”Now Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon, because he heard that they had anointed him king in place of his father, for Hiram had always loved David. Then Solomon sent to Hiram, saying: You know how my father David could not build a house for the name of the Lord his God because of the wars which were fought against him on every side, until the Lord put his foes under the soles of his feet. But now the Lord my God has given me rest on every side; there is neither adversary nor evil occurrence. And behold, I propose to build a house for the name of the Lord my God, as the Lord spoke to my father David, saying, “Your son, whom I will set on your throne in your place, he shall build the house for My name.” Now therefore, command that they cut down cedars for me from Lebanon; and my servants will be with your servants, and I will pay you wages for your servants according to whatever you say. For you know there is none among us who has skill to cut timber like the Sidonians.“ I Kings 5:1-6 NKJV
a. For Hiram had always loved David: David was a mighty warrior against the enemies of Israel. but he did not regard every neighbor nation as an enemy. David wisely built alliances and friendships with neighbor nations, and the benefit of this also came to Solomon.
i. “Hiram is an abbreviation of Ahiram which means ‘Brother of Ram,’ or ‘My brother is exalted,’ or ‘Brother of the lofty one’… Archaeologists have discovered a royal sarcophagus in Byblos of Tyre dated about 1200 b.c. inscribed with the king’s name, ‘Ahiram.’ Apparently it belonged to the man in this passage.” (Dilday)
ii. Then Solomon sent to Hiram: “According to Josephus, copies of such a letter along with Hiram’s reply were preserved in both Hebrew and Tyrian archives and were extant in his day (Antiquities, 8.2.8)” (Dilday).
b. You know how my father David could not build a house for the name of the LORD his God: This means that David told Hiram spiritual things, things that one might think Hiram could not understand or had interest in. In some ways, David spoke to Hiram as if Hiram were already an Israelite.
i. This chapter deals with Solomon’s work in obtaining the materials to build the temple. Yet David was so interested in this work that he had already gathered many of the supplies needed to build the temple (1 Chronicles 22:4).
c. Until the LORD put his foes under the soles of his feet: “To put enemies under the feet was the symbolic act marking conquest. In contemporary art enemies were often depicted as a footstool (as Psalm 110:1).” (Wiseman)
d. There is neither adversary nor evil occurrence: The word adversary here is literally Satan. The Latin Vulgate translates this, “nor a Satan.”
e. I propose to build a house for the name of the LORD my God: Of course, Solomon did not build a temple for a name but for a living God. This is a good example of avoiding direct mention of the name of God in Hebrew writing and speaking. They did this out of reverence to God.
i. Solomon also used this phrase because he wanted to explain that he didn’t think the temple would be the house of God in the way pagans thought. “It is to be ‘an house for the name of the LORD.’ That is not the same as ‘for the LORD.’ Pagan temples might be intended by their builders for the actual residence of the god, but Solomon knew that the heaven of heavens could not contain Him, much less this house which he was about to build” (Maclaren).
f. Cut down cedars for me from Lebanon: The cedar trees of Lebanon were legendary for their excellent timber. This means Solomon wanted to build the temple out of the best materials possible.
i. “The Sidonians were noted as timber craftsmen in the ancient world, a fact substantiated on the famous Palermo Stone. Its inscription from 2200 b.c. tells us about timber-carrying ships that sailed from Byblos to Egypt about four hundred years previously. The skill of the Sidonians was expressed in their ability to pick the most suitable trees, know the right time to cut them, fell them with care, and then properly treat the logs.” (Dilday)
ii. It also means that Solomon was willing to build this great temple to God with Gentile wood and using Gentile labor. This was a temple to the God of Israel, but it was not only for Israel. Only Jews built the tabernacle, “But the temple is not built without the aid of the Gentile Tyrians. They, together with us, make up the Church of God” (Trapp).
(Guzik)
‘an house for the name of the LORD.’
This is an important distinction! “the heaven of heavens could not contain Him, much less this house which he was about to build”
Are our churches built for an house for the name of Jesus or for man?
Blessings
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