fourth year of Shlomo’s reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of Adonai.”
We’re also told that it was in the 11th year of Solomon’s reign in the month of BUL that the Temple was finished.
For those who ain’t familiar with the Hebrew calendar, the timing of the month BUL corresponds to HESHVON.
So that’s around the October/November time frame.
This gives me a chance to ask yet another exciting quiz question to see how well you know your Torah.
Given that the construction of the Temple concluded in the fall months around October/November-ish, in terms of timing, which Biblical feast did this correspond with?
What?
Are you scratching your head trying to figure this out?
Come on, man!
It can’t be that difficult.
Are you giving up already?
Alright, I’ll tell you.
The construction of the Temple was completed shortly after the Feast of Tabernacles.
So it took exactly 7 years and 6 months from when they laid the foundation to when they finished the whole thing.
However, the last verse rounds out the numbers and says it took 7 years.
That’s because ancient writers loved rounding to symbolic numbers.
So again, for all you calendar crazies out there.
Don’t get hung up on what may appear to be a loose treatment of dates and times in Scripture.
Especially when we’re dealing with such a spiritually significant figure as the number 7.
This leads to our takeaway for today.
Ya all know what the number 7 represents in Scripture, don’t you?
It refers to divine completeness.
Think about it.
God created the heavens and the earth in 6 days and rested on the 7th.
7 also shows up all over the freakin’ place as a marker of wholeness.
Seven days, seven years, seven times seventy, seven seals, seven churches, seven spirits of God.
When a biblical writer uses 7, they’re basically saying this is full, this is complete, this is the real deal, homies!
Also, recall all of the atonement rituals we studied way back in the Book of Leviticus.
Priests sprinkle blood 7 times, sacrifices happen in sets of 7, and purification rites run 7 days.
Again, this all signals that the recipient of the atonement is being fully consecrated or fully cleansed.
Finally, in Revelation, things really go into overdrive.
The whole book is basically organized around sevens with the seals, trumpets, bowls, letters, and so on.
Obviously, John is doing that on purpose, letting us know that this is the final, complete word on history.
So when the Biblical author rounded 7 years and 6 months down to 7 years, it was a deliberate decision.
He wanted to express the divine completion of the house of God.
Ya feel me here?
On that note, this concludes our study of 1st Kings, Chapter 6.
NEXT TIME WE BEGIN 1 KINGS CHAPTER 7.
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