12/19/2010 8:53:15 AM
SPIRITUAL DIARY
My Worship Time Focus: Securing the materials
Bible Reading
& Meditation Reference: 1Kings 5:1-12; 2Chron. 2:1-16
Message of the verses: “1 ¶
Now Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon, when he heard that
they had anointed him king in place of his father, for Hiram had always been a
friend of David. 2 Then Solomon sent
word to Hiram, saying, 3 "You know
that David my father was unable to build a house for the name of the LORD his
God because of the wars which surrounded him, until the LORD put them under the
soles of his feet. 4 "But now the
LORD my God has given me rest on every side; there is neither adversary nor
misfortune. 5 "Behold, I intend to
build a house for the name of the LORD my God, as the LORD spoke to David my
father, saying, ’Your son, whom I will set on your throne in your place, he
will build the house for My name.’ 6
"Now therefore, command that they cut for me cedars from Lebanon,
and my servants will be with your servants; and I will give you wages for your
servants according to all that you say, for you know that there is no one among
us who knows how to cut timber like the Sidonians." 7 When Hiram heard the words of Solomon, he
rejoiced greatly and said, "Blessed be the LORD today, who has given to
David a wise son over this great people." 8 So Hiram sent word to Solomon, saying,
"I have heard the message which you have sent me; I will do what you
desire concerning the cedar and cypress timber. 9 "My servants will bring them down from
Lebanon to the sea; and I will make them into rafts to go by sea to the place
where you direct me, and I will have them broken up there, and you shall carry
them away. Then you shall accomplish my desire by giving food to my
household."
“ 10 ¶ So Hiram gave Solomon as
much as he desired of the cedar and cypress timber. 11 Solomon then gave Hiram 20,000 kors of wheat
as food for his household, and twenty kors of beaten oil; thus Solomon would
give Hiram year by year. 12 The LORD gave wisdom to Solomon,
just as He promised him; and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon,
and the two of them made a covenant.”
“1
¶ Now Solomon decided to build a house
for the name of the LORD and a royal palace for himself. 2 So Solomon assigned 70,000 men to carry loads
and 80,000 men to quarry stone in the mountains and 3,600 to supervise them.
3 Then Solomon sent word to Huram the
king of Tyre, saying, "As you dealt with David my father and sent him
cedars to build him a house to dwell in, so do for me. 4 "Behold, I am about to build a house for
the name of the LORD my God, dedicating it to Him, to burn fragrant incense
before Him and to set out the showbread continually, and to offer burnt
offerings morning and evening, on sabbaths and on new moons and on the
appointed feasts of the LORD our God, this being required forever in Israel.
5 "The house which I am about to
build will be great, for greater is our God than all the gods. 6 "But who is able to build a house for
Him, for the heavens and the highest heavens cannot contain Him? So who am I,
that I should build a house for Him, except to burn incense before Him? 7 "Now send me a skilled man to work in
gold, silver, brass and iron, and in purple, crimson and violet fabrics, and
who knows how to make engravings, to work with the skilled men whom I have in
Judah and Jerusalem, whom David my father provided. 8 "Send me also cedar, cypress and algum
timber from Lebanon, for I know that your servants know how to cut timber of
Lebanon; and indeed my servants will work with your servants, 9 to prepare timber in abundance for me, for
the house which I am about to build will be great and wonderful. 10 "Now behold, I will give to your
servants, the woodsmen who cut the timber, 20,000 kors of crushed wheat and
20,000 kors of barley, and 20,000 baths of wine and 20,000 baths of oil."
“11 ¶ Then Huram, king of Tyre,
answered in a letter sent to Solomon: "Because the LORD loves His people,
He has made you king over them." 12
Then Huram continued, "Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who
has made heaven and earth, who has given King David a wise son, endowed with
discretion and understanding, who will build a house for the LORD and a royal palace
for himself. 13 "Now I am sending
Huram-abi, a skilled man, endowed with understanding, 14 the son of a Danite woman and a Tyrian
father, who knows how to work in gold, silver, bronze, iron, stone and wood,
and in purple, violet, linen and crimson fabrics, and who knows how to make all
kinds of engravings and to execute any design which may be assigned to him, to
work with your skilled men and with those of my lord David your father. 15 "Now then, let my lord send to his
servants wheat and barley, oil and wine, of which he has spoken. 16 "We will cut whatever timber you need
from Lebanon and bring it to you on rafts by sea to Joppa, so that you may
carry it up to Jerusalem.’”
I
think that the important things for this passage are that it was the Lord who
gave the plans for the temple to David to pass on to Solomon, and it was the
Lord who provided the necessary men and material, along with the plans, and
also the man who would led this project in Solomon. Another thing that strikes me is that the
Lord had promised that someday the people of Israel would be an established
nation and at that time the Lord would chose a place for them to come and
worship Him, and now that the Lord had given victory over the enemies of Israel
through King David, that time had arrived and now that David had won most of
the lands that the Lord had promised Israel it was time for the Lord t act and
to have a temple built for His glory, and He chose Solomon to accomplish this
project. In today’s standards it was an unbelievable
amount of gold some 3,800 tons and 38,000 tons of silver, along with and amount
of bronze and iron that could not be counted.
Solomon
got in contact with Hiram, a neighboring king and friend of David, to help him
with this project. Hiram would send
timbers and people for this project to aid Solomon in the building of this
temple. The project began in the first
month on the calendar that was used by the nation of Israel, which is April/May
in our calendar, and it is interesting to note that when the people came back
from Babylonian that they started that temple at the exact time.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I can see a parallel here as the Church is
the Temple of the Lord, for all believers are God’s temple because the Holy
Spirit dwells in all believers. The Lord
Jesus Christ said that He would build His Church and the gates of Hell would
not stop this from happening. I believe
that as the Lord gave the wisdom and plans for building the OT temple He will
also give plans for believers, including me, to help in the building of His
Church for His glory just as the temple was built for His glory. I want very much to be a part of this
building project of the Lord, to be used for His honor and glory in building
His Church. I believe that the Lord has
given me plans to accomplish this for His honor and glory. (Ephesians 2:10)
My Steps of
Faith for Today:
1.
Give myself to the Lord for worship and honor.
2.
Trust the Lord to direct my path today.
3.
Trust the Lord to see me through the process of removing
the stents that are in my body tomorrow, that He will give me grace and peace,
and victory over the wiles of the evil one who continues to mess with my mind.
4.
A reminder that I am in a battle each and every day
and always in need of the spiritual armor.
12/19/2010 9:27:28 AM
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