The herald., 1897-01-18
AT UNITY CHURCH.
The Worship and Symbolism of Solo
mons Temple Explained


The pastor, j. S. Thomson. preached
sermon on "The Worship and the Sym
'bolism of King Solomons Temple"
taking for the text: 1.-THE heaven
and heaven Of heavens cannot contain
Thee; how much less this house which I
have builded." First Kings, vii:27.
Solomn's temple was notlarge 1t was
about ninety feet long and thirty feet
wide. 1t had several attached build
fngs. In front of the temple were two
pillars called Jachin and, Boaz. Hiram
copied them from the two great columns
dedicated to the winds and fires at the
grand temple in Tyre. Herodotus de-
scribes in his writings q circular lake in
the temple of Isis at Sais, like a brazen
sea in the temple. This sea was sup
ported by twelve bulls, representing
the twelve months and also the
twelve signs of the zodiac. They We're
copies of bulls in Assyran and
Egyptian temples. Before the erection
OF any temples, the ancients built affairs
on hills and offered sacrifices thereon.
SHEDS had TO be erected around them to
protect the worshipers from inclement
weather; but TREY generally remained
roofless. When the roofs We're used, the
sun and moon and stars We're represent
ed on the ceiling. The temple was often
like slaughter house. The fire consum-
ing the sacrifices was God eating the
gifts of his people. The flame was, the
visible God in the eyes of the Worship
ers The temple had it's holy of holies,
or most sacred place, where Jehovah
made his win known to the priest. Such
a place in temples was used for initia-
tion. The crypts in European churches
are representatives of the holy places in
ancient temples. The cherubim. rep
resenting the two hemispheres, accord
ing to Philo and Clemens, spread their
wings over the ark containing the deca-
logue. The divinity will protect virtue
and religion. In Egyptian public wor-
ship an ark containing the symbolic re-
mains of the god. Osiris were carried.
When the temple was dedicated the
glory of God appeared, approving the
gift. To him who finishes a noble task
the unseen Master always says: "Well
done. good and faithful servant.' The
second commandment forbidt7 the maxi
ing of 'any craven image or any like
ness of anything that is in heaven above
or that is in the earth beneath, or that is
in the water under the earth;" but GER
tainly the temple was furnished with
images of things in heaven, earth and
sea. So Solomon violates the second
COm1nan din emit. But there was no image
of a god in the temple. The temple re-
ceived many contributions from heath
en- sources. The metals used in the or
namenta ton and in making utensils
were to a great extent, spoils from ma
tions conquered by David. Hiram, the
celebrated artist. and the superintend-
ent of the work of furnishing the temple,
was pagan and he made pagan things
for the temple. Solomon's chief wife
was an Egyptian, and he was in league
with King Hiram of Tyre; and he never
showed any dislike of pagan arts. The
glory of God appeared in the temple
which the pagan ARTIST had beautifully
furnished, and God, it seems, had in
spiredl this heather artist for his work.
The spirit of God does not seem to be
confined in creeds or denominations. 1t
knows no sectarian limitations. The
temple suggests one important thing.
The decalogue was the most sacred
thing in the temple. 1t was in the ark
in the holy of hofies. The temple was
built to hold and glorify 1t, as we'll as to
be q place of Worship. It is right to con-
secrate science, art, literature and phi
logophy, to the interpretations, illumina-
tion and gIorification of religion and vir-
tue. The Catholic church, wisely uses
symbolism to make the eye of the wor-
SHIPPER help in the Spiritualizing of wor-
ship; and in this matter it goes farther
back than the temple to inherit symbol
ism: for it represents Jesus on the cross,
as the ancient temples represented their
erO1ey