1
00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:03,840
Speaker 1: Hello, Faith listeners, Welcome to the Bible Explained Podcast. After

2
00:00:03,880 --> 00:00:06,920
Speaker 1: a few days off, I am thankful to be back

3
00:00:07,080 --> 00:00:09,079
Speaker 1: with all of you guys, and we're going to be

4
00:00:09,119 --> 00:00:13,119
Speaker 1: talking about Second Chronicles, Chapter two, verses eleven through eighteen.

5
00:00:13,160 --> 00:00:17,120
Speaker 1: To finish out this chapter and discuss this letter that

6
00:00:17,360 --> 00:00:21,560
Speaker 1: King Hiram sent to Solomon in response to Solomon's letter.

7
00:00:21,800 --> 00:00:24,000
Speaker 1: And if you guys don't remember any of this because

8
00:00:24,040 --> 00:00:26,239
Speaker 1: it's been a few days since we've talked about it,

9
00:00:26,239 --> 00:00:28,120
Speaker 1: that's okay. I will refresh all of you guys as

10
00:00:28,160 --> 00:00:31,880
Speaker 1: to what this is discussing, so stay tuned. We'll get

11
00:00:31,920 --> 00:00:40,920
Speaker 1: into it in just a minute. So, yeah, as you

12
00:00:40,960 --> 00:00:44,280
Speaker 1: guys know, I was sick. I'm still not fully recovered. Actually,

13
00:00:44,280 --> 00:00:46,080
Speaker 1: I think you guys can probably hear it in my voice.

14
00:00:46,560 --> 00:00:52,040
Speaker 1: I was down for like three days straight. However, I

15
00:00:52,200 --> 00:00:55,680
Speaker 1: did learn to knit while I was sick, so that

16
00:00:55,760 --> 00:00:58,720
Speaker 1: was something that I took advantage of. Was the time,

17
00:00:59,280 --> 00:01:02,880
Speaker 1: and I said that binge watched the Twilight Zone while

18
00:01:02,920 --> 00:01:06,440
Speaker 1: learning how to knit, fell asleep, woke up, and repeated

19
00:01:07,680 --> 00:01:10,720
Speaker 1: for about three days straight. That is the entirety of

20
00:01:10,760 --> 00:01:12,840
Speaker 1: what I did for the most part. So yeah, I

21
00:01:12,840 --> 00:01:18,080
Speaker 1: can confidently say now that I feel more like a knitter.

22
00:01:18,160 --> 00:01:20,680
Speaker 1: I kind of knew how to knit before, but now

23
00:01:20,760 --> 00:01:23,000
Speaker 1: I actually think I have it down. I can knit

24
00:01:23,120 --> 00:01:26,400
Speaker 1: and pearl quite confidently now. So yeah, I took advantage

25
00:01:26,440 --> 00:01:31,000
Speaker 1: of being sick and spent some time learning to do that,

26
00:01:31,920 --> 00:01:33,840
Speaker 1: and now I am back with all of you guys.

27
00:01:34,319 --> 00:01:38,440
Speaker 1: So we're gonna read Second Chronicles chapter two eleven through eighteen,

28
00:01:38,840 --> 00:01:40,319
Speaker 1: and I'll go ahead and read it and then do

29
00:01:40,400 --> 00:01:43,240
Speaker 1: a recap as to what we are talking about today.

30
00:01:43,560 --> 00:01:45,199
Speaker 1: So let's go ahead and read this. I'll be reading

31
00:01:45,200 --> 00:01:47,760
Speaker 1: as usual from the web, but of course, feel free

32
00:01:47,760 --> 00:01:49,240
Speaker 1: to grab the version of the Bible that you prefer

33
00:01:49,280 --> 00:01:51,200
Speaker 1: this morning. Grab your cup of coffee or your cup

34
00:01:51,200 --> 00:01:53,160
Speaker 1: of tea to share with me this morning, and let's

35
00:01:53,160 --> 00:01:58,840
Speaker 1: read Second Chronicles two eleven through eighteen. Then here, I'm

36
00:01:58,880 --> 00:02:01,200
Speaker 1: the King of Tire, answered it writing which he sent

37
00:02:01,240 --> 00:02:04,200
Speaker 1: to Solomon. Because Yahweh loves his people, he has made

38
00:02:04,280 --> 00:02:08,080
Speaker 1: you king over them. Hiram continued, Blessed be Yahweh, the

39
00:02:08,120 --> 00:02:10,560
Speaker 1: God of Israel, who made heaven and earth, who is

40
00:02:10,600 --> 00:02:14,000
Speaker 1: given to David the King, a wise son endowed with

41
00:02:14,080 --> 00:02:17,400
Speaker 1: discretion and understanding, who would build a house for Yahweh

42
00:02:17,400 --> 00:02:19,840
Speaker 1: and a house for his kingdom. Now I have sent

43
00:02:19,960 --> 00:02:24,600
Speaker 1: a skillful man endowed with understanding, Hiram Abi, the son

44
00:02:24,639 --> 00:02:26,840
Speaker 1: of a woman of the daughters of Dan, and his

45
00:02:26,960 --> 00:02:29,480
Speaker 1: father was a man of tire. He is skillful to

46
00:02:29,560 --> 00:02:33,360
Speaker 1: work in gold, in silver, in bronze, in iron, in stone,

47
00:02:33,400 --> 00:02:36,480
Speaker 1: in timber, in purple, in blue, in fine linen, and

48
00:02:36,520 --> 00:02:39,480
Speaker 1: in crimson. Also to engrave any kind of engraving, and

49
00:02:39,520 --> 00:02:42,040
Speaker 1: to devise any device, that there may be a place

50
00:02:42,080 --> 00:02:44,600
Speaker 1: appointed to him. With your skillful men, and with the

51
00:02:44,600 --> 00:02:48,080
Speaker 1: skillful men of my lord David your father. Now therefore

52
00:02:48,120 --> 00:02:50,280
Speaker 1: the wheat, the barley, the oil, and the wine which

