Part of what led Solomon to oppress his people was that he failed to keep the spirit of self-sacrifice. At Sinai, when Moses told the people of God’s command, “Let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them,” “everyone came whose heart was stirred, and everyone whose spirit was willing,” and brought offerings. Building the sanctuary required a large amount of precious and costly material, but the Lord accepted only freewill offerings. “From everyone who gives it willingly with his heart you shall take My offering” was the command to the congregation. Exodus 25:8; 35:21; 25:2.
David made a similar call to self-sacrifice when he asked, “Who then is willing to consecrate himself this day to the Lord?” 1 Chronicles 29:5. Those who constructed the temple should always have kept this call to consecration in mind.
For constructing the wilderness tabernacle, God gave special skill to certain men whom He chose. “The Lord has called by name Bezalel ..., of the tribe of Judah; and He has filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom and understanding, in knowledge and in all manner of workmanship ... to do all manner of work of the engraver and the designer and of the tapestry maker, ... and of the weaver. ... Bezalel and Aholiab, and every gifted artisan, in whom the Lord has put wisdom and understanding.” Exodus 35:30-36:1. Heavenly intelligences cooperated with the workmen whom God Himself had chosen.
To a large degree, the descendants of these workmen inherited the talents given to their ancestors. But gradually, almost imperceptibly, they lost their hold on God and their desire to serve Him unselfishly. They asked higher wages because of their superior skill in the finer arts. Often they found employment in the surrounding nations. In place of their ancestors’ noble spirit, they became covetous, grasping for more and more. To gratify their selfish desires, they used their God-given skill in the service of heathen kings and bent their talent to create works that dishonored their Maker.
Among these men Solomon looked for a master workman to oversee the construction of the temple. Detailed specifications for every portion of the sacred structure had been entrusted to the king, and he could have looked to God in faith for consecrated helpers who would have received special skill for doing the work required. But Solomon missed this opportunity to exercise faith. He sent to the king of Tyre for a man “skillful to work in gold and silver, in bronze and iron, in purple and crimson and blue, who has skill to engrave with the skillful men ... in Judah and Jerusalem.” 2 Chronicles 2:7.
The Phoenician king sent Huram, “the son of a woman of the daughters of Dan, and his father was a man of Tyre.” Verse 14. On his mother’s side Huram was a descendant of Aholiab, to whom, hundreds of years before, God had given special wisdom for constructing the tabernacle. So at the head of his workmen Solomon placed a man who was not prompted by an unselfish desire to serve God. The principles of selfishness were woven in the fibers of his being.
Because of his unusual skill, Huram demanded large wages. Gradually, as his associates worked with him day after day, they compared his wages with their own, and they began to lose sight of the holy character of their work. The spirit of self-denial left them. They demanded higher wages, and they received them.
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