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Context No. 1536 of 4322 · 1 Kings

Context · Reflection

1 Kings 7:39-51: in context

39He set the bases, five on the right side of the house and five on the left side of the house. He set the sea on the right side of the house eastward and toward the south. 40Hiram made the pots, the shovels, and the basins. So Hiram finished doing all the work that he worked for King Solomon in the LORD’s house: 41the two pillars; the two bowls of the capitals that were on the top of the pillars; the two networks to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the top of the pillars; 42the four hundred pomegranates for the two networks; two rows of pomegranates for each network, to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the pillars; 43the ten bases; the ten basins on the bases; 44the one sea; the twelve oxen under the sea; 45the pots; the shovels; and the basins. All of these vessels, which Hiram made for King Solomon for the LORD’s house, were of burnished bronze. 46The king cast them in the plain of the Jordan, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zarethan. 47Solomon left all the vessels unweighed, because there were so many of them. The weight of the bronze could not be determined. 48Solomon made all the vessels that were in the LORD’s house: the golden altar and the table that the show bread was on, of gold; 49and the lamp stands, five on the right side and five on the left, in front of the inner sanctuary, of pure gold; and the flowers, the lamps, and the tongs, of gold; 50the cups, the snuffers, the basins, the spoons, and the fire pans, of pure gold; and the hinges, both for the doors of the inner house, the most holy place, and for the doors of the house, of the temple, of gold. 51Thus all the work that King Solomon did in the LORD’s house was finished. Solomon brought in the things which David his father had dedicated—the silver, the gold, and the vessels—and put them in the treasuries of the LORD’s house.

The making of the temple furnishings is complete: the bronze pillars, the great sea and its oxen, the basins and pots, the golden altar and table, the lampstands and cups and snuffers, all finished by the craftsmen. So many bronze vessels were made that Solomon left them unweighed; the weight could not be determined. And when all the work was finished, Solomon brought in the things his father David had dedicated, the silver and gold and vessels, and put them in the treasuries of the LORD's house.

The detail worth catching is the last one: Solomon brought in the things David his father had dedicated. David had longed to build the temple, and God had told him he would not; that would be his son's work. But David had not therefore done nothing. He had spent his life gathering and dedicating silver and gold and materials for a house he knew he would never build or enter, laying up treasure for a work another would complete after he was gone. And here, at the temple's completion, those dedicated things are brought in and put to use. David's preparations, made for a work he would not live to see finished, were not wasted; they became part of the very house he was forbidden to build. There is encouragement in this for all the labor we pour into things we will not see completed. Much of the important work anyone does is for a future they will not live to enjoy, sowing for a harvest others will reap, preparing for a house another generation will finish. It can feel futile to labor for what we will not see; David might have thought his gathering pointless, since he could not build. But nothing dedicated to God is wasted, even if the one who dedicates it never sees the completion; David's treasures, laid up for a temple he would not build, were brought in and used. To labor and prepare for a work we will not finish, dedicating it to God, is not futile; it is trusted to him, and in his time it is brought in and put to use.

Am I willing to labor and prepare for good works I will not live to see completed, laying up, like David, for a house another will finish, trusting that nothing dedicated to God is wasted even if I never see the completion?

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