Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

To read 1 Kings 8, click the link HERE.

When Solomon had finished building the temple of the Lord and the royal palace, and had achieved all he had desired to do, the Lord appeared to him a second time, as he had appeared to him at Gibeon. The Lord said to him:
“I have heard the prayer and plea you have made before me; I have consecrated this temple, which you have built, by putting my Name there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.
“As for you, if you walk before me faithfully with integrity of heart and uprightness, as David your father did, and do all I command and observe my decrees and laws, I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised David your father when I said, ‘You shall never fail to have a successor on the throne of Israel.’
“But if you or your descendants turn away from me and do not observe the commands and decrees I have given you and go off to serve other gods and worship them, then I will cut off Israel from the land I have given them and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name. Israel will then become a byword and an object of ridicule among all peoples. This temple will become a heap of rubble. All who pass by will be appalled and will scoff and say, ‘Why has the Lord done such a thing to this land and to this temple?’ People will answer, ‘Because they have forsaken the Lord their God, who brought their ancestors out of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them—that is why the Lord brought all this disaster on them.’”
At the end of twenty years, during which Solomon built these two buildings—the temple of the Lord and the royal palace—King Solomon gave twenty towns in Galilee to Hiram king of Tyre, because Hiram had supplied him with all the cedar and juniper and gold he wanted. But when Hiram went from Tyre to see the towns that Solomon had given him, he was not pleased with them. “What kind of towns are these you have given me, my brother?” he asked. And he called them the Land of Kabul, a name they have to this day. Now Hiram had sent to the king 120 talents of gold.
Here is the account of the forced labor King Solomon conscripted to build the Lord’s temple, his own palace, the terraces, the wall of Jerusalem, and Hazor, Megiddo and Gezer. (Pharaoh king of Egypt had attacked and captured Gezer. He had set it on fire. He killed its Canaanite inhabitants and then gave it as a wedding gift to his daughter, Solomon’s wife. And Solomon rebuilt Gezer.) He built up Lower Beth Horon, Baalath, and Tadmor in the desert, within his land, as well as all his store cities and the towns for his chariots and for his horses—whatever he desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon and throughout all the territory he ruled.
There were still people left from the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites (these peoples were not Israelites). Solomon conscripted the descendants of all these peoples remaining in the land—whom the Israelites could not exterminate—to serve as slave labor, as it is to this day. But Solomon did not make slaves of any of the Israelites; they were his fighting men, his government officials, his officers, his captains, and the commanders of his chariots and charioteers. They were also the chief officials in charge of Solomon’s projects—550 officials supervising those who did the work.
After Pharaoh’s daughter had come up from the City of David to the palace Solomon had built for her, he constructed the terraces.
Three times a year Solomon sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings on the altar he had built for the Lord, burning incense before the Lord along with them, and so fulfilled the temple obligations.
King Solomon also built ships at Ezion Geber, which is near Elath in Edom, on the shore of the Red Sea. And Hiram sent his men—sailors who knew the sea—to serve in the fleet with Solomon’s men. They sailed to Ophir and brought back 420 talents of gold, which they delivered to King Solomon.

