Hello, my ‘Walking with Jesus” friends on this Wednesday,
Have you ever spent much time at a construction site? My Dad was a builder and whenever I smell sawdust or hear hammers or saws, I think of my Dad. But today, will you join me on one of the most remarkable construction sites of all time? Come to Jerusalem with me, about the year 967bc and let’s walk around the Temple mount construction site as materials for the great Temple of God are being assembled! It’s nothing short of spectacular, remarkable, amazing! Especially if you consider there is no Home Depot, no Lowes, no lumber yard, no cement trucks, no cranes!
The record of this remarkable SEVEN-year construction project is found in 1 Kings 5,6 & 2 Chronicles 2,3,4. Solomon understood some supplies were not available in Israel and so he made a trade deal with the King of Tyre, which is in Lebanon today, for a huge supply of the famous Cedars of Lebanon! (1 Kings 5:1-6) As you read through the letters exchanged between the two kings you’ll find it’s a lesson in honorable, mutually respectful, international negotiations built on the reputation of Solomon’s father King David. I see an important lesson here, my friends. Very likely our children and grandchildren may find themselves, years from now, long after you and I are gone, dealing with the results of the reputations you and I are building today.
You’ll also see King Solomon recruited skilled laborers, thousands of them, and sent them in shifts of 10,000 per month to work alongside the Lebanese loggers. (1 Kings 5:13,14) And then of course there were no great logging trucks or trains so as you carefully read, you’ll see the logs were hauled to the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, then floated south to Joppa (2 Chronicles 2:16) and hauled inland to Jerusalem! By the way, do you remember the significance of that town Joppa later in God’s Grand Narrative story? Yes, it’s the place from which Jonah jumped on a ship to flee from God’s assignment and ended up in the belly of a whale! (Jonah 1)
Years later Joppa is the place where Peter had a rooftop vision encounter with God and obediently went with an escort to Caesarea where Cornelius had a houseful of Gentiles who wanted to hear about Jesus! (Acts 10) Don’t you love how God often does amazing things in the very same place hundreds of years apart!? I’ve stood there in Joppa several times reading those great Bible stories!
So, Solomon has cedar logs coming from Lebanon, but he would also need stone blocks, LOTS of them, HUGE stone blocks, each piece very carefully cut out of the quarry and somehow dragged to the work site in Jerusalem! (1 Kings 5:15-18) Solomon’s crew chiefs recruited 150,000 workers for this huge project and each great stone was cut exactly to size so when they arrived at the work site they would be fitted together without sledgehammer. In fact, this statement amazes me: “In building the Temple, only blocks dressed at the quarry were used, and no hammer, chisel or any other iron tool was heard at the temple site while it was being built.” (1 Kings 6:7)
WHAT? If you’ve ever been at a construction site, you have perhaps seen many of the workers have earplugs in their ears because the construction noise can be ear piercing! Is it even possible to imagine a silent construction site with hundreds of workmen building one of the largest and most sophisticated buildings of that era? It is an unexplainable phenomenon, especially if you go to Jerusalem today and see the sheer enormity of some of those quarry hewn building boulders weighing several tons each!
As amazing as the major construction work was, I am even more enamored with the finesse work. The gold and silver and precious stones; the engravings and carvings in the wood; the 15-foot solid olive wood Cherubim, with their wings outstretched, to be placed in the gold plated Most Holy Place overshadowing the Ark of the Covenant! (1 Kings 6:19-30) As you read those descriptive verses carefully the image that should come into your mind will take your breath away. Nothing on earth at that time in history compared in grandeur or opulence! Please remember God Himself had given King David the plans for this Temple down to the smallest detail!
Now you might be wondering what Solomon was doing as these thousands of workers were building this remarkable Temple of worship. Among other things, Solomon was pouring out his God given wisdom, educating the people of Jerusalem, all who visited, and eventually the world! 1 Kings 4:29-34 describes some of Solomon’s scientific, biological and literary wisdom which he poured out for scribes to record. This statement is stunning: “Solomon spoke three thousand proverbs, and his songs numbered a thousand and five. He spoke about plant life, from the cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of walls. He also spoke about animals and birds, reptiles and fish. From all nations people came to listen to Solomon’s wisdom…” (1 Kings 4:32-34)
Today my friends may I urge you to carefully, slowly read 1 Kings 5,6 and 2 Chronicles 2,3,4 and I promise you that you’ll frequently shake your head in amazement, perhaps even disbelief, as you consider this remarkable, God anointed young King Solomon, and all he was accomplishing. Then imagine yourself walking around the construction site on the Temple mount, watching one of the great construction scenes of all time.
I think you’ll find yourself drawn to praise God for His majesty in Jerusalem in those years! And then in closing today, reflect on this one statement God made to Solomon: “I will live among the Israelites and will not abandon My people.” (1 Kings 6:13) All this grandeur in Jerusalem was happening at God’s direction because of God’s love for His people and His desire to be at home among them! Did you know that’s why the Holy Spirit of God lives here, today, in the lives of God’s people, all around the world?!
I wonder if often in the cool of the evening King Solomon walked around the construction singing songs, perhaps like the one I found for us today. Oh my, we need to pause and ponder the significance of all this…and worship our great God! And I’ll meet you here again tomorrow…
Today’s Scripture: 1 Kings 5, 6.
Choose below to read or listen.
 |  |
1 Kings 6
Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
Archived back issues of “Walking with Jesus” and other resources are available by clicking here to open our ‘home page’ (or go to HOME at upper right of this page).
Share with friends. Subscribe below for daily “Walking with Jesus”.