Near the Damascus gate there is still an old quarry that tourist can visit. Inside, guides point to stones with holes drilled in them, and explain how wooden pegs were driven into the holes and then soaked with water. The natural swelling of the wood would crack the stone along the carefully drilled line of holes, which were more than 32 feet long and measured out by a knotted rope. By today’s standards, that such a method could be used to square the stones for the foundation seems impossible.<\/p>\n
All the stones for Solomon’s temple were finished before being delivered to the temple mount. By working the stones in the quarry below, it meant that there was peace and quiet on the mount. Why was the quietness of the construction of the temple important? It seems fitting for the sacredness of the job being performed, but perhaps it is also a statement about our own building projects in life. Could God be telling us that we should not make a lot of noise over what we are doing in His kingdom? The apostle Paul tells us that “a quiet and peaceable life” is something to be desired (1 Tim. 2:2\u20133). And “that you also aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you” (1 Thess. 4:11).<\/p>\n
There are people in life for whom everything is a crisis. They live from one explosion to the next. Perhaps it is the word quiet<\/em> that exposes the real problem. The lack of it, the lack of simplicity, leads to constant upheavals. If we desire peace and quiet, then we must aspire to a simple life of obedience to God’s will.<\/p>\n \u201cLORD, we want to serve you today with a life filled with Your peace. Please fill us now.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n =============================================================<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1 Kings 6 KJV<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1<\/sup>\u00a0And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon\u2019s reign over Israel, in the month Zif, which\u00a0is\u00a0<\/em>the second month, that he began to build the house of the\u00a0LORD.\u00a0\u00a02<\/sup>\u00a0And the house which king Solomon built for the\u00a0LORD, the length thereof\u00a0was<\/em>threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof twenty\u00a0cubits\u00a0<\/em>, and the height thereof thirty cubits.\u00a03<\/sup>\u00a0And the porch before the temple of the house, twenty cubits\u00a0was\u00a0<\/em>the length thereof, according to the breadth of the house;\u00a0and\u00a0<\/em>ten cubits\u00a0was\u00a0<\/em>the breadth thereof before the house. 4<\/sup>\u00a0And for the house he made windows of narrow lights.\u00a05<\/sup>\u00a0And against the wall of the house he built chambers round about,\u00a0against\u00a0<\/em>the walls of the house round about,\u00a0both\u00a0<\/em>of the temple and of the oracle: and he made chambers round about:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a06<\/sup>\u00a0The nethermost chamber\u00a0was\u00a0<\/em>five cubits broad, and the middle\u00a0was\u00a0<\/em>six cubits broad, and the third\u00a0was\u00a0<\/em>seven cubits broad: for without\u00a0in the wall\u00a0<\/em>of the house he made narrowed rests round about, that\u00a0the beams<\/em>should not be fastened in the walls of the house.\u00a0\u00a07<\/sup>\u00a0And the house, when it was in building, was built of stone made ready before it was brought thither: so that there was neither hammer nor axe\u00a0nor\u00a0<\/em>any tool of iron heard in the house, while it was in building.\u00a08<\/sup>\u00a0The door for the middle chamber\u00a0was\u00a0<\/em>in the right side of the house: and they went up with winding stairs into the middle\u00a0chamber\u00a0<\/em>, and out of the middle into the third.\u00a0\u00a09<\/sup>\u00a0So he built the house, and finished it; and covered the house with beams and boards of cedar.\u00a010<\/sup>\u00a0And\u00a0then\u00a0<\/em>he built chambers against all the house, five cubits high: and they rested on the house\u00a0with\u00a0<\/em>timber of cedar. 11<\/sup>\u00a0And the word of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0came to Solomon, saying,\u00a012<\/sup>Concerning\u00a0<\/em>this house which thou art in 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:\u00a013<\/sup>\u00a0And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will not forsake my people Israel.