Works of John Bunyan: A Discourse Of The House Of The Forest Of Lebanon. 1196

 

BY THE EDITOR.

The part of Palestine where the celebrated mountains of Lebanon are situated is a border country adjoining Syria, with Sidon as its seaport, and land nearly adjoining the city of Damascus to the north. This metropolitan city of Syria, and capital of the kingdom of Damascus, was strongly fortified; during the border conflicts, it served as cover for the Assyrian army. Bunyan, with good reason, supposes that, to keep them in check, Solomon built a tower house and palace, well furnished with war munitions, called the house in the forest of Lebanon.

As the magnificent temple at Jerusalem was the seat of public worship appointed by God, it was considered typical of the gospel dispensation, which was intended to supersede it. All its parts and utensils, sacrifices and services, have been described, in their typical meaning, in Solomon's Temple Spiritualized; but as the lovely system of the gospel had, with slow and irresistible steps, to conquer the prejudices, passions, and wickedness of mankind, those who bore the brunt of this battle were considered as the church militant in the wilderness: and Bunyan has, in this treatise, endeavoured to show that this palace and fortress was typical of the churches of Christ while in a state of holy warfare, defending their Divine dispensation, and extending the line of defence by progressive spiritual conquests.

 Though enemies surround the churches, they have inexhaustible internal comfort, strength, and consolation. Like the house in the forest of Lebanon, they are also pleasantly, nay, beautifully situated. If Mount Zion was the joy of the whole earth, the mountains of Damascus were a picture of the earthly paradise. The scenery is so beautiful, and the air so balmy, that one part is called Eden, or the garden of the Lord. Arabian poets describe it as always bearing winter far above its head, spring on its shoulders, and autumn in its bosom, while perpetual summer lies sleeping at its feet. Upon this beautiful spot, called by Isaiah 'the glory of Lebanon,' Solomon built his house in the forest.

This is the plain matter of fact which Bunyan establishes from the sacred Scriptures, but he was, as to lettered lore, an unlearned man; at all events, no man could say of him that 'much learning has made thee mad.' Bunyan's is a plain, common-sense scriptural account of this building; but he differs greatly from almost all our learned commentators—who imagine this house was near the temple of Jerusalem. The Assembly of Divines, in their valuable annotations, suggest that it was so called 'because great store of trees, as in Lebanon, were planted about it; and gardens, orchards, and all manner of delightful things were added thereto': to aid this conjecture, they quote Ecclesiastes 2:4, 6. 

Poole says that it was 'a house so called, either, first, because it was built in the mountain and forest of Lebanon, for recreation in summer time; but generally held to have been near Jerusalem; or rather, secondly, from some resemblance it had with Lebanon for its pleasant shades and groves.' Diodati considers it the same as Solomon's palace, but calls it the house of Lebanon because of the groves planted about it, or because of the great number of cedar columns brought from Lebanon and used in its construction.

 Even Bunyan's favorite translation, made at Geneva by the Puritans, while it gives two wood-cuts of 'The King's house IN the wood of Lebanon,' a marginal note is added—' For the beauty of the place, and great abundance of cedar trees that went to the building thereof, it was compared to Mount Lebanon.' Calmet, in his very valuable translation, accompanied by the Vulgate Latin, gives the same idea: 'Il bâtit encore le palais appelé la maison du Liban, à cause de la quantité prodigieuse de cèdres qui entraient dans la structure de cet édifice.' [Translation: 'Another thing he did was build the palace which was called the house of Lebanon because of the prodigious quantity of cedars used in its construction.'] 

Bishop Patrick places this house in or near to Jerusalem, 'In a cool, shady mountain, which made it resemble Mount Lebanon.' Dr. Gill believed this house was near Jerusalem because it was a magazine of arms and a court of judicature, and it took its name from being built of the cedars of Lebanon and set among groves of trees. Josephus, in his Antiquities of the Jews, book 8, chapter 6, section 5, states that when the Queen of Sheba came to Judea, she was amazed at the wisdom of Solomon, and surprised at the fineness and largeness of his royal palace; 'but she was beyond measure astonished at the house which was called the forest of Lebanon.' Matthew Henry follows the opinion of Bunyan; 'I rather incline to think it was a house built in the forest of Lebanon itself, whither, though far distant from Jerusalem, Solomon having so many chariots and horses, and those dispersed into chariot cities, which probably were his stages, he might frequently retire with ease.' Express notice is taken of Lebanon as a place of warlike building in 2 Kings 19 and in Canticles 7:4.

The tower of Lebanon is described as looking towards Damascus. The ruins of this house and tower, in the forest of Lebanon, are probably those seen by Benjamin of Tudela, who describes the stones of which it was built as twenty palms long, and twelve wide. Gabriel Sionits describes the tower as a hundred cubits high, and fifty broad. Maundrel saw the ruins in the mountains of Lebanon at a distance. The objections made by our commentators to the plain testimony of the Scriptures are that Solomon would not have built this beautiful house at so great a distance from the capital—that he would not have risked so much treasure nor the munitions of war in a forest—and that he would not, on the extreme border of the kingdom of Judea, have set up a throne, or seat of judgment. The answer to these objections seems to me conclusive. 

Lebanon had the most commanding sites for a border fortress, and therefore an admirable depot for arms, enabling Jewish warriors to keep out their most vigilant and dangerous enemies, the Assyrians. The wealth deposited in this house was meant to heighten vigilance to protect such an important pass, while diverting an enemy's attention from the still wealthier temple and fortress at Jerusalem. A throne of justice was well placed there, to save a long journey to the capital, for the trial of offenders, and the settlement of disputes on the borders of the empire. It appears to me that common sense and the soundest evidence support the view Bunyan took, which was far ahead of its time.

The way this building, with the purposes for which it was intended, is spiritualized is ingenious and admirably carried through in the following treatise. Whether the Holy Ghost intended it to be typical must be left to the judgment of the impartial reader. That the inspired writers use Lebanon figuratively is beyond doubt. 'Lebanon is ashamed and hewn down,' must be intended as a type of the church, when under the malice of her enemies. 

So also when Babylon, a type of Antichrist, fell, 'the cedars of Lebanon rejoiced'; doubtless referring to the joy of God's saints when relieved from the oppressor. Whether the fine old trees, or the splendid house built as a defense to prevent the approach of enemies to the temple, is intended as a type of Christian warfare is left to the reader's impartial consideration. There is little reason to doubt that we shall adopt Bunyan's view; if we consider the temple typical, we shall also consider the house in the forest of Lebanon typical.

An author of very great repute (Addison) has said that, had Bunyan lived in the times of the Christian fathers, he would have been as great a father as the best of them. He stands unrivaled for most extraordinary mental powers for allegory and for spiritualizing, but to compare him with the best of the fathers is faint praise indeed. He was as much their superior, as the blaze of the noon-day sun excels the glimmer of a rushlight.

In this treatise we find many very admirable illustrations of two important subjects. One is that temporal governors have nothing to fear from the spread of vital godliness; the other concerns the nature of the strife and antipathy the world feels against Christ and his spiritual seed. They are sweet-scented; the fragrant smell of their graces excites the enmity of Satan and his followers, who would burn these cedars, because they are pillars of, and angels for, the truth. 'Reason, history, and experience all confirm this truth: that a people, whose profession is directly in opposition to the devil, and antichrist, and to all debauchery, inhumanity, profaneness, superstition, and idolatry,' will be hated, persecuted, and, if possible, destroyed by Satan and his adherents. 