53
00:02:50,280 --> 00:02:53,119
Speaker 1: my lord has spoken of, let him send his servants,

54
00:02:53,440 --> 00:02:55,400
Speaker 1: and we will cut wood out of Lebanon as much

55
00:02:55,440 --> 00:02:57,320
Speaker 1: as you need. We will bring it to you in

56
00:02:57,480 --> 00:02:59,760
Speaker 1: rafts by sea to Joppa. Then you shall carry it

57
00:02:59,800 --> 00:03:03,000
Speaker 1: up to Jerusalem. Solomon counted all the foreigners who were

58
00:03:03,040 --> 00:03:05,000
Speaker 1: in the land of Israel after the census with which

59
00:03:05,080 --> 00:03:07,840
Speaker 1: David his father had counted them, and they found one

60
00:03:07,919 --> 00:03:11,280
Speaker 1: hundred and fifty three thousand, six hundred. He set seventy

61
00:03:11,320 --> 00:03:14,080
Speaker 1: thousand of them to bear burdens. Eighty thousand who were

62
00:03:14,120 --> 00:03:17,960
Speaker 1: stonecutters in the mountains and three thousand, six hundred overseers

63
00:03:18,000 --> 00:03:22,480
Speaker 1: to assign the people their work. So the last time

64
00:03:22,520 --> 00:03:25,560
Speaker 1: we talked about this chapter, which was last week, we

65
00:03:25,680 --> 00:03:31,360
Speaker 1: discussed how Solomon needed more timber, so he sent to Hierum,

66
00:03:31,639 --> 00:03:34,239
Speaker 1: the king of Tire, to ask for this timber. Because

67
00:03:35,040 --> 00:03:39,640
Speaker 1: Tire was well known for its nurturing of beautiful cypress

68
00:03:39,680 --> 00:03:43,640
Speaker 1: trees and cedar trees and algum trees. And not only that,

69
00:03:43,680 --> 00:03:46,880
Speaker 1: the men were very skilled in cutting down these trees

70
00:03:46,920 --> 00:03:50,680
Speaker 1: and transporting them across the ancient world. But the reason

71
00:03:50,760 --> 00:03:54,800
Speaker 1: Solomon needs these trees was not for God's temple. Instead,

72
00:03:55,120 --> 00:03:59,520
Speaker 1: Solomon actually was asking for these trees for himself. He

73
00:03:59,600 --> 00:04:03,400
Speaker 1: wanted to build a palace for himself. And even Hiram,

74
00:04:03,480 --> 00:04:06,760
Speaker 1: in his response to Solomon in the portion we read today,

75
00:04:07,160 --> 00:04:10,600
Speaker 1: mentions this, He's like, good on you, Solomon, for building

76
00:04:10,640 --> 00:04:14,160
Speaker 1: God's house and also a palace for yourself. So Hiram

77
00:04:14,200 --> 00:04:17,800
Speaker 1: figured out that Solomon was using all of this timber

78
00:04:18,560 --> 00:04:21,039
Speaker 1: for a palace for himself, and that's not necessarily a

79
00:04:21,040 --> 00:04:23,520
Speaker 1: bad thing. We established that, you know, there's nothing wrong

80
00:04:23,560 --> 00:04:26,760
Speaker 1: with Solomon wanting to build himself a palace. I mean,

81
00:04:26,760 --> 00:04:29,600
Speaker 1: he was the king, he didn't necessarily have to live

82
00:04:29,640 --> 00:04:32,400
Speaker 1: in the palace that David built. But it is kind

83
00:04:32,440 --> 00:04:36,040
Speaker 1: of interesting that Solomon didn't get started with God's temple

84
00:04:36,160 --> 00:04:39,320
Speaker 1: until he had cedar wood for himself. I don't really

85
00:04:39,320 --> 00:04:41,920
Speaker 1: know why he did that. It's not explained in scripture.

86
00:04:42,360 --> 00:04:44,800
Speaker 1: But something that I pointed out last week is that

87
00:04:44,839 --> 00:04:48,640
Speaker 1: there's already some evidence that Solomon's heart may not be

88
00:04:49,240 --> 00:04:53,479
Speaker 1: in line with Yahweh one hundred percent, just analyzing this

89
00:04:53,600 --> 00:04:58,159
Speaker 1: letter that Solomon sent to Hiram, the King of Tire. Now,

90
00:04:58,200 --> 00:05:01,400
Speaker 1: all that being said, Solomon did ask for one other

91
00:05:01,480 --> 00:05:05,080
Speaker 1: thing other than timber. He asked Hiram for an artisan,

92
00:05:05,600 --> 00:05:09,120
Speaker 1: somebody who was very skillful in working with all different

93
00:05:09,160 --> 00:05:13,680
Speaker 1: types of materials, whether it was gold, silver, wood, stone,

94
00:05:14,200 --> 00:05:20,599
Speaker 1: engraving materials like purple and crimson. He needed somebody who

95
00:05:20,680 --> 00:05:23,600
Speaker 1: was an artist to come and work for him. And

96
00:05:23,640 --> 00:05:27,599
Speaker 1: that's because Israel this time period, and this is actually

97
00:05:28,480 --> 00:05:34,640
Speaker 1: proven by archaeological finds, Israel is not nearly as advanced

98
00:05:34,720 --> 00:05:38,120
Speaker 1: in art as other nations around the world were. The

99
00:05:38,160 --> 00:05:42,280
Speaker 1: Phoenicians were well known for art, and that is why

100
00:05:42,760 --> 00:05:46,960
Speaker 1: Solomon asks for an artist to come and work with

101
00:05:47,080 --> 00:05:50,480
Speaker 1: his people to teach them how to actually build something

102
00:05:50,520 --> 00:05:53,760
Speaker 1: beautiful and make beautiful things. And this artist wouldn't have

103
00:05:53,839 --> 00:05:56,720
Speaker 1: just been for Solomon's palace, though it could be he

