GOD’S WORD FOR YOU
2 CHRONICLES 2:1-10
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2:1 Solomon promised to build a temple for the Name of the LORD, and a royal palace for himself. 2 Solomon assigned seventy-thousand men to lift and carry and eighty thousand to quarry stone in the hill country, and thirty-six hundred to oversee them. 3 And Solomon sent word to Hiram the king of Tyre:
We will learn more about the reason for these specific numbers (70,000, 80,000 and 3,600) at the end of the chapter. The phrase “the Name of the LORD” is used as a worship term as early as Genesis 4:26, when, in the day of Seth’s son Enosh, “men began to call on the Name of the LORD,” which means that they began to preach about the LORD, since unbelief and errors had already begun to appear as early as the third generation after Adam and Eve. Solomon’s temple and palace are often linked together in the narrative, partly (perhaps) because they were ways the king had to establish his dynasty, but also because they were built at the same time.
A correspondence with Hiram, king of Tyre, is included here. The request of Solomon and the response of Hiram is not exactly identical with the parallel account in 1 Kings 5; either the letters are condensed (some appearing in Kings and some here), or there were more than two letters, or else this retelling is just a little modified for the reader. It doesn’t matter. It is a true account of what was said by the two men; the Holy Spirit has a message to proclaim to us.
“You sent my father David cedar to build himself a house to live in. As you did for him, please send cedar to me. 4 I am building a house for the Name of the LORD my God and to dedicate it to him for the burning of fragrant incense before him, and for the continual arrangement of the Bread of the Presence, and for burnt offerings morning and evening, for the Sabbaths, and the new moons and the appointed festivals of the LORD our God. This is a permanent ordinance for Israel.
Hiram had worked with David, and the two kingdoms had traded together. Now Solomon wants to reaffirm that relationship, and to benefit from the resources of Lebanon to the northwest, especially their huge forests.
It is interesting to see some foreshadowing here in Solomon’s description of right worship, since these things were used as measuring sticks against the sins of later kings of Judah. First, the temple was the right place to burn incense to the Lord. But Ahaz (12th king of Judah) burned incense on the high places like the heathens, as did the kings of Israel in the north (2 Chronicles 28:4). The table for the Bread of the Presence was one of the important things that was restored in the reign of King Hezekiah (13th king), along with the regular morning and evening sacrifices (2 Chronicles 29:18; 31:3).
5 The temple I am going to build will be great, because our God is greater than all other gods. 6 But who is able to build a temple for him? Heaven, even the highest heaven, cannot contain him. Who am I to build a temple for him, except as a place to burn sacrifices before him?
We don’t need to shout out and say, “Aha! Solomon already showed leanings toward believing in “other gods!” This was a matter of regular speech. David said, “The LORD is to be feared above all gods” (1 Chronicles 16:25; Psalm 96:4). And other Psalms say things like this (Psalm 95:3; 97:9). Solomon wonders, “Who could ever build a temple worthy of the great God, the Maker of all things?” With great humility and clarity, he admits: I can only build a place where people will burn sacrifices for him. The pagans can say that their gods live in the temples that they build, but that isn’t true in any way. The pagan gods are nothing; figments of people’s imaginations and objects of mythology and superstition. But the true God won’t dwell here in this temple, either. He resides in the highest Heaven (2 Corinthians 12:2), and he resides in the flesh and believing spirits of his faithful people (1 Corinthians 6:19).
7 Please send me a man skilled to work in gold, silver, bronze and iron, and also in purple, crimson and blue yarn, and skilled in engraving. He will work with my skilled craftsmen in Judah and Jerusalem, whom my father David provided.
This verse is a request for an expert craftsman. Either Solomon had looked and found no one with quite these qualifications in Israel (although he hints that there is already at least a small group of craftsmen), or else there was a well-known man living in Tyre. I think that the latter possibility is probably right. It would be like asking the Duke of Milan, “Do you have a good artist to help with a project”? knowing full well that Leonardo DaVinci was at his court. This man, we will soon learn, was the great Huram-Abi, “a man of great skill” (2 Chronicles 2:13; 1 Kings 17:14).
8 Also, please send me cedar, pine and algum logs from Lebanon, for I know that your men are skilled in cutting timber there. My men will work with yours 9 to provide plenty of lumber for me, because the temple I build must be large and magnificent. 10 I will give your servants, the woodsmen who cut the timber, twenty thousand cors of ground wheat, twenty thousand cors of barley, twenty thousand baths of wine and twenty thousand baths of olive oil.”
A different amount of pay and supplies is given in 1 Kings 5:11. But the difference is only this, that Solomon gave Hiram 20,000 cors of wheat and 20,000 baths of oil, and that Solomon did this “year after year.” Is the difference (a) that in 1 Kings, it was a proposal that was finalized (and modified) as reported here in 2 Chronicles? Or (b) that in 1 Kings 5 the yearly amount was reported, but here in 2 Chronicles an initial payment for the workers is detailed? Or (c) the 1 Kings 5 amount (wheat and oil) was the yearly amount for Hiram court, but the 2 Chronicles 2 amount (wheat, barley, wine and oil) was the yearly amount for the workers? It could be any of these, but the last one seems as likely as the others.
Solomon made plans for his provisions. Was it the best way to go about things? His method renewed old diplomatic relations and helped to secure peace on his border with at least one nation. As one writer said: “Solomon reigned in days of peace, and God gave him rest on every side, that he might build a house for his name and prepare a sanctuary to stand for ever.”
God’s greatness works in the church and also in the state. Saintly men like David and Solomon “administered public affairs, underwent troubles and dangers, taught the gospel, battled against heretics. It is truly worthwhile to hear of these things and to see examples of God’s mercy.” But whether they are godly men or not, we owe the government respect as God’s servant (1 Peter 2:13-14). “This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. Give to everyone what you owe him” (Romans 13:6-7). And pray for them, whether you love them or not, just as the prophets prayed for their kings (Psalm 5:2; Jeremiah 37:3).
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
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Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, New Ulm, Minnesota
God’s Word for You – 2 Chronicles 2:1-10 A letter to the King of Tyre