Now therefore the wheat and barley, oil and wine, of which my lord has spoken, let him send to his servants.
Hiram's reply to Solomon closes the deal for the temple. He will supply the timber, and he asks Solomon to send the food he promised to the men who do the work. A foreign king from Tyre is helping to build a house for the God of Israel, and Israel's fields feed his workers while he does it.
The Promise Being Claimed
The four items Hiram names — wheat, barley, oil and wine — are the wages Solomon had already offered. Hiram is asking Solomon to deliver them to his own workmen. One writer sees in that arrangement a picture of how God treats those who work on His house:
Leslie M. GrantIn return for this service from Tyre, Solomon promised to give Hiram's servants 20,000 cors of ground wheat and 20,000 of barley. He also promised 20,000 baths of wine and 20,000 baths of oil. This pictures the Lord's generosity toward those who work at building the house of God today as well. He does provide everything they need for their support and enjoyment, and much more. The Lord will more than repay, in grace, any work done for Him.
The Title "My Lord"
Hiram is a king himself. Yet in this message he calls both Solomon and Solomon's father "my lord." One writer weighs Hiram's dealings with David's house by two things — what he did and what he said:
Truth & TestimonyIn verse 12 Hiram refers to David as "the king." He valued David's royal dignity. In verse 14 he refers to David as "my lord." He acknowledged David's authority over him. By his works and his words Hiram gives evidence of a well-balanced love. What a pleasing example Hiram sets before us.
Timber for Bread
Hiram has forests, but no grain. His household eats because Solomon's land grows food. One writer weighs the two sides of this trade and finds them far from equal:
H. L. RossierThe Lord could do without us, but He does not want to do so. He knows well that using us in His service gives joy to our hearts and blesses them — but we cannot do without Him. It is He who gives life, nourishment, strength and growth. The food of Hiram's country, the wheat his merchants traded in, came from Palestine. The Lord's land supplies the things we need to live. So Hiram depended on Solomon for one thing: providing food for his household. And what plenty the servants of the king of Tyre enjoyed afterwards — four million eight hundred thousand litres of wheat a year! Someone might own cedar trees and cypress trees and still die of hunger. But no one starves who puts them into Solomon's service.
A Foreigner With a Place
Hiram gives on Solomon's terms, and Solomon's stores pay for it. One commentator calls that lower place a privilege, and links it to what the temple would one day be. Gentile here means anyone not born an Israelite:
The Bible TreasuryThe Gentile has the privilege of a small share in building that house. He does not give as readily or as freely as an Israelite does, but he has a place there — a blessed place, we may say. And a more blessed place is still to come. For that house is to be a house of prayer for all nations. … The Gentile's place was subordinate, but it shared in Israel's blessedness.
The Wider Reach Behind the Deal
Another writer notes where the temple stood, not just who helped build it:
W. W. FeredayWe note also that the temple was to be built on the threshing floor of a Gentile. Hiram, king of Tyre, another Gentile, worked closely with both David and Solomon in the great work. So Israel's God had Gentiles in mind to share the blessedness of His presence on earth among His people. "My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples." That was an early hint of how wide and worldwide God's grace would be in this day of the gospel.
The Scene It Foreshadows
Chronicles is doing more than recording a supply contract. One writer reads the whole scene — the king on his throne, foreigners working for him, the house going up — as a picture of a coming age:
J. N. DarbyHe reigns, and is established in glory and riches. He begins to build the house. Hiram acknowledges the Lord as the Creator of heaven and earth. The strangers living in Israel are the king's servants, there to do his work. … It is the time of the millennium.
Summary
- Promise. Hiram asks only for what Solomon had already pledged. The wheat, barley, oil and wine are a promise claimed, not a price haggled over.
- Provision. God feeds those who work on His house, and He more than repays in grace all they do for Him.
- Dependence. Hiram owned cedars and still needed bread. God chooses to use us; we cannot live without Him.
- Place. The outsider's place was lower, yet it was a real and blessed share in the building.
- Preview. A king reigning in glory, with strangers serving him, points ahead to a house of prayer for all peoples.