104
00:05:56,760 --> 00:06:00,280
Speaker 1: worked on Solomon's palace, It's pretty clear that this artist

105
00:06:00,800 --> 00:06:05,560
Speaker 1: was mostly for God's temple. So even though Solomon did

106
00:06:05,600 --> 00:06:09,600
Speaker 1: have some selfish motivation in writing to hire them so

107
00:06:09,640 --> 00:06:12,080
Speaker 1: that Solomon could get these trees for his own palace,

108
00:06:12,880 --> 00:06:17,560
Speaker 1: he was also motivated to make God's temple beautiful and

109
00:06:17,640 --> 00:06:22,200
Speaker 1: he needed somebody skillful in the arts to truly be

110
00:06:22,279 --> 00:06:26,200
Speaker 1: able to do this. Because God's temple was supposed to

111
00:06:26,240 --> 00:06:30,960
Speaker 1: be beautiful, a beautiful place to look at and to

112
00:06:31,120 --> 00:06:34,520
Speaker 1: be in, and just to be in awe of when

113
00:06:34,520 --> 00:06:37,520
Speaker 1: you saw it. And this is actually very clear even

114
00:06:37,560 --> 00:06:40,320
Speaker 1: back in the wilderness days when God first told the

115
00:06:40,360 --> 00:06:46,400
Speaker 1: Israelites to build him a tabernacle, God commanded it to

116
00:06:46,440 --> 00:06:49,920
Speaker 1: be beautiful. God laid the plans out as to how

117
00:06:49,960 --> 00:06:52,440
Speaker 1: the temple was supposed to look, and it was supposed

118
00:06:52,440 --> 00:06:56,080
Speaker 1: to be gorgeous, you know, covered with gold chains and

119
00:06:56,760 --> 00:07:02,440
Speaker 1: beautiful tapestries and golden pomegranates and pillars and just it

120
00:07:02,440 --> 00:07:06,480
Speaker 1: was supposed to look amazing and God actually appointed a

121
00:07:06,560 --> 00:07:10,000
Speaker 1: man to make it look amazing. God wanted his temple

122
00:07:10,160 --> 00:07:13,440
Speaker 1: to be beautiful, and I think Solomon understood that and

123
00:07:13,520 --> 00:07:16,400
Speaker 1: understood also that Israel was a little bit behind its

124
00:07:16,440 --> 00:07:19,720
Speaker 1: time when it came to the arts. And that is

125
00:07:19,720 --> 00:07:23,040
Speaker 1: why he's asking Hiram not just for timber for his

126
00:07:23,080 --> 00:07:26,200
Speaker 1: own palace, but for an artist that can truly take

127
00:07:26,240 --> 00:07:29,120
Speaker 1: God's temple to the next level and make it look

128
00:07:29,240 --> 00:07:35,160
Speaker 1: absolutely beautiful. So Hiram responds to Solomon. Here's what he

129
00:07:35,200 --> 00:07:39,280
Speaker 1: says in writing. Because Yahweh loves his people, he has

130
00:07:39,320 --> 00:07:43,960
Speaker 1: made you king over them. Hiram continued, Blessed be Yahweh,

131
00:07:43,960 --> 00:07:46,640
Speaker 1: the God of Israel, who made heaven and earth, who

132
00:07:46,680 --> 00:07:50,320
Speaker 1: is given to David the King, a wise son, endowed

133
00:07:50,320 --> 00:07:53,080
Speaker 1: with discretion and understanding, who would build a house for

134
00:07:53,160 --> 00:07:55,640
Speaker 1: Yahweh and a house for his kingdom. So there you go.

135
00:07:55,680 --> 00:07:59,360
Speaker 1: Hiram is like, good for you, Solomon, for building God's

136
00:07:59,400 --> 00:08:04,880
Speaker 1: house and also building yourself a beautiful palace. But Hiram

137
00:08:04,960 --> 00:08:08,520
Speaker 1: is pretty clear in there that he at least respects Yahweh.

138
00:08:08,760 --> 00:08:10,880
Speaker 1: I don't know if he was a full Yahweh worshiper,

139
00:08:10,880 --> 00:08:13,520
Speaker 1: because it does not say anywhere in scripture that he

140
00:08:13,640 --> 00:08:17,840
Speaker 1: was or wasn't. But every time Hiram is mentioned, he's

141
00:08:17,840 --> 00:08:21,880
Speaker 1: mentioned as being a good king, giving honor to David,

142
00:08:22,280 --> 00:08:25,720
Speaker 1: to Israel, or to God. I mean, he even calls

143
00:08:25,840 --> 00:08:30,720
Speaker 1: David in this letter his Lord. So King Hiram seemed

144
00:08:30,920 --> 00:08:34,960
Speaker 1: rather humble, seemed to have a reverence and a respect

145
00:08:35,480 --> 00:08:39,800
Speaker 1: for Israel and for Yahweh. So it very well could

146
00:08:39,840 --> 00:08:45,200
Speaker 1: be that Hiram truly was a Yahweh follower because of

147
00:08:45,280 --> 00:08:49,960
Speaker 1: the reputation of David, and because of the friendship he

148
00:08:50,080 --> 00:08:56,000
Speaker 1: had with David. So David's influence and his reverence for

149
00:08:56,080 --> 00:09:00,920
Speaker 1: God showed other nations who Yahweh really was. David did

150
00:09:01,520 --> 00:09:05,240
Speaker 1: what God commanded the Israelite people to do, which was

151
00:09:05,280 --> 00:09:08,120
Speaker 1: to be a light for surrounding nations. It's kind of

152
00:09:08,120 --> 00:09:11,199
Speaker 1: the same exact thing that us Christians are supposed to

153
00:09:11,240 --> 00:09:14,000
Speaker 1: be now, we're supposed to shine the light of God

154
00:09:14,440 --> 00:09:18,520
Speaker 1: to all nations, to every single person we're supposed to evangelize.