• 1 Kings 9:1-28

When the queen of Sheba heard about the fame of Solomon and his relationship to the Lord, she came to test Solomon with hard questions. Arriving at Jerusalem with a very great caravan—with camels carrying spices, large quantities of gold, and precious stones—she came to Solomon and talked with him about all that she had on her mind. Solomon answered all her questions; nothing was too hard for the king to explain to her. When the queen of Sheba saw all the wisdom of Solomon and the palace he had built, the food on his table, the seating of his officials, the attending servants in their robes, his cupbearers, and the burnt offerings he made at the temple of the Lord, she was overwhelmed.
She said to the king, “The report I heard in my own country about your achievements and your wisdom is true. But I did not believe these things until I came and saw with my own eyes. Indeed, not even half was told me; in wisdom and wealth you have far exceeded the report I heard. How happy your people must be! How happy your officials, who continually stand before you and hear your wisdom! Praise be to the Lord your God, who has delighted in you and placed you on the throne of Israel. Because of the Lord’s eternal love for Israel, he has made you king to maintain justice and righteousness.”
And she gave the king 120 talents of gold, large quantities of spices, and precious stones. Never again were so many spices brought in as those the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.
(Hiram’s ships brought gold from Ophir; and from there they brought great cargoes of almugwood and precious stones. The king used the almugwood to make supports for the temple of the Lord and for the royal palace, and to make harps and lyres for the musicians. So much almugwood has never been imported or seen since that day.)
King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba all she desired and asked for, besides what he had given her out of his royal bounty. Then she left and returned with her retinue to her own country.
The weight of the gold that Solomon received yearly was 666 talents, not including the revenues from merchants and traders and from all the Arabian kings and the governors of the territories.
King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold; six hundred shekels of gold went into each shield. He also made three hundred small shields of hammered gold, with three minas of gold in each shield. The king put them in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon.
Then the king made a great throne covered with ivory and overlaid with fine gold. The throne had six steps, and its back had a rounded top. On both sides of the seat were armrests, with a lion standing beside each of them. Twelve lions stood on the six steps, one at either end of each step. Nothing like it had ever been made for any other kingdom. All King Solomon’s goblets were gold, and all the household articles in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. Nothing was made of silver, because silver was considered of little value in Solomon’s days. The king had a fleet of trading ships at sea along with the ships of Hiram. Once every three years it returned, carrying gold, silver and ivory, and apes and baboons.
King Solomon was greater in riches and wisdom than all the other kings of the earth. The whole world sought audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom God had put in his heart. Year after year, everyone who came brought a gift—articles of silver and gold, robes, weapons and spices, and horses and mules.
Solomon accumulated chariots and horses; he had fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand horses, which he kept in the chariot cities and also with him in Jerusalem. The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar as plentiful as sycamore-fig trees in the foothills. Solomon’s horses were imported from Egypt and from Kue—the royal merchants purchased them from Kue at the current price. They imported a chariot from Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for a hundred and fifty. They also exported them to all the kings of the Hittites and of the Arameans.

• 1 Kings 10:1-29

To read 1 Kings 11, click the link HERE.

Noted Biblical Scholars, Teachers, and Preachers Comments

1 Kings 8:1 ‘elders … heads’: ”The ‘elders’ of Israel were respected men who were in charge of local government and justice throughout Israel (Ex. 18:13–26; Num. 11:16–30; 1 Sam. 8:1–9). They advised the king on important matters of state (1 Sam. 15:30; 2 Sam. 17:5; 1 Kin. 12:6–11). The ‘heads’ of the tribes or ‘chief fathers’ were the oldest living males within each extended family unit. They were the ones responsible for learning the law and leading their families to obey it.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

1 Kings 8:4-6 ‘brought up the ark’: “The ark of the covenant was transported by the priests and the Levites from the tent that David had made for it in Jerusalem (2 Sam. 6:17). They also brought to the temple the tabernacle and all its furnishings which had been located at Gibeon (2 Chr. 1:2–6). The ark was placed into the Most Holy Place (v. 6).”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

1 Kings 8:9 ‘two tablets of stone’: ”At this time the ark of the covenant contained only the two tablets inscribed with the Ten Commandments. The pot of manna (Ex. 16:33) and Aaron’s rod that budded (Num. 17:10) were no longer in the ark. See Heb. 9:4.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

1 Kings 8:22 ‘spread out his hands’: “The spreading of open hands toward heaven was a normal posture of individual prayer (Ex. 9:29; Is. 1:15).”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

1 Kings 8:27 ‘impossible to hide from God’s immanence’: “Adam sinned and, in his panic, frantically tried to do the impossible; he tried to hide from the presence of God; David also must have had wild thoughts of trying to escape from the Presence, for he wrote, ‘Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?’ (Psalm 139:7). Then he proceeded through one of his most beautiful psalms to celebrate the glory of the divine immanence. ‘If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold.me’ (139:8-10). And he knew that God’s being and God’s seeing are the same, that the seeing Presence had been with him even before he was born, watching the mystery of unfolding life. Solomon exclaimed, ‘But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded.’ Paul assured the Athenians that ‘he be not far from every one of us for in him we live, and move, and have our being’ (Acts 17:27-28).”

