Saul's transgression was, in his eyes, an insignificant affair, and yet it cost him his throne, his happiness, his life!
The first apartment was, allowing eighteen inches to the cubit, sixty feet long, thirty feet wide and forty-five feet (?) high. The second apartment was thirty feet long, thirty feet wide, and thirty feet high ( 1 Kings 6:2-20 ; 2 Chronicles 3:3-8 ). The furniture of the temple consisted of, in the court,
in the first apartment,
in the oracle, the ark of the covenant overshadowed by the wings of the cherubim ( 1 Kings 6:23-30 ; 2 Chronicles 3:11-13 ). The house was beautiful and glorious in all its appointments ( 2 Chronicles 3:14-17 ). After the completion of the temple, the ark of the covenant, constructed at Mount Sinai, was placed in the most holy place, and the staves were taken out, indicating that the days of its pilgrimage were past, and the Lord filled the house with His glory ( 1 Kings 8:1-11 ; 2 Chronicles 5:1-9 ). At the time the ark was placed in the temple there was nothing in it save the two tables placed there by Moses ( 2 Chronicles 5:10 ). Solomon officiated at the dedication of the temple, and the chief point of his prayer was that the Lord should always hear His people when they turned their faces in prayer toward His holy house ( 1 Kings 8:12-61 ; 2 Chronicles 6:1-7:11 ). A vast number of sacrifices were presented to the Lord, and the people rejoiced in His presence ( 1 Kings 8:62-66 ). The Lord appeared to Solomon during the erection of the temple and promised him that on condition of obedience He would dwell among the children of Israel and not forsake them ( 1 Kings 6:11-13 ). He appeared to him after the dedication of the house and assured him that He had heard his prayer, and that He had hallowed the house and would watch over it perpetually. He also promised the king to perpetuate and establish his throne if he would obey Him, and threatened to send terrible calamities on Israel if the people should depart from His law ( 1 Kings 9:10 ).