155
00:09:18,679 --> 00:09:20,640
Speaker 1: But it was a little bit different back in these days,

156
00:09:20,679 --> 00:09:26,280
Speaker 1: where Israel itself was to be that light by being

157
00:09:26,320 --> 00:09:31,040
Speaker 1: obedient to God and showing who God was to the

158
00:09:31,120 --> 00:09:34,839
Speaker 1: surrounding nations. David was able to do that at least

159
00:09:34,840 --> 00:09:40,160
Speaker 1: with this king, King Hiram. So Hiram continues in verse thirteen,

160
00:09:40,760 --> 00:09:44,959
Speaker 1: I have sent a skillful man endowed with understanding, Hiram Abi,

161
00:09:45,559 --> 00:09:47,280
Speaker 1: the son of a woman of the daughters of Dan,

162
00:09:47,559 --> 00:09:50,760
Speaker 1: and his father was a man of tire. He is

163
00:09:50,800 --> 00:09:54,280
Speaker 1: skillful to work in gold, in silver, in bronze, in iron,

164
00:09:54,440 --> 00:09:57,440
Speaker 1: in stone, in timber, in purple, and in blue, in

165
00:09:57,480 --> 00:10:01,200
Speaker 1: fine linen, in crimson, and also to engrave every kind

166
00:10:01,200 --> 00:10:04,120
Speaker 1: of engraving and devise any device that there may be

167
00:10:04,160 --> 00:10:06,640
Speaker 1: a place appointed to him, with your skillful men, and

168
00:10:06,679 --> 00:10:09,640
Speaker 1: with the skillful men of my Lord David, your father.

169
00:10:10,000 --> 00:10:12,600
Speaker 1: So wow, this guy was really skilled. He was able

170
00:10:12,600 --> 00:10:14,840
Speaker 1: to do a million things, and he was able to

171
00:10:14,880 --> 00:10:17,760
Speaker 1: devise any device. So that sounds like to me he's

172
00:10:17,800 --> 00:10:22,000
Speaker 1: an inventor of some sort. He's able to just kind

173
00:10:22,040 --> 00:10:24,760
Speaker 1: of put things together, like if something in the temple

174
00:10:24,840 --> 00:10:27,920
Speaker 1: isn't working quite right, he's able to figure out how

175
00:10:27,920 --> 00:10:30,320
Speaker 1: to fix it. He just seemed to have a knowledge

176
00:10:30,360 --> 00:10:34,480
Speaker 1: of how things operated and functioned. So this guy was

177
00:10:34,600 --> 00:10:37,080
Speaker 1: very intelligent in a lot of different things. And it

178
00:10:37,120 --> 00:10:39,200
Speaker 1: says that he was the son of a woman of

179
00:10:39,240 --> 00:10:41,960
Speaker 1: the daughters of Dan. So, in other words, his mother

180
00:10:42,360 --> 00:10:46,480
Speaker 1: was an Israelite woman and his father was a Phoenician man.

181
00:10:47,120 --> 00:10:49,680
Speaker 1: And I do wonder if King Hiram picked him because

182
00:10:49,720 --> 00:10:53,400
Speaker 1: of that, because someone who has a mother from Israel

183
00:10:53,480 --> 00:10:57,640
Speaker 1: is going to understand Israelite culture far more than somebody

184
00:10:57,640 --> 00:11:01,320
Speaker 1: who is a true blooded Phoenician, you know, because people

185
00:11:01,360 --> 00:11:05,440
Speaker 1: would feel far more comfortable with a Jewish man working

186
00:11:05,440 --> 00:11:09,960
Speaker 1: on God's temple than a Gentile man working on God's temple. However,

187
00:11:10,040 --> 00:11:12,840
Speaker 1: Solomon did not seem overly concerned with that about who

188
00:11:12,880 --> 00:11:15,080
Speaker 1: worked on God's temple, because actually there's a lot of

189
00:11:15,080 --> 00:11:18,400
Speaker 1: gentiles working on God's temple, as we're about to find

190
00:11:18,400 --> 00:11:21,520
Speaker 1: out at the end here. So Solomon was not too

191
00:11:21,600 --> 00:11:26,080
Speaker 1: concerned with what people were participating in the work of

192
00:11:26,120 --> 00:11:29,360
Speaker 1: the temple, as long as it was done beautifully and

193
00:11:29,400 --> 00:11:33,880
Speaker 1: with excellence. I think Solomon was okay with any skilled worker,

194
00:11:34,000 --> 00:11:37,920
Speaker 1: whether they were from Israel or from some gentile nation

195
00:11:38,320 --> 00:11:42,240
Speaker 1: working on God's temple. It did not matter to him. Then,

196
00:11:42,280 --> 00:11:46,280
Speaker 1: in verse fifteen, hear him continues, Now, therefore, the wheat,

197
00:11:46,400 --> 00:11:48,679
Speaker 1: the barley, the oil, the wine, which my Lord has

198
00:11:48,720 --> 00:11:51,360
Speaker 1: spoken of, let him send to his servants, and we

199
00:11:51,400 --> 00:11:53,560
Speaker 1: will cut wood out of Lebanon as much as you need.

200
00:11:53,720 --> 00:11:55,720
Speaker 1: We will bring it to you in rafts by sea

201
00:11:55,760 --> 00:11:59,120
Speaker 1: to Jappa. Then you shall carry it up to Jerusalem.

202
00:11:59,360 --> 00:12:03,800
Speaker 1: Now that of course referring to the wood that Solomon ordered,

203
00:12:04,120 --> 00:12:06,880
Speaker 1: probably for his own palace. Though there is some debate

204
00:12:06,920 --> 00:12:09,960
Speaker 1: on that, you know, it sounds to me like that's

205
00:12:09,960 --> 00:12:12,720
Speaker 1: the reason Solomon needs the wood is because he doesn't

206
00:12:12,760 --> 00:12:17,680
Speaker 1: want to take wood from the temple, even though David

207
00:12:17,800 --> 00:12:21,360
Speaker 1: collected it in abundance, like there was so much wood

208
00:12:22,320 --> 00:12:26,360
Speaker 1: that the timber was without number. But Solomon probably did

209
00:12:26,360 --> 00:12:31,000
Speaker 1: not want to take timber from God's temple to use

210
00:12:31,040 --> 00:12:35,080
Speaker 1: on his own house. He wanted that timber to be

211
00:12:35,240 --> 00:12:38,079
Speaker 1: holy and set apart for the building of the temple.

