The Cedars of Lebanon (Solomon): Solomon prepared to build the temple by negotiating with the pagan King Hiram of Tyre for timber, skilled workers, and other materials. What did God think about this? This text reveals a (perhaps surprising) pattern of God using Jews and Gentiles to build his house; a pattern that continues today. In Christ, you’re part of the blueprint. Recorded on Nov 16, 2025, on 1 Kings 5 by Pastor David Parks.
Podcast: Download (Duration: 31:31 — 72.1MB) | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Email | RSS
This sermon is part of the Solomon: The Legacy of a King series. King Solomon was a complex man whose story started some 3,000 years ago, when David, his father, was the most powerful and successful king of ancient Israel. David’s reign brought peace, prosperity, and plans to build the temple before handing the kingdom to Solomon. How would King Solomon handle living in the shadow of his great father’s legacy? Would he learn to be a wise and godly king? Could he overcome the plotting of his enemies, the dysfunction of his family, and the temptations of virtually unlimited wealth, fame, and women? What would be his legacy? Solomon’s story is a vital part of the history leading up to the ultimate son of David and anointed king, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Sermon Transcript
We’re exploring the life of one of the most important ancient kings of Israel in a sermon series called Solomon: The Legacy of a King. Almost 3,000 years ago, Solomon succeeded his father, David, as the king during a time of unprecedented peace and prosperity. He was really set up for success. But still, Solomon had some big things to do and a large and growing kingdom to lead, and he was young and inexperienced. So he asked the Lord for help, and God graciously gave Solomon a greater portion of wisdom than anyone on earth. And Solomon started using all this wisdom to administer justice, to write thousands of songs and proverbs, and to learn science. We saw last week that Solomon used this God-given wisdom to build out his administration. Now, we’re almost ready to start the most significant project of Solomon’s reign, the building of the Temple in Jerusalem. But before the men get their tools and get their lunches packed and they head out to the job site, we’ll see today that Solomon needed some vital resources to complete this project. But, and this should be surprising, he decided to partner with a neighboring kingdom, a pagan kingdom, to build a temple for the God of Israel. Was this appropriate for him to do? Would the God who cared so much about faithfulness be ok with this? “You shall have no other gods before me.” (Ex 20:3). Well, we’ll see that Yahweh God not only is ok with it, but this reveals a shocking pattern of how God works to build his house even to this day. There is so much good news to be found here. So if you have your Bible/app, please open to 1Ki 5:1. We’ll read through this passage and unpack it as we go, before ending with some applications of this teaching. What does this word say, what does it mean, and what do we do with it today? Ready?
1 Kings 5:1–6 (NIV), “1 When Hiram king of Tyre heard that Solomon had been anointed king to succeed his father David, he sent his envoys to Solomon, because he had always been on friendly terms with David. 2 Solomon sent back this message to Hiram: 3 “You know that because of the wars waged against my father David from all sides, he could not build a temple for the Name of the Lord his God until the Lord put his enemies under his feet. 4 But now the Lord my God has given me rest on every side, and there is no adversary or disaster. 5 I intend, therefore, to build a temple for the Name of the Lord my God, as the Lord told my father David, when he said, ‘Your son whom I will put on the throne in your place will build the temple for my Name.’ 6 “So give orders that cedars of Lebanon be cut for me. My men will work with yours, and I will pay you for your men whatever wages you set. You know that we have no one so skilled in felling timber as the Sidonians.” Ok! 1 Kings started with Solomon’s brother Adonijah, trying to steal the throne. Chapters 1 and 2 were about how Solomon dealt with this crisis, how King David intervened, and how Solomon was made king before David passed away. Chapter 3 had the young King Solomon asking God for wisdom, and boy did he get it! King Solomon became internationally famous and accomplished many great things with his God-given wisdom. Last week in chapter 4, we saw that Solomon developed his administration for governing, collecting taxes, and organizing the manpower needed for these building projects. Now here, in 1 Kings 5, we start this signature work of King Solomon’s life, that of building a new and glorious Temple for the living God, a house for the Lord, in the city of Jerusalem. The Temple was to become a permanent structure to replace the mobile structure of the Tabernacle, which served as the central place of worship for the Israelites from the Exodus until this time — a period of about 480 years. So, after almost 500 years of bringing sacrifices and offerings to the Tabernacle, wherever the people of God were at the time (Wilderness or Promised Land), so that the priests and Levites could do their work of teaching God’s word, facilitating worship, providing atonement for sins, and so forth, there would be a new place for all that — and hopefully it would better represent the majesty and glory of the Lord of the house than some ancient tent. But to say that this was a big deal for Israel and Solomon is a laughable understatement. I guess building projects are always a bigger deal than you’d expect. Some of you remember when we, as a church, moved from being a mobile church setting up and tearing down every week at the YMCA, to finding a new permanent building facility. First, we did our REACH Campaign, and so many of you gave so generously, and we raised the money we needed to do the work without going into debt. Then, so many of you worked so hard for a whole year to remodel