Conscription of Laborers
13 Now King Solomon [m]levied forced laborers from all Israel; and the forced laborers [n]numbered 30,000 men. 14 He sent them to Lebanon, 10,000 a month in relays; they were in Lebanon a month and two months at home. And Adoniram was over the forced laborers. 15 Now Solomon had 70,000 [o]transporters, and 80,000 hewers of stone in the mountains, 16 besides Solomon’s 3,300 chief deputies who were over the [p]project and who ruled over the people who were doing the work. 17 Then the king commanded, and they quarried great stones, costly stones, to lay the foundation of the house with cut stones. 18 So Solomon’s builders and [q]Hiram’s builders and the Gebalites [r]cut them, and prepared the timbers and the stones to build the house.
This project was a massive undertaking, and almost reminds one of the scale of Egypt’s pyramids. At any rate, it required forced labor, but this wasn’t the typical slavery used by Egypt, this was strangely different.
While we have no idea how these men were treated on the job, we do know that they received 2 months vacation for every month of work. Not that they probably really had “vacation”, for their own home and fields would need tending in that time, so they were probably making up for lost time.
But still, the fact that Solomon rotated the forced labor every month is pretty stunning, and should reinforce what we find more and more in our society. Which is that you can’t go “full speed ahead” forever. Eventually, you’ll hit a wall, either mentally, or your body will start to deteriorate (or just stop).
Thus it reminds me of one of God’s original commandments, to observe the Sabbath, and several other laws God gave them regarding Sabbath years and the Year of Jubilee. We were created to need rest. Not to go on toiling day after day with never a break. The very fact that we require sleep is pretty amazing. Why not just keep going all the time?
We need to learn to slow down, and find time to rest. Anything else is ignoring God’s inherent design for our bodies, and for our minds. He didn’t command the Israelites to observe the Sabbath just to make it hard on them. God did it to make it better, and ultimately easier. So when you’re tempted to just push through, stop! Take a minute, and remember God’s design and plan for you.