King Hiram of Tyre had always been a friend of David’s…
To have friends (2 Samuel 5:11)…
“I have now decided to build that temple for the worship of the Lord my God. So send your men to Lebanon to cut down cedars for me. …As you well know, my men don’t know how to cut down trees as well as yours do.”
Hiram was extremely pleased when he received Solomon’s message, and he said, “Praise the Lord today for giving David such a wise son to succeed him as king of that great nation!” Then Hiram sent Solomon the following message: “…My men will bring the logs down from Lebanon to the sea and will tie them together in rafts to float them down the coast to the place you choose. There my men will untie them, and your men will take charge of them.”
At King Solomon’s command they cut fine large stones for the foundation of the Temple. Solomon’s and Hiram’s workers and men from the city of Byblos prepared the stones and the timber to build the Temple.
This is how it’s supposed to work! Collaboration. Each nation providing what they do best for the benefit of all. It’s also worth noting the clear delineation of responsibility here: who is to do what. Twenty years ago, things seemed to be on the right track in the world. What happened?
King Solomon drafted… forced labor from all over Israel, and put Adoniram in charge of them. He divided them into three groups…, and each group spent one month in Lebanon and two months back home.
Brilliant. What organization!
Two winged creatures were …placed in the Most Holy Place, each one 15 feet tall. …They were placed side by side in the Most Holy Place, so that two of their outstretched wings touched each other in the middle of the room, and the other two wings touched the walls.
Physical representations of the majestic celestial guardians that expressed God’s absolute authority (Genesis 3:24) – and the coverage in the temple is absolutely complete. 😊
Four hundred and eighty years after the people of Israel left Egypt, during the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, …Solomon began work on the Temple. …in the eleventh year of Solomon’s reign, the Temple was completely finished exactly as it had been planned. It had taken Solomon seven years to build it.
And one day to destroy it (2 Kings 25:8-10). God revealed its plan to David (1 Chronicles 28:11-19), which when built was a terrestrial representation of the one in the heavenlies (Hebrews 9:23-24; Revelation 11:19). His later inhabiting the temple (1 Kings 8:10-11) forshadowed his inhabiting us (1 Corinthians 3:16). The reference back to when the Israelites left Egypt up until the building of the temple reflects how central it was (God’s presence among them) to their purpose (Exodus 33:15-16). And to ours.