Solomon and Hiram - A Problem of Mingling

In the Bible the issue of mingling is a major doctrinal concept. In the Garden of Eden God told Adam and Eve to not eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil for God said if they were to eat of it they would surely die. Genesis 2:17. Of the Tree of Life, and every other tree in the garden, God told Adam and Eve that they could eat of them freely. Genesis 2:9,16. God did not want Adam and Eve to eat of anything mingled – like the knowledge of good and evil. God wanted them to eat of pure, straightforward truth, no mingling with error.

This concept is repeated in Genesis 6:1-4. In this Scripture God is speaking about the mingling between the Sons of God and the Daughters of men. God knew that if God’s people, the Sons of God, were to marry non-converted women that the end product of this mingling would be to produce error and evil. This thought is borne out in Genesis 6:5.

God has amplified this thought in Nehemiah 13:23-24 where Nehemiah finds that the Jewish people, those who claimed to serve God, had married heathen wives of Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. The results of this union were that the children were so "mingled" that they could not speak the language of the Jews but the language of the people. Thus this union had produced confusion of language, and thought, and of action.

Ezra 9:1-2 enhances the above ideas by stating the following:

1Now when these things were done, the princes came to me, saying, The people of Israel, and the priests, and the Levites, have not separated themselves from the people of the lands, doing according to their abominations, even of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites.

2For they have taken of their daughters for themselves, and for their sons: so that the holy seed have mingled themselves with the people of those lands: yea, the hand of the princes and rulers hath been chief in this trespass.

Ezra, the prophet of God, believed that this mingling was a trespass against God and caused the people to commit the heathens abominations. Thus all of God’s people should be warned away from anything that mingles truth and error.

Solomon himself bears witness to the problems with mingling. God told Solomon in Deuteronomy 17:17 to not multiply wives unto himself lest they turn away from God. This prophecy was fulfilled in I Kings 11:1-9. Solomon married many heathen wives and attempted to mingle the teachings of Israel with the teachings of the heathen. The end result was his heart turned away from God and Solomon followed after the ways and religious activities of the heathen. The end product was that his heart was turned away from God. This is the inevitable result of mingling truth with error.

Now with the above information I would like to speak about Solomon’s builder of his temple. Hiram was a descendent of a mother of the tribe of Naphtali – one of the twelve tribes of Israel. His father was a man of Tyre, a worker of brass: and he was filled with wisdom, and understanding, and cunning to work all works in brass. And he came to King Solomon, and wrought all his work. I Kings 7:13-14

Apparently Hiram was one of the greatest workers in brass in existence in his time. However, Hiram was a mingled individual. By this I mean that Hiram was a mingling of Jewish belief and of the beliefs of the heathen land of Tyre. Thus Hiram would be an excellent artist but his belief system would be confused and he could do right things for wrong reasons.

In her book Prophets and Kings 62-63 Ellen White states what Solomon should have done is to ask God to raise up Israelites who would be given talents to build God’s temple like God had raised up Bezaleel and Aholiab in Exodus 31 and 35:30-39:43. God raised these men up, gave them spiritual gifts of all manner of workmanship. Exodus 35:30-31. With these men the primary goal of their lives was to provide service for God and His people.

Ellen White states in the same section the following:

"The descendants of these workmen inherited to a large degree the talents conferred on their forefathers. For a time these men of Judah and Dan remained humble and unselfish; but gradually, almost imperceptibly, they lost their hold upon God and their desire to serve Him unselfishly. They asked higher wages for their services, because of their superior skill as workmen in the finer arts. In some instances their request was granted, but more often they found employment in the surrounding nations. In place of the noble spirit of self-sacrifice that had filled the hearts of their illustrious ancestors, they indulged a spirit of covetousness, of grasping for more and more. That their selfish desires might be gratified, they used their God-given skill in the service of heathen kings, and lent their talent to the perfecting of works which were a dishonor to their Maker.

