Being involved in a new
venture that will involve construction of a building (kingdomlink.ca), I
thought it wise to study the Scriptural principles for doing so. In my last three blogs, I looked at three
different principles for considering such a project to the glory of God. In this one, we’ll look at one more.
One of the most ambitious
building projects ever was the building of the temple of God in
Jerusalem. We know that David purposed
to do that in his lifetime, but God sent the prophet Nathan to tell him that it
would not be his privilege, but Solomon’s (see 2Sam 7:5-16). So when Solomon ascends to the throne and
consolidates his power, he sends word to his friend Hiram:
““You know that because of the wars waged against my father David from
all sides, he could not build a temple for the Name of the Lord his God until
the Lord put his enemies under his feet. But now the Lord my God has given me
rest on every side, and there is no adversary or disaster. I intend, therefore, to build a temple
for the Name of the Lord my God, as the Lord told my father David...”[1]
There are two principles
for building that we can see in this passage.
The first is that Solomon “intended”.
It was a purposeful and deliberate choice. A choice made in light of the circumstances
that permitted it (he now had peace and the wealth necessary). There’s much to unpack in those two
circumstances, but I’ll leave that to the reader to look into further. For now the meaning is obvious –
circumstances have to allow the construction of what we purpose to build, or we
cannot proceed.
That seems like a very
straightforward principle, but it isn’t followed by many builders in our day. Just a few nights ago there was a TV expose
on construction in a Chinese port city, where dozens and dozens (perhaps
hundreds) of enormous high rise buildings sit idle. Concrete shells with no work going on,
funding having run dry. That’s a pretty
powerful object lesson.
Secondly, Solomon
determined to build, “as the Lord told my
father David”. That’s another packed
phrase, because David hadn’t dreamed small.
It was going to be a massively audacious project. A project worthy of the Name of God. Nothing would be held back in doing this
project right. Not only in terms of
consruction materials, but that materials were paid for, workers were treated
fairly and the project managed well. To
do that well, his supervisory workforce was bigger than the total workforce of
many of the significant construction projects in our world today (see 1Ki 5:16).
While we are not building
on anything near that scale, we will seek to embody all the same
principles. KingdomLink is a private
equity company, seeking to bring together a group of investors for a fixed term
investment in an ambitious building project in Mexico City. If you would like to join us, or if you know
someone who might – please look at the website www.kingdomlink.ca and call for an appointment.
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