\u00a014<\/sup>\u00a0So Solomon built the house, and finished it. 15<\/sup>\u00a0And he built the walls of the house within with boards of cedar, both the floor of the house, and the walls of the cieling:\u00a0and\u00a0<\/em>he covered\u00a0them\u00a0<\/em>on the inside with wood, and covered the floor of the house with planks of fir.\u00a0\u00a016<\/sup>\u00a0And he built twenty cubits on the sides of the house, both the floor and the walls with boards of cedar: he even built\u00a0them\u00a0<\/em>for it within,\u00a0even\u00a0<\/em>for the oracle,\u00a0even\u00a0<\/em>for the most holy\u00a0place<\/em>.\u00a017<\/sup>And the house, that\u00a0is\u00a0<\/em>, the temple before it, was forty cubits\u00a0long<\/em>.\u00a018<\/sup>\u00a0And the cedar of the house within\u00a0was\u00a0<\/em>carved with knops and open flowers: all\u00a0was\u00a0<\/em>cedar; there was no stone seen.\u00a019<\/sup>\u00a0And the oracle he prepared in the house within, to set there the ark of the covenant of the\u00a0LORD.\u00a020<\/sup>And the oracle in the forepart\u00a0was\u00a0<\/em>twenty cubits in length, and twenty cubits in breadth, and twenty cubits in the height thereof: and he overlaid it with pure gold; and\u00a0so<\/em>covered the altar\u00a0which was of\u00a0<\/em>cedar.\u00a0\u00a021<\/sup>\u00a0So Solomon overlaid the house within with pure gold: and he made a partition by the chains of gold before the oracle; and he overlaid it with gold.\u00a022<\/sup>\u00a0And the whole house he overlaid with gold, until he had finished all the house: also the whole altar that\u00a0was\u00a0<\/em>by the oracle he overlaid with gold. 23<\/sup>\u00a0And within the oracle he made two cherubims\u00a0of\u00a0<\/em>olive tree,\u00a0each\u00a0<\/em>ten cubits high.\u00a0\u00a024<\/sup>\u00a0And five cubits\u00a0was\u00a0<\/em>the one wing of the cherub, and five cubits the other wing of the cherub: from the uttermost part of the one wing unto the uttermost part of the other\u00a0were\u00a0<\/em>ten cubits.\u00a025<\/sup>\u00a0And the other cherub\u00a0was\u00a0<\/em>ten cubits: both the cherubims\u00a0were\u00a0<\/em>of one measure and one size.\u00a026<\/sup>\u00a0The height of the one cherub\u00a0was<\/em>ten cubits, and so\u00a0was it\u00a0<\/em>of the other cherub.\u00a027<\/sup>\u00a0And he set the cherubims within the inner house: and they stretched forth the wings of the cherubims, so that the wing of the one touched the\u00a0one\u00a0<\/em>wall, and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall; and their wings touched one another in the midst of the house.\u00a0\u00a028<\/sup>\u00a0And he overlaid the cherubims with gold.\u00a029<\/sup>\u00a0And he carved all the walls of the house round about with carved figures of cherubims and palm trees and open flowers, within and without.\u00a0\u00a030<\/sup>\u00a0And the floor of the house he overlaid with gold, within and without. 31<\/sup>\u00a0And for the entering of the oracle he made doors\u00a0of<\/em>olive tree: the lintel\u00a0and\u00a0<\/em>side posts\u00a0were\u00a0<\/em>a fifth part\u00a0of the wall\u00a0<\/em>.\u00a0\u00a032<\/sup>\u00a0The two doors also\u00a0were of\u00a0<\/em>olive tree; and he carved upon them carvings of cherubims and palm trees and open flowers, and overlaid\u00a0them\u00a0<\/em>with gold, and spread gold upon the cherubims, and upon the palm trees.\u00a033<\/sup>\u00a0So also made he for the door of the temple posts\u00a0of\u00a0<\/em>olive tree, a fourth part\u00a0of the wall\u00a0<\/em>.\u00a0\u00a034<\/sup>\u00a0And the two doors\u00a0were of\u00a0<\/em>fir tree: the two leaves of the one door\u00a0were\u00a0<\/em>folding, and the two leaves of the other door\u00a0were\u00a0<\/em>folding.\u00a035<\/sup>\u00a0And he carved\u00a0thereon\u00a0<\/em>cherubims and palm trees and open flowers: and covered\u00a0them\u00a0<\/em>with gold fitted upon the carved work. 36<\/sup>\u00a0And he built the inner court with three rows of hewed stone, and a row of cedar beams. 37<\/sup>\u00a0In the fourth year was the foundation of the house of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0laid, in the month Zif:\u00a038<\/sup>\u00a0And in the eleventh year, in the month Bul, which\u00a0is\u00a0<\/em>the eighth month, was the house finished throughout all the parts thereof, and according to all the fashion of it. So was he seven years in building it.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Near the Damascus gate there is still an old quarry that tourist can visit. Inside, guides point to stones with holes drilled in them, and explain how wooden pegs were driven into the holes and then soaked with water. 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