It was among these men that Solomon looked for a master workman to superintend the construction of the temple on Mount Moriah. Minute specifications, in writing, regarding every portion of the sacred structure, had been entrusted to the king; and he could have looked to God in faith for consecrated helpers, to whom would have been granted special skill for doing with exactness the work required. But Solomon lost sight of this opportunity to exercise faith in God. He sent to the king of Tyre for a man, "cunning to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, and in iron, and in purple, and crimson, and blue, and that can skill to grave with the cunning men . . . in Judah and in Jerusalem." 2 Chronicles 2:7." Prophets and Kings 62-63

It is this writers understanding that as the spirit of selfishness was indulged the pure motives of service to God were replaced by the motives of the surrounding nations and a mingling occurred. As we have seen whenever a mingling takes place among the people there is an inevitable turning away from the principles of God. This case turns out the same way.

Again in Prophets and Kings 63-65 we have the following testimony:

"Thus at the head of Solomon's company of workmen there was placed a man whose efforts were not prompted by an unselfish desire to render service to God. He served the god of this world, mammon. The very fibers of his being were inwrought with the principles of selfishness.

Because of his unusual skill, Huram demanded large wages. Gradually the wrong principles that he cherished came to be accepted by his associates. As they labored with him day after day, they yielded to the inclination to compare his wages with their own, and they began to lose sight of the holy character of their work. The spirit of self-denial left them, and in its place came the spirit of covetousness. The result was a demand for higher wages, which was granted.

The baleful influences thus set in operation permeated all branches of the Lord's service, and extended throughout the kingdom. The high wages demanded and received gave to many an opportunity to indulge in luxury and extravagance. The poor were oppressed by the rich; the spirit of self-sacrifice was well-nigh lost. In the far-reaching effects of these influences may be traced one of the principal causes of the terrible apostasy of him who once was numbered among the wisest of mortals.

The sharp contrast between the spirit and motives of the people building the wilderness tabernacle, and of those engaged in erecting Solomon's temple, has a lesson of deep significance. The self-seeking that characterized the workers on the temple finds its counterpart today in the selfishness that rules in the world. The spirit of covetousness, of seeking for the highest position and the highest wage, is rife. The willing service and joyous self-denial of the tabernacle workers is seldom met with. But this is the only spirit that should actuate the followers of Jesus. Our divine Master has given an example of how His disciples are to work. To those whom He bade, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men" (Matthew 4:19), He offered no stated sum as a reward for their services. They were to share with Him in self-denial and sacrifice.

Not for the wages we receive are we to labor. The motive that prompts us to work for God should have in it nothing akin to self-serving. Unselfish devotion and a spirit of sacrifice have always been and always will be the first requisite of acceptable service. Our Lord and Master designs that not one thread of selfishness shall be woven into His work. Into our efforts we are to bring the tact and skill, the exactitude and wisdom, that the God of perfection required of the builders of the earthly tabernacle; yet in all our labors we are to remember that the greatest talents or the most splendid services are acceptable only when self is laid upon the altar, a living, consuming sacrifice."

Thus Solomon, the wisest of earthly men, made a major mistake and initiated the principles of worldliness in this project meant for devotion to God. If Solomon had listened to God, and properly discerned the issues involved with the building of the Temple of God, he might have saved himself and his kingdom many heartaches and trials. But we, coming along 2500 years later can learn from the mistakes of Solomon. We can decide today to "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? Or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you. And He will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty." II Corinthians 6:14-18

Mingling truth and error have never worked in the history of mankind. God only works on purity of truth and love. If we are involved in a relationship with a mingled person or business, let us take these things to God to see how He would have us to handle things. He knows the issues of every heart and mind, and only He can solve the difficult issues of life. God wrote a chapter especially on how to deal with these issues in I Corinthians 7.

If you are not in a mingled relationship please learn from Solomon and do not enter into one. The only safety of mankind is to obey the thoughts of God and to not disobey His wonderful protecting thoughts. May you be blessed by the wisdom of God’s holy Word.