Lesson: Courtyards of God's Dwelling Places (No. CB113

Goal:

To review the basic concepts related to the courtyards in God’s dwelling places and the symbolism that is involved in the text.

Objectives:

1. Children will be able to understand why there is a courtyard around the Temple.

2. Children will able to list at least four items that are in the courtyard.

3. Children will list one item that is removed from the Millennial Temple and City of God that had been present in both the Tabernacle in the Wilderness and Solomon’s Temple.

4. Children will identify where Solomon’s Temple was built and what other things occurred at that location.

5. Children will identify what calls people to the Temple.

Resources:

Courtyards of God’s Dwelling Places (No. CB113)

The Temple Solomon Built (No. CB107)

Relevant Scriptures:

Exodus 27; 2Chronicles 3:1; 4:9; Jeremiah 52:21; 1Kings 7:15; Psalm 84:10; John 14:2; Revelation 3:12

Format:

Open with prayer.

Ask the children what they think the courtyard represents.

Conduct the lesson on the Courtyards of God’s Dwelling Places (No. CB113).

Conduct the activity associated with the courtyard of the Temple Solomon built.

Close with prayer.

Lesson:

Read through the paper Courtyards of God’s Dwelling Places (No. CB113) unless the lesson is read as a sermonette with the children present.
Use the questions to review the main points of No. CB114.

Children’s questions are in bold followed by the answers:

Q1. Is there a court or courtyard at God’s Throne in the Third Heaven?

A. Yes, there are as Ezekiel 10:4,5 and Psalm 84:10 tell us.

Q2. How many priests were at the dedication of the Temple Solomon built sounding the trumpets in the courtyard?

A. At the dedication of the Temple Solomon built there was a 120 priests sounding 120 trumpets praising God (2Chr. 5:12).

Q3. Originally, a shofar was used to call Israel to assemble. What will be used to call man and Host to the assembly of Eloah some time in the near future?

A. In the future, we see it is two silver trumpets made of one piece of metal (Num. 10:1ff.) that will be used to call the physical Host and the spiritual Host. See the footnote to 1Samuel 1:3 in The Companion Bible.

Q4. Is there a temple in Heaven?

A. From Revelation 15:5 and 11:19 we know that there is a Temple in Heaven.

Q5. Where was the Temple was built? Did any other important things happen at this location?

A. Mount Moriah is the place that Solomon began to build the House of the Lord in Jerusalem (2Chr. 3:1). This is where the Angel of the Presence appeared to his father David, and the place where David prepared an altar on the threshing floor of Araunah, or Ornan the Jebusite. The pestilence was stopped short of the threshing floor of Araunah who, as a king, gave the floor to David. David insisted he pay for it and then sacrificed there.

Q6. What was the size of the court in the Tabernacle of Wilderness?

A. The court was 100 cubits long and 50 cubits wide, creating two perfect squares of 50 x 50 cubits. (In those days, length was measured in cubits, which was the distance from the tip of a man’s finger to his elbow - about 18 inches.) There was a large gate on the east side where people entered.

Q7. Were things in the Tabernacle of the Wilderness permanent structures or were they movable?

A. Everything in the Tabernacle and the court was made portable and moveable. Each time that God instructed the people to move, there was a set procedure for taking down the court and the Tabernacle, and moving it in the correct fashion.

Q8. Could the Israelites enter the court? Could they enter into the Tabernacle?

A. The Israelite men could enter the court and bring their sacrifices to the priests; only the priests could enter the Tabernacle in the Wilderness. It was only certain priests that could touch and move the various parts of the Tabernacle in the Wilderness.

Q9 What was the shape of the courtyard in the Tabernacle in the Wilderness and the Temple Solomon built?

A. In the Tabernacle in the Wilderness and the Temple Solomon built the court was a large rectangle shape.

Q10. What was located in the court of the Tabernacle in the Wilderness?

A. Round about the Tabernacle was the altar of burnt offering, and the laver.

Q11. Was there one or were there two courtyards in the Temple Solomon built.

