1 Kings 9 – Solomon’s Choice
The
Lord first appeared to Solomon in 1
Kings 3 at the beginning of Solomon’s reign when he prayed for wisdom. Solomon finished the temple and prayed and
dedicated the temple to the Lord in 1
Kings 8. When he finished the temple
and his palace and achieved all he had desired to do, the Lord appeared to him
a second time. He told Solomon that He
had heard his prayers and had consecrated the temple. The Lord told him that His eyes and heart
would always be there, but the Lord gave him a warning. If Solomon walked with integrity of heart and
uprightness as David did and did all the Lord commanded and observed the Lord’s
laws, the Lord would establish his royal throne over Israel just as He promised
David. If Solomon did not observe the
laws and commands and walk with integrity, the Lord would cut off Israel from
the land and reject the temple. Then
Israel would become an object of ridicule among all peoples. When this happens, the people would know it
was because they had forsaken the Lord and served other gods.
What is
keeping you from listening to God’s warnings?
What
other gods are you serving?
God
provided Solomon with all he needed and He provides us with all we need. He provides us with the gift of salvation,
but we have choices to make. We can
choose to serve Him or serve ourselves, but we can’t serve both. “No one can serve two
masters.” – Matt. 6:24.
Principle: God wants our whole hearts.
It took
20 years for Solomon to build the temple and his palace. Afterwards Solomon gave Hiram of Tyre 20
towns. Hiram was not pleased, because he
thought these towns were not important towns.
He called them “good for nothing towns”.
Was
Solomon taking advantage of him? Is he
beginning to abuse his power? What’s
going on in Solomon’s heart? Is he
getting stingy? We can’t know what is in
Solomon’s heart, but it looks like it’s shifting in the wrong direction.
Does
your success come before your faithfulness to God?
How are
you taking advantage of others to get what you want?
Solomon
continues to build up his empower and cities to store his chariots and
horses. He built whatever he desired in
Jerusalem, Lebanon and throughout the territory. He did this by using forced labor. The laborers were all the people left from
the descendants of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites –
all who were not Israelites. The
Israelites were not slaves, but supervisors.
They were his fighting men, his government officials, his officers, his
captains, and his commanders. There were
550 officials who supervised the working men.
Pharaoh’s
daughter who was now Solomon’s wife was brought from Jerusalem to the palace that
he had built for her. Solomon offered
burnt sacrifices and fellowship offerings to the Lord 3 times a year.
Solomon
build ships and Hiram sent his sailors to serve in the fleet with Solomon’s
men. They sailed to Ophir and brought
back 420 talents of gold to King Solomon.
1 Kings 10 – Solomon’s Witness
Solomon’s
wisdom was the topic of conversations all over the world. Queen Sheba heard of Solomon’s wisdom,
prosperity of his kingdom, and his faith of the Lord so she decided to go see
for herself. She asked Solomon many
questions and was very impressed with him and his answers. She realized it was far greater than she had
heard. She saw how happy his servants
and officials were in serving Solomon.
She saw the temple, the palace, all the fine food that was provided, and
all his achievements. She gave praises
to God and knew it was Him who placed Solomon on the throne to maintain justice
and righteousness. She gave Solomon 120
talents of gold, spices, and precious stones increasing his wealth even more. Hiram’s ships brought gold and cargos of
almugwood and precious stone to Solomon.
He used the wood to make supports for the temple, the palace and to make
harps and lyres for the musicians. He
gave the queen more than she desired.
Where
do you seek wisdom?
What
impresses you about other Christians?
What
impresses you about God?
Are you
joyful in serving Jesus?
Sheba
came a great distance to seek Solomon.
She came with gifts. She took her
questions to an imperfect king. She saw
the riches of the king. She told what
was in her heart. If she sought Solomon
so diligently, shouldn’t we seek Jesus and the glory of His Kingdom even more? The perfect King invites your questions. His perfect Word can stand up to your doubts
and questions.
Do you
take your questions and concerns to King Jesus?
Principle: God’s wants us to seek Him.
Solomon
had gold of 666 talents, which is the same as $281,318,400. He received much more gold yearly. He made shields of gold and gathered chariots
and horsemen. He did all this which was
a direct contradiction to God’s instructions.
In Deuteronomy 17:14-20 God
gave warnings to kings of Israel – they must not acquire a great number of
horses, not take many wives, and not accumulate large amounts of silver and
gold. God blessed Solomon with riches,
but Solomon allowed it to turn into a danger.
He disobediently multiplies gold and horses for himself.
He made
silver as common as stones and cedar as plentiful as sycamore-fig trees. He imported horses and chariots from Egypt. He also exported them to all the kings of the
Hittites and of the Arameans.
All of
Solomon’s wealth reminds us of our human desires and sins. God’s law contained rules for kings of
Israel. Solomon didn’t obey these rules. He was still serving God, but had begun to
care more about his own wealth than he cared about God’s law. Partial obedience is disobedience.
How are
you tempted by wealth and possessions?
Are you
partially obedient? We may
not see anything wrong, but if it’s against God’s rules it’s wrong. Do you do what’s right by the world’s
standards?
Do you
tell yourself that it’s okay to: have sex
outside marriage, have a live-in boyfriend, not tithe because you have too many
bills this month, tell a little lie, gossip, tell off-color jokes because it’s all
in good fun, or call it prayer when it’s really gossip?
Principle: Obedience results from a heart surrendered to
God.
Next
time we will continue with our last study of 1 Kings. We will end with
the death of Solomon. Hope to see you
here.
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