April 27th
1 Kings, 9
The
Lord appears to Solomon
1: And it came to pass, when Solomon had finished the
building of the house of the LORD, and the king's house, and all Solomon's
desire which he was pleased to do, 2:
That the LORD appeared to Solomon the second time, as he had appeared unto him
at Gibeon. 3: And the LORD said
unto him, I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, that thou hast made
before me: I have hallowed this house, which thou hast built, to put my name
there for ever; and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually. 4: And if thou wilt walk before me,
as David thy father walked, in integrity of heart, and in uprightness, to do
according to all that I have commanded thee, and wilt keep my statutes and my
judgments: 5: Then I will
establish the throne of thy kingdom upon Israel for ever, as I promised to
David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man upon the throne of
Israel. 6: But if ye shall at
all turn from following me, ye or your children, and will not keep my
commandments and my statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve
other gods, and worship them: 7:
Then will I cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them; and this
house, which I have hallowed for my name, will I cast out of my sight; and
Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all people: 8: And at this house, which is high,
every one that passeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss; and they
shall say, Why hath the LORD done thus unto this land, and to this house? 9: And they shall answer, Because
they forsook the LORD their God, who brought forth their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and have taken hold upon other
gods, and have worshipped them, and served them: therefore hath the LORD
brought upon them all this evil.
Solomon’s
other projects
10: And it came to pass at the end of twenty years, when
Solomon had built the two houses, the house of the LORD, and the king's house, 11: (Now Hiram the king of Tyre had
furnished Solomon with cedar trees and fir trees, and with gold, according to
all his desire,) that then king Solomon gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of
Galilee. 12: And Hiram came out
from Tyre to
see the cities which Solomon had given him; and they pleased him not. 13: And he said, What cities are
these which thou hast given me, my brother? And he called them the land of Cabul unto this day. 14: And Hiram sent to the king
sixscore talents of gold. 15:
And this is the reason of the levy which king Solomon raised; for to build the
house of the LORD, and his own house, and Millo, and the wall of Jerusalem, and Hazor, and Megiddo,
and Gezer. 16: For Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up, and taken Gezer, and burnt it with fire, and slain the
Canaanites that dwelt in the city, and given it for a present unto his
daughter, Solomon's wife. 17:
And Solomon built Gezer, and Beth-horon the nether, 18: and Baalath, and Tadmor in the wilderness, in the land, 19: And all the cities of store that
Solomon had, and cities for his chariots, and cities for his horsemen, and that
which Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, and in Lebanon, and in all the
land of his dominion. 20: And
all the people that were left of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites,
and Jebusites, which were not of the children of Israel, 21: Their children that were left
after them in the land, whom the children of Israel also were not able utterly
to destroy, upon those did Solomon levy a tribute of bondservice unto this day.
22: But of the children of Israel did
Solomon make no bondmen: but they were men of war, and his servants, and his
princes, and his captains, and rulers of his chariots, and his horsemen. 23: These were the chief of the
officers that were over Solomon's work, five hundred and fifty, which bare rule
over the people that wrought in the work. 24: But Pharaoh's daughter came up out of the city of David unto her house
which Solomon had built for her: then did he build Millo. 25: And three times in a year did
Solomon offer burnt offerings and peace offerings upon the altar which he built
unto the LORD, and he burnt incense upon the altar that was before the LORD. So
he finished the house. 26: And
king Solomon made a navy of ships in Ezion-geber, which is beside Eloth, on the
shore of the Red sea, in the land
of Edom. 27: And Hiram sent in the navy his
servants, shipmen that had knowledge of the sea, with the servants of Solomon. 28: And they came to Ophir, and
fetched from thence gold, four hundred and twenty talents, and brought it to king
Solomon.
1 Kings, 10
Solomon
- the Queen of Sheba
1: And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon
concerning the name of the LORD, she came to prove him with hard questions. 2: And she came to Jerusalem with a very great train, with
camels that bare spices, and very much gold, and precious stones: and when she
was come to Solomon, she communed with him of all that was in her heart. 3: And Solomon told her all her
questions: there was not any thing hid from the king, which he told her not. 4: And when the queen of Sheba had
seen all Solomon's wisdom, and the house that he had built, 5: And the meat of his table, and the
sitting of his servants, and the attendance of his ministers, and their
apparel, and his cupbearers, and his ascent by which he went up unto the house
of the LORD; there was no more spirit in her. 6: And she said to the king, It was a true report that I heard
in mine own land of thy acts and of thy wisdom. 7: Howbeit I believed not the words, until I came, and mine eyes
had seen it: and, behold, the half was not told me: thy wisdom and prosperity
exceedeth the fame which I heard. 8:
Happy are thy men, happy are these thy servants, which stand continually before
thee, and that hear thy wisdom. 9:
Blessed be the LORD thy God, which delighted in thee, to set thee on the throne
of Israel: because the LORD
loved Israel
for ever, therefore made he thee king, to do judgment and justice. 10: And she gave the king an hundred
and twenty talents of gold, and of spices very great store, and precious
stones: there came no more such abundance of spices as these which the queen of
Sheba
gave to king Solomon. 11: And
the navy also of Hiram, that brought gold from Ophir, brought in from Ophir
great plenty of almug trees, and precious stones. 12: And the king made of the almug trees pillars for the house
of the LORD, and for the king's house, harps also and psalteries for singers:
there came no such almug trees, nor were seen unto this day. 13: And king Solomon gave unto the
queen of Sheba
all her desire, whatsoever she asked, beside that which Solomon gave her of his
royal bounty. So she turned and went to her own country, she and her servants.
