400 pomegranates
The pillars of God’s temple had “four hundred pomegranates for the two networks (two rows of pomegranates for each network, to cover the two bowl-shaped capitals that were on the pillars);” (2 Chron 4:13)
When I read this verse, I was thinking to myself how extra this is. Need so many meh? The pomegranates were made of bronze. Making the moulds, pouring the metal, and finishing 400 pomegranates, then fitting them all in place… Slow, patient work.
All of it went to the top of two pillars at the entrance of the temple. With their capitals, the pillars stood about 10 metres tall. Each pillar was so thick that its circumference was about 5.4m (1 Kgs 7:15). Would anyone even notice the pomegranates? Who would crane their neck like that?
I don't know if I have the patience for craft like that. In our efficiency-driven society, I might even call it unnecessary “fluff”. In prioritisation terms, it’s a good-to-have.
It matters to God
But the pomegranates could have been part of the temple’s pattern that God had given David (1 Chron 28:19). The high priest’s robe also had pomegranates on its hem, part of God’s command concerning these garments “for glory and for beauty” (Ex 28:2, 33-34); perhaps this is what the 400 pomegranates were for.
If God puts it in our heart to do something for His house that feels unnecessary, would we do it for Him?
Though few might notice the effort we put in to do things beautifully for God, He values it. Almost 400 years later, when the Babylonians invaded Jerusalem and broke the pillars, the Bible records the pomegranates again and counts them: “all the pomegranates, all around on the network, were one hundred” (Jer 52:23; this may describe one of the four rows around the pillar).
What this looks like in our service
Your 400 pomegranates might be the craft pieces you cut the night before to help five children remember the lesson, or pews you straightened that no one notices. They might be the big kitchen pots you scrub while everyone else is at post-lunch kopi, or the dust you wipe off the top of the toilet cubicle walls, where no one will ever look.
We do these things because we want to give our best to our Master, and because we love Him and His house. He does not forget our labour of love toward His name (Heb 6:10).
Reflection questions
Think of one task in church that you tend to rush because nobody checks it. What would doing it properly, as for the Master, look like the next time?
Is there something God has put in your heart to do for His house that you've set aside as unnecessary? What is one step you can take towards it this week?
Remember a time your service went unnoticed. How does Hebrews 6:10 change the way you look back on it?