A. There were two. The Great or Outer Court surrounded the whole Temple (2Chr. 4:9). Here the people assembled to worship God (Jer. 19:14; 26:2). Over the years we were given examples of the capacity for Gentiles to sacrifice at the Temple. As with Israel, it was permitted – provided it was done by the priests. Round about the Temple building was the court of the priests (2Chr. 4:9), called the Inner Court (1Kgs. 6:36). It contained the altar of burnt offering (2Chr. 15:8), the brazen/molten sea (2Chr. 4:2-5,10), and ten lavers (1Kgs. 7:38,39).

Q12. Did the priests working in the Temple Solomon built actually have chambers or rooms right in the walls of the Temple? If so where were the rooms located?

A. Yes, they did. The chambers were built about the Temple on the southern, western, and northern sides (1Kgs. 6:5-10). They formed a part of the building. For more details on the priestly chambers see 1Kings 6.

Q13. Was there anything in front of the Temple that Solomon built?

A. Yes, there was the porch. 2Chronicles 3:4 explains the porch or entrance before the Temple on the east (1Kgs. 6:3; 2Chr. 3:4; 29:7). It was 20 cubits wide and 10 cubits deep.

Q14. How tall was the porch? What else can you think of that is associated with that number?

A. 2Chronicles 3:4 states that the porch was 120 cubits high. This is four times as high as the Temple proper (30 x 4). The number 120 symbolizes the length of the time of the physical creation from the start of the Jubilees when sin entered the world, to the Millennium. Moses’ life was divided into three lots of 40 years, which totalled 120 years. We also saw that there were 120 priests with 120 trumpets at the dedication (2Chr. 5:12). We also see within the Temple there are 120 loaves of shewbread (12 loaves per table and 10 tables).

Q15. How many pillars were there on the porch?

A. There were 2 pillars. The right pillar (south side) was called Jachin, and the left pillar (north side) was called the Boaz.

Q16. What is the spiritual pillar of Eloah’s House?

A. From 1Timothy 3:15 we learn that truth is a main structural support / pillar in God’s House.

Q17. Are any of the church eras described as being pillars in the Temple?

A. Yes, the Philadelphians are told in Revelation 3:12 that some will be made pillars in Eloah’s Temple if they overcome.

Q18. What did the pillars look like on top of the columns?

A. Each pillar also had wreathen/chains and pomegranates on it.

Q19. How many pomegranates and chains were there?

A. It appears there were 100 pomegranates per chain/network as per Jeremiah 52:21 and the corresponding footnote in The Companion Bible. There were four chains of 100 pomegranates per chain, or 400 pomegranates total (see note on 1Kgs. 7:20 in The Companion Bible). Therefore, we again see the symmetry in the Temple. We also see the same numbers repeating with 200 on the right and 200 on the left.

Q20. Where else did we see pomegranates used in the service and worship of Eloah?

A. There were bells and pomegranates on the bottom of the High Priest’s blue robe.

Q20. In the Millennial Temple is the area around the Temple referred to by the name of a court or something else? If something else, what is the name?

A. The proper term is the “the Sanctuary” as it is set forth in Ezekiel 45:1-4 (see Appendix 88 in The Companion Bible).

Q21. Does the city also have a name at this time?

A. Yes, it does. From Ezekiel 48:35 we learn that the name of the City is “Jehovah Shammah” which means Yahovah is there.

Q22. What does the name indicate?

A. From the point Messiah returns to Earth he will replace Satan as the Day Star of this planet. In the Millennium, Messiah will be ruling the planet under God’s perfect Law from Jerusalem.

Q23. Which part of the Bible describes the Millennial Temple?

A. From Ezekiel 40:14 through to Ezekiel 46 there is mention in great detail to various courts of the Millennial Temple.

Q23. What is the name given to the city of Jerusalem when Eloah returns to the Earth?

