In our study of 1 Kings chapter five, we will look at building on the legacy of the past. In chapter 3, we saw that King David left Solomon a legacy of following God and, in chapter 4, we saw that he left a legacy of a large kingdom at peace. Now, we will see that King David also left a legacy of respect.
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Hiram king of Tzor sent his servants to Shlomo, because he had heard that they had anointed him king in his father's place, and Hiram had always loved David.
We see that King David had been respected by Hiram king of Tyre. Hiram had even provided the lumber for the construction of David's palace. Because of that respect, Hiram sent a delegation to congratulate the new king of Israel.
Shlomo returned this message to Hiram: "You know that David my father wasn't able to build a house for the name of ADONAI his God, because of the wars that beset him from every side, until ADONAI put his enemies under the soles of my feet. But now ADONAI my God has given me rest on every side; there is neither adversary nor calamity. So now I intend to build a house for the name of ADONAI my God, in keeping with what ADONAI said to David my father, 'Your son, whom I will put on your throne in your place, will be the one to build the house for my name.'
Solomon told Hiram of his father's wish to build a temple for the Lord. He also spoke of the legacy of peace that had been left to him as well as the work to be done. He goes on to explain that this was a part of God's plan that had been reserved for him. Solomon was not only grateful for the legacy that King David left but he was also willing to build on that past. He was not only going to build a physical building but he was also contributing to the family legacy of following the will of God for their lives. As Christians, some of us do not have a family legacy of following God as we were not raised in a Christian home. In this case, we can begin to lay the groundwork of the legacy to be passed on. This can be passed on to our physical children as well as to those we tell about Jesus Christ. For those that were raised in a Christian home, you can build on that legacy by remembering what God has done in the past and telling others about what He is doing today.
Therefore, order your people to cut down cedar trees from the L'vanon for me. My servants will be with your servants. I will pay your servants according to everything you say; for you know that we have no one among us as skilled in felling trees as the Tzidonim."
Solomon ended his letter to Hiram with a request to purchase cedars from Lebanon. The cedars of Lebanon were the finest of cedar trees which grew very tall and wide. They had a wonderful smell and were resistant to bugs and decay. Solomon offers to pay whatever price Hiram asks for the lumber.
When Hiram heard Shlomo's message, he was very happy and said, "Blessed be ADONAI today, who has given David a wise son to rule this great people." Then Hiram sent Shlomo this message: "I have heard the message you sent me, and I will do everything you want concerning cedar logs and cypress logs. My servants will bring them down from the L'vanon to the sea. I will make them into rafts to go by sea to whatever place you tell me and will have them broken up there, and you will receive them. You will compensate me by providing food for my household."
We see the legacy of respect that David had left to Solomon as Hiram praises a God that he did not even know. He answered Solomon with the price which was to provide food for the King of Lebanon's table. The logs were to be cut from the mountains of Lebanon and floated through the Mediterranean Sea to the coast of Israel at Joppa.
So Hiram gave Shlomo all the cedar logs and cypress logs he wanted; and Shlomo gave Hiram 100,000 bushels of wheat as food for his household and a thousand gallons of oil from pressed olives - this is what Shlomo gave Hiram each year. ADONAI gave Shlomo wisdom, as he had promised him; and there was peace between Hiram and Shlomo - the two of them formed an alliance together.
This business arrangement continued for years and there was peace between the two leaders.
King Shlomo conscripted 30,000 men from all Isra'el for forced labor. He sent them to the L'vanon in monthly relays of 10,000; they would stay a month in the L'vanon and two months at home. Adoniram was in charge of the forced labor.
Solomon made foreigners living in Israel slaves and sent them to Lebanon to help with the cedar trees. King David had used forced labor but Solomon expanded it tremendously for his building projects.
Shlomo had 70,000 men to carry loads and another 80,000 stonecutters in the hills, besides Shlomo's 3,300 supervisors who were in charge of the people doing the work. The king gave orders; and they quarried large stones, expensive stones, to lay the foundation of the house with cut stone.
This was a massive construction project as we see by the large number of workers. They did not have modern machines so they required many men to do the work. Most of the work was done off site as the stones were cut and dressed at the quarry.
Shlomo's and Hiram's builders, along with the men from G'val, worked the stones and prepared the timber and stones for building the house.
Byblos was a city on the coast of Lebanon and the workers that are referred to would have been the men that made the logs into floating rafts and delivered them to Israel.
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