Bibledoorajar walks the Royal Bridge with the Queen

     The time for the royal retinue to move from the palace of Solomon to the temple in order to worship God and give offerings had come. And the foreign enquirer, the queen, was being allowed to go with the king. God had made it plain. There was to be a place made for foreign enquirers who seriously sought the God of Israel. It was necessary to ascend from the new palace up to the inner court of the temple, also called the royal porch.
     In artistic renderings one can see the huge bridge built on arches that spanned the valley between the palace and the temple. Scholars tell us that the royal bridge was 250 feet long and 62  feet wide. Single spanning stones in this bridge measured 24 feet wide! As the royal entourage made its way up the bridge, the view of the valley below was breathtaking. The city of Jerusalem with all its buildings and gardens lay down below about 225 feet. Not only could the entourage look down on all the city's splendor, but the people could also look up and observe the royal splendor. I can almost feel the excitement of the queen as she traversed the bridge knowing that she was going to a temple whose God claimed to be the one and only true God. The splendor of the ascent was magnificent, an astounding work of architecture. Psalms 127, was one of the psalms of ascent. Solomon possibly conceived the psalm as he approached the temple via this route. In the psalm, Solomon declares that unless the Lord build a house, it is built in vain. We build but, if in our building we do not realize that we must humbly ask that God help us build, we have built in a lessor fashion that will be in vain. Solomon points out that it is God that helps the watchman watch and protect His people. And, lastly, he cites that God helps his people build families by giving them children. All our security in all our efforts comes from Him. So, no matter how wonderful the ascent was in the natural, the thought of ascending to worship our God and all that He secures for His people was even more lofty.
    Inside the temple, the queen was impressed with the burnt offerings that Solomon brought. In Solomon's temple the size of the altar increased by 4 times in length and 3 and 1/3 times in height to that of the wilderness tabernacle. Here, all animal nature would be totally consumed and the smoke would rise as incense before God. The amount of sacrifices that Solomon had offered to God time after time was staggering, showing his complete devotion to his God. In this effort he, of course, needed the assistance of priests who served voluntarily in their capacity. The priest would slaughter and burn the animals whose lives would be given in the people's stead. Such was the divine order and Solomon wanted God to know how sincerely he believed and trusted his God. Such a relationship between a worshipper and his God greatly impressed the queen.
    Scholars tell us that years later Jerusalem looked up at that royal bridge and saw one greater than Solomon being led to meet with the Sanhedrin and to the judgement of Pilate. How great was His ascent and how great would be His offering. Thank you Lord, perfect Lamb, perfect High Priest, perfect Redeemer! So great was your ascent that Christians everywhere repeatedly worship and offer the praises You so richly deserve. May our offerings be as abundant as those of Solomon!