• A. W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God

1 Kings 8:38 ‘in times of hardship’: “The people especially looked toward the temple in prayer in times of national calamity. In drought, or when the crops were consumed by locusts or by caterpillars, or when blast and mildew destroyed the hope of harvest, or in time of war or pestilence, their supplications were presented unto the one Jehovah-all eyes looking toward his one sacred shrine where the one sacrifice smoked on the altar. But although there were those special opportunities when God heard their prayers as a nation, it is pleasant to observe that he regarded the griefs of individuals. Every person that knew his own affliction (or ‘the plague of his heart’) was to spread his hands toward that one place of sacrifice and pray: And God would forgive him and deliver him. May the Lord God, the Holy Spirit, help us avail ourselves of the blessed peace stored up in the one great sacrifice that every restless heart may have if it will only come to him.”

• Charles H. Spurgeon, from sermon notes

1 Kings 8:53 ‘His inheritance’: “Israel was a type of the church of God. The apostle, in the epistle to the Romans, clearly shows that Abraham was the father, not of the circumcision only, but of all those who walk in the steps of the faith of Abraham, and that the promise that he should be heir of the world was not to Abraham or his seed through the law but through the righteousness of faith. For the covenanted inheritance was not to be given according to descent through the flesh, or the inheritance would have fallen to Ishmael. But the peculiar blessings God promised to Abraham are the heritage of those who are born after the Spirit, according to the promise, even as Isaac was. We may, therefore, without any violence, apply what is said of ancient Israel to the present people of God. The promises that were made to the great patriarch had an eye to us. So as Israel’s safety and glory lay in being distinct from all other people, that truth holds good concerning the church of God at this day, for we, also, are not of this world. And what has the Lord aimed at by separating his people from the world? The text tells us, ‘as your inheritance.’ When someone accepts his inheritance, he expects to use it for his own purposes. So if we are the Lord’s inheritance, all that we are capable of producing belongs to him, and he looks to have it. To him every power, every faculty, every passion, every ability, yes, even life itself, belongs to him. All the clusters of our vine are his. We are his servants whose sole and only business is to wait on him. We dare not look on ourselves as our own, or as belonging to others, for we are bought with a price. And therefore it is reasonable that we should serve the Lord in our bodies and our spirits, which are his. Also, when someone takes an inheritance, he means never to give it up. A Jew was never to give up his inheritance. And we are the inheritance of God, the Lord’s own portion. Sooner than give us up, the one and only Son shed his heart’s blood. We are his and he will not lose us.”

• Charles H. Spurgeon, from sermon notes

1 Kings 8:62 ‘offered sacrifices’: “To complete the temple’s dedication, Solomon led the people in offering peace offerings to the Lord (cf. Lev. 3:1–17; 7:11–21), in which they consumed 22,000 bulls and 120,000 sheep and goats (v. 63). Although the number of sacrifices offered seems high, it was in keeping with the magnitude of this event. Obviously, the single bronze altar could not accommodate such an enormous number of sacrifices. Solomon first had to consecrate the entire middle courtyard, the one directly in front of the temple (v. 64). After consecrating the court, Solomon probably had a series of auxiliary altars set up in the court to accommodate all the peace offerings.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

1 Kings 9:1-9 ‘Solomon Assured of God’s Blessings’: “Second Chronicles 7:12-22 is a parallel to 1 Kings 6:11-13, but with one major addition. Following the construction of the temple, the Lord again appears to Solomon. He addresses the king in light of the stipulations of the Davidic Covenant (2 Samuel 7:8-16; 1 Chronicles 17:10-14) and in answer to his celebratory prayer delivered at the temple’s dedication (1 Kings 8:22-53; 2 Chronicles 6:12-42).
“The Lord assures Solomon that his prayer has been heard and the temple consecrated with the personal presence of God. However, the Lord’s permanent presence in the temple is conditioned upon the obedience of the Davidic king (see 1 Kings 6:11-13; Deuteronomy 17:14-17). If the king or any of his descendants lead his nation into habitual violation of the Mosaic Covenant, the glorious temple would be reduced to rubble and the people cast out of their land (Deuteronomy 28:37; 29:22-28).
“While the Davidic Covenant was unconditional, any Davidic descendant’s enjoyment of the covenant was completely conditional, based on his faithfulness to God’s law.”

