Solomon Prepares to Build II Chronicles 2

II Chronicles 2:1 "And Solomon determined to build an house for the name of the LORD, and an house for his kingdom."

Solomon needed labor, material and expertise. He got the labor from the people, the strangers in the land. The timber he got from Lebanon and the expertise he got from the king of Tyre in the son of a woman of Dan and a father of Tyre. This one man was cunning in many things.

70,000 were designated to bear burdens
60,000 to hew in the mountains
3600 to oversea the workers

In exchange for the timber that Tyre provided Israel would give great quantities of food.

v10 "And behold, I will give to thy servants, the hewers that cut timber; twenty thousand measures of beaten wheat, and twenty thousand measures of barley, and twenty thousand baths of wine, and twenty thousand baths of oil."

The king of Tyre agreed to the terms and replied with compliments to King Solomon.

v17 "And Solomon numbered all the strangers that were in the land of Israel, after the numbering wherewith David his father hand numbered them; and they were found an hundred and fifty thousand and three thousand and six hundred."

I can not imagine all the activity that was going on in preparation for the building of the temple, but the awesome number of people working must have been a sight to see. The task of feeding all of the people and the animals would have been a big job.

v5 "And the house which I build is great: for great is our God above all gods."

Psalm 11:3 "If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?"

Bible Study. Solomon gathers people and material to build the temple.