The secret is that the world cannot bear such 'living epistles, known and read of all men,' which so severely reflect, by their conduct, upon the vice and profligacy of the worldling. This was a stinging censure upon the profligate court of Charles II, and therefore the Nonconformists were hated and persecuted; while conformity to soul-benumbing rites and ceremonies was cherished and rewarded. To make persecution perfectly unjustifiable, Bunyan scripturally and plainly shows the harmlessness of the Christian character, bearing with meekness the injuries heaped upon it; his followers, when reviled, reviled not again, but suffered patiently. It is a grievous mistake to suppose that vital godliness caused the great rebellion, and consequent beheading of King Charles I. 

It was frightful and most insupportable tyranny that drove a nation, headed by their parliament, to arms. The King levied severe taxes without the consent of the people's representatives; he perverted justice through the abominable decisions of the King's judges in the court of Star Chamber; and he attempted to introduce Popery through the Queen and her licentious court, composed principally of the worst class of foreign Papists. When Leighton, Prynne, Bastwick, and some of the most virtuous and enlightened citizens justly but firmly remonstrated, they seized and tortured them in a way that sickens the heart to read. 

It was an attempt to reduce the whole nation to the most abject slavery of both body and soul, that roused the spirit of the people to resistance. The solemn league and covenant was taken, Cromwell appeared, and, by Divine aid, the country was saved from utter desolation. It was not a war of religious sects; the Presbyterians, Independents, Baptists, and others could never have coalesced; it was a war for liberty or despotism, and the warriors on both sides were attached to the religion by law established. It is true that many Episcopalians, in the reign of Charles II, charged the Puritans with being the mainspring, and with possessing overwhelming force, in that awful struggle, forgetting that the Nonconformists were then but a handful of men, neither wealthy nor influential. 

To attribute victory to so small a band must be to attribute it to the immediate interposition of the Most High, as in Gideon's victory over the Assyrians. But it was no sectarian fight, except those two great sects of freemen against despots. Bunyan fully proves that no state has anything to fear from religion: 'She moveth no sedition, she abideth in her place; let her temple-worshippers but alone, and she will be as if she were not in the world'; 'neither she nor her Jesus are for doing them any hurt.' 'God's armor is no burthen to the body, nor clog to the mind, and it being only spiritual, the slaughter must needs be spiritual also.' 'All her privileges are soul concerns; they make no infringement upon any man's liberties. 

Let but faith and holiness walk the streets without control, and you may be as happy as the world can make you.' 'Let not kings, and princes, and potentates be afraid; the saints that are such indeed, know their places, and are of a peaceable deportment; the earth God hath given to the children of men, and his kingdom to the sons of God.' The Christian is a pilgrim bound to a far more glorious inheritance: with so bright and glorious a prospect, he may well apply the encouraging language of Bunyan to his own soul; 'I have a bad master, but I have only a year to serve under him, and that makes me serve him with patience. I have but a mile to go in this dirty way, and then I shall have my path pleasant and green, and this makes me tread the dirty way with patience.'

This treatise is one of the ten 'excellent manuscripts' Bunyan prepared for the press, but his unexpected decease prevented him from publishing them. It first appeared in the folio volume of his works, printed in 1692 under the care of Charles Doe. It has since been republished in every edition of Bunyan's work, but with the Scripture references omitted and many errors. The first edition now corrects it.

GEO. OFFOR.

Works of John Bunyan: Solomon's Temple Spiritualized:1195

 

Or, Gospel Light Fetched Out of the Jerusalem Temple, to Let Us More Easily Into the Glory of New Testament Truths

LXX. Of the figures on the walls of the inner Temple.

The wall of the inner temple, a type of heaven, was, as I have already told you, ceiled with cedar from bottom to top. Now, in Ezekiel's vision, this wall was carved with cherubim and palm trees. 'So that a palm tree was between a cherub and a cherub, and every cherub had two faces; so that the face of a man was toward the palm tree on the one side, and the face of a young lion toward the palm tree on the other. They were made throughout the house; from the ground up to above the door were cherubims and palm trees (Eze 41:18-20).

1. As to these cherubims and palm trees, I have already told you what I think them to be figures of. The cherubims are figures of the holy angels, and the palm trees of upright ones; we therefore here are to discourse only of the placing of them in the heavens.

2. Now you see the palm trees in the holiest are placed between a cherub and a cherub, round about the house, which methinks should be to signify that the saints shall not there live by faith and hope, as here, but in the immediate enjoyment of God; for to be placed between the cherubims, is to be placed where God dwells; for Holy Writ says plainly, He dwells between the cherubims, even where here it is said these palm trees, or upright ones are placed (1 Sam 4:4; 2 Kings 19:15; 1 Chron 13:6; Psa 80:1; Isa 37:16). The church on earth is called God's house, and he will dwell in it for ever; and heaven itself is called God's house, and we shall dwell in it for ever, and that between the cherubims. This is more than grace; this is grace and glory, glory indeed.

3. To dwell between the cherubims may be also to show that there we shall be equal to the angels. Mark, here is a palm tree and a cherub, a palm tree and a cherub. Here we are a little lower, but there we shall not be a whit behind the very chief of them. A palm tree and a cherub, an upright one between the cherubs, will then be round about the house; we shall be placed in the same rank; 'neither can they die any more, for they are equal unto the angels' (Luke 20:36).

4. The palm trees thus placed, may be also to show us that the elect of God shall there take up the vacancies of the fallen angels; they for sin were cast down from the holy heavens, and we by grace shall be caught up thither, and be placed between a cherub and a cherub. When I say their places, I do not mean the fickleness of that state, that they for want of electing love did stand in while in glory; for the heavens, by the blood of Christ, is now to us become a purchased possession; wherefore, as we shall have their place in the heavenly kingdom, so, by virtue of redeeming blood, we shall there abide, and go no more out; for by that means that kingdom will stand to us unshaken (Heb 9:12, 12:22-24,28; Rev 3:12).

5. These palm trees, I say, seem to take their places, who for sin were cast from thence. The elect therefore take that place in possession, but a better crown for ever. Thus 'Israel possessed that of the Canaanites'; and David, Saul's kingdom; and Matthias, the place, the apostleship of Judas (Acts 1:20-26).

6. Nor were the habitations which the fallen angels lost, excepting that which was excepted before, at all inferior to theirs that stood; for their captain and prince is called son of the morning, for he was the antitype there (Isa 14:12).

7. Thus, you see, they were placed from the ground up to above the door; that is, from the lowest to the highest angel there. For as there are great saints and small ones in the church on earth, so there are angels of divers degrees in heaven, some greater than some; but the smallest saint, when he gets to heaven, shall have an angel's dignity, an angel's place. From the ground, you find a palm tree between two cherubs.

8. And every cherub had two faces—so here; but I read in Ezekiel 10:14 that they had four faces apiece. The first was the face of a cherubim; the second, the face of a man; the third, the face of a lion; and the fourth, the face of an eagle.

9. They had two faces apiece; not to show that they were of a double heart, for 'their appearances and themselves' were the same, and 'they went every one straight forward' (Eze 10:22). These two faces, then, were to show here the quickness of their apprehension, and their terribleness to execute the mind of God. The face of a man signifies them masters of reason; the face of a lion, the terribleness of their presence (1 Cor 13:12; Judg 13:6).

