Tonight I decided to start reading it and on the first page of Chapter 1 was 2 Chronicles 2:18-- 18 And he set threescore and ten thousand of them to be bearers of burdens, and fourscore thousand to be hewers in the mountain, and three thousand and six hundred overseers to set the people a work.
This is part of the story of the temple that Solomon built. I gotta tell you, I never really read these scriptures before, I might of glanced at part of them, but I read them tonight and it is quite fascinating on how big and elaborate the Temple was.
Metals such as gold, silver, bronze and iron were used in the temple.
Gold
donated by King David was 3,000 pounds. Donated silver was about 7,000
pounds. The amount of gold used 1 ton and silver was 3 ¾ tons and
bronze was 2 ½ tons.
The
weight of the gold was 100,000 talents and it equals 3,750 tons and
cost today about 45 billion dollars. The weight of silver was 1,000,000
talents and it equals 37,500 tons and cost 10.8 billion dollars. In
today’s market the gold and silver would be worth about 56 billion
dollars on the US market.
The fabrics that were used in the temple were purple, violet, and crimson in color and of the finest silks known to man.
The Temple measurements were as follows:
It
was 90 feet long and 30 feet wide and was three stories in height. The
outer walls of the Temple were 6 feet thick. Two bronze pillars stood on
each side of the door. The names of these two pillars are Boaz and
Ja’chin. They were 40 feet tall. I am not sure why the pillars where named, there are theories out there one being that Jachin means establish which represents King Solomon and Boaz means strength representing King David.
So what does this all have to do with the Freemasons, well, King Solomon asks the King of Tyre for the best of the best to oversee the building of the temple. This King of Tyre answers with this in 2 Chronicles 2 - 13 “Now I have sent a skilled man, who has understanding, Huram-abi, 14 the son of a woman of the daughters of Dan, and his father was a man of Tyre. He is
trained to work in gold, silver, bronze, iron, stone, and wood, and in
purple, blue, and crimson fabrics and fine linen, and to do all sorts of
engraving and execute any design that may be assigned him, with your
craftsmen, the craftsmen of my lord, David your father.
Is Huram-abi the start of the Freemasons? Is the Huram or also refered to Hiram Abiff the Grand Master who would share his secrets? How should I know, I told you I am on page 1 of Chapter 1, but I did learn all this from page 1 and several chapters in 2 Chronicles. 2 Chronicles is some great history as the title suggest is chronicles the history of the old Testament.
Now I don't think I have learned anything deeply spiritual from this mountain top, but I was fascinated by the visual imagery of the temple and it's furnishings; and of course, it became the home of the Ark of the Covenant, that housed the tablets that God gave to Moses. So it was a great learning experience that makes me want to turn to page two. You never know where you are going to find inspiration.
Keep your eyes open.
