2 Chron. 2 Someone Will Pay

Following the directive originally given to David, Solomon “determined” to build a temple for the Lord and house for himself. The men appointed to “bear burdens” were “aliens”, those who may converted to the Judaism, but did not have Jewish blood in their veins. These one hundred and fifty three thousand six hundred workers were paid for by taxes, which cause a great dissention between Solomon’s son, Rehoboam, with the citizens of Israel with the heavy tax burden. The materials that David hadn’t provided were paid for through taxes on Israel.

Solomon in his communications with King Hiram of Tyre, shared the primary purpose for the temple was for offering sacrifices, with the hope that Jehovah would take residence there as well. However, Solomon understood that the three levels of heaven were unable to contain Him, how could a mere building constructed by man hold His presence.

David’s son desired to have “a man skillful” that could work with gold, silver, bronze, iron, in purple, crimson and blue; he also needed to be someone that could “engrave” as well. The man selected by King Hiram was Huram, a skilled man that could oversee the project contracted by Solomon.

Reading previously, we know David had acquired much of what was needed for the temple; however what Solomon added to it and his own “royal house”, were paid for by taxes on the people. Someone must pay the bill. In this case we discover it wasn’t Solomon; rather it was the people. No doubt there was great pride in being renowned for the temple and Solomon’s wisdom across the nations; however it created a large financial burden that had to be paid. It wasn’t Solomon; but it was the people.

There’s a point when people will tire of bearing burdens with little or no relief; especially when there isn’t any accompanying vision to motivate them. Such was the case for Israel, they endured for one generation. The former USSR and even now the US are current and recent examples of people expressing the desire of ridding themselves of exurbanite taxes.