“And 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 [one] wall, and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall; and their wings touched one another in the midst of the house.” (1Ki 6:27 AV)
A little while back, I made the comment that the cherubim of the tabernacle formed the mercy seat atop the Ark of the Covenant. Then an individual cited this passage stating the cherubim were massive, reaching from one side of the Holy of Holies to the other. It turns out these are not the same cherubim as the ones mention in the Torah. There are four cherubim mentioned in the scriptures. Lucifer was the fifth. So, Solomon was technically correct in adding two more. Ezekiel tells us there are four cherubim and thusly, Solomon is correct. However, the ratio is off. The two that form the mercy seat are only the size of the lid on the Ark of the Covenant. The two added by Solomon are the size of the room. Why does this make a difference? As the Spirit led me to muse on the size ratio, I could not help but think the change of mind and attitude toward the Ark of the Covenant might have changed, seeing as it was dwarfed by the new Cherubim. I cannot help but wonder if something as small as the work of his hands was the beginning of his compromising life. Solomon allowed the pride of his work become the god he would eventually follow.
The work of the Ark of the Covenant had great significance. The fact the two Cherubim atop the Ark formed the mercy seat and was intended to focus the person of Jehovah on the mercy He offers. By dwarfing the mercy seat by the work of one’s own hands, Solomon changed the focus from what God offers to what man can do. Solomon also increased dramatically the gold of the Temple. The Holy of Holies was the only portion of the Tabernacle to be plated in gold. It was the only structure of the Tabernacle that was of solid construction. It was built with wood on all sides then plated with pure gold. Solomon’s Temple was plated with gold on every interior surface. One may wonder why the LORD wasn’t nearly as impressed with the Temple as Solomon or Israel. One may wonder why the warning as it appears in 1Kings8. It makes sense when we understand the improvements Solomon made to the Tabernacle.
If so led by God, there is nothing wrong with bigger and better. The bigger and better, the more a ministry can accomplish for God. No doubt the Temple and a much bigger impact on Israel’s neighbors than a tent made of animal skins. Hence God’s warning. Bigger and better became a source of pride that eventually led to the downfall of the nation. We see this all the time. When a ministry gets to where it must compromise in order to sustain the same level of ministry it enjoys, bigger and better becomes a source of pride and not a tool of influence. Don’t get me wrong. I enjoy bigger and better. I enjoy a two-hundred voice choir who is professionally trained more than a eight to ten person choir that struggles to hold a note. But the Mormon Tabernacle Choir doesn’t believe in the right Jesus Christ. Maintaining a commitment to excellence is a struggle once the structure is too big to be self-sustaining. This happens in many and varied ministries. Schools can grow a church to a large congregation. However, in time, that school may force the church to compromise in areas it never considered before. Solomon added two more cherubim, much larger than the originals. He added gold on the walls of the Holy Place, which was never in the original design. His structure was many times over this size of the original Tabernacle. Impressive? You bet. But it became a stumbling block to the nation in the long run.
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