212
00:12:38,679 --> 00:12:41,440
Speaker 1: And that's probably a pretty good motivation, honestly, that Solomon

213
00:12:41,480 --> 00:12:44,240
Speaker 1: had was that he wasn't going to steal anything from God.

214
00:12:44,640 --> 00:12:48,040
Speaker 1: He would pay for the timber himself. Now, the other

215
00:12:48,040 --> 00:12:50,400
Speaker 1: option here that I just thought of is that it

216
00:12:50,480 --> 00:12:53,640
Speaker 1: could be that Solomon did want some of this timber

217
00:12:53,960 --> 00:12:57,160
Speaker 1: to go towards the building of the temple, because when

218
00:12:57,240 --> 00:13:00,320
Speaker 1: timber sits around for a really long time, if it's

219
00:13:00,320 --> 00:13:04,800
Speaker 1: not in like an enclosed location, it can start to rot.

220
00:13:05,800 --> 00:13:07,600
Speaker 1: So it could be that some of the timber because

221
00:13:07,600 --> 00:13:10,280
Speaker 1: it took Solomon so long to get around to building

222
00:13:10,320 --> 00:13:14,720
Speaker 1: this temple. It took him four years after David had

223
00:13:14,760 --> 00:13:18,760
Speaker 1: died to actually get to building this temple. In that

224
00:13:18,800 --> 00:13:21,760
Speaker 1: four year time period, some of that timber could have

225
00:13:21,840 --> 00:13:24,800
Speaker 1: started to rot. So very well could be that some

226
00:13:24,880 --> 00:13:27,800
Speaker 1: of this timber that Solomon is asking for did go

227
00:13:28,000 --> 00:13:32,400
Speaker 1: towards Yahweh's temple because that wood needed to be replaced

228
00:13:32,920 --> 00:13:36,000
Speaker 1: just due to age and rotting over time. I don't know, though,

229
00:13:36,000 --> 00:13:39,520
Speaker 1: it doesn't specifically say where this timber went to, but

230
00:13:39,559 --> 00:13:41,160
Speaker 1: if I were to take a guess to me, it

231
00:13:41,280 --> 00:13:45,160
Speaker 1: sounds like Solomon is asking for this timber for himself,

232
00:13:45,679 --> 00:13:48,840
Speaker 1: not necessarily for the temple to God. And Hiram does

233
00:13:48,880 --> 00:13:53,720
Speaker 1: expect payment for this timber. He says, give us the wheat,

234
00:13:53,800 --> 00:13:56,880
Speaker 1: the barley, the oil that you've spoken of. Send it

235
00:13:56,920 --> 00:13:59,280
Speaker 1: along with your servants. We will cut the wood. We

236
00:13:59,320 --> 00:14:01,200
Speaker 1: will give you as much which as you need. We

237
00:14:01,240 --> 00:14:03,200
Speaker 1: will bring it to you in rafts by sea to

238
00:14:03,280 --> 00:14:06,680
Speaker 1: jopp Up, and you shall carry it up to Jerusalem. So,

239
00:14:06,760 --> 00:14:09,760
Speaker 1: of course Hiram does expect payment for this wood. He's

240
00:14:09,800 --> 00:14:12,880
Speaker 1: not just gonna give it for free. And even if

241
00:14:12,880 --> 00:14:16,560
Speaker 1: Solomon was using this wood for God's temple, like let's

242
00:14:16,600 --> 00:14:20,240
Speaker 1: just say the wood all rotted, Solomon needed brand new

243
00:14:20,240 --> 00:14:23,840
Speaker 1: wood and asked Hiram for it, and Hiram knew that

244
00:14:23,880 --> 00:14:25,840
Speaker 1: this is where the wood was going toward. I do

245
00:14:25,920 --> 00:14:28,560
Speaker 1: think that it was probably right for Hiram to take

246
00:14:28,600 --> 00:14:31,680
Speaker 1: payment for that wood and not just donate it for free.

247
00:14:31,840 --> 00:14:33,400
Speaker 1: It would have been nice for him to donate it

248
00:14:33,440 --> 00:14:36,560
Speaker 1: for free, but it's certainly not required. And I think

249
00:14:36,600 --> 00:14:39,720
Speaker 1: something that a lot of people don't understand is that

250
00:14:41,040 --> 00:14:45,040
Speaker 1: God does not expect people to work for free, no

251
00:14:45,080 --> 00:14:50,800
Speaker 1: matter what they're doing. Actually, just recently, Jelly Roll, you know,

252
00:14:50,840 --> 00:14:55,440
Speaker 1: the the rap artist whatever he is, he got into

253
00:14:55,480 --> 00:15:00,800
Speaker 1: some hot water recently with Forrest Frank, who's a Christian

254
00:15:00,840 --> 00:15:04,440
Speaker 1: music artist, because Forest Frank said that he's not going

255
00:15:04,480 --> 00:15:09,440
Speaker 1: to take awards for writing worship songs. He does not

256
00:15:09,560 --> 00:15:13,040
Speaker 1: think that's right to be praised for worship to God.

257
00:15:13,400 --> 00:15:15,560
Speaker 1: He doesn't like award shows, so he said, I'm not

258
00:15:15,600 --> 00:15:20,000
Speaker 1: going to accept any rewards from the awards shows this year,

259
00:15:20,640 --> 00:15:24,320
Speaker 1: and Jelly Roll was like, well, you accept money for

260
00:15:24,440 --> 00:15:27,960
Speaker 1: doing worship, So what's the difference? And like he tried

261
00:15:27,960 --> 00:15:29,720
Speaker 1: to get into a fight with Forest Frank over it.

