In these two parallel passages of Scripture, we learn about Solomon’s building of the temple. In the same way David had, Solomon contacted Hiram of Tyre (located in what is now Lebanon) and made a deal with him to supply cedars from Lebanon and cypress timber. For ease of moving them, the logs were cut and made into rafts. The rafts were then floated in the Mediterranean Sea to Joppa in Israel. We aren’t told how they got them from the sea opposite Jerusalem to Jerusalem, except they were carried away (I Kings 5:9). For this, Solomon gave Hiram an annual payment of 100,000 bushels of wheat, 110,000 gallons of pure olive and (though it’s not mentioned in I Kings) 100,000 bushels of barley and 110,000 gallons of wine.
For this, Solomon got enough logs to build the temple. And, what a temple it was:
90 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 45 feet high. That is huge. It took seven years to build this temple. Most of it was overlaid with gold. It must have been beautiful.
A lot of the work was done by foreigners in the land of Israel: 70,000 common laborers, 80,000 quarry workers, and 3,600 foremen. Solomon also conscripted 30,000 men from all Israel who were sent in shifts to help with the work in Lebanon. Each man would work one month in Lebanon and then be home for two months.
I do like that Solomon realized it was not possible for him to build a worthy temple for the Lord, since “not even the highest heavens can contain him.”.
Tomorrow, it’s I Kings 7 and II Chronicles 4.
Until next time…
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