• Tim LaHaye and Ed Hindson, Exploring Bible Prophecy

1 Kings 9:3 ‘praying before the Lord’: “What the Lord spoke about in the commencement of his interview with Solomon was his prayer. As the Lord answered Solomon’s prayer and here recapitulated the points of it, we may be sure that the Lord would make it a model for us. Most importantly; an accepted prayer must be before the Lord. The Pharisee went up to the temple to pray, but evidently he did not pray ‘before me.’ Even in the most holy courts, he did not find the place desired. In his own esteem he prayed, but in his going home to his house with­ out justification there was evidence he either had not prayed at all or had not prayed before God. It is not because we enter a church and sit in the pews that we are before God. Even if we stood by the site of Jerusalem or Calvary and prayed there-or if we went to Olivet or even Gethsemane-we might not be before God. Praying before God is a spiritual business rather than a turning to the east or to the west, or bowing the knee, or entering within hallowed walls. It is a thing not to be done except by the power of the Spirit. The first thing the soul desires in prayer is an audience with God. If the Lord does not hear us, we have gained nothing. And what an honor it is to have audience with God. The frail, feeble, undeserving creature is permitted to stand in the august presence of the God of the whole earth, and the Lord regards that poor creature as if there were nothing else for him to observe and bends his ear and his heart to listen to that creature’s cry.”

• Charles H. Spurgeon, from sermon illustrations

1 Kings 9:4 ‘If you walk’: “The Lord reiterated to Solomon the importance of obedience to the Mosaic statutes in order to experience the blessings of the Davidic Covenant (cf. 2:3, 4).”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

1 Kings 9:9 ‘this calamity’: “The destruction of Jerusalem and exile from the land (v. 8) were predicted by Moses in Deut. 29:24–28. The devastation of the temple, which came in 586 B.C., graphically demonstrated the Lord’s anger against Israel’s sin, particularly the sin of idolatry.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

1 Kings 9:11 ‘Solomon then gave Hiram twenty cities’: “Solomon sold these 20 cities in Galilee to Hiram in exchange for the gold (about 4.5 tons) mentioned in v. 14. Probably these cities lay along the border between Tyre and Israel, just outside the territory of Asher. Later, Hiram gave the towns back to Solomon. See note on 2 Chr. 8:2.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

1 Kings 9:19 ‘storage cities’: “Cities whose primary purpose was to store food (2 Chr. 17:12; 32:28). cities for his chariots. Solomon built military outposts for his chariots and horses. To defend his kingdom, these garrisons were probably located along key roads throughout the nation. All the cities listed in vv. 15–19 met this requirement.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

1 Kings 9:21-22 ‘forced labor’: ”i.e., ‘conscripted slave labor.’ See … 5:13. Only resident aliens permanently became part of this force since the law did not allow Israelites to make fellow-Israelites slaves against their will (Ex. 21:2–11; Lev. 25:44–46; Deut. 15:12–18). Additionally, v. 22 adds that he did not move someone from an established post, even for a specific project.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