this whole space and move in…just one month before the Covid shutdown. (Wasn’t that fun?) That move took us years to accomplish (and took several years off the end of my life), but that was nothing compared to building the Temple in Jerusalem! This building would be the main church building facility for the worship of the whole nation of Israel. But it wasn’t just an impressive place for people to worship; this was the place where God had said his holy presence would dwell amidst his people. And, of course, Yahweh wasn’t just the God of Israel; he was and is the creator of the whole cosmos. The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain the Lord, much less a temple made by human hands (1 Ki 8:27) — even if Solomon’s Temple was the most beautiful and costly temple ever made. Nevertheless, this God who made and ruled over all decided that he would dwell on this earth with this particular people in this particular place. He had chosen this family descended from Abraham and Sarah to be his vehicle for the salvation of all. But, like most major building projects, King Solomon was going to need some subcontractors. So he called Hiram, the king of the pagan city of Tyre, of the Sidonian people. He told Hiram what God had called him to do in building this new Temple for his Name (representing all of who God is). And he asked for the famous cedars of Lebanon, as well as skilled men for the building of the Temple. Hiram and King David had been friendly, so it was reasonable to expect that he’d have a good working relationship with Solomon. But this Temple project would take their relationship to the next level, working together on something so costly and so important. Now, I’m sure it didn’t hurt that this would likely be very lucrative. Did you notice that Solomon offered to pay Hiram for his men whatever wages he set? What a deal, right? But would Hiram want to be part of this? Even if he received good compensation, it would still probably take a ton of his time and energy and, of course, his resources and manpower. Would it be worth it to him, this pagan king, to help build a Temple for the God of his neighbors? Would Muslims or Buddhists help build a Christian church building? It’s certainly possible, but do you feel the tension there? I suppose Solomon’s blank check would’ve helped. Let’s keep the question of whether God was ok with this on hold for a minute. First, would Hiram be ok with it?
1 Kings 5:7-12 (NIV), “7 When Hiram heard Solomon’s message, he was greatly pleased and said, “Praise be to the Lord today, for he has given David a wise son to rule over this great nation.” 8 So Hiram sent word to Solomon: “I have received the message you sent me and will do all you want in providing the cedar and juniper logs. 9 My men will haul them down from Lebanon to the Mediterranean Sea, and I will float them as rafts by sea to the place you specify. There I will separate them and you can take them away. And you are to grant my wish by providing food for my royal household.” 10 In this way Hiram kept Solomon supplied with all the cedar and juniper logs he wanted, 11 and Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand cors of wheat as food for his household, in addition to twenty thousand baths of pressed olive oil. Solomon continued to do this for Hiram year after year. 12 The Lord gave Solomon wisdom, just as he had promised him. There were peaceful relations between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a treaty.” So, when Hiram heard Solomon’s message, he praised Yahweh, the Lord God Almighty, for the wisdom this young king demonstrated. In the account in 2 Chronicles, Hiram says, “Praise be to the LORD [Yahweh], the God of Israel, who made heaven and earth!” (2 Ch 2:12). God’s wisdom was attractive, inviting worship even from a pagan king. But also, on some level at least, Hiram recognized that this particular God, the God of Israel, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, was the creator, the maker of heaven and earth. That’s unexpected! But wasn’t that the plan from the beginning? That all the nations/peoples on earth would be blessed through Israel? (Ge 12:3) So Hiram committed not only to providing the timber and the men skilled in working with it, but also to providing the transportation from Lebanon, north of the kingdom of Israel, south along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, and then inland to Jerusalem in Judah. And what did Hiram want in return? To provide food for his royal household. So basically, this is Settlers of Catan — we’re trading wood for wheat. But the narrator is clear: this arrangement for the exchange of goods and services wasn’t just a good business deal; v. 12 says it happened because of the Lord’s wisdom given to Solomon. Interesting! Maybe God was ok with this arrangement, too? So, was Solomon good to go then? With this treaty with Hiram and the Sidonians and all the cedars of Lebanon they could ask for, along with the gold and silver and other things that King David and many others within Israel had already given, did they have everything they needed? Well, not quite…
1 Kings 5:13–18 (NIV), “13 King Solomon conscripted laborers from all Israel—thirty thousand men. 14 He sent them off to Lebanon in shifts of ten thousand a month, so that they spent one month in Lebanon and two months at home. Adoniram was in charge of the forced labor. 15 Solomon had seventy thousand carriers and eighty thousand stonecutters in the hills, 16 as well as thirty-three hundred foremen who supervised the project and directed the workers. 17 At the king’s command they removed from the quarry large blocks of high-grade stone to provide a foundation of dressed stone for the temple. 