262
00:15:29,920 --> 00:15:32,800
Speaker 1: I didn't see if Forest Frank responded. I don't know

263
00:15:32,800 --> 00:15:35,760
Speaker 1: if he did or not. But what was funny was

264
00:15:35,800 --> 00:15:38,560
Speaker 1: a lot of people actually did not side with Jelly

265
00:15:38,640 --> 00:15:40,360
Speaker 1: Roll on that one. They were like, well, what's Forest

266
00:15:40,400 --> 00:15:45,560
Speaker 1: Frank's supposed to do? Not make any money? Like just

267
00:15:46,040 --> 00:15:49,000
Speaker 1: work for free. And unfortunately, there's a lot of people

268
00:15:49,040 --> 00:15:52,120
Speaker 1: that think very similarly to Jelly Roll that if you

269
00:15:52,480 --> 00:15:55,640
Speaker 1: make money, you know, doing something for God, that you're

270
00:15:55,680 --> 00:16:00,600
Speaker 1: actually doing something evil. And that's not always case. It

271
00:16:00,640 --> 00:16:03,280
Speaker 1: can definitely be the case. You know, you can certainly

272
00:16:03,320 --> 00:16:06,440
Speaker 1: make money and fame your idol. Even if you are,

273
00:16:06,600 --> 00:16:10,640
Speaker 1: you know, claiming to worship God. Money can become an idol. Actually,

274
00:16:10,680 --> 00:16:15,640
Speaker 1: Jesus even says that himself in Matthew chapter six nineteen.

275
00:16:16,080 --> 00:16:18,320
Speaker 1: He says, don't lay up treasures for yourself on Earth,

276
00:16:18,320 --> 00:16:22,200
Speaker 1: where moth and rust consume, where thieves break through and steal,

277
00:16:22,560 --> 00:16:24,680
Speaker 1: but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither

278
00:16:24,760 --> 00:16:28,240
Speaker 1: moth nor rust consume, where thieves don't break through and steal,

279
00:16:28,480 --> 00:16:31,440
Speaker 1: and where your treasure is there, your heart will be also,

280
00:16:31,560 --> 00:16:34,040
Speaker 1: And then jumping down to verse twenty four, Jesus also

281
00:16:34,080 --> 00:16:37,200
Speaker 1: says no one can serve two masters, for either he

282
00:16:37,240 --> 00:16:39,440
Speaker 1: will hate the one and love the other, or else

283
00:16:39,440 --> 00:16:41,720
Speaker 1: he will be devoted to one and despise the other.

284
00:16:42,040 --> 00:16:45,480
Speaker 1: You cannot serve both God and mammon, and mammon is

285
00:16:45,520 --> 00:16:48,640
Speaker 1: an old fashioned word to say money. You can't serve

286
00:16:48,680 --> 00:16:51,440
Speaker 1: both God and money for obvious reasons. You know, if

287
00:16:51,760 --> 00:16:57,040
Speaker 1: you are only preaching God because of the money that

288
00:16:57,080 --> 00:17:00,160
Speaker 1: it's going to grant you, then you're not sincere but

289
00:17:00,280 --> 00:17:05,080
Speaker 1: truly preaching God the way that God requires you to preach. However,

290
00:17:05,119 --> 00:17:07,600
Speaker 1: that does not mean that Jesus expects you to work

291
00:17:07,640 --> 00:17:10,520
Speaker 1: for free or that you should live in poverty for

292
00:17:10,600 --> 00:17:14,440
Speaker 1: your entire life just because you're a preacher, or because

293
00:17:14,480 --> 00:17:18,280
Speaker 1: you do something faith based as your job. And Paul

294
00:17:18,320 --> 00:17:22,080
Speaker 1: talks about that in length in one Corinthians nine seven

295
00:17:22,160 --> 00:17:26,040
Speaker 1: through fourteen, and this is from the NIV version. By

296
00:17:26,080 --> 00:17:28,320
Speaker 1: the way, don't you know that those who serve in

297
00:17:28,359 --> 00:17:30,360
Speaker 1: the temple get their food from the temple, and those

298
00:17:30,359 --> 00:17:32,760
Speaker 1: who serve at the altar share in what's offered at

299
00:17:32,800 --> 00:17:35,520
Speaker 1: the altar. In the same way, the Lord has commanded

300
00:17:35,520 --> 00:17:38,320
Speaker 1: that those who preach the Gospel should receive their living

301
00:17:38,640 --> 00:17:42,160
Speaker 1: from the Gospel. So yes, that's very clear that preachers

302
00:17:42,520 --> 00:17:47,720
Speaker 1: and those who live for the Gospel message, whether they're

303
00:17:47,760 --> 00:17:50,920
Speaker 1: worship leaders or or youth pastors or whoever else somebody

304
00:17:50,960 --> 00:17:55,560
Speaker 1: that teaches the Gospel, they are allowed to make a

305
00:17:55,640 --> 00:17:58,840
Speaker 1: living from the Gospel. They don't need to provide every

306
00:17:58,880 --> 00:18:02,520
Speaker 1: single service that they do for free. But that being said,

307
00:18:02,520 --> 00:18:05,520
Speaker 1: it's a very fine line that ministers of the Gospel

308
00:18:05,920 --> 00:18:10,080
Speaker 1: need to walk, because it's very easy to get tempted

309
00:18:10,119 --> 00:18:15,439
Speaker 1: by money and by fame and by anything else that

310
00:18:15,600 --> 00:18:18,560
Speaker 1: the world can throw at us. It's very tempted to

311
00:18:18,600 --> 00:18:22,160
Speaker 1: start making another idol in your heart. And that's why

312
00:18:22,200 --> 00:18:26,120
Speaker 1: many people actually prefer to just volunteer their time rather

313
00:18:26,240 --> 00:18:31,280
Speaker 1: than actually earning an income from the church. My husband

314
00:18:31,320 --> 00:18:33,240
Speaker 1: is an example of this. Even though he is the

315
00:18:33,760 --> 00:18:36,680
Speaker 1: youth leader and has been for many years, he will

316
00:18:36,720 --> 00:18:39,800
Speaker 1: not take a paycheck from the church. He wants to

317
00:18:39,840 --> 00:18:43,400
Speaker 1: remain a volunteer youth leader, and he does that with

318
00:18:43,480 --> 00:18:46,880
Speaker 1: a great amount of conviction because he does not want

319
00:18:47,320 --> 00:18:52,359
Speaker 1: to benefit financially for service that he is giving to God.