In another place I read of their wheels; yea, that themselves, 'their whole bodies, and their backs, and their hands, and their wings, and the wheels were full of eyes round about' (Eze 1:18, 10:12). And this is to show us how knowing and quick-sighted they are in all providences and dark dispensations, and how nimble in apprehending the mischievous designs of the enemies of God's church, and so how able they are to undermine them. And forasmuch also as they have the face of a lion, we by that are showed how full of power they are to kill and to destroy, when God says, Go forth and do so. Now, with these we must dwell and cohabit, a palm tree and a cherub; a palm tree and a cherub must be from the ground to above the door, round about the house—the heavens.

'So that the face of a man was toward the palm tree on the one side, and the face of a young lion toward the palm tree on the other side.' By these two faces, we may also see that we in the heavens shall have glory sufficient to familiarize us with the angels. Their lion-like looks, with which they used to fright the biggest saint on earth, as you have it, Genesis 32:30; Judges 13:15,22, shall then be accompanied with the familiar looks of a man. Then angels and men shall be fellows, and have to do with each as such.

Thus you see something of that little that I have found in the temple of God.

Works of John Bunyan: Solomon's Temple Spiritualized:1194

 

Or, Gospel Light Fetched Out of the Jerusalem Temple, to Let Us More Easily Into the Glory of New Testament Truths

LXIX. Of the cherubims, and of their being placed over the mercy-seat in the inner Temple.

Cherubims also stood in the most holy place, set high above the mercy-seat. See 1 Kings 6:23-28.

1. These are called by the apostles, 'the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercy-seat' (Heb 9:5).

2. These cherubims were figures of the angels of God, as in other places we have proved.

3. It is said these cherubims were made of image work, and that in such manner, as that they could, as some think, move their wings by art; wherefore it is said, 'they stretched forth their wings'; the wings of the 'cherubims spread themselves'; and that the 'cherubims spread forth their wings over the place of the ark,—and the staves thereof above' (1 Kings 6:27; 2 Chron 3:13, 5:8).

4. I read also of these cherubims, that they had chariots and wheels; by which is taught us how ready and willing the angels are to fetch us when commanded, unto the paradise of God; for these chariots were types of the bosoms of the angels; and these wheels, of the quickness of their motion to come for us when sent. 'The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels; the Lord is among them, as in Sinai, in the holy place' (1 Chron 28:18; Eze 10:9,15,16,18-20; 2 Kings 6:17; Psa 68:17; 2 Kings 2:11; Dan 9:2).

5. What difference, if any, there is between cherubims and seraphims, into that I shall not now inquire; though I believe that there are diverse orders and degrees of angels in the heavens, as there are degrees and diverse orders among men in the world. But that these cherubims were figures of the holy angels, their placement in the holy oracle declares; for their dwelling-place is heaven, though they, for our sakes, are conversant in the world (Heb 1).

6. It is said that these cherubims, in this holy place, did stand upon their feet, to show, (1.) That the angels of heaven are not fallen from their station, as the other angels are. (2.) To show also that they are always ready, at God's bidding, to run with swiftness to do his pleasure. (3.) To show also that they shall continue in their station, being therein confirmed by Jesus Christ, 'by whom all things consist' (Col 1:17).

7. It is said 'their faces were inward,' looking one to another, yet withal somewhat ascending, to show that the angels both behold and wonder at the mysteries of grace, as it is displayed to usward from off the mercy-seat. The faces of the cherubims 'shall look one to another; towards the mercy-seat shall the faces of the cherubims be' (Exo 25:20; 2 Chron 3:13; 1 Peter 1:12; Eph 3:10).

(1.) 'Towards the mercy-seat.' They are desirous to see it, and how from hence, I say, mercy doth look towards us.

(2.) 'They look one towards another,' to show that they agree to rejoice in the salvation of our souls (Luke 15:10).

(3.) They are said to stand above the mercy-seat, perhaps to show that the angels have not need of those acts of mercy and forgiveness as we have, who stand below, and are sinners. They stand above it; they are holy. I do not say they have no need that the goodness of God should be extended to them, for it is by that they have been and are preserved; but they need not be forgiven, for they have committed no iniquity.

(4.) They also stand there with wings stretched out, showing how ready, if need be, the angels are to come from heaven to preach this gospel to the world (Luke 2:9-14).

(5.) It is said in this, that thus standing, their wings did reach from wall to wall; from one side of this holy house to the other; to show that all the angels within the boundaries of the heavens, with one consent and one mind, are ready to come down to help and serve, and do for God's elect at his command.

It is said, also, that their wings are stretched on high, to show that they are only delighted in those duties which are enjoined upon them by the high and lofty One, and not inclined, no, not to serve the saints in their sensual or fleshly designs. It may also show that they are willing to take flight from one end of heaven to the other to serve God and his church for good (Matt 13:41,49, 24:31, 25:31; 2 Thess 1:7,8).

Works of John Bunyan: Solomon's Temple Spiritualized:1193

 

Or, Gospel Light Fetched Out of the Jerusalem Temple, to Let Us More Easily Into the Glory of New Testament Truths

LXVII. Of the high-priest's going into the Holiest alone.

As it was the privilege of the high-priest to go into the holiest alone, so there was something of mystery also, to which I shall speak a little: 'There shall,' says God, 'be no man in the tabernacle of the congregation, when he [Aaron] goeth in to make an atonement in the holy place, until he come out, and have made an atonement for himself, and for his household, and for all the congregation of Israel' (Lev 167:17). The reason is, for that Christ is mediator alone; he trod the winepress alone; and of the people there was none with him to help him there (Isa 63:3; 1 Tim 2:5).

Of the people there was none to help him to bear his cross, or in the management of the first part of his priestly office. Why then should anyone share with him in executing the second part? Besides, he who helps an intercessor must himself be innocent, or in favor, on grounds not depending on the worth of the intercession. But as to the intercession of Christ, who can come in to help upon the account of such innocency or worth? Not the highest angel; for there is none such but one, wherefore he must do that alone. Hence it is said, He went in alone, is there alone, and there intercedes alone. And this is manifest not only in the type Aaron, but in the antitype Christ Jesus (Heb 6:19,20, 9:7-11,21,23,24).

I do not say no one in heaven is but Jesus Christ; I say he is there to intercede for us alone. Yea, the holy text says more. 'I go,' saith Christ, 'to prepare a place for you; and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am there ye may be also' (John 14:1-3).

This text seems to insinuate that Christ is in the holiest, or highest, heavens alone, and that he must remain there until he has finished his work of intercession, for only then does he come again to take us to himself. Let us grant Christ the pre-eminency in this, as also in all other things; for he is intercessor for his church, and makes it for them in the holiest alone. It is said he is the light no man can approach.

LXVIII. Of the high-priest's going in thither but once a year.

As the high priest went into the holiest alone, so he did that work but once a year. Thou shalt not come 'at all times,' said God to him, 'into the holy place, within the veil, before the mercy-seat, which is upon the ark, that thou die not' (Lev 16:2).

And as he was to go in thither but 'once a year,' so not then either, unless clothed and adorned, with his Aaronical holy robes (Lev 16:32-34). Then he was to be clothed, as I hinted before, with the holy robes, the frontlet of gold upon his forehead, the names of the twelve tribes upon his breast, and the jingling bells upon the skirts of his garment. Nor would all this do, unless he went in thither with blood (Exo 28; Lev 16).

