Basic HTML Version
How Solomon Missed His Chance
33
God-given skill in the service of heathen kings and bent their talent
to create works that dishonored their Maker.
Among these men Solomon looked for a master workman to
oversee the construction of the temple. Detailed specifications for
every portion of the sacred structure had been entrusted to the king,
and he could have looked to God in faith for consecrated helpers
[24]
who would have received special skill for doing the work required.
But Solomon missed this opportunity to exercise faith. He sent to the
king of Tyre for a man “skillful to work in gold and silver, in bronze
and iron, in purple and crimson and blue, who has skill to engrave
with the skillful men ... in Judah and Jerusalem.”
2 Chronicles 2:7
.
The Phoenician king sent Huram, “the son of a woman of the
daughters of Dan, and his father was a man of Tyre.”
Verse 14
. On
his mother’s side Huram was a descendant of Aholiab, to whom,
hundreds of years before, God had given special wisdom for con-
structing the tabernacle. So at the head of his workmen Solomon
placed a man who was not prompted by an unselfish desire to serve
God. The principles of selfishness were woven in the fibers of his
being.
Because of his unusual skill, Huram demanded large wages.
Gradually, as his associates worked with him day after day, they
compared his wages with their own, and they began to lose sight of
the holy character of their work. The spirit of self-denial left them.
They demanded higher wages, and they received them.
Steps That Led to Apostasy
The evil influences that began here extended throughout the
kingdom. High wages enabled many to indulge in luxury and ex-
travagance. The rich oppressed the poor; the spirit of self-sacrifice
nearly vanished. The far-reaching effects of these influences became
one of the principal causes of Solomon’s terrible apostasy.
A deeply significant lesson lies in the sharp contrast between the
spirit and motives of the people building the wilderness tabernacle
and of those constructing Solomon’s temple. Selfishness rules the
world today. Everywhere people are seeking the highest position
and the highest wage. We seldom see the joyous selfdenial of the
tabernacle workers. But this is the only spirit that should drive Jesus’