Thursday Evening Bible Study

October 11, 2012

Introduction

Do people see Jesus? Is the gospel preached? Does it speak to the broken hearted? Does it build up the church? Milk – Meat – Manna Preach for a decision Is the church loved?

King David has passed the keys to the Kingdom of Israel on to his son Solomon.

5:1-12 Solomon and Hiram

:1 Now Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon, because he heard that they had anointed him king in place of his father, for Hiram had always loved David.

:1 Hiram – Chiyram – “noble”

:1 king of Tyre

Play Tyre map video

Tyre is to the north of Israel in modern Lebanon. It was the capital of ancient Phoenicians, famous for their naval expertise, trade, and colonizing the Mediterranean.

Tyre had a sister city to the north, Sidon (often mentioned together). One of the main resources at their disposal was the forests up in the mountains of Lebanon.

:1 Hiram had always loved David

Hiram was the one that built David’s palace for him:

(2 Sa 5:11 NKJV) Then Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, and cedar trees, and carpenters and masons. And they built David a house.

Because of Hiram’s love for David, he sends his servants to Solomon to work on building a solid alliance with Solomon.

:2 Then Solomon sent to Hiram, saying:

:3 You know how my father David could not build a house for the name of the Lord his God because of the wars which were fought against him on every side, until the Lord put his foes under the soles of his feet.

:4 But now the Lord my God has given me rest on every side; there is neither adversary nor evil occurrence.

:4 the Lord my God has given me rest

It was during a time of “rest” from his enemies that David himself first began to entertain the idea of building a Temple.

(2 Sa 7:1–2 NKJV) —1 Now it came to pass when the king was dwelling in his house, and the Lord had given him rest from all his enemies all around, 2 that the king said to Nathan the prophet, “See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells inside tent curtains.”

Initially Nathan said to “go for it”, but later God gave Nathan a prophecy that David would not be the one to build the Temple.

David would later pass this story on to Solomon with a little more explanation:

(1 Ch 22:7–11 NKJV) —7 And David said to Solomon: “My son, as for me, it was in my mind to build a house to the name of the Lord my God; 8 but the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ‘You have shed much blood and have made great wars; you shall not build a house for My name, because you have shed much blood on the earth in My sight.

David was a warrior, and he was responsible for killing a lot of people.

God wanted the Temple to be built from a foundation of peace, not of bloodshed.

9 Behold, a son shall be born to you, who shall be a man of rest; and I will give him rest from all his enemies all around. His name shall be Solomon, for I will give peace and quietness to Israel in his days. 10 He shall build a house for My name, and he shall be My son, and I will be his Father; and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever.’ 11 Now, my son, may the Lord be with you; and may you prosper, and build the house of the Lord your God, as He has said to you.

Lesson

God’s timing

The lesson in this passage is not about “building the Temple in a time of rest”, because it was a time of rest for David when he wanted to build the Temple earlier.

The lesson is about God’s plans, and following God’s timing, not our timing.

We like to quote the verse,

(Php 4:13 NKJV) I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Though I like the idea behind the thought that we can do anything with God’s help, the truth is that there are going to be some things that are just not in God’s plan for me.

Some things are just plain wrong – like sin.

Some things are good things (like building a Temple), things that God wants someone else to do.

But for Solomon, this is his time. This is the time to build.

:5 And behold, I propose to build a house for the name of the Lord my God, as the Lord spoke to my father David, saying, “Your son, whom I will set on your throne in your place, he shall build the house for My name.”

:5 I propose to build a house

Solomon is aware of the prophecies concerning the building of the Temple.

This is his time.

And it seems that with Hiram’s servants standing before him, wanting to build an alliance between Israel and Tyre, that this is a fortuitous occasion.

Solomon has been thinking about building the Temple, and here are some good resources standing in front of him.

:6 Now therefore, command that they cut down cedars for me from Lebanon; and my servants will be with your servants, and I will pay you wages for your servants according to whatever you say. For you know there is none among us who has skill to cut timber like the Sidonians.

