The apostle Paul was truly a Hiram. I do not know who Paul’s mother was, but, spiritually speaking, I am certain that she was a “daughter of Dan,” a daughter of the tribe of the serpent. Undoubtedly, in principle, Paul’s father was a “Tyrian.” Paul was brought up “at the feet of Gamaliel” (Acts 22:3), a doctor of the law. At that time, law was the highest science among the Jews, and whoever became a doctor of law was considered to be most outstanding. Gamaliel taught Paul everything regarding the religion of their forefathers. Paul’s studying under Gamaliel was equivalent to studying in a seminary today. Although a seminary does not teach a trade and thus is different from a technical college, the principle of both a seminary and a technical college is the same in teaching knowledge.
Consider also the example of Moses. Moses was born of a Jewish mother, but he was brought up in the royal family in Egypt. Acts 7:22 says, “Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was powerful in his words and works.” He was a scholar in Egypt. Paul was a scholar of religious knowledge, and Moses was a scholar of secular knowledge. However, again the principle was the same. Eventually, both Moses and Paul became pillar builders. In 1 Corinthians 3:10 Paul said that he was “a wise master builder.” Both Moses and Paul had a “Danite” mother and a “Tyrian” father. The royal Egyptian family was Moses’ “Tyrian” father, for it was there that he learned all the wisdom of Egypt. This was the source of his Egyptian skill. The teaching of Gamaliel was the source of Paul’s knowledge. In this way, Gamaliel became Paul’s “Tyrian” father.
Now we must see a crucial point: All the “Tyrian” fathers must die. Hiram learned his trade from his Tyrian father, but eventually this Tyrian father died. As far as Moses was concerned, the royal family of Egypt died and was cut off. After Moses had learned everything of the Egyptians, that Egyptian source was terminated. Likewise, after Paul had learned everything from Gamaliel, the source of Gamaliel was cut off. In like manner, we all must be sons of a widow. Our father must die, but our mother may remain as a widow. Our Egyptian father or our Gamaliel must die, leaving us as the sons of a widowed mother. This means that the source of our secular or religious skill must die, but that the source of our human being must still exist. Today, we all must have a deceased father and a widowed mother.
In Moses’ time, no one could have understood God’s plan for the tabernacle like he could, because no one else had gained all the wisdom of the Egyptians. Moses acquired the wisdom of the Egyptians before he was forty years of age. After gaining it, he thought that he was qualified to deliver his people out of the hands of the Egyptians (Acts 7:23-25), but he failed in this endeavor. After Moses fled from Egypt, he lived in the wilderness for forty years. By the time he was eighty years of age, he considered himself to be a dead man. In his psalm, Psalm 90, Moses said that people may expect to live to be seventy, and that the stronger ones may live to be eighty (v. 10). When Moses was eighty years old, he might have said to himself, “I am finished. What can I do? Forty years ago I could have done something, but I cannot do anything today. I am not yet dead, but I am dying.” As Moses was dying there in the wilderness, he one day saw the burning bush (Exo. 3:2). Although the bush was burning, it was not consumed. In the vision of the burning bush God seemed to be telling Moses, “Moses, I will make you burning, but I will not burn you. I don’t need you to be the fuel. When you were forty years of age, you had a great deal of fuel, but now you are old, dried up, and have no more fuel. I have come to make you burning.” At the time of this vision, Moses’ “Tyrian” father had finally died. Later, as Moses led the children of Israel in the wilderness, what he had learned in the royal palace became useful. Because no one else had all the wisdom of the Egyptians, no one else could have done the work he did in the wilderness.
The principle is the same with a brother who has gained a great deal of Bible knowledge in the past. This knowledge of the Bible is his “Tyrian” father. But this “Tyrian” father must die. The source of his Bible knowledge must be terminated. Then whatever he has learned in the past will become useful in resurrection, and he will be able to deliver a word as few others are able to do. Just as the wisdom of the Egyptians became useful in the resurrected Moses, so whatever we learn in college, seminary, or Bible school will become useful in resurrection. However, if our “Tyrian” father still lives and we remain in the natural life, the “Tyrian” skill will be of no avail to the building up of God’s temple.
I encourage all the young people to get a college degree. Do not make spirituality an excuse for not studying. Rather, study more diligently than the secular students, get the highest grades, and go on for advanced degrees. Do not stop with one Ph.D., but get two or three Ph.D.’s. Also learn to speak a number of other languages. Gain the “Tyrian” skills and the “Egyptian” knowledge. Become a doctor in biology, medicine, or nuclear physics. But then let the “Tyrian” father die. I have told you how I encouraged my grandson to study medicine. Now I will tell you what is truly on my heart. After he finishes medical school, I will say, “Forget about being a doctor and use your medical training to interpret the Bible.” His medical training will make him very useful. Young people, gain all the up-to-date knowledge, graduate from college, and then say goodbye to your “Tyrian” father. Graduate from seminary and then say, “Seminary, thank you and goodbye. I have nothing more to do with you, but I will use the skill I have gained from you.”
