2 Chronicles 2 Devotional
By Pastor Lawrence

Because King David was a man of war, the privilege of building God’s temple in Jerusalem fell to Solomon, the king of peace, and his desire was to build a great and wonderful house for the name of the Lord. Of course, this was not considered to be a place that could actually contain God or confine him in some way on earth since he is infinite and omnipresent, but merely a place on earth where his people could regularly meet with him at any time and a place that would show forth something of his glory here on earth. Although Solomon was called to this majestic work, even he felt inadequate to carry it out as a mere creature of God unable even to comprehend his creator apart from God revealing himself to him. It would be very important for Solomon to carry out God’s blueprints for this house and not to rely upon his own whim and imagination.

In addition to God’s house, Solomon also sought to build a house for God’s royal representatives, the future kings of Israel, who would shepherd God’s people and rule according to his divine word. In order to carry out these very important tasks, Solomon sought the help of Hiram, the king of Tyre who not only had the materials needed to begin the work but also those skilled in the finest of craftsmanship to complete it. One man, in particular, Huram-abi, was sent to King Solomon who was trained in gold, silver, bronze, iron, stone, and wood, and in purple, blue, and crimson fabrics and fine line, and in engraving and designing anything assigned to him. It’s hard to imagine that one man could be more than adept at all these things, but he was the man for the job. This reminds me of what Solomon says in Proverbs 22:29 “Do you see a man skillful in his work? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before obscure men.” I imagine Solomon had this man in mind when he wrote that. So Huram-abi was sent to Israel to work with all of Solomon’s craftsmen to carry out the finish work.

On the other hand, there would be a great need for common laborers as well to cut and move all the timber, stone and other coarse materials needed to frame and hold up the structure of the temple. So Solomon assigned seventy thousand men to carry heavy burdens, eighty thousand to work in the quarry and 3600 to oversee the work of all these men. Native Israelites were not allowed to carry out these tasks in order that they would not associate the worship of the Lord with their time of slavery in Egypt. Instead, resident aliens living in the land of Israel were drafted for this important work of preparing and laying each stone of the temple. This might seem cruel of the King of Israel to expect foreigners to carry out such duties, but it was actually a way for the Gentiles to be included in the work of God. Later on in the New Testament, what a marvelous revelation is given when the Gentiles are no longer the ones laying stone for the temple, but are actually a part of the temple itself, and “like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”