Now, this once a year the apostle taketh special notice of, and makes great use of it. 'Once a year,' saith he, this high priest went in thither: once a year, that is, to show that Christ should, once at the end of the world, go into heaven itself to make intercession there for us. For by this word 'year,' he shows the term and time of the world is meant; and by 'once' in that year, he means once in the end of the world.

'Not,' saith he, 'that he should offer himself often: as the high-priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others. For then he must have suffered often since the foundation of the world; but now, at the end of the world, he hath appeared once to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself (Heb 9:25,26).

And having thus once offered his sacrifice without the veil, he is now gone into the holiest, to perfect his work of mediation for us. Not into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.

Now if our Lord Jesus is gone indeed, now to appear in the presence of God for us; and if this now be the once a year that the type speaks of; the once in the end of the world, as our apostle says; then it follows, that the people of God should all stand waiting for his benediction that to them he shall bring with him when he shall return from thence. Wherefore he adds, 'Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation' (v 28).

This, therefore, shows the greatness of the work Christ must do at the right hand of God, for he stays there so long. He accomplished all the first part of his priesthood in less than forty years, if you take in the making of his holy garments and all; but about this second part thereof, he has been above in heaven above sixteen hundred years, and yet has not done.

This therefore calls for faith and patience in saints, and by this he also tries the world; so that they, in a mocking manner, say already, 'Where is the promise of his coming?' (2 Peter 3:4). But I say again, we must look and wait. If the people waited for Zacharias, and wondered that he staid so long, because he staid in the holy place somewhat longer than they expected, no marvel if the faith of the world about Christ's coming is fled and gone long ago, yea, and that the children also are put to it to wait, since a scripture 'little while' doth prove so long. For that which the apostle saith, 'yet a little while,' doth prove to some to be a very long little (John 16:16; Heb 10:37).

True, Zacharias had then to do with angels, and that made him stay so long. O but Jesus is with God, before him, in his presence, talking with him, swallowed up in him, and with his glory, and that is one cause he stays so long. He is also there, pleading his blood for his tempted ones, interceding for all his elect, and waiting there till all his are fitted for and ready to enter into glory. I say, he is there, and there must be till then; and this is another reason why he doth stay the time we count so long.

And, indeed, it is a wonder to me that Jesus Christ our Lord should think now he is there of returning higher again, considering the ill treatment he met here before. But what will not love do? Surely he would never touch the ground again, had he not a people here that only his coming can make perfect. He is also made judge of quick and dead, and will give him glory in the ruin of those who hate him.

His people are to him as himself. Can a loving husband abide always away from a beloved spouse? Besides, as I said, he will pay the wicked off for all their wickedness, and in the very place where they have committed it. Wherefore the day appointed for this is set, and he will, and shall come quickly to do it. For however the time may seem long to us, yet, according to the reckoning of God, it is but a little while since he went into the holiest to intercede. 'A thousand years with the Lord is as one day'; and after this manner of counting, he has not been gone yet full two days into the holiest. 'The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness'; 'he will come quickly, and will not tarry' (2 Peter 3; Heb 10:37).

Works of John Bunyan: Solomon's Temple Spiritualized:1192

 

Or, Gospel Light Fetched Out of the Jerusalem Temple, to Let Us More Easily Into the Glory of New Testament Truths.

LXVI. Of the high-priest, and of his office in the inner Temple.

When things were thus ordained in the house 'most holy,' then went the high-priest in thither, according as he was appointed, to do his office, which was to burn incense in his golden censer, and to sprinkle with his finger the blood of his sacrifice, for the people, upon and above the mercy-seat (Exo 30:7-10; Lev 16:11-14).

Now for this special work of his, he had peculiar preparations. 1. He was to be washed in water. 2. Then he was to put on his holy garments. 3. After that he was to be anointed with holy oil. 4. Then an offering was to be offered for him, for the further fitting of him for his office. 5. The blood of this sacrifice must be put, some of it upon his right ear, some on the thumb of his right hand, and some on the great toe of his right foot. Then, with the anointing oil, sprinkle more blood on him and his garment; in this way he must be consecrated to his work as high priest (Exo 29).

His washing in water showed the purity of Christ's humanity. His curious robes were a type of all the perfections of Christ's righteousness. The holy oil poured on his head showed how Christ was anointed with the Holy Ghost for his work as priest. The sacrifice of his consecration was a type of that offering Christ offered in the garden when he mixed his sweat with his own blood, and tears, and cries, when he prayed to him that was able to save him; 'and was heard in that he feared'; for with his blood, as was Aaron with the blood of the bullock that was slain for him, was this blessed one besmeared from head to foot, when his sweat, as great drops or clodders of blood, fell down from head and face, and whole body, to the ground (Luke 22:44; Heb 10:20).

When Aaron was thus prepared, he offered his offering for the people and carried the blood into the veil (Lev 16). Christ Jesus also answered, when he offered his own body without the gate, and then carried his blood into the heavens, and sprinkled it before the mercy-seat (Heb 13:11,12, 9:11,12,24). For Aaron was a type of Christ; his offering, a type of Christ's offering his body; the blood of the sacrifice, a type of the blood of Christ; his garments, a type of Christ's righteousness; the mercy-seat, a type of the throne of grace; the incense, a type of Christ's praise; and the sprinkling of the blood of the sacrifice upon the mercy-seat, a type of Christ's pleading the virtue of his sufferings for us in the presence of God in heaven (Heb 9:10-28).

'Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the apostle and high priest of our profession, Christ Jesus' (Heb 3:1). 'Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but one who was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. For every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins: who can have compassion on the ignorant, and on them that are out of the way; for that he himself also is compassed with infirmity' (Hosea 4:14-16, 5:1,2).

This then is our high priest; and this was made so 'not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life.' For Aaron and his sons were made priests without an oath, 'but this with an oath by him that said unto him, The Lord sware and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec. By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament.'

'And they truly were many priests, because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death. But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people's: for this he did once, when he offered up himself.

For the law maketh men high priests which have infirmity; but the word of the oath, which was since the law, maketh the Son, who is consecrated for evermore. Now, of the things we have spoken, this is the sum: We have such a high priest, set on the right hand of the throne of the majesty in the heavens; a minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man. For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices; therefore, this man also must offer something. For if he were on earth, he should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law: who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern showed to thee in the mount' (Heb 7:16-8:5).

'But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood, he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God.

'For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others; for then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation' (Heb 9:11-14,24-28).

Works of John Bunyan: Solomon's Temple Spiritualized:1191

 

Or, Gospel Light Fetched Out of the Jerusalem Temple, to Let Us More Easily Into the Glory of New Testament Truths.

LXIV. Of the living waters of the inner Temple.

Although in the holy relation of the building of the temple no mention is made of these waters, but only of the mount on which, and the materials with which the king did build it, yet it seems to me that in that mount, and there too where the temple was built, there was a spring of living water. This seems more than probable, by Ezekiel 47:1, where he saith, 'He brought me again unto the door of the house, and behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward, for the fore-front of the house stood toward the east, and the waters came down from under, from the right side of the house, at the south side of the altar.' So again, 'And a fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord, and shall water the valley of Shittim' (Joel 3:18). Nor was the spring, wherever was the first appearance of these holy waters, but in the sanctuary, which is the holiest of all (Ezek 47:12), where the mercy-seat stood, which in Revelation is called 'The throne of God, and of the Lamb' (Rev 22:1,2).

