1 Kings 5:13-18 – Being Kingdom builders

The work of nation-building was not a small feat. Solomon not only had his palace and the temple but also other governmental buildings to build. Where could he find so many laborers for these projects? First Kings 5:13-18 said that he had a conscripted force. This was a type of national service, where these men would give three months a year to serve the nation. Adoniram who was earlier mentioned in 1 Kings 4:6 was again mentioned in 1 Kings:5:14. He was the person assigned to look after this conscripted force.   

The laborers conscripted were 30,000 men. On a rotational basis, 10,000 of them would be sent to work in Lebanon.  Then they would serve back home for two months. Besides these conscripted Israelites, verse 15 said that Solomon also had a total of 150,000 servers, probably made up of people from the nations he had conquered. These served as transporters and stonecutters under 3,300 supervisors assigned to look after them.

The word "house" in verses 17-18 refers to the temple Solomon wanted to build for God’s name. He demanded that quality stones be hewn to lay the foundation of the house. Verse 18 concludes this chapter by saying that Solomon’s workers, Hiram’s workers, and the Gebalites, the inhabitants of Gebal, collaborated to prepare the stones and the timbers for the building of the house of God.   

Like building the temple, building God’s Kingdom also requires laborers. And we are all enlisted to build the Kingdom. Let us be conscious that we are all kingdom builders. The Lord Jesus in Matthew 9:37-38 said, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.” Will we respond to this call and be enlisted into God’s occupational force on earth to build His Kingdom? Know also that the church is the gathering of Kingdom builders. This church is built with the living stones of men. Like the quality stones that were used to build the foundation of the temple, will we be the quality living stones that Jesus can use in the building of His church? Remember, this Kingdom is for all eternity!