First light high in the mountains of Lebanon: in the lower third one immense old cedar with great flat, layered branches stands on a snowy slope among dark firs, a few axes and coils of rope at its foot by a cold loggers' fire with a thin thread of smoke, a glimpse of gray-green sea far below, under a calm clear sky.

The Book of

2 Chronicles 2

A message to Tyre, a craftsman from two peoples, and cedar floated down the coast for the house of a God the heavens cannot contain.

18 verses≈ 4 min3 peopleBSB

Images are artistic interpretations.

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In this chapter

Where we are

1SolomonWisdom asked at Gibeon
2–5The templeBuilt on Mount MoriahChapter 2
6–7DedicationIf My people humble themselves
8–9Solomon's gloryThe queen of Sheba
10–16DivisionRehoboam to Asa
17–20JehoshaphatThe battle is God's
21–24Dark yearsJehoram to Joash
25–28Proud kingsAmaziah to Ahaz
29–32HezekiahDoors opened, Passover kept
33–35Manasseh to JosiahMercy and the Book found
36Exile and returnMay he go up

Preparations for the Temple

Now Solomon purposed to build a house for the Name of the LORD and a royal palace for himself. So he conscripted 70,000 porters, 80,000 stonecutters in the mountains, and 3,600 supervisors.

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Then Solomon sent word to Hiram king of Tyre: “Do for me as you did for my father David when you sent him cedars to build himself a house to live in.

Behold, I am about to build a house for the Name of the LORD my God to dedicate to Him for burning fragrant incense before Him, for displaying the showbread continuously, and for making burnt offerings every morning and evening as well as on the Sabbaths, New Moons, and appointed feasts of the LORD our God. This is ordained for Israel forever.

2 Chronicles 2:5–6

Reflect

Too great to contain

Solomon set out to build the greatest house he could: “The house that I am building will be great, for our God is greater than all gods.” In the same breath he asked, “Who then am I, that I should build a house for Him?” Where do you need to hold both: to give God your best work, and to remember that He is greater than anything you could build for Him?

Solomon

Solomon

Send me, therefore, a craftsman skilled in engraving to work with gold and silver, with bronze and iron, and with purple, crimson, and blue yarn. He will work with my craftsmen in Judah and Jerusalem, whom my father David provided.

Send me also cedar, cypress, and algum logs from Lebanon, for I know that your servants have skill to cut timber there. And indeed, my servants will work with yours to prepare for me timber in abundance, because the temple I am building will be great and wonderful.

Morning in a storehouse yard of a Phoenician harbor town: a train of Israelite donkeys being unloaded, sacks of wheat and barley stacked high and rows of sealed clay jars of wine and oil, Phoenician stewards checking the loads with drivers, loggers with axes on their shoulders arriving, single-masted ships in the harbor beyond.

I will pay your servants, the woodcutters, 20,000 cors of ground wheat, 20,000 cors of barley, 20,000 baths of wine, and 20,000 baths of olive oil.”

Hiram’s Reply to Solomon

Stylised map · locations approximate

On the map

Cedar by sea to Joppa

Hiram’s men cut cedar and cypress in the mountains of Lebanon, beyond the north edge of this map, and floated the logs as rafts down the coast to Joppa. From Joppa, Solomon’s men hauled them about thirty-five miles up into the hills to Jerusalem.

From HiramTo King Solomon

Then Hiram king of Tyre wrote a letter in reply to Solomon: “Because the LORD loves His people, He has set you over them as king.”

And Hiram added: “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who made the heavens and the earth! He has given King David a wise son with insight and understanding, who will build a temple for the LORD and a royal palace for himself.

2 Chronicles 2:11–12

Pray

Maker of heaven and earth

Hiram, a king from outside Israel, wrote, “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who made the heavens and the earth!” Praise Him as the Maker of all. Then pray for someone outside the faith whose skill or kindness you have seen, that they too would come to bless the LORD.

Hiram

Early morning at Joppa below a rocky headland: long rafts of great cedar logs lashed with rope lie grounded in the shallows of a small curved beach, men knee-deep cutting the lashings, yoked oxen dragging single logs up the sand on rollers, and one single-masted Phoenician ship offshore.

Now let my lord send to his servants the wheat, barley, olive oil, and wine he promised. We will cut logs from Lebanon, as many as you need, and we will float them to you as rafts by sea down to Joppa. Then you can take them up to Jerusalem.”

0:14

Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain

Solomon numbered all the foreign men in the land of Israel following the census his father David had conducted, and there were found to be 153,600 in all. Solomon made 70,000 of them porters, 80,000 stonecutters in the mountains, and 3,600 supervisors.

Question

Quick question

Hiram promised Solomon cedar from Lebanon, “as many as you need.”

Where did Hiram’s men bring the cedar logs by sea?

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2 Chronicles 2

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A verse to carry with you

The house that I am building will be great, for our God is greater than all gods. But who is able to build a house for Him, since the heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain Him? Who then am I, that I should build a house for Him, except as a place to burn sacrifices before Him?

2 Chronicles 2:5–6

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