Hiram picked and gifted by God

 

May 1, 2021

 

1 Kings 7:23-37

“Then he made the sea of cast metal. It was round, ten cubits from brim to brim, and five cubits high, and a line of thirty cubits measured its circumference.   Under its brim were gourds, for ten cubits, compassing the sea all around. The gourds were in two rows, cast with it when it was cast.   It stood on twelve oxen, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east. The sea was set on them, and all their rear parts were inward.  Its thickness was a handbreadth,^[h] and its brim was made like the brim of a cup, like the flower of a lily. It held two thousand baths.

He also made the ten stands of bronze. Each stand was four cubits long, four cubits wide, 

and three cubits high.   This was the construction of the stands: they had panels, and the panels were set in the frames,  and on the panels that were set in the frames were lions, oxen, and cherubim. On the frames, both above and below the lions and oxen, there were wreaths of beveled work.   Moreover, each stand had four bronze wheels and axles of bronze, and at the four corners were supports for a basin. The supports were cast with wreaths at the side of each.   Its opening was within a crown that projected upward one cubit. Its opening was round, as a pedestal is made, a cubit and a half deep. At its opening there were carvings, and its panels were square, not round.   And the four wheels were underneath the panels. The axles of the wheels were of one piece with the stands, and the height of a wheel was a cubit and a half.  The wheels were made like a chariot wheel; their axles, their rims, their spokes, and their hubs were all cast.   There were four supports at the four corners of each stand. The supports were of one piece with the stands.   And on the top of the stand, there was a round band half a cubit high; and on the top of the stand, its stays and its panels were of one piece with it.  And on the surfaces of its stays and on its panels, he carved cherubim, lions, and palm trees, according to the space of each, with wreaths all around.   After this manner, he made the ten stands. All of them were cast alike, of the same measure and the same form.”

 

One must wonder if Hiram's dad told him what my dad told me, no shortcut, any job worth doing is worth doing right.  As you read this account of the furnishing of the temple, which was destroyed by the Babylonians, much of Hiram's work was either destroyed or carried off to the King of Babylon.  One has to wonder how long it took to destroy the Temple and how much time it took to build it back. 

 

The lesson is to tear down work, it does not take long, but to restore it can take a long time.  Sin never builds, the game plan of sin is to steal, kill and destroy.

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice

Tell the Coming Generation

                                                                     Psalm 78:1-16

July 23-2022

 

Tell the Coming Generation

A Maskil of Asaph.

Give ear, O my people, to my teaching;  incline your ears to the words of my mouth!  I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings from of old, things that we have heard and known,  that our fathers have told us.  We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might, and the wonders that he has done.

He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to teach to their children, that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children, so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments; and that they should not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation whose heart was not steadfast, whose spirit was not faithful to God.l  The Ephraimites, armed with the bow, turned back on the day of battle.  They did not keep God's covenant but refused to walk according to his law.  They forgot his works and the wonders that he had shown them.
 In the sight of their fathers, he performed wonders in the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zoan.  He divided the sea and let them pass through it, and made the waters stand like a heap.   In the daytime, he led them with a cloud, and all the night with a fiery light.  He split rocks in the wilderness and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep.  He made streams come out of the rock and caused waters to flow down like rivers.

 

What happens to a generation that the father has not told them the glorious deeds of the Lord, and His might, and the wonders that he has done?  They begin to do as this generation, they believe the lies being told to them, yes they believe good is bad and bad is good.  The Children of that generation become more foolish and have no understanding, they are arrogant and prideful, and with no respect for authority.   They do not look to worship their Creator, nor do they look and study His written account.

 

They become foolish people looking to others who are eviler than them, to serve to lead them, and they buy into the killing of babies for the convenience of the mother, Climate change as if a man is in control and can control the weather.  They no longer use their mind to seek truth, or they would understand that if oil removal from the earth was terrible, it is bad for the planet no matter who does it.  If coal is terrible for producing energy it will affect the world no matter who does it.  I understand and have the wisdom not because of age, but because I’ve studied the Scriptures and know that man has learned nothing from history, so he keeps repeating it.

