Isaiah 46:6 - "Those who lavish gold from the purse, and weigh out silver in the scales, hire a goldsmith, and he makes it into a god; then they fall down and worship!"

Nehemiah 3:8 - "Next to them Uzziel the son of Harhaiah, goldsmith, repaired ..."

Gold! How we love it and dream about it, even though as currency it is no longer in use. But the glamour of it remains. A great many people still spend their lives searching for the "pot of gold at the end of the rainbow!" We can share a vicarious thrill with Schliemann as he unearthed the gold burial mask that he felt belonged to Agamemmonn. We have shuddered at the stories in our history books that told of the atrocities committed by the Spaniards as they hunted in South and Central America for El Dorado, "the gilded one." Some years ago, many of the artifacts from the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamen were put on display in many parts of our country, and I can remember the magnificence of these gold pieces.

Yes, gold has always had a special connotation for people in all cultures. It was probably the first metal known to man, since it is found in nature in a pure state and so requires only refining. It occurs in the Bible hundreds of times, and in both the Old and the New Testaments more frequently than any other metal. We know of the golden calf that the Hebrews cast in the wilderness. We have the Golden Rule - so called, probably, because gold signifies something of an inestimable value and utility.

Naturally, something that was so valuable and held in such esteem would be used extensively in the House of the Lord. If you will read again the instructions the Lord gave Moses in chapters 25 and 26 of Exodus, you will note all the gold that was to be used in constructing the Tabernacle. And, of course, by the time that Solomon built his magnificent Temple and, still later, Herod built his, the lavish use of gold was breathtaking.

Since they were performing such a valuable service, it is only natural that the goldsmiths were held in very high esteem. This was particularly true during the Middle Bronze Age (long before even the monarchy), when the special technique called "granulation" was developed, by which tiny globules of gold were arranged in patterns and soldered onto a gold surface.

In looking back at the texts, you might read again the one from Nehemiah. It seems that by his time, the goldsmiths had organized themselves into guilds, which correspond very closely to the type of union which goldsmiths have today. They enjoyed great benefits from their association with this guild and received protection from it.

Their skill was amazing. For a people who lived long before the mechanical aids that we have today, their delicacy of design is remarkable. They were even able to make narrow threads of gold by cutting sheet gold. Surely a ticklish procedure at best!