This is also what the prophet Zechariah means when he says, 'Living waters shall go out from Jerusalem, half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea,' &c. (Zech 14:8). They are said to go forth from Jerusalem because they came down from the sanctuary that stood in Jerusalem. This is what is called a river of water of life elsewhere, because it comes forth from the throne and, as I suppose, was at its head used in and about temple-worship. It was with this, I think, that the molten sea and the ten lavers were filled, and in which the priests washed their hands and feet when they went into the temple to do service; and that also in which they washed the sacrifices before they offered them to God; yea, I presume, all the washings and rinsings about their worship were with this water.

Ezekiel and Revelation say this water has the tree of life growing on its banks, and it was a type of the word and Spirit of God, by which Christ himself sanctified himself for his worship as high priest (Eze 47; Rev 22). This water also heals all who shall be saved; and by it, being sanctified, they do all their works of worship and service acceptably, through Jesus Christ our Lord. This water therefore is said to go forth into the sea, the world, and to heal its fish, the sinners therein; yea, this is that water of which Christ Jesus our Lord saith, Whosoever shall drink thereof shall live for ever (Eze 47:8-10; Zech 14:8; John 4:14).

LXV. Of the chains which were in the oracle or inner Temple.

As chains stood on the pillars before the porch of the temple, and in the first house; so, like unto them, chains stood in the holiest, here called the oracle. These chains were not chains in show, or as carved on wood, &c., but chains indeed, and that of gold; and they were prepared to make a partition 'before the oracle' within (1 Kings 6:21; 2 Chron 3:16).

I told you before that the holiest was called the oracle, not because in a strict sense the whole of it was so, but because such answer of God was there, as was not in the outward temple, but I think that the ark and mercy-seat were indeed more especially that called the oracle; 'for there I will meet with thee,' saith God, and from above that 'I will commune with thee' (Exo 25:22). When David said, 'I lift up my hands toward thy holy oracle,' he meant not so much towards the holiest house, as toward the mercy-seat that was therein. Or, as he saith in the margin, 'Toward the oracle of thy sanctuary' (Psa 28:2).

When he therefore saith, 'before the oracle,' he means these chains were placed in the most holy place, before the ark and mercy-seat, to show Aaron and his sons that an additional glory was there. For the ark and mercy-seat were preferred before that holy house itself, even as Christ and the grace of God is preferred before the highest heavens. 'The Lord is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens' (Psa 113:4).

So then, the partition made in this house by these golden chains was not so much to divide the holy from the place most holy as to show that the holiest house contains something even more worthy than it.

The holiest was a type of heaven, but the ark and mercy-seat were a type of Christ, and of the mercy of God to us by him; and I trow any man will conclude, if he knows what he says, that the God and Christ of heaven are more excellent than the house they dwell in. Hence David said again, 'Whom have I in heaven but thee?' For thou art more excellent than they (Psa 73:25). For though that which is called heaven would serve some; yea, though God himself was out of it, yet none but the God of heaven will satisfy a truly gracious man: it is God that the soul of this man thirsteth for; it is God that is his exceeding joy (Psa 52:2, 63:1, 143:6, 17:15, 43:4).

These chains, then, as they made this partition in the most holy place, may teach us that when we are glorified in heaven, we shall yet, even then and there, know that an infinite disproportion will continue between God and us. The golden chains that are there will then distinguish [or separate] the Creator from the creature. For we, even we which shall be saved, shall yet retain our own nature, and shall still continue finite beings; yea, and shall there also see a disproportion between our Lord, our head, and us; for though now we are, and also then shall be like him as to his manhood; yea, and shall be like him also, as being glorified with his glory; yet he shall transcend and go beyond us, as to degree and splendor, as far as ever the highest king on earth did shine above the meanest subject that dwelt in his kingdom.

Chains have long been used as notes of distinction, to show us who are bondmen, and who are free. Yea, they shall at the day of judgment be a note of distinction between good and bad; even as here they distinguish the heavens from God, and the creature from the Creator (2 Peter 2:4; Jude 6; Matt 22:13).

True, they are chains of sin and wrath, but these chains of gold; yet these chains, even these also, will keep creatures in their place, that the Creator may have his glory, and receive those acknowledgments there from them, which is due unto his Majesty (Rev 4, 5:11-14).

Works of John Bunyan: Solomon's Temple Spiritualized:1190

 

Or, Gospel Light Fetched Out of the Jerusalem Temple, to Let Us More Easily Into the Glory of New Testament Truths.

LXII. On placing the ark in the holiest, or inner, Temple.

1. The ark, as we have said, and as the text declares, when carried to its rest, was placed in the inner temple, or in the most holy place, 'even under the wings of the cherubims.' 'And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the Lord unto his place, to the oracle of the house, into the most holy place, even under the wings of the cherubims' (Exo 26:33, 39:35; 1 Kings 8:3; 2 Chron 5:7).

2. Before this, as was said afore, the ark was carried from place to place, and caused to dwell in a tent under curtains, as all our fathers did; to show that Christ, as we, was made for a time to wander in the world, in order to his being possessed of glory (2 Sam 7:1,3,6; Heb 11:9; John 1:10, 16:28, 3:13).

3. But now, when the ark was brought into the holiest, it is said to be brought into its place. This world was not Christ's place; he was not from beneath; he came from his Father's house; therefore, while here, he was not in his place, nor could he be until he ascended to where he was before (John 8:23, 16:28, 6:62, 3:13).

4. Christ's proper place, therefore, is the holiest. His proper place, as God, as Priest, as Prophet, as King, and as the Advocate of his people. Here, with us, he has no more to do as mediator in person. If he were on earth, he should not be a priest, &c. His place and work is now above with his Father, and before the angels (Acts 5:31; 1 Peter 3:22; Heb 4:14, 8:4; 9:24; 1 John 2:1,2; Rev 1:4,5).

5. It is said the ark was brought 'to the oracle of the house '; Solomon was not content to say it was brought into the holiest; but he saith, his place was the oracle, the holy oracle, that is, the place of hearing. For he, when he ascended, had something to say to God on behalf of his people. To the oracle, that is, to the place of revealing. For he also was there to receive, and from thence to reveal to his church on earth something that could not be made manifest except through this holy oracle. There therefore he is with the two tables of testimony in his heart, as perfectly kept; he also is there with the whole fulfulling of the ceremonial law in his side, showing and pleading the perfection of his righteousness, and the merit of his blood with his Father, and to receive and to do us good, who believe in him, how well pleased the Father is with what he has done in our behalf.

6. 'Into the most holy place.' These words show whither also the ark went when it went to take up its rest. And in that this ark was a type of Christ, it is to show or further manifest that what Christ doth now in heaven, he doth before his Father's face. Yea, it intimates, that Christ even there makes his appeals to God, concerning the worth of what he did on earth; to God the Judge of all, I say, whether he ought not for his suffering's sake to have granted to him his whole desire, as Priest and Advocate for his people?

'Wilt thou,' said Festus to Paul, 'go up to Jerusalem, and there be judged of these things before me?' (Acts 25:9). Why, this our blessed Jesus was willing, when here, to go up to Jerusalem to be judged; and being misjudged of there, he made his appeal to God, and is now gone thither, even into the holy place, even to him that is Judge of all, for his verdict upon his doing; and whether the souls for whom he became undertaker, to bring them to glory, have not by him a right to the kingdom of heaven.