A. New Jerusalem comes down from Heaven to the site of Jerusalem and encompasses or covers a very large area.

Q24. What do we know about New Jerusalem?

A. Revelation 21 and 22 give us a clearer and more detailed image or picture of New Jerusalem. The City’s size is given in Revelation 21:15-17. There are three gates on each of the four sides or twelve gates total (Rev. 21:12,13,21) and each gate is a giant pearl. There are also twelve foundations of the City (Rev. 21:19,20). We know the glory of God illuminates or lights the City and its lamp is the Lamb. There will no longer be sun or moon because God and the Lamb serve as the lights of the City (Rev. 21:23, 26; Rev. 22:5).

Q25. Is there a ‘tree of life’ in the city?

A. Yes, the tree of life is restored and the fruit is given for the healing of the nations under the twelve divisions, which are based on the twelve tribes of Israel.

Activities:

Construct the pillars for the front of the Temple

On the scale of 1 inch for a cubit, the bottles are ~ 4 inches in diameter and 17½ inches high, plus the bowl ~ 5 inches and chains and pomergranates on this bowl.
We used 2-litre plastic soda bottles for the upright aspect by cutting off the base of one bottle and stacking it on top of the other bottle. The bottom bottle can be filled with sand and tightly closed shut if you want to prevent the pillar from tipping over; duct tape can be used to secure the partial bottle on the base bottle before adding the tag board exterior. You are trying to get an object standing 17 ½ inches high.
Cut a piece of lightweight tag board 17½ inches by 16 inches. This allows for about a one-inch overlapping of the tag board on the backside of the pillar. Hot glue the tag board to the bottle. The tag board can be applied before or after the top bowl is added – it just depends on the person doing the assembly and what works best for them.
Cut the top aspect of a 3-litre bottle to serve as the open bowl – you are attempting to make it 5 inches deep. With minor modifications the opening of the 3-litre bottle will sit upon the 2-litre bottle. You can also secure it with duct tape; the join will be hidden or concealed behind the tag board.
Pompoms or small styrofoam balls can be glued onto the bowl to represent the two rows of 100 pomegranates per pillar.
Once the pillar (composed of the 2 x 2-litre bottles) has the bowl from a 3-litre bottle with pompoms glued and the cardboard in place, spray paint the entire object gold.
Add chains (purchased as cheap jewellery at a dollar store or craft store) on the lower edge of the bowl to make up the network or wreathen work. Secure with pushpins, hot glue or make hooks with bent paper clips secured into the plastic bowl.

2. Run for courtyard

Prepare an outdoor or large indoor area. As much as possible have things located in the correct places; e.g. the gate and Temple door faces east. Set up perimeter boundary with string. If possible use items in proportion for the pieces of furniture located in the courtyard.

Burnt offering altar 20 x20 x10 inches high.
Brazen sea: a large bowl 10 inches in across and 5 inches deep, possibly set on the backs of plastic bulls.
Pillars made as described as above.
Ten lavers as described in Brazen Sea and Ten Lavers (No. CB114).
Just use masking tape or a rough shape for the Temple 60 x 20 x 30 inches, plus the priestly chambers.

Children need to start at the front gate and run to each piece of furniture and pick up a question. Upon getting all the questions, the children move as a group from each piece of furniture to the next, answering questions about that piece of furniture or area of the courtyard that they picked up. The questions can be taken from the appropriate lessons:

3. Pomegranate toss

Toss pompoms into a pillar made from soda bottles as described above or place a plastic dish on a stand (inverted plastic trash can). Ideally, each team should have its own pillar.
Divide the children into two teams: Jachin’s and Boaz’s. Have the children call off the names Jachin or Boaz, and go to their respective teams and pillars.
Place the children at the start line; they must answer one of the questions correctly to be able to shoot a pompom into the pillar.
If a team misses a question, continue to keep that question in play until the children get the answer correct.
Have the distance appropriate for the ages tossing the pompoms.
The team with the most pompoms wins.