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.
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