nced. Affliction and adversity may cause sorrow, but it is prosperity
that is most dangerous to spiritual life. Unless the human subject is in constant
submission to the will of God, unless he is sanctified by the truth, prosperity will
surely arouse the natural inclination to presumption.
In the valley of humiliation, where men depend on God to teach them and to
guide their every step, there is comparative safety. But the men who stand, as
it were, on a lofty pinnacle, and who, because of their position, are supposed to
possess great wisdom—these are in gravest peril. Unless such men make God
their dependence, they will surely fall.
Whenever pride and ambition are indulged, the life is marred, for pride,
feeling no need, closes the heart against the infinite blessings of Heaven. He
who makes self-glorification his aim will find himself destitute of the grace of
God, through whose efficiency the truest riches and the most satisfying joys are
won. But he who gives all and does all for Christ will know the fulfillment of
the promise, “The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich, and He addeth no sorrow
with it.” Proverbs 10:22. With the gentle touch of grace the Saviour banishes
from the soul unrest and unholy ambition, changing enmity to love and unbelief
to confidence. When He speaks to the soul, saying, “Follow Me,” the spell of the
world’s enchantment is broken. At the sound of his voice the spirit of greed and
ambition flees from the heart, and men arise, emancipated, to follow him.
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Chap. 4 - Results of Transgression
Prominent among the primary causes that led Solomon into extravagance and
oppression was his failure to maintain and foster the spirit of self-sacrifice.
When, at the foot of Sinai, Moses told the people of the divine command,
“Let them make Me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them,” the response of
the Israelites was accompanied by the appropriate gifts. “They came, everyone
whose heart stirred him up, and everyone whom his spirit made willing,” and
brought offerings. Exodus 25:8; 35:21. For the building of the sanctuary,
great and extensive preparations were necessary; a large amount of the most
precious and costly material was required, but the Lord accepted only freewill
offerings. “Of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart ye shall take my
offering,” was the command repeated by Moses to the congregation. Exodus
25:2. Devotion to God and a spirit of sacrifice were the
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first requisites in preparing a dwelling place for the Most High.
A similar call to self-sacrifice was made when David turned over to Solomon
the responsibility of building the temple. Of the assembled multitude David
asked, “Who then is willing to consecrate his service this day unto the Lord?”
1 Chronicles 29:5. This call to consecration and willing service should ever have
been kept in mind by those who had to do with the erection of the temple.
For the construction of the wilderness tabernacle, chosen men were endowed
by God with special skill and wisdom. “Moses said unto the children of Israel,
See, the Lord hath called by name Bezaleel, ... of the tribe of Judah; and He hath
filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, and in knowledge,
and in all manner of workmanship.... and He hath put in his heart that he may
teach, both he, and Aholiab, ... of the tribe of Dan. Them hath He filled with
wisdom of heart, to work all manner of work, of the engraver, and of the cunning
workman, and of the embroiderer, ... and of the weaver, even of them that do
any work.... Then wrought Bezaleel and Aholiab, and every wisehearted man,
in whom the Lord put wisdom and understanding.” Exodus 35:30-35; 36:1.
Heavenly intelligences co-operated with the workmen whom God himself had
chosen.
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
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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.
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The Phoenician king responded by sending Huram, “the son of a woman of
the daughters of Dan, and his father was a man of Tyre.” Verse 14. Huram was a
descendant, on his mother’s side, of Aholiab, to whom, hundreds of years before,
God had given special wisdom for the construction of the tabernacle.
Thus at the head of Solomon’s compa