1 Kings 10:1 ‘Queen of Sheba questions’: “We may speak of the queen of Sheba coming to Solomon as a type of our coming to Christ. She wanted to prove whether Solomon was as wise as she had been led to believe, and her mode of proving it was by endeavoring to learn from him. She put difficult questions to him in order that she might be instructed by his wisdom. And if we want to ascertain what the wisdom of Christ is, the way to know it is to come and sit at his feet and learn from him. He has himself said, ‘Take up my yoke and learn from me’ (Mt 11:29). The queen came to ask Solomon many questions, and ‘Solomon answered all her questions; nothing was too difficult for the king to explain to her’ (v. 3). She questioned him about all sorts of things, but I am persuaded she also talked about higher things, things of God; for the text says she came because of ‘Solomon’s fame connected with the name of the LORD.’ So we may rest assured that she put to him many difficult questions concerning the state of her heart, her character, her present position before God, and her future relationship to Israel’s God. Likewise, if we want to know the wisdom of Christ, we must ask him many questions. He knows the things of God as nobody else knows them, for he is one with the Father and with the Spirit. We may come to him, then, with every question that has ever puzzled us and with every doubt that has ever staggered us. When the night is darkest, we may ask him for his light. When the way is roughest, we may lean more than ever on his arm. When the storm is the most fierce, we may trust the Pilot of the Galilean lake. When all around us rocks and reels to and fro like a drunken person, we may find a sure shelter and hiding place in the Rock of ages. We may prove the Lord Jesus in every possible way, for he loves to be tested. “

• Charles H. Spurgeon, from sermon notes

1 Kings 10:9 ‘the Lord your God’: “The queen was willing to credit Solomon’s God with giving him wisdom that resulted in just and righteous decisions. Though she recognized the Lord as Israel’s national God, there was no confession that Solomon’s God had become her God to the exclusion of all others. There is no record that she made any offerings to God at the temple.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

1 Kings 10:11 ‘almug wood’: “Probably the strong, long-lasting sandalwood, which is black on the outside and ruby red inside.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

1 Kings 10:16-17 ‘shields’: “From his gold revenues, Solomon made 200 large shields, containing about 7.5 pounds of gold each, and 300 small shields, having 3.75 pounds of gold each, that were ornamental in design and restricted to ceremonial use.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

1 Kings 10:22 ‘merchant ships’: “These ‘ships of Tarshish’ were large, all-weather cargo vessels designed to make long ocean voyages.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

1 Kings 10:25 ‘silver and gold … horses’: “The wisdom God had given to Solomon (v. 24) caused many rulers, like the queen of Sheba (vv. 1–13), to bring presents to Solomon as they sought to buy his wisdom to be applied in their own nations. These gifts led Solomon to multiply for himself both horses, as well as silver and gold, precisely that which God’s king was warned against in Deut. 17:16, 17. Solomon became ensnared by the blessings of his own wisdom and disobeyed God’s commands.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

1 Kings 11:1-3 ‘Decline of Solomon’: ”Then we come to chapter 11, where the story of Solomon takes a sudden turn for the worse. The seeds of decline and disobedience that were sown earlier in Solomon’s life now begin to sprout…  This is the same man who, in the book of Proverbs wrote, ‘He who finds a wife finds what is good’ (Prov. 18:22). Apparently, Solomon didn’t know when he had too much of a good thing! A thousand wives is nine hundred and ninety-nine too many.“

• Ray C. Stedman, Adventuring Through the Bible

1 Kings 11:4 ‘as … David’: “Cf. v. 6. David is consistently presented in Kings as the standard by which other kings were to act and be judged (3:14; 9:4; 14:8; 15:3; 2 Kin. 8:19; 22:2). This was not because David had not sinned (cf. 2 Sam. 11, 12), but rather because he repented appropriately from his sin (Pss. 32; 51), and because sin did not continue as the pattern of his life.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

1 Kings 11:5-9 ‘Solomon’s Fall’: “Solomon presents a vivid picture of a principle stated by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount: ‘Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also’ (Luke 12:34). Solomon gave his heart to women from idolatrous cultures-and in time, those women turned his heart away from God.
“Chemosh was the hideous image to which the pagan worshipers sacrificed their children in fire. Incredibly, Solomon himself built a place of worship for this grinning demonic god! As we read through the rest of this chapter, we see that three times in rapid succession, ‘the Lord raised up against Solomon an adversary’
“At the end of this chapter, Solomon ‘rested with his fathers’ and was buried in the city of David-a sudden collapse of the glory and majesty of his kingdom. Even the glory of Solomon’s temple proves transitory. Though it would stand for four hundred years, it would be plundered and stripped of its gold and furnishings only five years after Solomon’s death.”