Solomon’s
wealth and fame
14: Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year
was six hundred threescore and six talents of gold. 15: Beside that he had of the merchantmen, and of the traffick
of the spice merchants, and of all the kings of Arabia,
and of the governors of the country. 16:
And king Solomon made two hundred targets of beaten gold: six hundred shekels
of gold went to one target. 17:
And he made three hundred shields of beaten gold; three pound of gold went to
one shield: and the king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon.
18: Moreover the king made a
great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with the best gold. 19: The throne had six steps, and the
top of the throne was round behind: and there were stays on either side on the
place of the seat, and two lions stood beside the stays. 20: And twelve lions stood there on
the one side and on the other upon the six steps: there was not the like made
in any kingdom. 21: And all
king Solomon's drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the house
of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold; none were of
silver: it was nothing accounted of in the days of Solomon. 22: For the king had at sea a navy of
Tharshish with the navy of Hiram: once in three years came the navy of
Tharshish, bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks. 23: So king Solomon exceeded all the
kings of the earth for riches and for wisdom. 24: And all the earth sought to Solomon, to hear his wisdom,
which God had put in his heart. 25:
And they brought every man his present, vessels of silver, and vessels of gold,
and garments, and armour, and spices, horses, and mules, a rate year by year. 26: And Solomon gathered together
chariots and horsemen: and he had a thousand and four hundred chariots, and
twelve thousand horsemen, whom he bestowed in the cities for chariots, and with
the king at Jerusalem.
27: And the king made silver to
be in Jerusalem
as stones, and cedars made he to be as the sycomore trees that are in the vale,
for abundance. 28: And Solomon
had horses brought out of Egypt,
and linen yarn: the king's merchants received the linen yarn at a price. 29: And a chariot came up and went
out of Egypt for six hundred
shekels of silver, and an horse for an hundred and fifty: and so for all the
kings of the Hittites, and for the kings of Syria, did they bring them out by
their means.
Today
we read of Solomon having this interview with the Lord. A passage every Christian
leader should take special notice of. Then we read of Solomon’s other projects.
We read of an interesting account of the visit of one of the rules of the
Gentile world – the Queen of Sheba. And then we read more about Solomon’s
wealth and fame. The Lord appears to Solomon a second time. The LORD says l
have heard your prayer and supplication. (Prayer is the general word to
describe intercourse with God supplication describes the particular aspect of
his prayer) The Lord says l have made this house holy which you built and l
have put my name there for ever. He says my mind and my heart will be there
perpetually. Solomon the Lord says IF you will walk before me as David your
Father did in integrity of heart, (With a whole mind) in uprightness and do everything
l tell you, keeping the statues, and judgments and commandments. Then your
dynasty will go on forever. But if you turn away from following me, either you
or your children, and you do not keep the commandment, statues but go to
worship other gods. Then l will cut Israel out the land and take them
away from this temple. I will throw you out of my sight and all the nations
will talk of it as a proverb. They will be astonished and hiss through their
teeth and they will ask why has the LORD done this to this land? And the answer
will be obvious – they turned their back on the Lord their God. Who redeemed
them from Egypt
and they worshipped other gods. How very different is the New Covenant that
ever Christian finds him in. The Lord Jesus says I will never leave you or
forsake you. – Now go and live worthily of the calling wherewith you are
called. Twenty years passed by and Solomon had built two great houses the Temple and his own house.
Solomon repaid Hiram by giving him 20 cities in Galilee.
He was not impressed. Hiram had sent Solomon 60 talents of gold as a
contribution, to build the temple. Solomon took tribute from all the nations
that had not been conquered in the land but he took nothing from the men of Israel. Solomon
had 550 men who administered the tribute. He also had a navy in the gulf of Aqabar
and in the Mediterranean. Solomon received 420
talents of gold. ($570,240,562) When the Queen of Sheba heard of Solomon’s
wisdom and wealth she came to see him. She came with the hardest questions which
had baffled every wise man who she had ever known, but Solomon easily answered
her questions. She was taken aback and breathless at everything she saw. She
said the half had not been told her of Solomon’s and is wisdom. She remarked at
the happiness of his servants and blessed God who delighted in him, because the
LORD loved Israel
for ever. She gave him 120 talents of gold and a great quantity of spices and
precious stones. The weight of gold that came to Solomon was 45 tons in weight.
He made 200 shields of solid gold and 300 of gold on top of wood. He made an
ivory throne over laid with the best gold. The throne had six steps and two
lions in gold beside it. And twelve more lions surrounded the throne six on
each side. All of his drinking cups were of gold. There was so much gold that
silver was counted as worthless. He had a navy in the Mediterranean
which brought gold silver, ivory, apes and peacocks. The whole world came to
see Solomon and to hear his wisdom. The whole world brought their gold and silver
to Solomon. The question that hangs in the air is what will happen next? Will
he blow it? Will be remain faithful to the LORD his God? We will see tomorrow.
Steve
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