7. 'Under the wings of the cherubims.' This further confirms our words; for having appealed from earth to heaven, as the ark was set under the wings of the cherubims, so he, in interceding with God and pleading his merits for us, does so in the presence and hearing of all the angels in heaven.

And thus much of the ark of the covenant, and of its antitype. We come next to speak of the mercy-seat.

LXIII. Of the mercy-seat, and how it was placed in the holy Temple.

The mercy-seat was made in the wilderness, but Solomon brought it up after the temple was built, with the rest of the holy things (2 Chron 5:2-10).

The mercy-seat, as I have shown of the ark, was but low. 'Two cubits and a half was the length, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof'; but the height thereof 'was without measure.'

1. The length and breadth of the mercy-seat is the same with that of the ark: perhaps to show us that the length and breadth of the mercy of God to his elect is the same with the length and breadth of the merits of Christ (Exo 25:10,17). Therefore, we are said to be justified in him, blessed in him, even according to the purpose which God purposed in him.

2. But in that the mercy-seat is without measure, as to height, it is to show that, would God extend it, it is able to reach even them that fall from heaven, and to save all that ever lived on earth, even all that are now in hell. For there is not only breadth enough for them that shall be saved, but 'bread enough and to spare' (Luke 15:17). 'And thou shalt,' says God, 'put the mercy-seat above upon the ark.' Thus he said to Moses, and this was the place David assigned for it (Exo 25:21; 1 Chron 28:11). Now, placed thus by God's ordinance, it teaches us many things.

(1.) That mercy's foundation to us is Christ. The mercy-seat was set upon the ark of the testimony, and there it rested to usward. Justice would not, and could not, have suffered us to have any benefit from mercy, had it not found an ark, a Christ, to rest upon. 'Deliver him,' saith God, 'from going down to the pit, I have found a ransom' (Job 33:24).

(2.) Because it was placed above, it also shows that Christ was, of mercies, ordaining a fruit of mercy. Mercy is above; it is the ordainer. God is love, and sent his Son of love to be the Savior and propitiation for our sins (John 3:16; 1 John 4:10).

(3.) Because the mercy-seat and ark were thus joined, it also shows that without Christ mercy does not act. Hence, when the priest came of old to God for mercy, he used to come into the holy place with blood; yea, he used to sprinkle it upon the mercy-seat and before it seven times. Take away the ark, and the mercy-seat will fall, or at least come down greatly. So take away Christ, and the flood-gate of mercy is let down, and the current of mercy stopped. This is true, for as soon as Christ shall leave off to mediate, eternal judgment will come.

(4.) Again, because the mercy-seat was set above upon the ark, it teacheth us that mercy can look down from heaven, though the law stands by and looks on; but then it must be in Christ, kept there and fulfilled by him for us. The law out of Christ is terrible as a lion; the law in him is meek as a lamb. The reason is that it finds in him enough to answer for all their faults that come to God for mercy by him. 'Christ is the end of the law for righteousness'; and if that be true, the law for that can look no further upon whoever comes to God by him. The law did use to sentence terribly, until it was put into the ark to be kept.

(5.) Let those who come to God for mercy be sure to come to him by the ark, Christ. For grace, as it descends to us from above the mercy-seat, so that mercy-seat doth rest upon the ark. Wherefore, sinner, come thou for mercy that way: for there if thou meetest with the law, it can do thee no harm; nor can mercy, shouldst thou elsewhere meet it, do thee good. Come, therefore, and come boldly to the throne of grace, this mercy-seat, thus borne up by the ark, and 'obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need' (Heb 4:16).

Wherefore, this placement of things in the holiest is admirable to behold in the word of God. For that indeed is the glass by and through which we must behold this glory of the Lord. Here we see the reason of things; here we see how a just God can, in a way of mercy, have to do with one who has sinned against him. The Lord Jesus Christ has kept the law; as you see, the mercy-seat stands upon the ark of the covenant, and there God acts in grace toward us (Exo 25:17-23).

Works of John Bunyan: Solomon's Temple Spiritualized:1189

 

Or, Gospel Light Fetched Out of the Jerusalem Temple, to Let Us More Easily Into the Glory of New Testament Truths.

LXI. Of the ark of the covenant which was placed in the inner
Temple.

In the Word I read of three arks: Noah's ark, in which Moses was hid, and the ark of the covenant of God (Gen 6:14; Exo 2:3,5). But I now speak of the ark of the covenant. The ark was made 'of shittim-wood, two cubits and a half was the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof.' It was overlaid 'with pure gold within and without,' and 'a crown of gold' was made 'round about' it (Exo 25:10,11).

1. This ark was called 'the ark of the covenant,' as the first that you read of was called 'Noah's,' because as he in that was kept from being drowned, so the tables of the covenant were kept in this from breaking.

2. This ark, in this, was a type of Christ; for that in him only, and not in the hand of Moses, these tables were kept whole. Moses broke them; the ark keeps them.

3. Not only that which was written on two tables of stone, but that also called 'the ceremonial' was put into the ark to be kept. The two tables were put in the midst of the ark to answer this: "Thy law is within my heart to do it." But the ceremonial was put into the side of the ark, to show that out of the side of Christ must come that which must answer that, for out thence came blood and water; blood, to answer the blood of the ceremonies; and water, to answer the purifyings and rinsings of that law. The ceremonies, therefore, were lodged in the side of the ark to show that they should be answered from the side of Jesus Christ (Exo 25:16,17; Deut 10:5; Psa 40:8; John 19:34; Heb 10:7).

4. The ark had the name of God put upon it; yea, it was called the strength of God, and his glory, though made of wood. And Christ is God both in name and nature, though made flesh; yea, more, made to be sin for us (2 Sam 6:2; 1 Chron 13:6; 2 Chron 6:1; John 1:14; Rom 9:5; 2 Cor 5:21).

5. The ark was carried upon men's shoulders this way and that, to show how Christ should be carried and preached by his apostles and ministers into all parts of the world (Exo 25:14; 1 Chron 15:15; Matt 28:19,20; Luke 24:46,47).

6. The ark had those testimonies of God's presence accompanying it, as had no other ceremony of the law; and Christ had those signs and tokens of his presence with him, as never had man either in law or gospel. This is so apparent it needs no proof. And now, for a few more comparisons.

(1.) At that time God answered the people when they came to inquire of him; and in these last days God has spoken to us by his Son (1 Chron 13:3; 1 Sam 14:18; Heb 1:2; John 16:23,24).

(2.) At the presence of the ark the waters of Jordan stood still till Israel, the ransomed of the Lord, passed over from the wilderness to Canaan; and it is by the power and presence of Christ that we pass over death, Jordan's antitype, from the wilderness of this world to heaven (Josh 3:15-17; John 11:25; Rom 8:37-39; 1 Cor 15:54-57).

(3.) Before the ark the walls of Jericho fell down; and in the presence of Christ all high towers, strongholds, and hiding places for sinners shall be razed and dissolved at his coming (Josh 6:20; Isa 30:25, 2:10,16; 2 Peter 3:10; Rev 20:11-13).

(4.) Before the ark Dagon fell, that idol of the Philistines; and before Christ Jesus devils fell, those gods of all those idols. He must reign until he puts all his enemies under his feet and makes them his footstool (1 Sam 5:1-4; Mark 5:12; 1 Cor 15:25; Heb 10:13).