320
00:18:52,840 --> 00:18:55,919
Speaker 1: But that's a personal conviction that each person has to

321
00:18:55,960 --> 00:18:59,080
Speaker 1: come to on their own. So there's nothing wrong with

322
00:18:59,240 --> 00:19:02,679
Speaker 1: making money the gospel, and there's certainly nothing wrong with

323
00:19:02,760 --> 00:19:05,760
Speaker 1: refusing to take money for your work with the gospel.

324
00:19:05,800 --> 00:19:09,600
Speaker 1: For example, Paul himself said, I don't want to take

325
00:19:09,680 --> 00:19:12,719
Speaker 1: money because I think that that will hinder the gospel. However,

326
00:19:12,760 --> 00:19:14,879
Speaker 1: the preachers who want to make this their living, that

327
00:19:15,040 --> 00:19:18,359
Speaker 1: is their right. They have every right to make a

328
00:19:18,440 --> 00:19:23,359
Speaker 1: living off of the Gospel without anybody critiquing them or

329
00:19:23,400 --> 00:19:26,439
Speaker 1: getting upset with them, because they are making a living

330
00:19:26,480 --> 00:19:30,480
Speaker 1: from the Gospel. So in the case of Hiram here,

331
00:19:31,040 --> 00:19:33,840
Speaker 1: even if this timber was specifically for the building of

332
00:19:33,840 --> 00:19:37,359
Speaker 1: the temple, he had every right to ask for a

333
00:19:37,359 --> 00:19:40,760
Speaker 1: payment from Solomon, because don't forget that Hiram had a

334
00:19:40,760 --> 00:19:42,520
Speaker 1: lot of men under him, a lot of men that

335
00:19:42,560 --> 00:19:44,000
Speaker 1: would have to do this job. You know, it wasn't

336
00:19:44,080 --> 00:19:46,679
Speaker 1: Hiram himself going out and cutting down these trees and

337
00:19:46,720 --> 00:19:50,360
Speaker 1: shipping them over to jop Us so that Solomon could

338
00:19:50,359 --> 00:19:52,760
Speaker 1: pick them up. It was hundreds of skilled workers that

339
00:19:52,800 --> 00:19:54,800
Speaker 1: had to do this job. And Hiram understood that. He

340
00:19:54,880 --> 00:19:57,040
Speaker 1: understood that his men needed to be paid, so I

341
00:19:57,040 --> 00:19:59,159
Speaker 1: think it was actually better for Hiram to take the

342
00:19:59,200 --> 00:20:03,080
Speaker 1: pay rather than expect his men to do this job

343
00:20:03,200 --> 00:20:05,560
Speaker 1: for free. And the reason I went off on that

344
00:20:05,640 --> 00:20:07,960
Speaker 1: was because I read a commentary where it said that

345
00:20:08,040 --> 00:20:11,920
Speaker 1: Hiram was actually in the wrong for demanding payment from

346
00:20:11,960 --> 00:20:15,399
Speaker 1: Solomon since these trees were going to the temple. But

347
00:20:15,960 --> 00:20:19,399
Speaker 1: I think scripture is pretty clear that God does not

348
00:20:19,480 --> 00:20:24,359
Speaker 1: expect anybody to work for free, even if that person

349
00:20:24,560 --> 00:20:28,280
Speaker 1: is working for the gospel message, the worker is worthy

350
00:20:28,320 --> 00:20:31,520
Speaker 1: of his wages. That is a verse found I believe

351
00:20:31,560 --> 00:20:35,679
Speaker 1: in First Timothy. So people who work are worthy of

352
00:20:35,720 --> 00:20:40,520
Speaker 1: their wages. And now to conclude, we're going to talk

353
00:20:40,520 --> 00:20:43,560
Speaker 1: about some people that don't get paid for working on

354
00:20:43,600 --> 00:20:47,760
Speaker 1: the temple Verses seventeen and eighteen of Second Chronicles two.

355
00:20:48,760 --> 00:20:51,080
Speaker 1: Solomon counted all the foreigners who were in the land

356
00:20:51,080 --> 00:20:53,560
Speaker 1: of Israel after the census with which David his father

357
00:20:53,600 --> 00:20:56,639
Speaker 1: had counted them, and they found one hundred and fifty thousand,

358
00:20:56,760 --> 00:20:59,919
Speaker 1: six hundred. He set seventy thousand of them to bear burden,

359
00:21:00,200 --> 00:21:03,040
Speaker 1: eighty thousand who are stonecutters in the mountains, and three

360
00:21:03,080 --> 00:21:08,720
Speaker 1: thy six hundred overseers to assign the people their Workle's

361
00:21:08,760 --> 00:21:11,560
Speaker 1: talking about slave labor, and it's actually mentioned at the

362
00:21:11,600 --> 00:21:13,959
Speaker 1: beginning of this as well, the beginning of this chapter

363
00:21:14,520 --> 00:21:19,760
Speaker 1: in verse two that Solomon used slave labor, and why

364
00:21:19,840 --> 00:21:22,760
Speaker 1: you know, it's kind of interesting that this chapter starts

365
00:21:22,840 --> 00:21:26,159
Speaker 1: out with slave labor, talking about the slave labor, and

366
00:21:26,320 --> 00:21:29,840
Speaker 1: ending with the slave labor as well. We know, based

367
00:21:29,880 --> 00:21:34,200
Speaker 1: upon the New Testament that slave labor is wrong. Paul

368
00:21:34,280 --> 00:21:38,000
Speaker 1: himself pretty much said it on multiple occasions. In a

369
00:21:38,080 --> 00:21:40,360
Speaker 1: time period when half of all the people you would

370
00:21:40,440 --> 00:21:45,639
Speaker 1: encounter in Rome were slaves. Paul told his constituents, the

371
00:21:45,680 --> 00:21:50,360
Speaker 1: people who are reading his letters, work with your own hands.

