1 Chronicles 22:2 - "David commanded to gather together the aliens who were in the land of Israel, and he set stonecutters to prepare dressed stones for building the house of God."

As we know, the Hebrews, in their early history, were a nomadic people, and, as such, they needed homes which were readily portable as they moved from one grazing ground to another. However, as they settled into a more agricultural existence, their habits and modes of living changed. They soon discovered that the tents which they had formerly occupied, and even those houses of clay which they had built when they settled in Canaan, were vulnerable to attack by robbers and enemies.

So, they looked around for more permanent and satisfactory building materials. Canaan is a very stony land, and sandstone in particular is common there. It was, then, a natural development that they should start making homes of stone. Thus, the art of stonecutting and masonry was introduced.

Naturally, if stone was so good for the homes of the people, it had to be the material that was used for the house of God. After all, God required the finest efforts of his people, and their best achievements. So, as our text tells us, David started his project with orders to round up all the craftsmen that would be needed - among them stonecutters.

If we read the accounts of the construction of the Temple, as recorded in the first book of Kings, we find that the foundation consisted of great hewn stones, and that the superstructure was also of stone. The repairs made later by Jehoash and Josiah included hewn stones, and they are also mentioned in connection with the materials used for the second temple.

1 Kings 5:15 tells us that Solomon gathered together 80,000 stonecutters to provide these stones for the Temple. And Josephus says that the traditions of the Jews tell of stones in Solomon’s Temple that were 60 feet long! But there was more than just the Temple in Solomon’s Jerusalem. We know of the many building projects that he initiated. For example, we are told that his palace, and the house built for the Pharaoh’s daughter, were made of costly stones.

We may today see examples of Israelite stone work in the Wailing Wall of Jerusalem. A stone from the old city walls is fourteen feet long and 3 and 3/4 feet square. And, to further show how wide-spread the use of stone was in ancient times, there are remains of quarries in many places of the Holy Land.

Today, of course, we see deep gouges in many places in our land, where stone is quarried. The present day quarry worker is very similar to his ancient brothers. And in more than one respect - one of the first known labor strikes was conducted by stonecutters (in 600 B.C.) who were working on a Temple building project! And why? Because they hadn’t been paid for several months! Apparently the men of the past had more in common with men of our century than we would have expected!