 

When it comes to any form of government other than Capitalism, as we have in the USA, that was established by men who believed in freedom from the control of the government, the ability to worship and speak out against the government, and the right to arm oneself if that government set out to take away those rights.  They believe that these rights are not given by man but given by God, to all who obey the laws of God and man.

 

This generation, will not study history, will not open God’s written word, and have chosen to act as if they “can do it their way” how does that work, let me tell you they are headed for a wreck, for they were too foolish to seek truth, and chose the ways of evil.

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice

The Temple Furnishings

 

 April 30, 2021

 

The Temple Furnishings

 

And King Solomon sent and brought Hiram from Tyre.   He was the son of a widow of the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a worker in bronze. And he was full of wisdom, understanding, and skill for making any work in bronze. He came to King Solomon and did all his work.

He cast two pillars of bronze. Eighteen cubits was the height of one pillar, and a line of twelve cubits measured its circumference. It was hollow, and its thickness was four fingers. The second pillar was the same.   He also made two capitals of cast bronze to set on the tops of the pillars. The height of the one capital was five cubits, and the height of the other capital was five cubits.   There were lattices of checker work with wreaths of chain work for the capitals on the tops of the pillars, a lattice for the one capital, and a lattice for the other capital.   Likewise, he made pomegranates in two rows around the one latticework to cover the capital that was on the top of the pillar, and he did the same with the other capital.   Now the capitals that were on the tops of the pillars in the vestibule were of lily work, four cubits.   The capitals were on the two pillars and also above the rounded projection which was beside the latticework. There were two hundred pomegranates in two rows all around, and so with the other capital.   He set up the pillars at the vestibule of the temple. He set up the pillar on the south and called its name Jachin, and he set up the pillar on the north and called its name Boaz.   And on the tops of the pillars was lily-work. Thus, the work of the pillars was finished.

 

Have you had a project and knew you did not have the skillset or the time or tools to accomplish it.  So, you look up ads in the phone book or get online to find someone who tells you they have the knowledge and skills to accomplish the projects, only to find they did a poor job.  

 

Solomon must have done some investigating in that he brought Hiram from Tyre who like his father was a worker in bronze.  We do not know about the skills of his dad, but Hiram was known for his wisdom, understanding, and skill for any work in bronze.  Solomon did not ask him to do the woodwork that was not his skill set, but as we read this chapter, it becomes clear the kind of man one should look for if he wants something special, what was more special than the House built for God?

 

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

                                                                     1 Kings 7:1-12

 

April 28, 2021

 

 Solomon Builds His Palace

Solomon was building his own house thirteen years, and he finished his entire house. He built the House of the Forest of Lebanon. Its length was a hundred cubits and its breadth fifty cubits and its height thirty cubits, and it was built on four rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams on the pillars.   And it was covered with cedar above the chambers that were on the forty-five pillars, fifteen in each row.   There were window frames in three rows, and window opposite window in three tiers.   All the doorways and windows had square frames, and window was opposite window in three tiers.

 

And he made the Hall of Pillars; its length was fifty cubits, and its breadth thirty cubits. There was a porch in front with pillars and a canopy in front of them.

And he made the Hall of the Throne where he was to pronounce judgment, even the Hall of Judgment. It was finished with cedar from floor to rafters.

 

His own house where he was to dwell, in the other court back of the hall, was of like workmanship. Solomon also made a house like this hall for   Pharaoh's daughter whom he had taken in marriage.  All these were made of costly stones, cut according to measure, sawed with saws, back, and front, even from the foundation to the coping, and from the outside to the great court.   The foundation was of costly stones, huge stones, stones of eight and ten cubits.   And above were costly stones, cut according to measurement, and cedar.   The great court had three courses of cut stone all around, and a course of cedar beams; so, had the inner court of the house of the Lord and the vestibule of the house.