• Ray C. Stedman, Adventuring Through the Bible

1 Kings 11:9-13, 31-39 ‘Solomon to Receive Divine Judgment’: “The Final portion of Solomon’s reign is characterized by exactly the manner of disobedience and covenantal disloyalty he had been divinely warned to avoid (9:1-9). Guilty of violating Deuteronomy 17:14-17, Solomon is admonished by the Lord that his behavior war­ rants the removal of the kingdom of Israel from his progeny’s rule. This punishment would not affect Solomon’s rule but would begin with the rule of Solomon’s heir. To maintain divine fidelity to the unconditional Davidic Covenant (2 Samuel 7:8-16; 2 Chronicles 17:10-14), the king’s son would not lose the kingdom in its entirety, but would retain control over the people of his own tribe, Judah (the diminutive tribe of Benjamin was thought of as a subset of the substantial Judah), and their territory, including the holy city of Jerusalem.
“This judgment is confirmed in the subsequent passage, which details the message to Jeroboam of his imminent ascendancy (1 Kings 11:31-39). There is one telling detail in the final verse of this recapitulation of Davidic punishment that must not be overlooked. ‘Thus I will afflict the descendants of David for this, but not always’ (11:39). This gloomy message of judgment ends with a lustrous phrase of grace and hope-‘but not always.’ There will come a future era when the Lord will restore a united Israel to the perfect reign of the ultimate Son of David, Jesus the Messiah, within His millennial kingdom (2 Chronicles 17:10-14).”

• Tim LaHaye and Ed Hindson, Exploring Bible Prophecy

1 Kings 11:12 ‘not do it in your days’: “The Lord’s great love for David caused Him to temper His judgment with mercy by not disrupting the kingdom in Solomon’s lifetime (cf. v. 34). This showed that Solomon’s disobedience did not annul the Davidic Covenant; the Lord’s commitment to fulfill His Word to David remained firm (cf. 2 Sam. 7:12–16).”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

1 Kings 11:21 ‘Let me depart’: “Like Moses (Ex. 2:10), Hadad’s son grew up in Pharaoh’s household. As did Moses (Ex. 5:1), Hadad requested that Pharaoh allow him to leave Egypt. Hearing of the deaths of David and Joab, he renounced his easy position and possessions in Egypt to return to Edom in order to regain his throne. His activities gave great trouble to Israel (v. 25).”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

1 Kings 11:26 ‘Jeroboam the son of Nebat’: “In contrast to Hadad and Rezon, who were external adversaries of Solomon, God raised up Jeroboam from a town in Ephraim as an internal adversary. Jeroboam was from Ephraim, the leading tribe of Israel’s northern 10 tribes. He was a young man of talent and energy who, having been appointed by Solomon as leader over the building works around Jerusalem, rose to public notice.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

1 Kings 11:31-39 ‘Jeroboam to Rule over the Northern Kingdom’: “Abijah the prophet confront Jeroboam with the divine message that the Lord had selected him to replace Solomon’s dynasty and succeed Solomon in ruling Israel’s ten northern tribes, offering him the promise of his own royal dynasty (11:31-35).
“When Solomon’s son Rehoboam becomes king, the united kingdom of Israel splits in half, and Jeroboam is made king over the northern kingdom of Israel, in fulfillment of Abijah’s prophecy (12:20).”

• Tim LaHaye and Ed Hindson, Exploring Bible Prophecy

1 Kings 11:40 ‘kill Jeroboam’: “Though the prophecy was private (v. 29), the king heard about it and Jeroboam became a marked man, guilty in Solomon’s eyes of rebellion and worthy of the death penalty. Shishak. Shishak was the founder of the 22nd dynasty in Egypt. He reigned ca. 945–924 B.C. He invaded Judah during the reign of Rehoboam (14:25, 26).”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

My Thoughts

With the temple built, the elders were gathered together.  The Ark was still in the tent that David had provided.  The priests followed the rules of the Law and carried the Ark into the Holy of Holies.  When they backed out into the Holy place, a cloud filled the temple.  So thick was the cloud that the priests could not perform their duties.

