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Speaker 1: I'm John Stangey, and today we're in Second Chronicles, chapter two,
Speaker 1: and we'll be reading from the message. Solomon gave orders
Speaker 1: to begin construction on the house of worship in honor
Speaker 1: of God and a palace for himself. Solomon assigned seventy
Speaker 1: thousand common laborers, eighty thousand to work the quarries in
Speaker 1: the mountains, and thirty six hundred foremen to manage the workforce.
Speaker 1: Then Solomon sent this message to King Hiram of Tire
Speaker 1: send me cedar logs the same kind you sent David,
Speaker 1: my father, for building his palace. I'm about to build
Speaker 1: a house of worship in honor of God, a holy
Speaker 1: place for burning perfumed incense, for setting out holy bread,
Speaker 1: for making whole burnt offerings at morning and evening worship,
Speaker 1: and for Sabbath, New Moon and Holy Day's services of worship,
Speaker 1: the acts of worship required of Israel. The house I
Speaker 1: am building has to be the best, for our God
Speaker 1: is the best, far better than competing gods. But who
Speaker 1: is capable of building such a structure. Why the skies,
Speaker 1: the entire cosmos can't begin to contain him and me?
Speaker 1: Who am I to think I can build a house
Speaker 1: adequate for God? Burning incense to him is about all
Speaker 1: I'm good for. I need your help. Send me a
Speaker 1: master artisan in gold, silver, bronze, iron, textiles of purple, crimson,
Speaker 1: and violet, and who knows the craft of engraving. He
Speaker 1: will supervise the trained craftsman in Judah and Jerusalem that
Speaker 1: my father provided. Also send cedar Cyprus and algum logs
Speaker 1: from Lebanon. I know you have lumberjacks experienced in the
Speaker 1: Lebanon forests. I'll send workers to join your crews to
Speaker 1: cut plenty of timber. I'm going to need a lot
Speaker 1: for this house I'm building is going to be absolutely stunning,
Speaker 1: a showcase temple. I'll provide all the food necessary for
Speaker 1: your crew of lumberjacks and loggers, one hundred thirty thousand
Speaker 1: bushels of wheat, one hundred twenty thousand gallons of wine,
Speaker 1: and one hundred twenty thousand gallons of olive oil. Hiram,
Speaker 1: King of Tire, wrote Solomon in reply It's plain that
Speaker 1: God loves his people. He made you king over them.
Speaker 1: He wrote on blessed be the God of Israel, who
Speaker 1: made heaven and earth, and who gave King David a
Speaker 1: son so wise, so knowledgeable, and shrewd, to build a
Speaker 1: temple for God and a palace for himself. I've sent
Speaker 1: you hurim Abi. He's already on his way. He knows
Speaker 1: the construction business inside and out. His mother is from
Speaker 1: Dan and his father from Tire. He knows how to
Speaker 1: work in gold, silver, bronze, iron stone and wood, in
Speaker 1: purple violet linen and crimson textiles. He is also an
Speaker 1: expert engraver and competent to work out designs with your
Speaker 1: artists and architects, and those of my master David, your father,
Speaker 1: Go ahead and send the wheat, barley, olive, oil and
Speaker 1: wine you promised for my work crews. We'll log the
Speaker 1: trees you need from the Lebanon forests and wrap them
Speaker 1: down to Joppa. You'll have to get the timber up
Speaker 1: to Jerusalem yourself. Solomon then took a census of all
Speaker 1: the foreigners living in Israel, using the same census taking
Speaker 1: method employed by his father. They numbered one hundred fiftyfty
Speaker 1: three thousand, six hundred. He assigned seventy thousand of them
Speaker 1: as common laborers, eighty thousand to work the quarries in
Speaker 1: the mountains, and three thousand, six hundred as foremen to
Speaker 1: manage the work crews. Let's pray, Lord again, we thank
Speaker 1: you for the privilege of looking at your word, and
Speaker 1: as we look at this passage together today, we're reminded
Speaker 1: of the desire that you placed in David's heart and
Speaker 1: now in Solomon's heart, that this temple be used as
Speaker 1: a place to honor your name, where you would be worshiped,
Speaker 1: and that you and thoughts of you and the worship
Speaker 1: of you would be at the center of the culture
Speaker 1: of the people of Israel. And Lord, we pray that
Speaker 1: that would be the case in our lives as well.
Speaker 1: As you grant us the gift of your wisdom through
Speaker 1: faith in your son Jesus Christ, we pray that you
Speaker 1: would be central to our lives. We pray Lord that
Speaker 1: every aspect of our lives would be conducted in such
Speaker 1: a way that it's clear that you are on the
Speaker 1: forefront of our minds always. Lord, we pray that that
Speaker 1: would be the case. Today. We pray that would be
Speaker 1: the case every day. And we're thankful Lord for your
Speaker 1: love toward us and how you have always demonstrated great
Speaker 1: love for your people. Lord, we love you, and we
Speaker 1: thank you for this day, and we commit this day
Speaker 1: to your care and pray this all in Jesus' name. Amen.