What if the king who built the temple never picked up a hammer?

In this short solo episode, Joshua Wilson shares something he noticed reading through 1 Kings — something easy to skim past: two different men, both filled with wisdom, building one temple. Solomon was given wisdom for the vision and the plan. Huram, a bronze worker from Tyre, was given wisdom for the intricate, skilled work of the metal. Same gift from God — applied two different ways, producing two different things the house needed. Joshua wrestles with what that says about how God gives gifts to His kids to be used together, with and through other people, to produce real fruit.

What He's Wrestling With:

• Why the wall-to-wall detail in 1 Kings 7 is the point, not something to skim
• Solomon's wisdom for the whole — the vision, the plan, the temple
• Huram of Tyre, filled with wisdom and skill for all kinds of bronze work
• The same gift of wisdom, applied differently, with different outcomes
• Why Solomon didn't need to work the bronze himself
• Proverbs 14:4 — the clean stall, the strength of the ox, and the harvest
• Why the increase seems to come when we work with and through others
• "Be fruitful and multiply" as a mandate that may include our work
• Using our gifts as avodah — work as worship and service
• A challenge he's sitting with: stop envying other people's gifts, ask the Giver for yours

About the show: Upside-Down Kings is a publication of One Iron Network. Learn more at oneironnetwork.com.

Upside-Down Kings is for educational and informational purposes only and is not financial, investment, or legal advice.