Skilled Labor

1 Kings 5:1-18

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 always loved David.

2 And Solomon sent word to Hiram,

3 “You know that David my father could not build a house for the name of the Lord his God because of the warfare with which his enemies 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 And so I intend to build a house for the name of the Lord my God, as the Lord said to David my father, ‘Your son, whom I will set on your throne in your place, shall build the house for my name.’

6 Now therefore command that cedars of Lebanon be cut for me. And my servants will join your servants, and I will pay you for your servants such wages as you set, for you know that there is no one among us who knows how to cut timber like the Sidonians.”

7 As soon as Hiram heard the words of Solomon, he rejoiced greatly and said, “Blessed be the Lord this day, who has given to David a wise son to be over this great people.”

8 And Hiram sent to Solomon, saying, “I have heard the message that you have sent to me. I am ready to do all you desire in the matter of cedar and cypress timber.

9 My servants shall bring it down to the sea from Lebanon, and I will make it into rafts to go by sea to the place you direct. And I will have them broken up there, and you shall receive it. And you shall meet my wishes by providing food for my household.”

10 So Hiram supplied Solomon with all the timber of cedar and cypress that he desired,

11 while Solomon gave Hiram 20,000 cors of wheat as food for his household, and 20,000 cors of beaten oil. Solomon gave this to Hiram year by year.

12 And the Lord gave Solomon wisdom, as he promised him. And there was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a treaty.

13 King Solomon drafted forced labor out of all Israel, and the draft numbered 30,000 men.

14 And he sent them to Lebanon, 10,000 a month in shifts. They would be a month in Lebanon and two months at home. Adoniram was in charge of the draft.

15 Solomon also had 70,000 burden-bearers and 80,000 stonecutters in the hill country,

16 besides Solomon’s 3,300 chief officers who were over the work, who had charge of the people who carried on the work.

17 At the king’s command they quarried out great, costly stones in order to lay the foundation of the house with dressed stones.

18 So Solomon’s builders and Hiram’s builders and the men of Gebal did the cutting and prepared the timber and the stone to build the house.

During his reign, King David had wanted to build a temple for the Lord. But he was stopped by God because he had shed blood. God did not call him to do that. But the dream is kept alive by Solomon and the time to build the temple has arrived. Solomon marshals his considerable resources, including raw materials and human labor, and begins the project. The result was a magnificent edifice that represented the presence of God among His people. Over the last 3,000 years, that building has been destroyed and rebuilt several times, with each iteration being a little less grand than the last. Now, of course, the property lies in the hands of the Muslims, much to the sorrow of the Jewish nation. Should the Israelites ever gain control of the Temple Mount again that temple would, in all likelihood, be rebuilt.

As you can see by the reading, this was not small effort. Solomon is aided in great measure by King Hiram of Tyre, who had been a great friend to King David. His willingness to help comes as no surprise. Both kings invest people and products in the building of this temple. Solomon also conscripts his own people to do the work. Every adult male was expected to give 3 months a year to the project, one month spent in Tyre, 2 months spent in Israel. It was forced labor and the people may have had mixed feelings about such service. While the time of service was brief, it was a form of slavery.

Of those conscripted to work for Solomon, I’m sure there were many who were happy to go and be a part of something so grand. But there were probably a great many who resented the interruption to their lives. This slavery may not have set well with everyone. But it was much like being told to clean your room when you were a kid. You didn’t want to do it, but no one was asking your opinion or giving you a choice. This was a forced march.

When asked to serve God do we go willingly? Our attitudes can be a shifting as the wind. One day we are ready, willing, and able, and the next we put one foot in front of the other with anger and bitterness. Much has been made (and possibly over-applied) of the phrase “God loves a cheerful giver” meaning that attitude is everything; if you can’t do it without a good attitude, don’t do it at all. I’m not so sure about that. Do you think that Abraham walked up the mountain to offer his only son as a sacrifice with a happy heart? We already know that Jesus wasn’t exactly thrilled about the idea of suffering for the world. Look at His words in the Garden of Gethsemane. But they did what they were called to so anyway. They lived in obedience. We can be fairly certain that some of those men, conscripted into service on the temple, didn’t want to go. They would have rather spent that time with their families, working at their real jobs and continuing in the life they had been given. But obedience demands that we go even when we don’t want to. Our actions speak to who we are. The attitudes of our hearts can influence our behavior, but they don’t have to! Serving God even when it isn’t terribly convenient is a part of the faithful Christian life.