1 Kings 5 ~ You know that because of the wars waged against my father David from all sides, he could not build a temple for the Name of the Lord his God until the Lord put his enemies under his feet.

1 Kings 5

When Hiram king of Tyre heard that Solomon had been anointed king to succeed his father David, he sent his envoys to Solomon, because he had always been on friendly terms with David. 2 Solomon sent back this message to Hiram:

3 “You know that because of the wars waged against my father David from all sides, he could not build a temple for the Name of the Lord his God until the Lord put his enemies under his feet. 4 But now the Lord my God has given me rest on every side, and there is no adversary or disaster. 5 I intend, therefore, to build a temple for the Name of the Lord my God, as the Lord told my father David, when he said, ‘Your son whom I will put on the throne in your place will build the temple for my Name.’

6 “So give orders that cedars of Lebanon be cut for me. My men will work with yours, and I will pay you for your men whatever wages you set. You know that we have no one so skilled in felling timber as the Sidonians.”

7 When Hiram heard Solomon’s message, he was greatly pleased and said, 
“Praise be to the Lord today, for he has given David a wise son to rule over this great nation.”

8 So Hiram sent word to Solomon:
“I have received the message you sent me and will do all you want in providing the cedar and juniper logs. 9 My men will haul them down from Lebanon to the Mediterranean Sea, and I will float them as rafts by sea to the place you specify. There I will separate them and you can take them away. And you are to grant my wish by providing food for my royal household.”

10 In this way Hiram kept Solomon supplied with all the cedar and juniper logs he wanted, 11 and Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand cors of wheat as food for his household, in addition to twenty thousand baths of pressed olive oil. Solomon continued to do this for Hiram year after year. 12 The Lord gave Solomon wisdom, just as he had promised him. There were peaceful relations between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a treaty.

13 King Solomon conscripted laborers from all Israel—thirty thousand men. 14 He sent them off to Lebanon in shifts of ten thousand a month, so that they spent one month in Lebanon and two months at home. Adoniram was in charge of the forced labor. 15 Solomon had seventy thousand carriers and eighty thousand stonecutters in the hills, 16 as well as thirty-three hundred foremen who supervised the project and directed the workers. 17 At the king’s command they removed from the quarry large blocks of high-grade stone to provide a foundation of dressed stone for the temple. 18 The craftsmen of Solomon and Hiram and workers from Byblos cut and prepared the timber and stone for the building of the temple.

Yesterday we looked at the variations in saint's lives. Today we see Solomon as a saint (he returned to God fully in the wisdom of his later years). Solomon could have debunked David's wishes quite easily and instead speaks and then displays his desire to smooth out part of his father's life.

The reaction for many, many years to this "unique" God of the Jews, drew interest from around the world. Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus or Pompeil the Great was a General leader of the Roman Empire. The son-in-law of Julius Caesar's only Roman child, General Pompeii decided to stride into the Temple in Jerusalem and into the Holy of Holies. He was stopped by the sheer horror on the faces. And was quelled quickly. The high priests then told him Biblical history of the Ark's events. They did fail to mention to the General that the Holy of Holies in the Second Temple never contained the Ark of the Covenant.

This Temple has been a Wonder to the World for Millenniums. Multitudes for Millenniums of this world have been intrigued by those who traveled the world to see the Temple in Jerusalem, truly built for the worship of God and His Son.


How unusual is this - a Temple destroyed. For a World Wonder - this is fairly unique.

1 Parthenon, Acropolis. The Parthenon, located atop the Acropolis is a monument dedicated to the goddess Athena, a goddess of wisdom. ...
2 Valley of the Temples. ...
3 Temple of Hephaestus. ...
4 Paestum. ...
5 Doric Temple of Segesta. ...
6 Temple of Apollo Epicurius. ...
7 Erechtheum. ...
8 Temple of Zeus at Cyrene.




Rarer still - Papyrus 46, the 300 chapters of the New Testament written during the Beloved Disciple John's life time - tell us Jesus predicted the fall of the Temple and the rise of His unformed Church. Not many such prophecies exist for these other Temples.


The Words of Jesus are still available for the centuries because of those who fought for God, to bring us His Good News today:

Mark 13:2
"Do you see all these great buildings?" replied Jesus. "Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down."

All these stones are piled today the length of Mount Moriah

Tyre was prophetically lamented to be a perpetual ruin and IS - today. Yet the stones of Tyre exist partially on top of each other.

 
Alexander the Great went to Jerusalem when he found Ezekiel did prophesy of his making Tyre from an island to mainland. Alexander went an bowed deeply to the High Priest - assuring the very startled man he was really bowing to God and the Priest acted to Alexander as God's Ambassador on earth.

Matthew 13:16
16"But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. 17"For truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.


This chapter unites those who love Father God! We cheer for the building of God's Temple. And our hearts are warmed seeing the love Solomon displays to our David. We are grateful Solomon could see David's qualities we all love to see.

Hiram king of Tyre could have had a multitude of reactions to the news of God's Temple and we see joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness.

Because the Scriptures are true - we see self-control is missing. The builders are conscripted. We will Always Need God's Grace to reach Righteousness; even as all the Good News collides to Honor God so wonderfully.


Father God, You must say Finally seeing the peace of Jesus Christ rule hearts, we are called to be the Body of Christ. This is a very thankful passage.

Father God, we will rejoice as we strive for full restoration, encouraging one another, being of one mind, living in peace. You are a God of love and peace and will be with us.

We pray for the equipping of all saints for work building up of the body of Christ! A unity of faith, Jesus' Joy  in His Healing, helping us mature  to the fullness of Christ.

We say God Bless the Lord for the Joy in This Your Work. Amen in Jesus. 

♔ Lord Jesus Saves †