372
00:21:51,119 --> 00:21:53,560
Speaker 1: Don't expect other people to do your work for you.

373
00:21:54,119 --> 00:21:59,760
Speaker 1: Treat everyone with equality and respect, because every single person

374
00:22:00,320 --> 00:22:04,720
Speaker 1: was made in God's image. So all that being said, unfortunately,

375
00:22:04,760 --> 00:22:08,879
Speaker 1: the slave labor that Solomon imposed for the building of

376
00:22:08,920 --> 00:22:12,439
Speaker 1: God's Temple, I don't think was really in line with

377
00:22:12,680 --> 00:22:16,760
Speaker 1: God's heart, you know, because it's pretty clear in scripture

378
00:22:17,160 --> 00:22:22,600
Speaker 1: the reason slavery is wrong is because God loves all people.

379
00:22:22,720 --> 00:22:25,040
Speaker 1: We are all created in His image, and not one

380
00:22:25,080 --> 00:22:28,719
Speaker 1: person is under another person. Right, And one thing we're

381
00:22:28,720 --> 00:22:34,400
Speaker 1: gonna find out is Solomon didn't just use foreigners as slaves,

382
00:22:34,440 --> 00:22:40,040
Speaker 1: but he actually also used Israelites as slaves as well.

383
00:22:40,280 --> 00:22:44,920
Speaker 1: Sometimes slavery was actually a kindness to somebody because that

384
00:22:45,000 --> 00:22:48,399
Speaker 1: person was able to actually save their family from death

385
00:22:49,240 --> 00:22:51,880
Speaker 1: because of how poor they were or how much debt

386
00:22:51,960 --> 00:22:55,240
Speaker 1: they owed. Somebody, they were allowed to kind of sign

387
00:22:55,280 --> 00:22:59,119
Speaker 1: their own lives away for seven years to become a

388
00:22:59,160 --> 00:23:01,199
Speaker 1: slave so that they could get their family out of

389
00:23:01,320 --> 00:23:04,960
Speaker 1: extreme poverty. And then in a lot of other cases

390
00:23:05,080 --> 00:23:07,719
Speaker 1: when it came to criminals, it was a just form

391
00:23:07,800 --> 00:23:11,600
Speaker 1: of retribution for whatever that criminal did. He had to

392
00:23:12,160 --> 00:23:14,679
Speaker 1: in a sense sign his life away because of the

393
00:23:14,720 --> 00:23:18,800
Speaker 1: crimes that he committed. So slavery was not always an

394
00:23:18,840 --> 00:23:22,800
Speaker 1: extreme evil. But if some of these people were slaves

395
00:23:22,840 --> 00:23:26,359
Speaker 1: by force, which it's very possible that they were, that

396
00:23:26,520 --> 00:23:29,439
Speaker 1: is certainly not in line with what God wants. And

397
00:23:29,480 --> 00:23:33,480
Speaker 1: it's possible here in the case of Solomon that slavery

398
00:23:33,920 --> 00:23:39,400
Speaker 1: did become very unjust because of what we find out

399
00:23:39,520 --> 00:23:43,560
Speaker 1: later on, where these slaves had these huge burdens placed

400
00:23:43,560 --> 00:23:47,240
Speaker 1: on their backs, and it actually ends up probably being

401
00:23:47,760 --> 00:23:51,879
Speaker 1: the downfall of Israel actually, because after Solomon died, the

402
00:23:51,920 --> 00:23:54,840
Speaker 1: people who had these burdens placed on them were growing

403
00:23:55,320 --> 00:24:00,800
Speaker 1: increasingly irritated with Solomon as king, and that's when Israel

404
00:24:00,840 --> 00:24:05,240
Speaker 1: actually split into two different nations right after Solomon. Was

405
00:24:05,320 --> 00:24:11,600
Speaker 1: most likely because of the unneeded, unnecessary burdens that Solomon

406
00:24:11,680 --> 00:24:15,560
Speaker 1: placed on the people of Israel. So once again, Scripture

407
00:24:15,600 --> 00:24:19,480
Speaker 1: goes to show you that God uses imperfect people for

408
00:24:19,840 --> 00:24:23,080
Speaker 1: very good things. So, faithful listeners, I hope you enjoyed

409
00:24:23,080 --> 00:24:25,760
Speaker 1: today's episode. I hope you learned something as well, and

410
00:24:25,800 --> 00:24:27,720
Speaker 1: I hope you join me tomorrow because tomorrow we're going

411
00:24:27,720 --> 00:24:30,639
Speaker 1: to be in the last portion of First Thessalonians. I've

412
00:24:30,640 --> 00:24:32,359
Speaker 1: been saying that for like three weeks now, but I

413
00:24:32,400 --> 00:24:36,760
Speaker 1: promise tomorrow is the last day in First Thessalonians. We

414
00:24:36,800 --> 00:24:39,240
Speaker 1: are going to finish on that chapter. We are going

415
00:24:39,280 --> 00:24:43,920
Speaker 1: to move on to Second Thessalonians on Thursday. So join

416
00:24:43,960 --> 00:24:46,400
Speaker 1: me tomorrow six am or whenever you choose to wake

417
00:24:46,480 --> 00:24:51,520
Speaker 1: up for an episode from First Thessalonians until tomorrow. Happy listening,

418
00:24:51,840 --> 00:24:57,800
Speaker 1: and God bless