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.
- Why did the Lord appear to Solomon after he has finished the temple?
- What happened when the queen of Sheba came to the Solomon?
- How would you describe the wealth and fame of Solomon?
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