18 The craftsmen of Solomon and Hiram and workers from Byblos cut and prepared the timber and stone for the building of the temple.” This is God’s word. So, in addition to the timber and transportation and specialized labor that Solomon was going to get from Hiram, it turned out that they needed a lot more muscle. So he conscripted 30,000 laborers from all Israel. This would be something similar to a draft during a war. If we were in a serious war today, the United States might have a draft, and if your number was called, you’d have to go and fight; you would be compensated, but it wouldn’t be optional. Here, if Adoniram called your name, then you’d have to go to Lebanon to work one month on and two months off back home; again, you’d be compensated, but it wouldn’t be optional. Or, you could be one of the 70,000 carriers or eighty thousand stonecutters in the hills. Or, you could be one of the foremen to help coordinate all this work. Additionally, think of all the work that would be needed to support these almost 200,000 men hard at work. Makes me very thankful for the scope of our last building project, to be honest. Well, in the next few weeks, we’ll see this incredible building project continue to progress. And after Christmas, we’ll see it finally completed. But for today, what do we do with this passage? How might we apply God’s word to our lives to grow a bit more like Jesus? Well, that’s a very good question, and I’m glad you asked. I confess, I had a completely different sermon planned for today, one that connected the wisdom that God gave Solomon to the planning and execution of this huge building project. But something hit me yesterday as I was going for a walk: I don’t think that’s really what this passage is about. There are many ways to apply God’s word. One set of application questions I’ve used over the years is this: What do people need to know, what do people need to feel, and what do people need to do in light of this text? And I realized something about this Settlers of Catan text — it’s not just a picture of wisdom in making a good business deal or in organizing a huge building project. Those things do happen in this text, but that’s not as significant as something else. What’s so important (and shocking) is a pattern revealed here in our text that we see repeated again and again in the Bible. What do you need to know from this text? Here’s what you need to know: This text reveals a pattern of God using Jews and Gentiles to build his house. We saw this pattern last year in the story of the Exodus of the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt. It wasn’t just the Jews who were liberated from Egypt. Moses said, “Many other people went up with them [when they left Egypt after the Passover], and also large droves of livestock, both flocks and herds.” (Ex 12:38). Also, many Egyptians supported the Israelites by giving them articles of silver and gold and costly clothing (v. 35). Where do you think these former slaves had the resources to build the Tabernacle? From the Gentiles who came with them and with the resources they were given when they left Egypt. God used both Jew and Gentile to build his mobile house. Now here, again, God was using Jews and Gentiles to build his permanent house. But the pattern doesn’t stop there. What do we see in the person and work of Jesus Christ? The Apostle Paul wrote, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.” (Ro 1:16). Once again, God not only uses Jews and Gentiles to build his house; God is building all people, Jews and Gentiles, into his house, his temple, the place where his holy presence dwells. We’re going to focus more next week on this Bible-long theme of God’s desire to dwell with his people. But for today, and from our text today, I want you to know something — that Solomon and the kingdom of Israel, working together with Hiram and the kingdom of Sidon, Jews and Gentiles coming together, this pattern, is like a big finger pointing forward to the people united together by faith in Jesus Christ. Do you know why we don’t have a Temple today? One answer is that Jesus has fulfilled everything related to the temple (priesthood, sacrifice, atonement, everything). But another answer is because you are now the temple for the living God; you are the house of the Lord. Whoever you are, Jew or Gentile, young or old, rich or poor, male or female, in Christ you are the place where heaven and earth come together, the dwelling place of God. This pattern of including Jew and Gentile is repeated over and over to foreshadow the greatest building project in the history of time — that God is building a people for himself. This is the building project that God is doing among us today. He is building you into his house. So how should we feel about this? This is what I want you to feel: Amazement! Shock! Relief! Gratitude! Did you know that this is what God is doing in the world? Building himself a dwelling place among and within his people? Not just the God of Israel or the God of the East, but the King of all creation, of heaven and earth! And his plan includes you in this project. Does this not stir your heart with joy and wonder? Don’t you feel the weight of this good news? I hope you do. Finally, what should we do in light of this pattern of inclusion in God’s plans and purposes and in light of the joy and wonder that should accompany this good news? Here’s what I want you to do: Worship the Lord! Take this news that God not only will include you in some far-off and distant day, but that you have been invited to come into God’s house today. Through his life, death, and resurrection, Jesus Christ has done everything needed to allow you to come in. But remember, you’re not only invited in, you become a living stone, a living breathing cedar of Lebanon, filled by the Holy Spirit, that God is using to build his eternal house. So what? So worship him! Take all that shock and gratitude and pour it right back to God in worship! We are a house of worship. So let’s lift up the name of Jesus and give him all the glory, honor, and praise for what he has done. Let us join Solomon the Jew and Hiram the Gentile, both our brothers in Christ, along with the whole history of God’s people from every nation, tribe, people, and language, and worship the Lord with everything we have. Our text reveals a pattern of God using Jews and Gentiles to build his house; a pattern that continues even now. Let us pray.
