Scripture Daily

Context No. 1882 of 4322 · 1 Kings

Context · Reflection

1 Kings 5:7-12: in context

7When Hiram heard the words of Solomon, he rejoiced greatly, and said, “Blessed is the LORD today, who has given to David a wise son to rule over this great people.” 8Hiram sent to Solomon, saying, “I have heard the message which you have sent to me. I will do all your desire concerning timber of cedar, and concerning cypress timber. 9My servants will bring them down from Lebanon to the sea. I will make them into rafts to go by sea to the place that you specify to me, and will cause them to be broken up there, and you will receive them. You will accomplish my desire, in giving food for my household.” 10So Hiram gave Solomon cedar timber and cypress timber according to all his desire. 11Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand cors of wheat for food to his household, and twenty cors of pure oil. Solomon gave this to Hiram year by year. 12The LORD gave Solomon wisdom, as he promised him. There was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a treaty together.

Solomon, preparing to build the temple, makes an agreement with Hiram, king of Tyre. Hiram, a foreign king, rejoices at Solomon's request and blesses the LORD for giving David a wise son. The two make a fair exchange: Hiram supplies the cedar and cypress timber that Solomon lacks, and Solomon supplies the wheat and oil that Hiram's household needs. There was peace between Hiram and Solomon, the text says, and the two made a treaty together, each providing what the other could not.

The building of the temple, God's own house, went forward through the peaceable cooperation of two different peoples. Solomon had the vision and the need; Hiram had the timber and the skilled woodsmen; and rather than conflict or rivalry, the two entered a fair and friendly exchange, each supplying what the other lacked, in peace. Israel could not build the temple alone; it needed the cedars of Lebanon and the craftsmen of Tyre, and God's work was accomplished through the partnership. There is a lesson here worth taking to heart. We are prone to think we must accomplish things alone, or to be wary of cooperation across differences of people, background, or belief; and yet much good, including much of God's work, is done through peaceable partnership, through the fair exchange of what each has to offer. Solomon and Hiram, of different nations, worked together in peace and mutual benefit, and the temple rose because they did. The wise recognize that they cannot do everything alone, that others have what they lack, and that peaceable cooperation, each supplying the other's need, accomplishes what neither could do apart. Two are better than one, Scripture says; and the eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of you. To be willing to cooperate, to enter fair and peaceable partnership, to receive what others can supply and to give what we can, even across differences, is not weakness but wisdom, and often the very way God's work gets done. Follow after the things that make for peace, Scripture urges, and the things by which we may build one another up. Solomon and Hiram built together in peace, and the house of God rose from their cooperation; and much of the good we are given to do will likewise be done not alone but in peaceable partnership with others.

Am I prone to think I must accomplish things alone, or wary of cooperation across differences, or can I learn from Solomon and Hiram, who built the temple through peaceable partnership, each supplying what the other lacked, that much good is done through fair cooperation, and be willing to work with others in peace, receiving what they offer and giving what I can?

Sources