(5.) The Philistines were also plagued for meddling with the ark, while they abode uncircumcised; and the wicked will one day be most severely plagued for their meddling with Christ, with their uncircumcised hearts (1 Sam 5:6-13; Psa 50:6; Matt 24:51, 25:11,12; Luke 13:25-29).

(6.) God's blessing was upon those that entertained the ark as they should; and much more is, and will his blessing be upon those that so embrace and entertain his Christ, and profess his name sincerely (2 Sam 6:11; Acts 3:26; Gal 3:13,14; Matt 19:27-29; Luke 22:28,29).

(7.) When Uzzah put forth his hand to stay the ark, when the oxen shook it, as despairing of God's protecting of it without a human help, he died before the Lord; even so will all those do, without repentance, who use unlawful means to promote Christ's religion, and to support it in the world (1 Chron 13:9,10; Matt 26:52; Rev 13:10).

(8.) The ark, though thus dignified, was of itself but low—but a cubit and a half high; also Christ—though he was the glory of heaven and of God—yet made himself of no reputation, and was found in the likeness of a man (Exo 25:10-12; Phil 2:6-11).

(9.) The ark had a crown of gold round about upon it, to show how Christ is crowned by his saints by faith, and shall be crowned by them in glory, for all the good he hath done for them; as also how all crowns shall one day stoop to him, and be set upon his head. This is shown in the type (Zech 6:11,14). And in the antitype (Rev 4:10, 19:12).

(10.) The ark was overlaid with gold within and without, to show that Christ was perfect in inward grace and outward life, in spirit and in righteousness (John 1:14; 1 Peter 2:22).

(11.) The ark was placed under the mercy-seat, to show that Jesus Christ, as Redeemer, brings and bears, as it were, upon his shoulders, the mercy of God to us, even in the body of his flesh, through death (Exo 25:21; Eph 4:22; 5:1,2).

(12.) When the ark was removed far from the people, the godly mourned after it; and when Christ is hid, or taken from us, we mourn in those days (2 Sam 7:2; Mark 2:19,20; Luke 5:34,35; John 16:20-22).

(13.) All Israel had the ark again, after their mourning-time was over; and Christ, after his people have sorrowed for him a while, will see them again, 'and their hearts shall rejoice' (John 16:1-3,20-22).

By all these things, and many more that might be mentioned, it is most evident that the ark of the testimony was a type of Jesus Christ; and take note of what follows, namely, that the ark at last arrived at the most holy place (Heb 9:3,4). That is, after its wanderings; for the ark was first made to wander, like a non-inhabitant, from place to place; now hither, and then thither; now in the hands of enemies, and then abused by friends; yea, it was caused to rove from place to place, as that of which the world was weary. I need instance to you for proof hereof none other place than the fifth, sixth, and seventh chapters of the first Book of Samuel; and, answerable to this, our dear Lord Jesus was posted backward and forwards, hither and thither, by the force of his enemies' rage. He was hunted into Egypt so soon as he was born (Matt 2). Then they drove him to live in Galilee for many years. Also, when he showed himself to Israel, they drove him into the wilderness, the desert, the sea, and the mountains; still, in every one of these places, new enemies haunted or hunted him.

And last of all, the Pharisees plot for his life; Judas sells him, the priests buy him, Peter denies him, his enemies mock, scourge, buffet, and much abuse him. In fine, they get him condemned, and crucified, and buried; but at last God commanded, and took him to his place, even within the veil, and set him to bear up the mercy-seat, where he is to this very day, being our ark to save us, as Noah's did him, as Moses' did him; yea, better, as none but Christ doth save his own.

Works of John Bunyan: Solomon's Temple Spiritualized:1188

 

Or, Gospel Light Fetched Out of the Jerusalem Temple, to Let Us More Easily Into the Glory of New Testament Truths.

LX. Of the floor and walls of the inner Temple.

1. The floor of the oracle was overlaid with cedar, and so also were the walls of this house. 'He built twenty cubits on the sides of the house, both the floor and the walls with boards of cedar. He even built for it within, for the oracle, for the most holy place' (1 Kings 6:16).

2. In that he doth tell us with what it was ceiled, and doth also thus repeat, saying, 'for the oracle, for it within, even for the most holy place,' it is because he would have it noted, that this only is the place that thus was done.

3. Twenty cubits, that was the length, and breadth, and height of the house; so that by his thus saying he teacheth that thus it was built round about.

4. The cedar is, if I mistake not, the highest of the trees (Eze 31:3-8). Now in that it is said the house, the oracle, was ceiled round about therewith, it may be to show, that in heaven, and nowhere else, is the height of all perfections. Perfection is in the church on earth, but not such as is in heaven.

(1.) There is a natural perfection, and so a penny is as natural silver as is a shilling. (2.) There is a comparative perfection, and so one thing may be perfect and imperfect at the same time; as a half-crown is more than a shilling, yet less than a crown. (3.) There is also that which we call the utmost perfection, and that is it which cannot be added to, or taken from him; and so God only is perfect. Now, heavenly glory is that which goes beyond all perfection on the earth, as the cedar goes beyond all trees for height. Hence God, when he speaks of his own excellency, sets it forth by its height. The high God, the most High, and the high and lofty One; and the Highest (Psa 92:9, 138:6; Gen 14:19-21; Dan 3:26, 5:18; Psa 18:13, 87:5; Luke 1:32, 6:35; Isa 57:15; Psa 9:2, 56:2, 92:1; Isa 14:14). These terms also are ascribed to this house, for that it was the place where utmost perfection dwelt.

I take, therefore, the cedar in this place to be a note of perfection, even the cedar with which this house was ceiled. For since it is the wisdom of God to speak to us oftentimes by trees, gold, silver, stones, beasts, fowls, fishes, spiders, ants, frogs, flies, lice, dust, &c., and here by wood; how should we by them understand his voice, if we count there is no meaning in them? 'And the cedar of the house within was carved with knops and open flowers; all was cedar; there was no stone seen' (1 Kings 6:18).

Knops and flowers adorned the golden candlestick, as you read in Exodus 25:33, 35, 37:10, 21. The candlestick was a type of the church, and the knops and flowers a type of her ornaments. But what! must heaven be hanged round about with the ornaments of saints! with the fruits of their graces! Well, it is certain that something more than ordinary must be done with them, since they are admitted to follow them into the holy place (Rev 14:13); and since, it is said, they shall have a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory bestowed on them, for them in the heavens (2 Cor 4:16,17).

'All was cedar; there was no stone seen.' Take stone in the type for what was really so, and in the antitype for what is so mystically, and then it may import to us that, in heaven, the antitype of this holiest, there shall never be any hardness of heart in those who possess it for ever. All imperfection ariseth from the badness of the heart, but in glory there will be no bad hearts. No shortness in knowledge, no crossness of disposition, no workings of lusts, or corruptions will be there; no, not throughout the whole heavens. Here, alas! they are seen, and that in the best of saints, because here our light is mixed with darkness; but there will be no night there, nor any stone seen.

'And the floor of the house was overlaid with gold' (1 Kings 6:30). This is like that of which we read of the New Jerusalem that is to come from God out of heaven; says the text, 'The street of the city was pure gold'; and like that of which you read in Exodus, 'They saw the God of Israel, and under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness' (Rev 21:21; Exo 24:10). All the visions were rich, but this the richest, that the floor of the house should be covered or overlaid with gold. The floor and street are walking-places, and how rich will our steps be then! Alas! Here we sometimes fall into the mire, and then again stumble upon blocks and stones. Here we sometimes fall into holes, and have our heel oft caught in a snare; but there will be none of these. Gold! gold! All will be gold, and golden perfections, when we come into the holy place! Job at best took his steps in butter, but we shall then take all our steps in the gold of the sanctuary.

