When the house was built, it was with stone prepared at the quarry, so that neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron was heard in the house while it was being built.
The temple went up without the sound of a single tool: every stone arrived finished, cut for its exact place. Writers ask why God wanted such silence, and what a house built in quiet says about the house He is building now.
Silence Suited the Work
The silence matched the character of the God whose house it was. One writer quotes a comment contrasting how the house went up with how it later came down:
The Bible TreasuryIt was to be the temple of the God of peace, so no iron tool must be heard in it. Quiet and silence both suit and help acts of worship. God's work should be done with as much care and as little noise as possible. The temple was thrown down with axes and hammers; those who did it roared in the middle of the congregation (Ps. 74:4, 6); but it was built up in silence. Noise and violence often hinder, but never advance the work of God.
The Work Happened Out of Sight
The noise was real. It just happened somewhere else. Under Jerusalem, quarries still show where the workers cut the stone:
God's Work, Not Man's
God settled every measurement in advance. One writer points past the workmen to Him:
H. L. RossierNo one saw any trace of human tools while the temple was going up. It rose in silence; no one heard an axe or a hammer. It was the work of God; He prepared everything beforehand. The stones that made up the house had the same character as the foundation stones, also precious and prepared beforehand. It is the same with the church (1 Peter 2:4-5), in that its building up is not left to man's responsibility (1 Cor. 3:10-15).
A Picture of the Church
One writer reads the stones as a picture of how Christ builds His church:
Arno Clemens GaebeleinEvery stone was prepared beforehand and fitted into the place where it belonged. How beautifully it illustrates the fitting together of the house, His Church! He chooses and prepares the material and puts each in its proper place. What a contrast with man's methods in trying to increase "church membership"! ... But all the confusion, the wrong ideas and the evils that go with them cannot frustrate the purpose of the Lord. He is building His Church.
The same writer elsewhere sets a limit to the picture:
Arno Clemens GaebeleinHowever, the temple itself does not exactly prefigure the Church. It is a type of the Father's house above where God dwells. The chambers or dwellings round about remind us of the words of our Lord: "In my Father's house are many rooms." ... But the temple is also prophetic of another temple which will yet stand on the earth when our Lord reigns.
Where the Cutting Happens Now
The shaping is done before the stone is set. One writer names the workers God uses, and what He uses besides them:
VariousEach stone stands for the individual believer, once dead in trespasses and sins, but now made alive by the Spirit of the living God. The evangelist is God's quarryman, used by Him to break these stones out of the world they are naturally embedded in. This is often hard work, and takes great skill. Then follows the work of the pastor, leading them into a deeper experience of God's truth. Then these stones must be "polished after the likeness of a palace." This is the work of the teacher, who opens up the mysteries of God and leads souls closer to Christ. The present world is God's workyard. The Lord Jesus uses not only the gifts of the Spirit, but also the trials and temptations that come on Christians. All things are under His skilful hand.
The Silent Assembling
The shaping has an end. One writer applies the silence of the building site to heaven itself:
The Bible TreasuryPerhaps the readiness of the stones is a picture of the saints when we all come "to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ." That is, when we are with Him in glory. There will be no sound of hammer or of axe in heaven; all the shaping and fitting will have been done.
Summary
- Peace — The house of the God of peace went up in silence; noise and violence never advance God's work.
- Quarry — The hard cutting was real, only hidden. Workers dressed the stones underground and carried them up finished.
- Prepared — God settled every measurement before a stone arrived, so no one adjusted anything on site.
- Chisel — God shapes believers now, through the gifts He gives and the trials He allows.
- Placed — When the building is complete, the fitting is over; the stones go into glory without a sound.