“Now Solomon purposed to build a house for the Name of the LORD and a royal palace for himself. So he conscripted 70,000 porters, 80,000 stonecutters in the mountains, and 3,600 supervisors.
Then Solomon sent word to Hiram king of Tyre: “Do for me as you did for my father David when you sent him cedars to build himself a house to live in. Behold, I am about to build a house for the Name of the LORD my God to dedicate to Him for burning fragrant incense before Him, for displaying the showbread continuously, and for making burnt offerings every morning and evening as well as on the Sabbaths, New Moons, and appointed feasts of the LORD our God. This is ordained for Israel forever. The house that I am building will be great, for our God is greater than all gods. But who is able to build a house for Him, since the heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain Him? Who then am I, that I should build a house for Him, except as a place to burn sacrifices before Him?
Send me, therefore, a craftsman skilled in engraving to work with gold and silver, with bronze and iron, and with purple, crimson, and blue yarn. He will work with my craftsmen in Judah and Jerusalem, whom my father David provided.
Send me also cedar, cypress, and algum logs from Lebanon, for I know that your servants have skill to cut timber there. And indeed, my servants will work with yours to prepare for me timber in abundance, because the temple I am building will be great and wonderful. I will pay your servants, the woodcutters, 20,000 cors of ground wheat, 20,000 cors of barley, 20,000 baths of wine, and 20,000 baths of olive oil. ” (20,000 cors is approximately 124,800 bushels or 4.4 million liters (probably about 3,800 tons or 3,400 metric tons of wheat). 20,000 cors is approximately 124,800 bushels or 4.4 million liters (probably about 2,910 tons or 2,700 metric tons of barley). 20,000 baths is approximately 116,000 gallons or 440,000 liters of wine. Or 20,000 baths of oil; that is, is approximately 116,000 gallons or 440,000 liters.)
Hiram’s Reply to Solomon (1 Kings 5:7-12)
Then Hiram king of Tyre wrote a letter in reply to Solomon: “Because the LORD loves His people, He has set you over them as king.” And Hiram added: “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who made the heavens and the earth! He has given King David a wise son with insight and understanding, who will build a temple for the LORD and a royal palace for himself.
So now I am sending you Huram-abi, a skillful man endowed with creativity. He is the son of a woman from the daughters of Dan, and his father is a man of Tyre. He is skilled in work with gold and silver, bronze and iron, stone and wood, purple, blue, and crimson yarn, and fine linen. He is experienced in every kind of engraving and can execute any design that is given him. He will work with your craftsmen and with those of my lord, your father David.
Now let my lord send to his servants the wheat, barley, olive oil, and wine he promised. We will cut logs from Lebanon, as many as you need, and we will float them to you as rafts by sea down to Joppa. Then you can take them up to Jerusalem.”
Solomon numbered all the foreign men in the land of Israel following the census his father David had conducted, and there were found to be 153,600 in all. Solomon made 70,000 of them porters, 80,000 stonecutters in the mountains, and 3,600 supervisors.”
Where was Tyre located? Ancient Tyre was at the southernmost border of what is now Lebanon. Built on an island connected to the mainland by a causeway, Tyre was a very wealthy merchant port. Even though Tyre had relatively small amounts of territory, it was extremely important because of its location. King Hiram of Tyre had been a close friend to King David and was now quite willing to assist David’s son.
Solomon asked Hiram to send him a skilled craftsman who could supervise all the other workers whom David had already assembled. In addition, Solomon asked Hiram to send him “timber in abundance,” cedar, cypress, and algum logs. Nobody is quite certain what “algum” or “almug” as it was sometimes written actually was; some sources believe this might have been sandal wood, which certainly would have been rare and exotic. In return, Solomon promised to send enormous amounts of grain, wine, and olive oil. For general laborers, Solomon forced the ”foreign men,” likely the Jebusites and others, to become porters, stone cutters, and supervisors.
APPLICATION: Ghana is littered with the walls of partially completed buildings. In some cases, individuals began building and then died, leaving their heirs to complete their work. Other such buildings may have been started under government contracts; changes in government negated the contracts. While David had already drawn up the plans for the temple, Solomon was the one tasked with completing it. Solomon was smart enough to make certain that he had the best advice possible and the most skilled craftsmen available.
Jesus once told his disciples a parable that when they were about to erect a building, they should sit down and first count the cost to avoid later embarrassment if they could not finish what they had started. Jesus told his disciples that parable to warn them that following Him would not be easy and that they should seriously count the cost before committing themselves. Jesus warned that discipleship would demand everything one has, without holding back anything.
There are some of us who would like to follow Jesus… just as long as it does not demand too much or upset our plans or interfere with our lives. But discipleship demands everything we are and everything we have. In an earlier age, a political compromiser was described as a “mugwump,” that is someone with his mug on one side of the political fence and his wump (rump) on the other. You can’t be a mugwump and follow Jesus!
If following Jesus is so demanding, why do it? The reward is eternal life, light, and peace. The alternative, following Satan, leads to death and damnation, not only eventually, but also in the present. Jim Elliot, the missionary martyr to the Auca Indians, once said, “He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” The choice is yours. Choose wisely.
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, let all who read this choose to follow You, the One True Living God. In the matchless Name of Your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.
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