And the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with pure gold;
Chapter 9 shows Solomon at the peak of his reign, and verse 17 stops on a single object: the seat he made for himself. Commentators read its ivory, its gold and its steps as a picture. They see a kingdom built on righteousness, and a greater King who has yet to sit.
The verse names the throne but not its place. One commentator gives the setting and what stood around it.
Solomon also had a great throne of ivory overlaid with gold (v. 17). This was in the House of the Forest of Lebanon, placed in a special Hall made for it, called the Hall of Judgment (1 Ki. 7:7). Six steps led up to the throne. A gold footstool was attached to it, and two gold lions stood beside the arm rests, one on each side. A lion also stood on each side of each of the six steps (v. 19), so 12 lions stood on the steps, no doubt representing the 12 tribes of Israel.
Gold shows up everywhere in Solomon's reign. One writer says what it stands for.
Gold, the emblem of divine righteousness, stands out everywhere under Solomon's reign, from the temple to the throne. The throne was wonderful: "Nothing like it was ever made in any kingdom." It was the throne of righteousness and of power, and it carried the emblems of both.
Another writer shows how far the gold covering reached, and whose reign it points to.
The steps and lions counted as part of the throne. Since the throne had six steps, the gold overlay covered every step and every lion. Nothing like this was true of any other kingdom. The gold speaks of the glory of God. That glory will be supreme in the glorious high throne of the Lord Jesus in His kingdom. His reign of great prosperity will be altogether for God's glory.
The carved lions carry a tribal meaning. One commentator traces it back to the family the kings came from.
Judah is the royal tribe whose ensign was a lion, and from him Messiah sprang. Lions stand for the majesty and dignity of Israel's throne. When we think about that, we begin to see the true dignity of the nation, joined as it is to the Son of David.
Solomon built the throne, but Scripture keeps calling it David's. One writer follows that detail forward.
It is worth noting that the throne is always called David's throne, not Solomon's or any other king's (1 Kings 2:12; Jer. 13:13; Jer. 29:16). Solomon made a throne (1 Kings 10:18; 2 Chr. 9:17-18). The divine record reads, "Nothing like it was ever made in any kingdom" (1 Kings 10:20)… All this has symbolic teaching and interest. It will have its fulfillment in the One who is to sit upon the throne of David in power and glory for a thousand years.
One writer reads the words about no kingdom making its like as a promise. He also separates the seat Christ holds now from the seat still to come.
Right now He sits on His Father's throne, at His right hand, according to this word: "Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool" (Ps. 110:1)… It is as though He were saying to Him: Take this supreme and glorious place, my Son, until I have prepared a throne for You. It must surpass every other throne. No throne like it will ever be made in any kingdom. None who rise up against You will be spared; they will be crushed. Your victory over them will be the first step by which You climb to the throne. The throne of the victorious Son of Man will be like no other, after the willing humiliation that brought Him lower than the worst of sinners.
Solomon was not the only king who built with ivory. One writer compares what lasted and what did not.
Solomon made a great throne of ivory, and Ahab made an ivory house, but the King of kings will have ivory palaces that will endure. No one hears of Solomon's ivory throne again after it was built, and Scripture mentions Ahab's ivory house only after he had died. But the ivory palaces of Christ will remain all through the millennium. They will reflect the glory of the Great King, show the stability of His kingdom, and display the abundance of His resources.
- Righteousness — the gold on the throne stands for divine righteousness. Solomon's seat held righteousness and power together.
- Royalty — the lion was the emblem of Judah, the royal tribe Messiah came from. It marks the majesty of Israel's throne.
- Reach — commentators take the twelve lions on the steps as the twelve tribes, the whole nation gathered under one throne.
- Unrivalled — nothing like it was ever made in any kingdom. Commentators read that as a promise: the throne prepared for the Son of Man will surpass every other.