Young people, you all must study. Do not use the three weekly life-study messages as an excuse. You must both study earnestly and read the life-study messages. Otherwise, I would have no trust in you because the Lord would put no trust in you. You must acquire the “Tyrian” knowledge and graduate from the “University of Tyre.” But after you gain your “Tyrian” education, you must put your “Tyrian” father in a coffin and bury him, so that your “Danite” mother becomes a widow. Then you will be of the tribe of Naphtali, useful in resurrection for God’s building.
Some may ask me about the apostles Peter and John, pointing out that they had no higher education and that in Acts 4:13 they were described as “uneducated men and laymen.” This, of course, is true. But who was the leading pillar builder in the New Testament? Undoubtedly, it was Paul. Peter wrote just two Epistles, but Paul wrote fourteen Epistles. Peter even recognized his shortage by recommending Paul’s writings, saying, “Our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, wrote to you” (2 Pet. 3:15). Peter even confessed that some of Paul’s writings were difficult to understand (v. 16). Peter seemed to be saying, “You must read Paul’s writings to learn something deeper than I can give you.” We need Peters today, but we also need Pauls, those who can write more epistles. Some may still say, “How about the apostle John? Didn’t he write a Gospel containing twenty-one chapters and the book of Revelation containing twenty-two chapters?” John’s “Tyrian” education only enabled him to do this much; he could not do what Paul was able to do. John could say, “In the beginning was the Word,” “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men,” and “Behold, the Lamb of God.” John could tell people that if they believed in Him, they would have life, but that if they did not believe in Him, they would die. But John was not able to write Romans chapters four or seven or the book of Ephesians. If John had been asked to do this, he might have said, “I am not able to do it. Go to Brother Paul.” John was qualified to see the vision of the great harlot and of the New Jerusalem, but he was not the one to write books like Romans, Ephesians, and Hebrews.
There is a need in the Lord’s recovery today for those with the highest education. Young people, you must endeavor to gain the best education. Arrange your daily schedule in this way: seven and a half hours for sleep, one and a half hours for eating, one hour for exercise, eight hours for study, and six hours for spiritual things. If you expend your energy in this way, by the time you are thirty you will be able to begin your ministry like the Lord Jesus did (Luke 3:23). Continue your studies until you are thirty. If many take this way, we shall have no shortage of pillar makers.
Do not get married too soon. I do not like to see the brothers getting married before the age of twenty-five. Do not be burdened down too soon with marriage and children. Rather, use your time and energy for studying. The age of twenty-six is soon enough for brothers to begin having children. Furthermore, I do not like to see the sisters getting married before the age of twenty-two. If the sisters marry too early and have children too soon, they may be overburdened and even spoiled. Follow the schedule I recommend until you are twenty-five years old and see what will be the issue. This surely is good for God’s recovery.
Are you anxious to be a Hiram? If you are, then you must be related to your “Tyrian” father, learn the “Tyrian” skill and trade, and gain the wisdom of the “Egyptians.” Do not stop your schooling too soon. You should get a master’s degree, or preferably a Ph.D. All the church people must be learned ones. We are neither ignorant nor undereducated. Rather, we would have the highest education. We would acquire all the wisdom of the “Egyptians,” but we would not work for the “Egyptians”— we would work for the holy tabernacle. We should be able to say, “I know medicine and nuclear science, but I am not working for that. I am working for the building up of the church. I have learned a trade, but I am not occupied with this. I am building the pillars for the temple of my God.” For this, our “Tyrian” father must die, our “Danite” mother must be widowed, and we must belong to the tribe of “Naphtali,” the tribe of transformation. Be a person full of learning, but do not use your learning for secular business. Use it fully for the Lord’s building work. Your life and your being must not only be transformed but also transferred. You must no longer be of “Dan” or of “Tyre,” but absolutely of “Naphtali.” As hinds that have been freed, we would trust in God, walk upon the mountaintops, and live in resurrection for the church life, giving forth words of life, grace, salvation, wisdom, knowledge, and building. If we are like this, then we shall be builders of pillars.
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It is not easy to know the Bible. Sometimes when translators have difficulty with a particular passage, they assume that the manuscripts are in error. However, when we probe into the depths of the revelation of the Bible, we must worship God. Often what at first glance appears to be a mistake in the manuscripts turns out to be a mysterious truth hidden in the Scriptures. This is true with respect to 1 Kings 7:14. The King James Version renders the verse as, “He [Hiram] was a widow’s son of the tribe of Naphtali.” According to this rendering and the understanding of most translators, the modifier of the tribe of Naphtali goes with the word widow. This would mean that this verse says that the widow was of the tribe of Naphtali. But 2 Chronicles 2:14 says that Hiram was “the son of a woman of the daughters of Dan.” How could a daughter of Dan also be of the tribe of Naphtali? Some translators, neglecting the Hebrew text of 1 Kings 7:14, tried their best to reconcile this discrepancy, but they failed. By studying the Hebrew text we have learned that this verse should be translated as follows: “The son of a widowed woman; and he was of the tribe of Naphtali.” Thus, Hiram, the son, was of the tribe of Naphtali. This solves the problem.
In this record of Hiram, the pillar builder, we have three peoples: the people of Dan, the people of Tyre, and the people of Naphtali. Hiram’s mother was of Dan, his father was of Tyre, and he himself became one of the tribe of Naphtali. We do not know how a man whose mother was of Dan and whose father was of Tyre could be of the tribe of Naphtali. We only know that the Bible tells us so.