“So Hiram came out from Tyre to see the cities which Solomon had given him, and they did not please him. He said, ‘What are these cities which you have given me, my brother?’ So they were called the land of Cabul (as good as nothing) to this day.'” (1 Kings 9:12-13)
A HOUSE FOR GOD
King Solomon set out to build a house for God (though God does not dwell in houses). (Acts 7:48)
He would need supplies (obviously).
So Solomon sent word to Hiram, the king of Tyre. (In our day he might have Facebooked him.) (1 Kings 5:1-6)
Solomon requested Hiram to send lumber and Hiram did so. (1 Kings 5:7-10)
And a house for God was built. (1 Kings 9:1)
AS GOOD AS NOTHING
Of course, King Solomon would want to reward King Hiram for his help.
And he did.
King Solomon gave King Hiram twenty cities as a reward for helping him build a house for God. (1 Kings 9:11)
And you would have thought that the story should have ended happily ever after right there.
Hiram got the cities.
Hiram visited the cities.
Hiram liked the cities.
Well, all except that last part.
Hiram did not like the cities.
In fact, Hiram called the cities “Cabul” which means “as good as nothing.” (1 Kings 9:13)
PRIME REAL ESTATE
The crazy thing about it is the cities (and the land they encompassed) weren’t “Cabul” (though Hiram thought they were).
The cities weren’t “as good as nothing.”
Oh, they might have looked like “Cabul” at the time.
They might have looked “as good as nothing” at the time (from Hiram’s perspective).
But from God’s perspective, they were prime real estate.
It was the best land that money could buy.
Because you see, it was the land of Galilee in Israel. (Ring a bell?) (1 Kings 9:11)
It was the very place where God’s Son would set up shop to bring salvation to the world. (Matthew 4:18; 4:23; 21:11)
WHAT HAS GOD GIVEN YOU?
And sometimes we receive from God and we don’t understand or realize the significance or import of what we’ve been given.
What has God given you?
(It could be your kids. It could be a ministry, career. It could be the place you live. It could be the people in your life. It could be all these things at the same time.)
It’s time to stop seeing what God’s given you as “Cabul” (as good as nothing).
It’s time to start seeing it as it should be seen – with the Son of God in the midst doing a great work (because it’s true).
(Ancient Galilee picture file above is in the public domain: click here.)
You might also be interested in:
About Pastor Mike
(To view old map,