- Enduring — Solomon's ivory throne vanishes from the record after it was built. The glory it pictured belongs to a King whose kingdom stands.
and the throne had six steps, with a footstool of gold fastened to the throne; and there were arms on each side at the place of the seat, and two lions stood beside the arms;
This verse walks around Solomon's throne piece by piece: six steps, a gold footstool, armrests, two lions. Commentators read each detail as a statement about the king who sat there, and about a greater King still to come.
Solomon's throne stood in a hall built for one job: judging.
Solomon also had a great throne of ivory overlaid with gold (v. 17). This was in the House of the Forest of Lebanon, placed in a special Hall made for it, called the Hall of Judgment (1 Ki. 7:7). Six steps ascended to the throne. A footstool of gold was fastened to the throne, and beside the arm rests were two gold lions, one on each side. On each side of the six steps a lion stood (v. 19), so 12 lions stood on the steps, no doubt representing the 12 tribes of Israel.
The hall was built so that the throne was what you saw at the end of it.
Your eye passed through the forest of cedar pillars in the central part of the building to the second porch. At its far end rose a throne of gold and ivory, wonderfully made. On that throne you could gaze at the glorious king: peaceable Solomon, Jedidiah, the beloved of the Lord, whose wisdom no one ever surpassed — the righteous king doing righteousness.
The footstool of gold belongs to a pattern. Gold covers the temple, and gold covers the throne. One writer reads the metal itself as a statement about this reign.
Gold, the emblem of divine righteousness, stands out everywhere under Solomon's reign, from the temple to the throne. The throne was amazing: nothing like it was ever made in any kingdom. It was the throne of righteousness and of power, and it carried the emblems of both.
Two lions stood where the king's hands rested. The lion was the sign of one particular tribe.
Judah is the royal tribe, and its banner carried a lion. The Messiah came from Judah. Lions stand for the majesty and dignity of Israel's throne. Once we see that, we get some sense of the nation's true dignity, joined as it is to the Son of David.
Elsewhere in Scripture the same animal ties strength to the right to rule.
The lion is called the strongest of the animals, the one that turns back from nothing (Prov. 30:30). So the lion can stand for strength, and in that sense the Lord is called the lion of the tribe of Judah. Royalty comes with that title, because Judah was the tribe that held the royal sceptre (Gen. 49:9-10; Rev. 5:5).
Six turns up again and again in the numbers around Solomon.
The number six keeps showing up in the description of Solomon's glories. His ivory throne had six steps. In a single year he brought in 666 talents of gold. Each of his 200 large shields took 600 shekels of gold... Six is the number of man, and it speaks of incompleteness and imperfection... Seven means completeness and perfection. Earth will never know that until the Man of God's eternal choice comes out in His might.
The same number is then applied to Solomon himself.
SIX. Incompleteness, imperfection (one short of the perfect number seven). Solomon had six steps to his great throne, 1 Kings 10:19; but the throne was not high enough to save him from idolatry.
The footstool at Solomon's feet comes back in a promise made to Christ.
Right now He sits on His Father's throne, at His right hand, as this word says: "Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool" (Ps. 110:1)... It is as though the Father were saying to Him: take this supreme and glorious place, my Son, until I have prepared a throne for you. It must surpass every other throne. Nothing like it will ever be made in any kingdom... Your victory over them will be the first step by which you climb to the throne.
One writer sets Solomon's ivory throne beside what Christ will own.
Solomon made a great throne of ivory, and Ahab made an ivory house, but the King of kings will have ivory palaces that will endure. The ivory throne of Solomon was never heard of after its construction... but the ivory palaces of Christ will remain throughout the millennium. They will reflect the glory of the Great King, show that His kingdom is stable, and display the abundance of His resources.
- Gold — gold covered the temple, and gold covered this throne. It marks a seat of righteousness and power.
- Lions — the lions at the armrests carry the sign of Judah, the royal tribe. They point past Solomon to the Son of David.
- Twelve — twelve lions lined the steps, read as the twelve tribes: the whole nation around one seat of judgment.
