2 Chronicles 4:4
The Sea stood on twelve oxen, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east. The Sea rested on them, with all their hindquarters toward the center.
Sermons
Acceptable WorshipW. Clarkson 2 Chronicles 4:1-6
The Furniture of the Holy CourtJ. Wolfendale.2 Chronicles 4:1-10
The Molten SeaHomiletical Commentary2 Chronicles 4:1-10














He made an altar of brass. This is a simple sentence enough, but it is one which had a great significance to the people of God. For to that brazen altar they came for many generations, and there they either worshipped/ God and gained his Divine favour, or they failed to do the one and to secure the other. It was the place of sanctity or profanation, of victory or defeat. It, with the various regulations that applied to it and provisions that were made for it, taught them, and it teaches us -

I. THAT MAN MAY MEET WITH GOD, IN WORSHIP AND COMMUNION. God is not so far removed from us in his nature, nor are we so separated from him by our sin, but that he is willing to draw nigh to us, is indeed desirous of meeting us. He is the Infinite and Eternal One, imeasurably above us; but he is our heavenly Father, profoundly interested in us and mindful of us. He is the Holy One, who hates all manner of iniquity; but he is also the Merciful One, delighting to forgive and to restore. He, therefore, not only permits his human children to meet him at his altar, in the sanctuary, but he positively enjoins this as a sacred duty; he is displeased when we neglect to do so. But, apart from its obligatoriness, it is "a good thing" for us, an exalted privilege and a most valuable opportunity, "to draw nigh to God."

II. THAT THERE HE SHOULD SEEK GOD'S MERCY. This altar of brass was to receive sacrifices; and among these, sin offerings and trespass offerings were to be conspicuous. We are to draw near to the God whom we have grieved and wronged, with the language of confession on our lips, pleading the great sacrifice as a propitiation for our sin.

III. THAT THERE HE SHOULD DEDICATE (RE-DEDICATE) HIMSELF TO HIS SERVICE. Burnt offerings (holocausts) and peace offerings as well as sin offerings were presented at that brazen altar. In the house of the Lord we are to consecrate our whole selves to him, and are to recognize that all we have and are is his, to be spent in his fear and service.

IV. THAT HE MUST SEE TO IT THAT BOTH HIMSELF AND HIS SACRIFICE ARE PURE. In that "molten sea (ver. 2) the priests were to wash, that they themselves might be unspotted when engaged in their sacred work. And in the layers (ver. 6) they were to wash such things as they offered for the burnt offering," the "gifts and sacrifices themselves." Both offerers and offerings were to be perfectly pure when the Holy One of Israel was approached in worship. And with what purity of heart should we draw nigh to him now! It is only those who have "clean hands and a pure heart" that can "see God," or that will be accepted by him. It is only those who worship "in spirit" who worship him at all (John 4:24). And as now we all - the whole Christian community - are "priests unto God," and are charged to present "spiritual sacrifices" unto him, it becomes us to remember that both

(1) our own hearts and also

(2) our sacrifices, i.e. our thoughts, our feelings, our purposes, our vows, our prayers, our praises, must be "clean" and pure We must be clean who "bear the vessels of the Lord," who speak his truth, who lead his people in prayer to himself. And the spiritual "gifts" of all who worship him must be cleansed of all impurity, of all selfishness and worldliness, of all insincerity, of all unholy rivalry or envy, that they may "come up with acceptance" in the sight of God. - C.

And the entry of the house.
This, central, conspicuous, and attractive, suggesting —

I. ACCESS TO GOD IN CHRISTIAN WORSHIP.

II. ACCESS TO SYMBOLIC BEAUTY IN CHRISTIAN WORSHIP.

1. Perfection of gold, or material prosperity given to God.

2. Palms — growth and fruitfulness in Christian life.

3. Flowers — beauty and fragrance in Christian character.

4. Cherubims — alacrity in God's service.

(J. Wolfendale.)

A fine house cannot make a fine tenant; a first-class carriage cannot make a first-class traveller; a man might sit down on a monarch's throne, and not be a sovereign; he might even look like a king, and be only a clown. Decoration is useless, if it does not express something beyond itself, something spiritual, ideal, transcendental. The picture is nothing if it does not in reality speak, not indeed to the ear of the body, but to the attention of the soul. It is an amusing irony to see some people clothed in purple and fine linen, because there is really no connection between them and their clothes; we expect them to speak musically, and lo! their tones fill our mouths as with gravel-stones. We expect a man to be at least as elegant as his clothes, and when he is not we do not blame the garments; it is more their misfortune than their fault that they should be where they are. So when we read the specification of temples and palaces we say, "What does it amount to? What is this grandeur worth in helping and blessing the world? What is civilisation to end in?"

(J. Parker, D.D.).

People
Huram, Solomon
Places
Jordan River, Most Holy Place, Succoth, Zeredah
Topics
Bulls, Center, East, Facing, Hinder, Hindquarters, Inward, Inwards, Middle, North, Oxen, Rested, Resting, South, Standing, Stood, Supported, Towards, Twelve, Water-vessel, West, Within
Outline
1. The altar of brass
2. The molten sea upon twelve oxen
6. The ten lavers, candlesticks, and tables
9. The courts, and the instruments of brass
19. The instruments of gold

Dictionary of Bible Themes
2 Chronicles 4:1-22

     5207   architecture

2 Chronicles 4:2-6

     5272   craftsmen

2 Chronicles 4:3-4

     4615   bull

2 Chronicles 4:4-5

     4446   flowers
     4472   lily

Library
The First Part
Of the Apocalyptical Commentaries, according to the Rule of the Apocalyptical Key, on the First Prophecy which is contained in the Seals and Trumpets; with an Introduction concerning the Scene of the Apocalypse. As it is my design to investigate the meaning of the Apocalyptical visions, it is requisite for me to treat, in the first place, of that celestial theatre to which John was called, in order to behold them, exhibited as on a stage, and afterwards of the prophecies in succession, examined by
Joseph Mede—A Key to the Apocalypse

Sanctification.
VI. Objections answered. I will consider those passages of scripture which are by some supposed to contradict the doctrine we have been considering. 1 Kings viii. 46: "If they sin against thee, (for there is no man that sinneth not,) and thou be angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captives unto the land of the enemy, far or near," etc. On this passage, I remark:-- 1. That this sentiment in nearly the same language, is repeated in 2 Chron. vi. 26, and in Eccl.
Charles Grandison Finney—Systematic Theology

Chronicles
The comparative indifference with which Chronicles is regarded in modern times by all but professional scholars seems to have been shared by the ancient Jewish church. Though written by the same hand as wrote Ezra-Nehemiah, and forming, together with these books, a continuous history of Judah, it is placed after them in the Hebrew Bible, of which it forms the concluding book; and this no doubt points to the fact that it attained canonical distinction later than they. Nor is this unnatural. The book
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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