Works of John Bunyan: Solomon's Temple Spiritualized:1187

 

Or, Gospel Light Fetched Out of the Temple at Jerusalem, to Let Us More Easily Into the Glory of New Testament Truths.

LVIII. Of the doors of the inner Temple.

1. Besides the veil, there was a door to the inner temple, and that door was made of olive tree; and for the entering of the oracle, he made doors of olive tree. The two doors also of olive tree, and he carved upon them—cherubims, and palm trees, and open flowers, and overlaid them with gold, and spread gold upon the cherubims, and upon the palm trees' (1 Kings 6:31).

2. These doors were a type of the gate of heaven, even of that which lets into the eternal mansion-house that is beyond that veil. I told you before that the veil was a type of the visible heavens, which God has spread out as a curtain, and through which Christ went when he ascended to the right hand of the Father.

3. Now, beyond this veil, as I said, I find a door, a gate opening with two leaves, as afore we found at the door of the outward temple. These are they which the Psalmist calls to, when he saith, 'Lift up your heads, O ye gates, even lift them up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall come in' (Psa 24:7,9).

4. The doors of the temple were made of fire, but these, as you see, were made of olive; to show us by that fat tree, that rich type, with what glory we shall be met, who shall be counted worthy to enter at these gates. The olive tree has its name from the oil and fatness of its nature, and the doors that let into the holiest were made of this olive tree (Rom 11:16-18).

5. Cherubims were also carved upon these doors to show that as the angels met us at the temple door, and as they wait upon us in the temple, and stand also ready at the veil, so even at the gate of the mansion-house, they will be also ready to give us a welcome thither, and to attend us into the presence chamber.

6. Palm trees also, as they were carved upon the temple doors, so we also find them here before the oracle, upon the doors that let in thither; to show, that as Christ gave us the victory at our first entering into faith, so he will finish that victory, by giving of us eternal salvation. Thus is he the author and finisher of our faith. For as surely as we first received the palm branch by faith, so surely shall we wear it in our hands as a token of his faithfulness in the heaven of heavens, for ever (Rev 7:9).

7. Open flowers are also carved here, to show that Christ, who is the door to glory, as well as the door to grace, will be precious to us at our entering in thither, as well as at the first step we took thitherward in a sinful and miserable world. Christ will never lose his sweet scent in his church's nostrils. He is most sweet now, will be so at death, and sweetest of all when we enter that mansion-house prepared for us in heaven by him.

8. The palm trees and open flowers may also be a type of the precious ones of God, who shall be counted worthy of his kingdom; the one, of the uprightness of their hearts; the other, of the good favor of their lives. 'The upright shall dwell in thy presence; and to him that ordereth his conversation aright, I will show the salvation of God' (Psa 140:13).

9. Thus sweet on earth, sweet in heaven; and he that yields the fruit of the gospel here, shall find it for himself, and his eternal comfort, at the gates of glory.

10. All these were overlaid with gold, as you may say, and so they were at the door of the first house. True, but observe here we have an addition. Here is gold upon gold. Gold laid on them, and then gold spread upon that. He overlaid them with gold, and then spread gold upon them. The Lord gives grace and glory (Psa 84:11). Gold and gold. Gold spread upon gold. Grace is gold in the leaf, and glory is gold in plates. Grace is thin gold; glory is thick gold. Here is gold laid on, and gold spread upon that: and that both upon the palm trees and the cherubims. Gold upon the palm trees, that is, on the saints; gold upon the cherubims, that is, upon the angels. For I doubt not that the angels themselves shall receive additional glory for the service they have rendered to Christ and his church on earth.

11. The angels are God's harvest men, and doubtless he will give them good wages, even glory upon their glory then (Matt 13:38,39, 24:31; John 4:36).

12. You know harvest men used to be paid well for gathering in the corn, and I doubt not but so shall these, when the great ingathering is over. But what an entrance into life is here! Here is gold upon gold at the door, at our first step into the kingdom.

LIX. Of the golden nails of the inner Temple.

I shall not concern myself with all the nails of the temple, as of those made of iron, &c. (1 Chron 22:3). But only with the golden ones, of which you read, where he saith, 'And the weight of the nails was fifty shekels of gold' (2 Chron 3:9). These nails, as I conceive, were all fastened to the place most holy, and of form most apt to that of which they were a figure.

1. Some of them represented Christ Jesus our Lord as fixed in his mediatory office in the heavens; wherefore in one place, when the Holy Ghost speaks of Christ, as he sprang from Judah to be a mediator, saith, 'Out of him came the corner,' the corner stone, 'out of him the nail' (Zech 10:4). Now, since he is compared to a nail, a golden nail, it is to show, that as a nail, by driving, is fixed in his place; so Christ, by God's oath, is made an everlasting priest (Heb 7:25). Therefore, as he saith again, the nail, the Aaronical priesthood, that was fastened in a sure place, should be removed, be cut down, and fall; so he who has the key of David, which is Christ (Rev 3:7), shall by God, as a nail, be fastened in a sure place, and abide; therefore he says again, 'And he shall be for a glorious throne,' or mercy-seat, 'to his Father's house.' And moreover, that 'they shall hang upon him,' as on a nail, 'all the glory of his Father's house, the offspring, and the issue, all vessels of small quantity, from the vessels of cups, even to all the vessels of flagons' (Isa 22:20-25). According to that which is written, 'And they sang a new song' to the Lamb that was slain, 'saying, Thou art worthy,' &c. (Rev 5:9-12).

And therefore it is again that Christ, under the similitude of a nail, is accounted by saints indeed their great pledge or hope, as he is in heaven, of their certain coming thither. Hence they said of old, God has given us 'a nail in his holy place'; a nail, says the line, 'a pin, a constant and sure abode,' says the margin (Ezra 9:8). Now, this nail in his holy place, as was shown before, is Christ; Christ, as possessed of heaven, and as abiding, and ever living therein for us. Hence he is called, as there, our head, our life, and our salvation; and also we are said there to be set down together in him (Eph 1; Col 3:3; Eph 2:5,6).

2. Some of these nails were types of the holy words of God, which for ever are settled in heaven. Types, I say, of their 'yea and amen.' Hence Solomon, in another place, compares the words of the wise God, 'to goads and nails, fastened by the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd' (Eccl 12:11).

They are called goads, because, as such prick the oxen on in their drawing, so God's words prick Christians on in their holy duties. They are called nails, to show that, as nails, when fastened well in a sure place, are not easily removed; so God's words, by his will, stand firm for ever. The masters of the assemblies are first, the apostles. The one shepherd is Jesus Christ. Hence the gospel of Christ is said to be everlasting, to abide for ever, and to be more stedfast than heaven and earth (Isa 40:6-8; 1 Peter 1:24,25; Heb 13:20; Rev 14:6; Matt 24:35). The Lord Jesus then, and his holy words, are the golden nails of the temple, and the fixing of thess nails in the temple, was to show that Christ is the same today, yesterday, and for ever; and that his words abide, and remain the same for ever and ever. He who has Christ has a nail in the holiest; he who has a promise of salvation has also a nail in heaven, a golden nail in heaven!