- Six — six steps, one short of seven. Man's best is still incomplete, and the height did not keep Solomon from idolatry.
- Footstool — the gold footstool points on to Christ. He now sits at God's right hand, waiting for a throne no kingdom will match.
and twelve lions stood there on the one side and on the other upon the six steps there was not the like made in any kingdom.
The record counts out twelve lions on the six steps of Solomon's throne, one at each end of every stair. Why keep such detail, and what did a throne like this say about the king who sat on it?
The throne did not stand in Solomon's home. It stood in a hall built for it, set apart for judging cases.
Solomon also had a great throne of ivory overlaid with gold (v. 17). This was in the House of the Forest of Lebanon, placed in a special Hall made for it, called the Hall of Judgment (1 Ki. 7:7). Six steps led up to the throne. A gold footstool was fixed to the throne, and beside the arm rests stood two gold lions, one on each side. A lion stood on each side of the six steps (v. 19), so there were 12 lions on the steps, no doubt standing for the 12 tribes of Israel.
The lion was not a random ornament. It was the sign of Judah, the royal tribe.
Judah is the royal tribe whose emblem was a lion, and the Messiah came from him. Lions stand for the majesty and dignity of Israel's throne. Think about that, and you get some sense of the true dignity of the nation, joined as it is to the Son of David.
So the sign of Judah stood on every step up to the king.
Gold covered the whole structure, and it carried a meaning beyond wealth.
Gold, the emblem of divine righteousness, stands out everywhere under Solomon's reign, from the temple to the throne. The throne was marvellous: "Nothing like it was ever made for any kingdom." It was the throne of righteousness and of power, and it carried the emblems of both.
Even the steps were not bare wood.
These lions counted as part of the throne. The throne had six steps, so the gold that covered it covered all those steps and lions too. No other kingdom had anything like this. The gold speaks of the glory of God, and that glory will be supreme in the great high throne of the Lord Jesus in His kingdom.
A flaw runs through the splendour. Six appears again and again in the account of Solomon's wealth.
The use of the number six in the description of Solomon's glories is noticeable. His ivory throne had six steps. In a single year he brought in 666 talents of gold. He used 600 shekels of gold for each of his 200 shields... Six is the number of man, and it speaks of incompleteness and imperfection. The super-man of the last days, who will win the world's admiration, has 666 for the number of his name (Rev. 13:18). Seven means completeness and perfection, but no one on earth can experience that until the Man of God's eternal choice comes out in His might.
Height of position could not secure the man who held it. Solomon climbed six golden stairs and still came down into idol worship.
SIX. Incompleteness, imperfection (one short of the perfect number seven). Solomon had six steps to his great throne, 1 Kings 10:19; but it was not high enough to save him from idolatry.
No kingdom ever matched this throne. Commentators point past Solomon to a greater King, who sits somewhere else for now.
At present He is seated on His Father's throne, at His right hand, according to this word: "The LORD says to my Lord: 'Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool'" (Ps. 110:1). By these words, "Sit at my right hand," God the Father expressed His complete satisfaction with the work the Son of Man had finished. It is as though He were saying to Him: Take this supreme and glorious place, my Son, until I have prepared a throne for You. It must surpass every other throne. Nothing like it will ever be made in any kingdom. None who rise up against You will be spared; they will be crushed. Your victory over them will be the first step by which You climb to the throne.
- Place — The throne stood in a hall built for it, called the Hall of Judgment. It was made for settling cases.
- Guard — Twelve lions carried the emblem of Judah, the royal tribe. They stood for the majesty and dignity of Israel's throne, one lion, it is suggested, for each tribe.
- Gold — Gold covered the throne and the steps alike. It marked out righteousness and the glory of God. This was a throne of righteousness and power together.
- Flaw — The six steps are the number of man, incomplete, one short of seven. The height of the seat never saved Solomon from idolatry.
- Fulfilment — What no kingdom could match points past Solomon to Christ. He sits now at the Father's right hand. He waits there until a throne greater than every other is ready for Him.