The Ark is said to only contain the two tablets.  The manna and Aaron’s rod that had budded were no longer in the Ark.  The Ark had been captured by the Philistines.  I would not think anyone else would dare look inside.  And the Philistines regretted having taken the Ark.

Solomon then prays a prayer of dedication.  He starts by stating that there will always be an offspring of David on the throne as long as they obey God.  He speaks of the temple being the dwelling place of the Lord, but then immediately talks about how the temple cannot hold God, who is omnipresent.  He then speaks of how the temple will be used in God hearing the people and God’s justice will be served.  He speaks of how Israel might sin against God and come to God in repentance.  And Solomon ends his prayer with a plea that God listens to their cries when the people confess their sin.

Solomon then proclaimed a blessing on the people of Israel that they would always look toward God.  The temple was then dedicated with a tremendous number of sacrifices and a fourteen-day celebration.

God had appeared to Solomon in the form of a dream at Gibeon when Solomon asked for wisdom, but now He appears to Solomon in the same fashion.  He reminds Solomon of the conditions for the throne to remain in the family, not only losing the throne but the people being exiled if Solomon disobeyed.

Hiram was given towns, but he did not like them.  Hiram did provide sailors for the merchant ships that Solomon built.  Pharoah’s daughter only seems to have a presence in all the things Solomon built for her.

But Solomon, during this period made sacrifices to God throughout each year.

First Kings 10 starts with the visit from the queen of Sheba.  Some people place Sheba in Ethiopia, but many maps place Sheba around present-day Yemen.  Regardless, she came a long way to see if he was as wise as the rumors claimed.  But this showed her wisdom in that she was wise enough to challenge Solomon’s wisdom.

The confusion over which area may be that both are correct, that is, a nation of people descending from someone names Sheba.  There is a descendant of Shem named Sheba, but there is another person names Sheba, a son of Jokshan, son of Keturah, wife of Abraham after Sarah’s death.  But the Ethiopian story that Solomon gave the son of the queen of Sheba the Ark and it is in a Christian church in Ethiopia is too farfetched.  I do not think Solomon would do such a thing.

In 1 Kings 10:16, the golden shields are mentioned.  Solomon made the shields and then the shields eventually became a spoil of war when Jerusalem fell.  Solomon was extremely rich in gold, silver, and horses.  Fast horses were important from a military standpoint.

But as Rev. Stedman mentioned in last week’s study, Solomon asked for wisdom to rule the nation, but not wisdom in ruling himself.  He had many agreements with other nations, getting more and more wives and concubines in the bargain.  He collected 700 wives and 300 concubines.  No wonder he mentions quarrelsome wives in the Proverbs several times.  These wives brought their gods with them, and in time Solomon appeased some of these wives by worshipping their gods also, even building temples for some of them.

God told Solomon that his nation would not be taken away from him in his lifetime, but he, and the people of Israel would pay for this betrayal.  To show Solomon the result of his sin, Hadad returned to Edom from exile in Egypt.  Rezon settled in Damascus.  And closer to home, Jeroboam challenged Solomon, wanting the northern tribes.  Ahijah the prophet prophesied that Jeroboam would eventually succeed.  Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam and Jeroboam fled to Egypt where he stayed until Rehoboam had become king.

And after Solomon had reigned for forty years, he died and was buried with his ancestors.  Rehoboam became king.