 

Solomon's worker finished the Temple in 7 years, but it took 13 years to build his house, did I read that correctly?  Yes, but Solomon makes sure the Temple was designed and built first, and according to all that, his Father in heaven had said.  And when it comes to his house, it was much more than a place to live and entertain a few friends, it was the seat of government, the total government complex, and his living quarters.  Plus, Solomon built a house for the daughter of Pharaoh from Egypt, his wife.

 

No were in the Scripture have I read where God was displeased over these actions of Solomon.

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice

 

Hand picked by God to build His house

 

April 27, 2021

 

1 Kings 6:23-38

 

 For the inner sanctuary, he made a pair of cherubim out of olive wood, each ten cubits high.   One wing of the first cherub was five cubits long, and the other wing five cubits—ten cubits from wingtip to wingtip.   The second cherub also measured ten cubits, for the two cherubim were identical in size and shape.  The height of each cherub was ten cubits.   He placed the cherubim inside the innermost room of the temple, with their wings spread out. The wing of one cherub touched one wall, while the wing of the other touched the other wall, and their wings touched each other in the middle of the room.   He overlaid the cherubim with gold.

On the walls all around the temple, in both the inner and outer rooms, he carved cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers.   He also covered the floors of both the inner and outer rooms of the temple with gold.

For the entrance to the inner sanctuary, he made doors out of olive wood that were one-fifth of the width of the sanctuary.   And on the two olive-wood doors he carved cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, and overlaid the cherubim and palm trees with hammered gold.   In the same way, for the entrance to the main hall, he made doorframes out of olive wood that were one-fourth of the width of the hall.   He also made two doors out of juniper wood, each having two leaves that turned in sockets.   He carved cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers on them and overlaid them with gold hammered evenly over the carvings.  And he built the inner courtyard of three courses of dressed stone and one course of trimmed cedar beams.

The foundation of the temple of the Lord was laid in the fourth year, in the month of Ziv.   In the eleventh year in the month of Bul, the eighth month, the temple was finished in all its details according to its specifications. He had spent seven years building it.

Our builder often sent us invitations to a new home he had built that was in the parade of homes, I refer to that as a want creator.  My wife saw some things she liked in one of the homes Kyle had built and told him how much she would have liked to have those features in our house.  Kyle's reply was “Jan when you enter the candy store you must have the money to buy.”  That home cost about double the one he had built for us and had many features that were out of our price range, but it did not come close to the Temple Solomon built for the LORD.  Can you imagine walking into a home where all the floors were covered with gold, and the builder and the men in charge were hand-picked by God, to build His house?

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice 

                                                                     1 Kings 6:11-22

 

April 26, 2021

 

 

Now the word of the Lord came to Solomon, “Concerning this house that you are building, if you will walk in my statutes and obey my rules and keep all my commandments and walk in them, then I will establish my word with you, which I spoke to David your father.   And I will dwell among the children of Israel and will not forsake my people Israel.”

 So, Solomon built the house and finished it.   He lined the walls of the house on the inside with boards of cedar. From the floor of the house to the walls of the ceiling, he covered them on the inside with wood, and he covered the floor of the house with boards of cypress.   He built twenty cubits of the rear of the house with boards of cedar from the floor to the walls, and he built this within as an inner sanctuary, as the Most Holy Place.   The house, that is, the nave in front of the inner sanctuary, was forty cubits long.   The cedar within the house was carved in the form of gourds and open flowers. All was cedar; no stone was seen.   The inner sanctuary he prepared in the innermost part of the house, to set there the ark of the covenant of the Lord.   The inner sanctuary was twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and twenty cubits high, and he overlaid it with pure gold. He also overlaid^[g] an altar of cedar.   And Solomon overlaid the inside of the house with pure gold, and he drew chains of gold across, in front of the inner sanctuary, and overlaid it with gold.   And he overlaid the whole house with gold until all the house was finished.  Also, the whole altar that belonged to the inner sanctuary he overlaid with gold.

 

As you read verses 11-13, God’s promise to King Solomon, the question is not can God do what He is promising?  The question for Solomon, as well as you and I, will we obey, will we comply with God's terms?  Will we agree, and then later after we are receiving the blessing and the hand of God, begin to get proud and arrogant and do what our flesh desires?  Will we begin to believe we have a lot going for us, and we begin to steal just a little of the glory that belongs to God?

