2 Chronicles 22

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2 Chronicles 22:1

The Work of Huram

“The pails” (2 Chronicles 4:11) are boiling pots in which the sacrificial meat is boiled (cf. 1 Samuel 2:13-14). “The shovels” are for cleaning the altar. The remainders are thus shoveled away after the sacrifice has been burnt. We have already spoken about “the bowls” (2 Chronicles 4:8).

Huram completes his work (2 Chronicles 4:11b) by making the aforementioned objects. He finishes his work. It’s good to start a work, it’s also good to finish that work. Paul did this (2 Timothy 4:7) and we must do it, otherwise we are not good disciples of the Lord Jesus (Luke 14:27-33). The Lord Jesus says to the Father: “I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do” (John 17:4).

In 2 Chronicles 4:12-16, a summary is given of what Huram made. Also some objects are mentioned that have not been mentioned before. The two pillars (2 Chronicles 4:12-13) that one passes when one goes to the sanctuary are from above, in the height, covered with four hundred pomegranates. This presupposes one has to enter the sanctuary to see the rich fruit of Christ’s work on high.

The stands for the basins and the oxen as stand for the sea (2 Chronicles 4:14-15) make it easier to use the water. The stands lift up the water and bring it to the level of the priests. We can also apply it this way that the stands lift the basins and the sea, as it were, above the pollution of the ground. Cleansing is not from the earth, but from heaven. The Lord Jesus washed the feet of His disciples in the upper room (John 13:2-10).

Of the tools used in the sacrifices (2 Chronicles 4:16), we have already had “the pails” and “the shovels” before us (2 Chronicles 4:11). Now “the forks” are added. “The forks” are used to take the boiled meat out of the boiling pots. The wicked priest sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, have used the forks to take the meat out of the pot for themselves (1 Samuel 2:13-14). As an application to us, we can ask the question how we ‘treat’ our sacrifices of praise, how we deal with them. Is it only for ourselves, for our own feeling, or is it really for the Father and the Lord Jesus?

The bronze objects are cast in the plain of the Jordan (2 Chronicles 4:17). The Jordan is a picture of the death and the resurrection of Christ and our identification with Him. This shows us the origin of the way we bring the sacrifices. It should all be in connection with the death and resurrection of Christ. We must not follow our own ideas and views in offering up sacrifices of praise.

2 Chronicles 22:2

The Work of Huram

2 Chronicles 22:3

The Work of Huram

2 Chronicles 22:4

The Work of Huram

2 Chronicles 22:5

The Work of Huram

2 Chronicles 22:6

The Work of Huram

2 Chronicles 22:7

The Work of Solomon

Solomon, as a type of Christ, is the final maker of all the bronze objects Huram made (2 Chronicles 4:18). He uses the hands of Huram. He makes everything “in great quantities”. These are all objects that benefit the service in the temple, that is, the service to the LORD. Bronze represents the righteousness of God. The bronze objects show that everything in the temple service is focused on His honor and fits His holiness. That the weight of the bronze could not be found out means that we will not be able to understand the value of the righteousness of God which we have received in Christ (1 Corinthians 1:30-31).

That the work is attributed to Solomon, while Huram is the actual performer, can be compared to the service of worship in the church, for example on Sunday morning. We then come together as a church to praise and honor the Lord Jesus. What we bring to Him, however, is laid in our hearts by Himself. It is He also, Who sings the praises in the church, which He does through the hearts and mouths of His own (Hebrews 2:12). Our service of worship is His work in us through His Spirit.

The work of Huram is of bronze (2 Chronicles 4:16), that of Solomon is of gold (2 Chronicles 4:19-20). Gold is a picture of Divine glory. What Solomon makes is in a special way a symbolic representation of the glory of the work of the Lord Jesus for God in the sanctuary. The gold objects are precious to God. They all speak of Christ.

The “golden altar” (2 Chronicles 4:19) is the altar of fragrant incense. This represents Christ through Whom the fragrant incense of the worship we bring is pleasing to God. “The tables with the bread of the Presence on them” represent Christ Who shows His people, represented in the bread of the Presence, to God in the glory that is peculiar to Him.

“The lampstands with their lamps of pure gold” (2 Chronicles 4:20) are also a picture of Christ Who, through the Spirit, gives light in the sanctuary over heavenly things. The things of Christ can only be seen and admired in the light of the sanctuary. The world knows and sees nothing of this.

The light “burns in front of the inner sanctuary in the way prescribed”. This indicates that the service in the sanctuary is in direct connection with the holy of holies, where God dwells. For us, by the tearing of the veil of the holy of holies, the two rooms have become one room.

Also “the flowers, the lamps, and the tongs” are “of gold” (2 Chronicles 4:21). The flowers speak of life, the lamps of light and the tongs of taking away what prevents the light shining brightly. Human light is excluded. People cannot contribute anything to a deeper understanding of Who Christ is. It is all “of purest gold”.

The objects mentioned in 2 Chronicles 4:22a, “the snuffers, the bowls, the spoons and the firepans of pure gold”, are also connected to the lampstands and their lamps. These objects are also designed and made with a view to let the light shine brightly. The number of objects made in connection with the lampstands and the material they are made of, show how important God considers it to be that only His light falls in perfect brightness on heavenly things.

The doors for “the entrance of the house, its inner doors” (2 Chronicles 4:22b), refer to two entrances. There are doors from the court to the house, which are the doors that give access to the holy, and there are doors that give access from the holy to the holy of holies. It is possible that before the last doors the veil is hanging, through which the doors are hidden from view.