Some Serendipitous Reflections

I Kings 8:1-21 The Ark Brought to the Temple 1. What is your ‘ark’­ something you must have in your life to feel close to God? Are you close now? If not, what move is needed?
“2. When have you felt spiritually ‘at home’? Are you at home now, or still journeying io­ wards ‘Zion’?
“3. When have you been especially aware of God’s holiness, glory or faithfulness?
“4. Have you seen God’s promises fulfilled in your life recently?
“5. Are you shy of speech-making? Is there something the ·people around you need to hear? Do they seem open to hearing it? What word would you like· to give the group?
1 Kings 8:22-61 Solomon’s Prayer of Dedication 1. On a scale of 1 (= ‘Jesus is my buddy’ to 10 (= ‘God is so holy, who can approach him?’), how would rate your reverence toward God? What would be your rule of thumb for rating yourself? In which direction do you want to grow-more casual or more formal? More spontaneous or more serious?
“2. What posture do you normally assume when you pray? Have you ever experimented with other postures? Facing a specific, symbolic direction? What do you find helpful? Not helpful?
“3. Do you consider afflictions to be punishment for sin­ always, sometimes or never? In what cases? What prayers do you want to direct toward God’s heavenly temple? Do you first need to confess some sin?
“4. Have you appropriated the promise of ‘rest’ given to God’s people (v.56)? Any preparation needed on your part? What energy for service does that give you?
“5. If you were to fashion a group prayer, what parts of Solomon’s would be dropped, substituted, retained, assigned to others? Why are long pastoral or solo prayers not so popular today? What’s to be done?
1 Kings 8:63-66 The Dedication of the Temple 1. What ‘good things’ has God done for you lately?
“2. What ‘sacrifices’ does God require today and why?
1 Kings 9:1-9 The Lord Appears to Solomon 1. Is Solomon saying, ‘If we obey we will prosper, if we sin we will suffer’? Is God’s love that conditional?
“2. Is rejection by God a fear you struggle with? What’s to be done about that?
“3. What modern gods compete for your allegiance? How does God stake his claim to be ‘the one and only’ in your life?
1 Kings 9:10-27 Solomon’s other Activities 1. Are you involved in a project taking years to finish? Does faith make a difference?
“2. Do you resent people in power ‘living like kings’? Why? Is it important that governments project wealth and power to other nations?
“3. What does Jesus say about such power displays (see Mt 20:25-28)?
1 Kings 10:1-13 The Queen of Sheba Visits Solomon 1. What does this story stir up in you: Envy? Suspicion? Unworthiness? Embarrassed by praise or riches? Why?
“2. Who truly admires you or seeks out your opinion? How is love for God evident in your talk?
“3. What one question would you ask the wisest man in the world? What answer would you hope for or be content with?
“4. What will you do this week to thank someone you admire?
1 Kings 10:14-29 Solomon’s Splendor 1. Are gold, silver or ivory signs of God’s favor today? What seems to have taken their place and why?
“2. In your walk with God, is this a ‘golden age’, silver age or sycamore tree age? How so?
“3. It is said, ‘One man’s wealth is built on another man’s poverty.’ Does that seem true in Solomon’s case? In your case? Who pays for your comfort in terms of low wages, broken treaties, unfair business deals?
“4. Is it right for Christians to ‘accumulate large amounts of silver and gold’? Why?
1 Kings 11:1-13 Solomon’s Wives 1. What weakness hurts your relationship with God? With others? With health and long life?
“2. What gods divide your attention today? What’s wrong with 90% devotion to God and 10% to modern idols? What is easier to do: get your attention or divide it? Isn’t some devotion better than none?
“3. Is it wrong to date a non-Christian? To marry one? What’s your advice to ‘mixed faith’ couples?
“4. Why don’t we practice polygamy anymore? If it’s so bad, why was it practiced in the Old Testament era, even under the Law?”
1 Kings 11:14-25 Solomon’s Adversaries 1. Which best describes you: (a} Seeking revenge for past wrongs? or (b} Finding yourself the object of others’ grudges? How should people respond to unjust treatment?
“2. Who are your adversaries? What word might God be trying to get to you through them?
1 Kings 11:26-42 Jeroboam Rebels Against Solomon and Solomon’s Death 1. Has God torn anything out of your hands lately? Any guess as to God’s purpose? What have you learned through this?
“2. The promise of reward is a common motivation for obeying God, but is it a sufficient incentive for you? How so? What promises of reward would you want to keep in mind through the coming week?”

• Lyman Coleman, et al, The NIV Serendipity Bible for Study Groups

There are two sets of questions each for 1 Kings 9 and 10 as noted. First Kings 8 and 1 Kings 11 have three sets of questions each as noted.

Substitute whatever group for any reference to a small group or ask who could come to your aid.

If you like these Thursday morning Bible studies, but you think you missed a few, you can use this LINK. I have set up a page off the home page for links to these Thursday morning posts. I will continue to modify the page as I add more.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.