 

My livelihood was in sales, I worked for a great Company that required a college degree, but they hired me for an outside sales job, a job I had never done.  At first, I was not very good, I worked hard, but was fearful each time I saw a young man enter the office looking for employment.  I did what I was told and made at least 10 cold calls a day.  In the months that follow I had a little success but was still very fearful of losing my job to someone who had a degree or had experience in sales.  My barber asked me to go to a Bible Study, and he was not the Bible study type, so I went to see why he would go.  How I was religious, a church member, who just did not have time on Sundays to attend church, it was my day for other things.

 

That Bible Study was not on my agenda, in fact, I never plan to go back, but each Wednesday at noon I was there; for six months.  I checked out the men that were coming to see if what they said they believed was true in their business lives, and found they were the real deal, and I was the possessor.  One night in Victoria, Texas in a hotel room I opened a Bible on the nightstand and it opened to Roman 10, and it was verses 9, and 10 that got my full attention.  I was like so many church members, only a member of a church, but had never bowed my knee to a holy God.  Had never asked Jesus to forgive my sin that was many, but that night around 10 p.m. I did.  And guess what I enter into the promise God the Father and God the Son had made for “Whosever will” and that night I enter into the family of my heavenly Father.

 

God keeps all His promises, but we often fall short. I began to receive God’s bless and one day when a young man enters the office as I was loading a machine in my car, that old fear from the enemy came on me, and I hear this voice in my head, Bob, your good at what you do, so do not fear anymore about your job.  I knew it was God who told me, and no longer did I fear that.  I did not say I was free from fear but was free in that area.  I became very successful, won many rewards, and some great trips, and for the most part for years gave the credit to God, but pride began to enter into my life and  God will always discipline his kids, when they get full of themselves.

 

So, please give thought to this question, are you taking credit for the skills and talents God has blessed you with?  He often allows us to do so for a while, but if you are in His family, He hates pride, and must allow you to have a wreck, it may come in many areas of your life, but it not to bring harm, but to humble you so you come to your senses.  He is God and you are not!

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice

 

                                                                            1 King 6:1-10

       April 24, 2021

 Solomon Builds the Temple

In the four hundred and eightieth year after the people of Israel came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, which is the second month, he began to build the house of the Lord.   The house that King Solomon built for the Lord was sixty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and thirty cubits high.   The vestibule in front of the nave of the house was twenty cubits long, equal to the width of the house, and ten cubits deep in front of the house.   And he made for the house windows with recessed frames.   He also built a structure against the wall of the house, running around the walls of the house, both the nave and the inner sanctuary. And he made side chambers all around.   The lowest story was five cubits broad, the middle one was six cubits broad, and the third was seven cubits broad. For around the outside of the house, he made offsets on the wall in order that the supporting beams should not be inserted into the walls of the house.

 When the house was built, it was with stone prepared at the quarry, so that neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron was heard in the house while it was being built.

The entrance for the lowest story was on the south side of the house, and one went up by stairs to the middle story, and from the middle story to the third.   So, he built the house and finished it, and he made the ceiling of the house of beams and planks of cedar.   He built the structure against the whole house, five cubits high, and it was joined to the house with timbers of cedar.

 

Do you understand that the Ark of the Lord was always in a tent from the time God instructed Moses to build it and put the ten commandments in it?   King David wanted to build a house for it and for God but was not allowed to do so, but God said your son will build the House for me.

 

We visited Israel many years ago almost 15 now and were told by our guide that all the items for the temple have been made the priest have been trained and on the day it is built they will once more have sacrifices.  The guide told us they were ready, and it would not take long to build the Temple.  I do believe that is in keeping with the Scriptures, that a Temple will be built, and the world will not what this to happen.

 

As we see the darkness of evil enclosing this world, I am looking forward to the Temple being rebuilt and Jesus soon returning.

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice