1 Kings Chapter 7: Building the Temple to Train the Builders

Today, we look at 1 Kings Chapter 7. The theme is clear: building the temple of God is for the purpose of training the builders.

God has no need for temples built by human hands. Why then did Solomon go to such immense trouble? He spent seven years building the temple and thirteen years building his own palace—twenty years in total. He reigned for forty years; half of his reign was spent on construction.

This is highly interesting. God did not need the temple, yet He commanded Solomon to build it. Solomon built it, and God was highly pleased. What was this all about? Have you ever puzzled over this? I am sure you have. Today, I tell you: building the temple is for the purpose of training the builders.

To this day, I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to build God’s church. I do not find it a toil. Every time I think of building His church, I am filled with joy. The logic of our building a glorious church today is identical to Solomon’s building of the glorious temple. This is not hard labor; it is a highly enjoyable endeavor. In this process, our wisdom is tested, our management is tested, and we are constantly upgraded. Without these projects, what would you manage? Life would be a daily grind of nothingness.

Solomon Spent Twenty Years in Construction and Decoration

Do you think God cares about the physical materials? He does not. Does He care about the vast sums of money? No. Does He care about the sheer volume of hard labor, or the management of those conscripted workers and slaves? Not at all. What God cared about was that Solomon should be trained. Solomon was highly fortunate; God chose to train him this way, dedicating twenty years of his life primarily to engineering projects.

Today, my brothers and sisters, if your attitude toward learning is wrong, you will find it very difficult to enjoy this. Take a man who works solely for money. What does he do with his money? He goes sightseeing. Once the money is spent, he must return to work. He becomes a slave to labor.

Your goal should be to find enjoyment in the midst of your labor. Instead, your goal becomes saving a bit of money from your toil to visit Yunnan or Tibet. I suspect many among us have this dream—road-tripping to Tibet, looking at the scenery, viewing this lake and that lake, thinking it is wonderful, and then dreading the return to work.

Let me tell you, you have got it all wrong. You must realize that the twenty years Solomon spent on construction were his most enjoyable years. It was highly satisfying. This is where our saying "service is grace" comes from. He spent seven years building the temple of God. Once that was completed, God gave him a small reward: thirteen years to build his own palace.

Was Solomon’s palace larger, or was God’s temple larger? It is hard to say, but God did not mind. Solomon enjoyed every good thing under heaven. Why? Because Solomon was a builder of the temple. In the process of building, his wisdom was tested. Engineering thinking is highly effective in training human intellect.

Those who speak, think, and act blindly achieve nothing. Build a ship blindly, and it sinks; build a bridge blindly, and it collapses; build an airplane blindly, and it crashes. You might say, "Pastor, the plane didn't even take off." I understand; it could not take off. How can blind thinking and blind action fly? Therefore, engineering is an excellent tool for training people.

I often think that if our brothers and sisters lack sharpness, it is because they lack engineering training. Without engineering training, if you are asked to tell a story and forget your lines halfway through, you can just make it up, and the audience will not notice. It is like Jin Yong’s novels—all fiction, just well-written. But you cannot fake engineering. If you build an airplane or a manned rocket, there is zero room for error. Engineering trains people thoroughly.

You must understand that building God’s church is an engineering project. Building a church without an engineering background is highly problematic. I have seen people with philosophical backgrounds build churches; they end up with a church of philosophy. My background is in engineering, so I build the church according to engineering logic. By divine providence, this is exactly what God wanted.

It tests human wisdom, management, technology, craftsmanship, and understanding of materials. Only with these materials, tools, technology, craftsmanship, and skills can you build something of exquisite beauty. Reading this passage today, the carvings Solomon produced were surely far superior to the artifacts of Sanxingdui. They were definitely more advanced than the bronzes excavated there. This is how powerful it is; these projects are superb training.

If you want to be trained, build the church of God. Let me tell you, you can fake pastoral care by talking for an hour until the other person is thoroughly confused. Blind talk is easy. But when people encounter real problems, how do you solve them? When they face career planning issues, learning difficulties, or workplace challenges, the solutions almost always depend on these foundational, structured elements.

So, my brothers and sisters, you must realize that Solomon’s twenty years of construction trained him to a state of seasoned perfection. You could not easily deceive Solomon. Besides the wisdom God gave him, he possessed first-hand project management experience. For a nation to prosper, it cannot rely solely on financial engineering; it must depend on its real engineering capabilities.

Elon Musk once said that if you call for engineers in America, you might fill a conference room; in China, you can fill several football stadiums. They have them in abundance. Therefore, the strength of a nation cannot rely on money making money, which leads to hollowed-out industries. A nation cannot survive if it is hollowed out. National strength must be anchored in engineering. Today, China is incredibly strong in this regard, with outstanding engineering projects of every kind.

Building the Temple Requires Talent

Do you need talent to handle those massive stones and timbers? Yes, you do. And when you need someone to work with bronze, it is no laughing matter. Read the text, and you will see these were no ordinary engineering feats. They were far more complex than the artifacts unearthed at Sanxingdui. Solomon used many headhunters and finally located Huram, sending messengers to bring him in.

The question then arises: was Huram willing to work for you? You do not just need talent; you must also know how to manage talent. If you hold a sword to his neck, will he do a good job for you? Of course not. The development of a nation requires talent, and building the temple requires it even more.

This is why I constantly seek to train our brothers and sisters in the church. Sometimes the training is so rigorous that people get upset and fall into the trap of judging good and evil. Why do I do it? I desperately want you to become talented individuals, not mere forced laborers. How I wish you were all like Huram!

King Solomon sent to Tyre and brought Huram, whose mother was a widow from the tribe of Naphtali and whose father was a man of Tyre, a bronze worker. Huram was highly skilled and experienced in all kinds of bronze work. He came to King Solomon and did all the work assigned to him. (1 Kings 7:13-14)

Let me tell you, our church has a great need for talent. I had a minor setback in earlier years; I wanted to train our brothers and sisters to do highly valuable, high-quality work, but the attempt failed completely, and I eventually gave up. What did I do then? I went out to recruit, searching everywhere for Hurams. Of course, if any of you here are like Huram—filled with wisdom, understanding, and skill in all kinds of engineering—that would be wonderful. Such talent is rare indeed!

The work we do today is highly sophisticated. Many of you now use our AI assistant, "Xiao Mu," very effectively. When you find it tedious to talk to your human mentors because of communication gaps, you prefer talking to Xiao Mu. Many of our brothers and sisters chat with Xiao Mu and find it highly helpful. Where did Xiao Mu come from? It was built by the engineers we recruited—these talents are our Hurams.

I tell you, as long as we have a heart to build the temple, God will surely bring the necessary talent. Currently, the traditional church lacks competitiveness. But for us, we must not only do better than the average church; we must do better than many enterprises. I believe that one day we will become increasingly powerful, and our AI-driven pastoral care will be exceptionally effective in solving people's problems.

Solomon was thirsty for talent. By divine appointment, he found Huram, the most famous bronze craftsman of his time, without fruitless searching. This was a man of true talent.

Training Solomon to Develop the Most Advanced Technology

In ancient China, during the Shang and Zhou dynasties, bronze craftsmanship represented a nation's most advanced technology. Today, what do we compete in? Artificial intelligence, robotics, and drones. In Solomon’s time, the benchmark was advanced bronze work. The construction of God’s temple utilized the most advanced technology of the era. Once the temple was completed, the nation could not help but be strong. Why? Because your technology had already reached an exceptionally high level.

Take the two bronze pillars as an example. Each was eighteen cubits high. Do you know how high eighteen cubits is? It is about eight meters. A line of twelve cubits measured its circumference. What is the diameter? A circumference of twelve cubits is about five meters. One cubit is about forty centimeters, so twelve cubits is nearly five meters. If you calculate, the pillars were over one meter thick. Do you understand? Over one meter thick and eight meters high, standing erect. How do you cast and erect such pillars? What kind of people can execute such a massive project? And what do you do once they are cast?

Furthermore, these pillars had capitals of over two meters placed on top. Eight meters plus two meters makes them over ten meters high. This was exquisite, highly skilled engineering. The two pillars were named Jakin and Boaz. Jakin was a priest, and Boaz was a businessman. Both shared one common trait: they were men who feared God!

Once these two pillars were erected, topped with capitals, and fully engraved, they surely became major landmarks. When foreign dignitaries visited, Solomon would show them these two pillars, leaving them utterly amazed. What kind of nation was this? How powerful must it be? Quite apart from anything else, a nation with the technology to produce such work is not one to be trifled with.

So today, when we look at ancient ruins—like the pyramids of Egypt, those temples, those massive stones—if we were to see these bronze pillars, it would be mind-blowing. They are far superior. Was it advanced? It was highly advanced.

He made the Sea of cast metal, circular in shape, measuring ten cubits from rim to rim and five cubits high. It took a line of thirty cubits to measure around it. Below the rim, gourds encircled it—ten to a cubit. The gourds were cast in two rows in one piece with the Sea. The Sea stood on twelve bulls, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east. The Sea rested on top of them, and their hindquarters were toward the center. It was a handbreadth in thickness, and its rim was like the rim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It held two thousand baths. (1 Kings 7:23-26)

Could you build such a thing? How would you do it? Even if we were to cast a giant pot four meters wide, once cast, what then? Today you have cranes. In those days, everything was flipped by hand. How would you manage? How would you flip it over? And how would you transport it onto those bronze stands? Let me tell you, the tools they invented, and the advanced manufacturing they achieved—when foreign emissaries arrived, they immediately fell prostrate before Solomon. They were thoroughly impressed, were they not? Utterly impressed!

You might ask, what did the temple of God need these things for? Two massive bronze pillars, and then a giant bronze pot? You call it a "Sea" because of its sheer size—a giant bronze pot over four meters wide. What was the purpose? In truth, it was to train people.

Today, our brothers and sisters must understand that when God designed it and commanded Solomon to build it, the response was entirely different. For instance, God set His standards exceptionally high. Take these bronze pillars and the bronze Sea—these two massive bronze structures. Did Solomon see the blueprints beforehand? He did. And I suspect his knees went weak immediately, did they not? "God, how do we pull this off? Even if we can cast it, we cannot move it. And once moved, how do we set it up? It is too difficult."

But let me tell you, at such a moment, attitude is everything. What is impossible with man is possible with God. Do you understand? Today, in building the church, we have already come a long way carrying this very logic. If you had asked me at the very beginning to imagine building a holy and glorious church—exactly like the church we have today—I would not have dared to dream of it back then. Who would have dared?

Even now, our church is still far from perfect. Yet, when I speak to some pastors, they immediately reply: "How is that possible?" Let me tell you, the path we have walked is a path of faith. What is impossible with man is possible with God. As long as we hold fast to this faith today, let me ask you: can we build these bronze pillars? Yes, we can! Can we build this bronze Sea? Yes, we can! Nothing is too difficult for God. Can we achieve pastoral care powered by Artificial Intelligence? Yes, we can! Can we develop highly advanced pastoral technology? Today, we continue to press forward.

I have a dream within me: in the future, our pastoral care will become increasingly refined. Not only refined, but highly effective, and powered by AI. Training AI is far better than training people. You train people, and they still end up disobedient. AI only needs electricity; it can conduct pastoral work continuously without throwing emotional tantrums. Do you understand? This is not a dream we conceived only today; we had this dream five years ago. Five years ago, there was not even a shadow of it. Five years ago, large language models did not even exist. But we kept thinking about it. As we thought, large language models emerged. As we kept thinking, we built our very first version. And as we continued to think, my goodness, it has become more and more powerful.

I believe today our brothers and sisters must completely eliminate the word "impossible" from their minds. Do you hear me? I am talking about building the temple of God. Once the temple of God is built, your skills, your work ethic, everything will be completely upgraded. Then you will see that you will grow stronger and stronger. It is not because you worship strength; people only worship strength when they themselves are weak. Do you understand? Once you are strong, whom do you need to worship? You need not worship anyone but God.

Then there were the bronze basins, the lions, the bulls, the cherubim, and the movable stands. The engravings were exquisitely beautiful. The basins, the shovels, the bowls—what were they for? To train Solomon. All of this came into being because of Solomon's faith; he was a man of faith. Today, our church has come this far because of a person of faith. You might say, "Are you talking about yourself?" Well, I am certainly a man of faith, but my faith is still not enough. Today, I have achieved all this using only a mustard seed of faith. If every one of us had a mustard seed of faith, imagine what would happen! Thousands of mustard seeds of faith would turn the earth upside down. What does the strength of a nation depend on? It depends on that nation fearing God and trusting in God.

Solomon Possessed the Most Advanced Management

Was the project in the previous chapter difficult? Yes, it was! Is the project in this chapter difficult? It is even more difficult! How do you manage these people? How do you manage them? Take Huram, for instance. Even if you held a sword to his throat, he might not work well for you. And if you did not hold a sword to his throat, would he work well? That comes down to management. I know some companies cannot retain talent. Once a company fails to retain talent, it is because its management is backward.

Even today, the management of many enterprises remains stuck in the Industrial Revolution era, which introduced "scientific management." But things are different now; management today is incredibly difficult. Why? Industrial management exploited human physical labor to the absolute limit. Think of the Charlie Chaplin films we watched in our youth—that was the result of the scientific management of the Industrial Revolution. After clocking out and walking home, his hands were still uncontrollably twisting imaginary screws, shaking constantly. They had trained humans into robots, constantly tightening screws—at work, after work, even in their sleep. They measured how many screws could be tightened per second. That was how they managed in the industrial era. You cannot manage people today with that outdated system. Today, you must extract the knowledge from people's minds and tap into their intellectual potential. Therefore, must management be highly advanced? Yes, it must.

So, we must uncover the principles of management piece by piece. Remember, management is a highly formidable discipline. Solomon's management was unprecedented and remains unmatched. To execute such a monumental project requires true capability. Therefore, brothers and sisters, if there were no temple, where would he have acquired this technology? He could not have done it. Without the training of building the temple, where would he have developed this system of scientific management? He would not have had it.

All of This Was to Train the Builders

All of this was for the purpose of training the builders. I believe those who join me in building God's glorious church are truly blessed. In building the church today, we must tell ourselves: we are going to establish a highly powerful, highly advanced church. What is the purpose of the church? It is a place to train people, to mold them into talent. How wonderful would it be if we could mold people into talent? In the future, considering our scale, if we equip our pastors with AI empowerment, it will be like giving wings to tigers, will it not? It is all to train the builders.

Therefore, I believe the theology we represent is the most advanced and most biblical theological system, one that aligns perfectly with the original, unadulterated truth of the Scriptures. Furthermore, we possess the most advanced technology. Why? In this era, building God's glorious church is no longer about competing over physical buildings. It is not about erecting a massive glass structure only to end up unable to pay the property taxes. Many churches do exactly that—they force the construction of a massive building, but what about the people? When we build a church, we are building people; we are training them.

Brothers and sisters, you must begin to adopt an attitude of learning and of being trained. You cannot continue to live at a low level. You must live out the image of God and His dignity. Do you think Solomon built the temple because God needed it? God does not particularly need a temple. But Solomon wanted to build a temple for God, and when God saw this desire, He granted Solomon wisdom. Armed with wisdom, Solomon built the temple, and God gave him even more wisdom. With more wisdom, he built the temple further.

And do you know what happened later? Solomon spent thirteen years building his own palace. I suspect that for a palace built over thirteen years, ordinary people could never afford to live in such a house. It was the most advanced residence of its time. Even fifth-generation housing cannot compare to it; it was a royal palace. Why? Because God rewarded him. God does not mind if he lived in luxury; God does not mind if he was not strictly frugal. God simply wanted him to live with dignity.

Scripture says that Solomon built everything according to the design of the inner court of the temple of the Lord and its portico. Solomon built one for himself, and he built one for God. Do you think God actually dwells there? God does not really dwell in such things. The heavens, even the highest heavens, and the earth cannot contain our God. Was this not simply to train Solomon? Because God was pleased, He allowed Solomon to build his own house beautifully as well.

Therefore, brothers and sisters, when you come to the church, are you willing to be trained? You must realize that education today is about to undergo a cataclysmic revolution, because traditional education has become obsolete.

At Beihang University, we have a student named Geng. He is incredibly formidable; he has exposed and brought down numerous academicians and distinguished scholars. How? By exposing academic fraud! Their papers were fabricated, and their data was falsified. For them, it was a survival skill. Why was he able to do this? Because with AI, a quick analysis immediately exposes the falsehoods.

Today, the entire logic of the educational system is bound to collapse. But let me tell you what kind of logic will stand the test of time: it is the ancient Chinese tradition of a master training an apprentice. If you study what our ancestors did, you will find it was highly advanced. The Industrial Revolution turned universities into assembly lines, which is entirely wrong. Turning schools into assembly lines does not work. A master training an apprentice means tailoring the training to each individual.

In training people within the church, we must dig deeper. We build God's glorious church to train people, and that requires the master-apprentice model. A master training an apprentice is not about coddling; it is about ruthlessly dealing with the flesh. A master does not treat a doctoral student like a domestic servant; it is rigorous, intense training. Therefore, the future model of the church must learn from this master-apprentice approach. Look at how Guiguzi trained his disciples—every single one of them was formidable. Look at how Huang Shigong trained his—how extraordinary! This tradition was highly prevalent in ancient China.

Today, the church must become the most advanced place for molding and shaping people. The church must possess not only the most advanced technology but also the most advanced theological system. When God sees us building with such seriousness and rigor, He will be pleased and will add everything else to us.

May God bless you all!

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