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Unlike David, we don’t get very many details of Solomon’s life as king. His major accomplishment was to build the temple, his major characteristic was great wisdom in administering God’s nation of Israel. In a way, he was what a successful king that also serves God might look like—successful that is, in a worldly way. While David’s life focused on struggle and reliance on God, worship of the Lord and fierce loyalty—Solomon’s life is typified by worldly success, money, intelligence, beautiful women, possessions, leisure, and power. Solomon is also different from David in how his life ended up. Despite all of the great things God did for Solomon, the man ended up being drawn away from his closeness with God, and he, and the nation suffered because of it. It begins with an affirmation and a warning from God. Chapter 9:1-9 God appeared to Solomon in Chapter 3 in a dream. Solomon had asked for wisdom in leading his people, admitting his inadequacies for the job. Solomon went from the altar in Gibeon to the ark in Jerusalem, from sacrifice to fellowship, as he drew near to Yahweh. Now, after building and dedicating the temple, God once again appears to him. First the Lord says he has heard Solomon’s prayer. 2 Chronicles 7:1-7 shows us that after the prayer God consumed the sacrifices and filled the temple with his glory once again as a sign of his approval and acceptance. Then he promises two things: one that he has set the temple apart by putting his name there forever and that his eyes and heart will be there for all time. I would submit that this actually refers to Jesus Christ, who said “I tell you, something greater than the temple is here.” (Matthew 12:6). God told Solomon that he did not choose a city but a person, David—and a promise to have someone on David’s throne forever. That person is Jesus Christ, who fulfills what the temple promised. But this second appearance comes with some warnings. Solomon actually finished building his house in his 24th year as king, 20 years after he began the temple. It may have been at this time that Solomon was at a crossroads. As we’ll see in chapter 11, Solomon will begin turning from the Lord. Perhaps this starts slowly, as it often does in our lives as well. Perhaps God is really trying to encourage Solomon to remain close by warning him what will happen if he doesn’t. It is more than ritual obedience that God is looking for, but a relationship—“integrity of heart.” Integrity means a wholeness through and through. Solomon’s problem wasn’t that he rejected God, but that he allowed his heart to be divided. Verses 6 – 9 give the dire warnings of what would take place if he and his children refused to walk with God—that he will “cast you out of my sight” the nation destroyed. It is further testimony that they should have known better. Unfortunately, as is often the case with us, we either forget that consequences come from not walking with God, or we purposefully choose to ignore them thinking that we will escape. We will not. In fact it was not that God wanted perfect people. Solomon knew well that no one is perfect (“for there is no one who does not sin” 8:46), but when we pull away from God we will begin to drift into other things and end up making choices that will have consequences. 10 – 14 Apparently Solomon could not pay off the materials provided by Hiram by the oil and food promised in chapter 5 so Solomon gave Hiram some cities in the western Galilee region near Acco. 2 Chronicles 8:2 says Hiram returned the cities and perhaps Solomon paid him in some other way. Solomon rebuilt the cities. 15 – 23 The efforts in this section detail filling in a depression between the city of David and the temple complex, and also building up of several key cities. Millo is a transliteration of terracing in Hebrew. Several key cities were also built up including Gezer, Hazor, and Megiddo. Archeological digs have found similarities in the construction that come from the time of Solomon. Megiddo, of course, will be the staging area, in the Mt Carmel range, for the battle of Armageddon. 24 Pharaoh’s daughter may have had to be moved out of her temporary quarters for the construction project between the City of David and the temple. 25 Notice how the practice of offering at the high places had ceased, at least for now. 26 – 28 Solomon opened up access to Tyre to the Red Sea, and Tyre supplied know-how of ship building and seamen. We are not sure where Ophir was located. Chapter 10:1-13 Sheba is in modern day Yemen, in southeast Arabia. It is the most fertile area of Arabia—due to extensive irrigation. Word about Solomon probably reached Sheba through the caravans that travelled through Israel. Notice the fame is “concerning the name of the Lord.” Isn’t it great when people hear about the wonderful things you are doing, and ascribe glory to God? The queen posed “riddles” which were enigmatic sayings that cloaked deeper truths. She was not just testing Solomon’s mental acuity, but was truly curious about the Lord. Again—isn’t it cool when who you are and what you do makes people want to learn more about the God you serve? (8) do we ever take for granted how wonderful it is to be able to call God Father? The queen of Sheba remarked how “blessed” the people were to have the wisdom of Solomon. Notice too how she begins to bless the Lord for his love. Awesome! (11) we don’t know what almug wood is. 14 – 22 25 tons of gold (666 talents). 23 – 25 The fulfillment of God’s promises in 3:13 26 – 29 Here we have two of the three prohibitions against the king – amassing chariots, horses, and wives. Chapter 11 shows the consequences of the final prohibition, but he is not criticized for the first two. (Dt 17:1-17). The problem with chariots was that they were the most potent military weapon of the day, relying on them for defending or expanding a nation was a real temptation—instead of relying on God. Getting horses meant they had to go back to Egypt. (see Isaiah 31:1-3). Conclusions Take warnings from God seriously because it is often the case that disobedience gets lost amongst the business of life. It seems so normal to import horses and chariots and wives when that’s what everyone else is doing or what is expected of a king. The inner reality is more important than the outer show While Solomon could boast of all that the Lord had done to the queen of Sheba, he was actually starting to crumble on the inside. |
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