:6 cedars … from Lebanon

The forests of Lebanon were famous. Trees as large as 40 feet in girth would be perfect for beams, pillars, and carved work.

:7 So it was, when Hiram heard the words of Solomon, that he rejoiced greatly and said, Blessed be the Lord this day, for He has given David a wise son over this great people!

:8 Then Hiram sent to Solomon, saying: I have considered the message which you sent me, and I will do all you desire concerning the cedar and cypress logs.

:9 My servants shall bring them down from Lebanon to the sea; I will float them in rafts by sea to the place you indicate to me, and will have them broken apart there; then you can take them away. And you shall fulfill my desire by giving food for my household.

:9 float them in rafts by sea

Pretty ingenious way to haul logs without logging trucks.

The Phoenicians and their sea-faring skills would bind the logs together into rafts, and probably tow the rafts behind boats.

:9 fulfill my desire

Solomon will pay for the logs with food.

Israel was a growing agricultural economy, they trade food for logs.

:10 Then Hiram gave Solomon cedar and cypress logs according to all his desire.

:11 And Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand kors of wheat as food for his household, and twenty kors of pressed oil. Thus Solomon gave to Hiram year by year.

:11 twenty thousand kors of wheat

About 120,000 bushels of wheat.

:11 twenty kors of pressed oil

About 120,000 gallons of oil.

Olive oil – used as a fuel for lamps (not cooking)

Olive oil was made by grinding up ripe olives and putting them in an olive press, where the oil was squeezed out of the olives.

:12 So the Lord gave Solomon wisdom, as He had promised him; and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a treaty together.

:12 So the Lord gave Solomon wisdom

Lesson

Practical Wisdom

This construction contract with Hiram is one of the examples of Solomon’s wisdom.

We sometimes think Solomon’s wisdom only had to do with the kind of legal judgments he made … like …

Illustration

Cleveland, OH (AP) - A fifteen-year old boy was at the center of a Cuyahoga County courtroom drama yesterday when he challenged a court ruling over who should have custody of him.. The boy has a history of being beaten by his parents and the judge initially awarded custody to his aunt, in keeping with child custody law and regulation requiring that family unity be maintained to the highest degree possible.. The boy surprised the court when he proclaimed that his aunt beat him more than his parents and he strongly refused to live with her. When the judge then suggested that he live with his grandparents, the boy cried and said that they also beat him. After considering the remainder of the immediate family and learning that domestic violence was apparently a way of life among them, the judge took the unprecedented step of allowing the boy to propose who should have custody of him. After two recesses to check legal references and confer with the child welfare officials, the judge granted temporary custody to the Oakland Raiders, whom everyone firmly believed were not capable of beating anyone!!!

Wisdom is not knowing a lot of facts.

Wisdom is knowing what to do with what you know.

Illustration

A mother writes … I asked my two-year-old to take his dirty clothes and put them into the hamper. He looked puzzled, and I explained, “You know; it’s the place where we put our dirty clothes before they’re washed.” My son picked up his things, ran into my bedroom, and threw his clothes on the floor...on his dad’s side of the bed.

Solomon saw his “fortuitous occasion” and took advantage of it.

:12 peace – shalowm – completeness, soundness, welfare, peace

This is the root of Solomon’s name (“peace”).

5:13-18 Temple Labor Force

:13 Then King Solomon raised up a labor force out of all Israel; and the labor force was thirty thousand men.

:13 labor force

Solomon temporarily drafts a workforce to handle the work that is ahead of them.

The work force was not made up of Israelites, but of non-Israelites who were living in the land (2Chr. 8:7-9)

(2 Ch 8:7–9 NKJV) —7 All the people who were left of the Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, who were not of Israel— 8 that is, their descendants who were left in the land after them, whom the children of Israel did not destroy—from these Solomon raised forced labor, as it is to this day. 9 But Solomon did not make the children of Israel servants for his work. Some were men of war, captains of his officers, captains of his chariots, and his cavalry.

