“All these structures, from the outside to the great courtyard and from foundation to eaves, were made of blocks of high-grade stone cut to size and smoothed on their inner and outer faces.”-1 Kings 7:9
In verse 9, we’re told that “all” the structures in Solomon’s palace were carved out of blocks made of high-grade stone.
The word “all” or KOL in Hebrew here is an exaggeration.
It ain’t really referring to every structure in Solomon’s palace.
For instance, recall the House of the Forest of Lebanon was constructed out of all wood.
Yet, having said that, even that incredible structure would have had stone blocks as its foundation.
In verse 10, we’re told the following:
“The foundations were laid with large stones of good quality, some measuring ten cubits and some eight.“
The point isn’t that these stones were made of some rare or super expensive material like marble or gemstones.
The reason they were so valuable is that they were HUGE.
Some of the foundation stones were as long as 18 feet and may have weighed over 20 tons!
On top of that, the stones you could see above the ground were cut with incredible precision.
So these stones weren’t expensive because of what they were made of.
They were expensive because of their enormous size and the craftsmanship that went into shaping them.
Ya feeling me here?
So what type of stones were used?
No doubt, the normal limestone found all over Israel.
There wasn’t anything unusual about the material.
What was unusual was the workmanship.
That’s what made the difference.
Normally, builders didn’t spend much time shaping the foundation stones because they would be buried underground where nobody could see them.
The stones above ground were usually cut well enough to stack together, and any gaps were filled with lots of mortar.
Solomon’s palace was built on a whole different level.
Every single stone…
Whether it was buried below the ground or visible above it…
Was carefully cut by skilled craftsmen.
The stones fit together tightly and gave the entire palace a clean, beautiful appearance.
There’s a cool takeaway we can extract from this.
We have a tendency to focus only on what’s visible.
But it’s the invisible things…
The things nobody sees…
That form the foundation…
And are the most important.
You go to a concert and are blown away by a guitarist’s performance…
But do you ever stop to appreciate the thousands of unseen hours of practice it took to reach that level?
The opposite is also true.
You might show up to your weekly house of worship decked out in your finest clothes…
Singing praises and praying with all your heart…
But if just a couple of days earlier…
You were binging on porn…
Banging bimbos on the backstreets of Bangkok behind your wife’s back…
Or lying, stealing, and cheating…
Then all those outward displays of love for the Lord don’t really mean diddly squat now, do they?
Remember, who you are in secret is who you really are.
I’ll leave you with these words penned by King Solomon himself from Ecclesiastes:
“For God will bring
every deed into judgment,
including every hidden thing,
whether it is good or evil.”
– Ecclesiastes 12:14
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“There is nothing concealed
that will not be disclosed,
or hidden that will not be made known.
What you have said in the dark
will be heard in the daylight,
and what you have whispered
in the ear in the inner rooms
will be proclaimed from the roofs.”
-Luke 12:2-3
“For whatever is hidden
is meant to be disclosed,
and whatever is concealed
is meant to be brought
out into the open.”
-Mark 4:22
“…He will bring to light
what is hidden in darkness
and will expose the
motives of the heart.”
– 1 Corinthians 4:5
Leave a Reply