Eventually by the time that Solomon’s son Rehoboam becomes king, the nation is tired of this forced labor idea, and this is what will lead towards the division of the kingdom. (1Ki. 12:4,8)

:14 And he sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month in shifts: they were one month in Lebanon and two months at home; Adoniram was in charge of the labor force.

The guys were rotated into Lebanon. They worked for a month and came home for two months.

:15 Solomon had seventy thousand who carried burdens, and eighty thousand who quarried stone in the mountains,

:16 besides three thousand three hundred from the chiefs of Solomon’s deputies, who supervised the people who labored in the work.

:17 And the king commanded them to quarry large stones, costly stones, and hewn stones, to lay the foundation of the temple.

:18 So Solomon’s builders, Hiram’s builders, and the Gebalites quarried them; and they prepared timber and stones to build the temple.

:17 large stones, costly stones, and hewn stones

Lesson

Temple Materials

A “temple” is where God dwells. It’s where you connect with God.

We are God’s Temple

(1 Co 6:19 NKJV) Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?

I think there’s a sense in which we are a part of the “construction” of God’s Temple in our lives.

What kinds of stones do we use to build our relationship with God?

Using the right kinds of building materials is important in building any kind of structure.

Play Three Little Pigs clip

If you want to survive the wolf’s attack, build with the right materials.

Building a temple from the foundation up requires that we use the right materials. What do we build our “temple” out of?

(Mt 7:24–27 NKJV) —24 “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. 26 “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: 27 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”

Obedience – these are what the “stones” are made out of, the kinds of things that we build on in our lives.

The writer uses words to describe the kinds of “stones” the temple was built out of … in a way they might be words that challenge us on how we are constructing our lives…

large stones – gadowl – great, large

Illustration

The Big Rocks

One day an expert in time management was speaking to a group of business students. As he stood in front of the group of high powered over achievers he said, “Okay, time for a quiz.” Then he pulled out a one gallon, wide mouthed Mason jar and set on the table in front of him. He then produced about a dozen fist sized rocks and carefully placed them, one at a time, into the jar. When the jar was filled to the top and no more rocks would fit inside, he asked, “Is the jar full?” Everyone in the class said, “Yes.” Then he said, “Really?” He reached under the table and pulled out a bucket of gravel. He dumped some gravel in and shook the jar causing pieces of gravel to work themselves down into the space between the big rocks. Then he asked the group once more, “Is the jar full?” By this time the class was on to him. “Probably not,” one of them answered. “Good!” he replied. He reached under the table and brought out a bucket of sand. He started dumping the sand in the jar and it went into all the spaces left between the rocks and the gravel. Once more he asked the question, “Is the jar full?” “No!” the class shouted. Once again he said, “Good!” Then he grabbed a pitcher of water and began to pour it in until the jar was filled to the brim. Then he looked at the class and asked, “What is the point of this illustration?”

One eager student raised his hand and said, “The point is, no matter how full your schedule is, if you try really hard you can always fit some more things in!” “No,” the speaker replied, “That’s not the point. The truth this illustration teaches us is: If you don’t put the big rocks in first, you’ll never get them in at all. What are the ‘big rocks’ in your life? Your children....Your loved ones...Your education... Your dreams...A worthy cause.....Teaching or mentoring others....Doing things that you love...Time for yourself.... Your health....Your spouse.”

“Remember to put these BIG ROCKS in first or you’ll never get them in at all. If you sweat the little stuff (the gravel, the sand) then you’ll fill your life with little things to worry about that don’t really matter, and you’ll never have the real quality time you need to spend on the big, important stuff (the big rocks).

Are you building your life using the “BIG” stones?

costly stones – yaqar – valuable, prized, weighty, precious

There are some things in life that are worth more than others.

Solomon’s stones were costly because it cost a lot to pay for the laborers to cut and transport the stones. Yet the result was a temple.

Sometimes I will have couples ask if I can help them with their marriage, to give them counseling.

I’m glad to spend time with people, and I do have a few years of experience under my belt, but to be honest, counseling isn’t something I excel at.

After I meet with a couple for a time or two, if they feel they need more counseling, I will suggest that they consider seeing a professional counselor. And I often here the excuse, “But professional counselors cost so much!”

My friends, some good things do cost something.

When David bought the land where the Temple would be built, it was originally offered to him for free…

(2 Sa 24:24 NKJV) Then the king said to Araunah, “No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price; nor will I offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God with that which costs me nothing.”

Some of the important stones in your life will cost you something – whether it’s money, time, effort, etc.

hewn stones – gaziyth – a cutting, hewing

Learning to trim things in our lives.

Most stones don’t fit together without some kind of cutting or “hewing”.

It’s about allowing God to knock the rough spots out of our lives, allowing the pieces of our lives to come together.

Jesus said,

(Jn 15:2 NKJV) Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.

There are going to be times when God wants to “prune” a few things from your life. But it’s only so you can be more fruitful.

It’s not easy as we build our “temple”. For us, it’s a work in progress…

Play EDS Airplane video

Oh but it’s worth it.

6:1-38 Building the Temple

:1 And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of the Lord.

:1 in the four hundred and eightieth year

We believe this is the year 967 BC.

Zif – the second month (April-May)

When you are piecing together a chronology of the Old Testament, this is one of those markers that ties the kings into the events of Genesis and Exodus.

This locks the fourth year of Solomon’s reign to the Exodus.

Another key verse is found in:

(Ex 12:40–41 NKJV) —40 Now the sojourn of the children of Israel who lived in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years. 41 And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years—on that very same day—it came to pass that all the armies of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt.

This ties the Exodus in with the life of Jacob.

The age of Jacob when he came to live in Egypt is found in:

(Ge 47:9 NKJV) And Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The days of the years of my pilgrimage are one hundred and thirty years; few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.”

From there, it’s not too hard to track dates from Jacob backward all the way to Adam when you are reading through Genesis.

:1 he began to build the house of the Lord

Though Solomon would build the Temple, he didn’t have a hand in the design of the Temple. The design of the Temple was given to Solomon by his father David, who received it from the Lord.

(1 Ch 28:19 NKJV) “All this,” said David, “the Lord made me understand in writing, by His hand upon me, all the works of these plans.”

There is purpose in the design of the Temple.

There are some strange ideas out there as to what the design of the Temple is all about, but God’s purpose for the Temple was to give mankind a picture of Heaven, the place where He dwells.

The entire design is similar to Moses’ Tabernacle, only on a grander scale. The Tabernacle was clearly a smaller model of heaven:

(Heb 8:5 NLT) They serve in a system of worship that is only a copy, a shadow of the real one in heaven. For when Moses was getting ready to build the Tabernacle, God gave him this warning: “Be sure that you make everything according to the pattern I have shown you here on the mountain.”

As we look at the building of the Temple, we’ll see a few of the parallels with the visions of heaven that several of the prophets have had.

:2 Now the house which King Solomon built for the Lord, its length was sixty cubits, its width twenty, and its height thirty cubits.

:2 its length was sixty cubits …

A cubit is the distance from your middle finger down to your elbow, about 1 ½ feet.

The size of the temple itself is 60x20x30 cubits, or, 90x30x45 feet.  It would fit inside a modern American football field.

:3 The vestibule in front of the sanctuary of the house was twenty cubits long across the width of the house, and the width of the vestibule extended ten cubits from the front of the house.

:3 vestibule - A porch.

:4 And he made for the house windows with beveled frames.

Don’t think there’s glass in the windows. These are windows without glass.

:5 Against the wall of the temple he built chambers all around, against the walls of the temple, all around the sanctuary and the inner sanctuary. Thus he made side chambers all around it.

:6 The lowest chamber was five cubits wide, the middle was six cubits wide, and the third was seven cubits wide; for he made narrow ledges around the outside of the temple, so that the support beams would not be fastened into the walls of the temple.

:5 he built chambers

The walls of the temple were surrounded by small rooms. The rooms were stacked three high. There was a winding staircase (v.8) that connected each story.

It sounds as if the Temple gets bigger the higher you go… See picture…

:7 And the temple, when it was being built, was built with stone finished at the quarry, so that no hammer or chisel or any iron tool was heard in the temple while it was being built.

:7 stone finished at the quarry

The stones were cut to size at the quarry and then transported to the temple site where they were assembled.

You didn’t hear the work of the chisels at the Temple site.

Lesson

Preparation

I like to see this as a picture of how ministry ought to be done. When you come to do ministry, you ought to have the “stones” prepared ahead of time. If you teach a Bible Study, you shouldn’t be making it up as you are standing in front of the people. They shouldn’t have to listen to the pounding of the axes and the grinding of the saws just because you didn’t take the time to prepare ahead of time.

I think that one of the “quarries” that we get our stones from ought to be a daily time with God.

We ought to be learning to pray when we’re alone with God.

We ought to be receiving instruction and guidance from God through our daily reading of the Bible.

:8 The doorway for the middle story was on the right side of the temple. They went up by stairs to the middle story, and from the middle to the third.

:9 So he built the temple and finished it, and he paneled the temple with beams and boards of cedar.

:10 And he built side chambers against the entire temple, each five cubits high; they were attached to the temple with cedar beams.

:11 Then the word of the Lord came to Solomon, saying:

:12 “Concerning this temple which you are building, if you walk in My statutes, execute My judgments, keep all My commandments, and walk in them, then I will perform My word with you, which I spoke to your father David.

:13 And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will not forsake My people Israel.”

:12 If you walk …

God puts conditions on Solomon.

If Solomon will stay faithful to the Lord, then the Lord will bless Solomon.

Illustration

Pancakes

Mary offered to care for the eight-year-old daughter of neighbors who were going away for the weekend. On the Saturday morning, she made breakfast, laying a generous helping of bacon and eggs in front of the child. “Mummy always serves hot pancakes for breakfast,” said the eight-year-old. So Mary, very eager to oblige, hurried into the kitchen and quickly prepared a plate of hot pancakes, which she laid in front of the girl. “No, thank you,” she said. “But I thought you said your mother always has hot pancakes for breakfast!” said Mary in surprise. “She does,” said the youngster. “But I don’t eat them!”

God has many blessings for us – if we will learn to eat what He offers us!

:14 So Solomon built the temple and finished it.

The temple was finished around 960 BC, and stood until 586 BC, when it was destroyed by the Babylonians.

Seventy years later the Jews would rebuild the temple under Ezra’s leadership. In Jesus’ day, Herod the Great would refurbish Ezra’s temple and expand it. The Romans would destroy the second temple in AD 70.

:15 And he built the inside walls of the temple with cedar boards; from the floor of the temple to the ceiling he paneled the inside with wood; and he covered the floor of the temple with planks of cypress.

:16 Then he built the twenty-cubit room at the rear of the temple, from floor to ceiling, with cedar boards; he built it inside as the inner sanctuary, as the Most Holy Place.

:16 the Most Holy Place

The inner sanctum.

:17 And in front of it the temple sanctuary was forty cubits long.

:18 The inside of the temple was cedar, carved with ornamental buds and open flowers. All was cedar; there was no stone to be seen.

:18 there was no stone to be seen

Even though the Temple was made of stone, you didn’t see stone once you got inside.

All you saw was a paneling of cedar that itself was covered with gold.

Lesson

Depth

For us, the challenge is to be building “depth” in our lives.

Some people work hard to make sure you see their gold plating, and that’s all they’re made of. If you lean on them too hard, they collapse because there’s no foundation in their life.

Others may not appear to “glitzy”, but they are solid people, people you can lean on because they’ve got a good foundation.

Be sure you have something solid you’re building on.

:19 And he prepared the inner sanctuary inside the temple, to set the ark of the covenant of the Lord there.

:20 The inner sanctuary was twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and twenty cubits high. He overlaid it with pure gold, and overlaid the altar of cedar.

:21 So Solomon overlaid the inside of the temple with pure gold. He stretched gold chains across the front of the inner sanctuary, and overlaid it with gold.

:22 The whole temple he overlaid with gold, until he had finished all the temple; also he overlaid with gold the entire altar that was by the inner sanctuary.

:23 Inside the inner sanctuary he made two cherubim of olive wood, each ten cubits high.

:23 two cherubim

Inside the Holy of Holies, Solomon made two HUGE angelic beings.

The Mercy Seat, the lid to the Ark of the Covenant, also had two cherubim molded on its lid.

These ones are huge. Together, standing side by side, they fill up the entire width of the Holy of Holies.

The wooden statues are overlaid with gold.

What do they look like?

Sometimes we think of “cherubim” as little tiny baby-faced angelic beings that shoot arrows.

I’ve seen Jewish renditions of the cherubim that look like old men with long beards.

Others prefer to make the cherubim look like the Sphinx of Egypt.

There are cherubim in heaven described by John (and Isaiah and Ezekiel) look like:

(Re 4:7–8 NKJV) —7 The first living creature was like a lion, the second living creature like a calf, the third living creature had a face like a man, and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle. 8 The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying: “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!”

The “inner sanctuary” or the “Holy of Holies” was meant to be a model of heaven itself, the very throne room of God.

Lesson

The Door is Open

Even though the Old Testament concept was to keep mankind out of the Holy of Holies, in the New Testament, Jesus has made a way for us to actually come into the presence of God.

The lid on the Ark of the Covenant was called the “mercy seat”, the place where God dwelt.

(Heb 4:16 NKJV) Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

:24 One wing of the cherub was five cubits, and the other wing of the cherub five cubits: ten cubits from the tip of one wing to the tip of the other.

:25 And the other cherub was ten cubits; both cherubim were of the same size and shape.

:26 The height of one cherub was ten cubits, and so was the other cherub.

:27 Then he set the cherubim inside the inner room; and they stretched out the wings of the cherubim so that the wing of the one touched one wall, and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall. And their wings touched each other in the middle of the room.

:28 Also he overlaid the cherubim with gold.

:29 Then he carved all the walls of the temple all around, both the inner and outer sanctuaries, with carved figures of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers.

:29 carved figures

Inside the Temple, the walls were covered with carvings of angelic beings, palm trees, and flowers.

Heaven is filled with real angelic beings.

:30 And the floor of the temple he overlaid with gold, both the inner and outer sanctuaries.

:30 the floor of the temple … gold

In heaven, the streets will be paved with gold

(Re 21:21 NKJV) …And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.

:31 For the entrance of the inner sanctuary he made doors of olive wood; the lintel and doorposts were one-fifth of the wall.

The doorway between the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies was covered both with doors made of olive wood as well as by a curtain (2Chron. 3:14).

(2 Ch 3:14 NKJV) And he made the veil of blue, purple, crimson, and fine linen, and wove cherubim into it.

:32 The two doors were of olive wood; and he carved on them figures of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, and overlaid them with gold; and he spread gold on the cherubim and on the palm trees.

:33 So for the door of the sanctuary he also made doorposts of olive wood, one-fourth of the wall.

:34 And the two doors were of cypress wood; two panels comprised one folding door, and two panels comprised the other folding door.

The doors that led outside from the Holy Place were made with cypress instead of olive wood.

:35 Then he carved cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers on them, and overlaid them with gold applied evenly on the carved work.

:36 And he built the inner court with three rows of hewn stone and a row of cedar beams.

The inner court would be where the bronze sea and bronze altar would be.

This is where the priests would wash and where sacrifices were performed.

:37 In the fourth year the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid, in the month of Ziv.

:38 And in the eleventh year, in the month of Bul, which is the eighth month, the house was finished in all its details and according to all its plans. So he was seven years in building it.

It takes Solomon seven years to finish construction of the temple. Depending on what time of the month he started and finished, you could make a point that he took seven years and seven months.