Heavenly Father, surely You see and hear Your people who have gathered together with exuberant hearts and lively worship expressing their love for You and their expectation and anticipation of Your goodness. Lord You said in Your Word that You are a rewarder of those who diligently seek You and so knowing Whom we serve and what You promised we expect nothing less. Our expectation comes from You and is directed to You. We pray Father that You'd help us continue in worship with listening hearts and attentive spirits. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
There were three men who were having an argument as to whose profession was the oldest. One was a surgeon, one was an engineer, and the third was a politician. The surgeon said, "My profession must be the oldest because the Bible says that when God created woman He carved a rib out of Adam and made her; so that makes my profession the oldest." The engineer said, "Well, go back a little bit. Remember that God created the heavens and the earth from chaos and He turned chaos into order and that's the job of an engineer." The politician smiled big and said, "Ah, but who created the chaos?" This is a great opener for what we are about to read because in Israel the people have been crying out for a king. If we remember back a few books, in the book of 1 Samuel they said, "We want a king; we want to be like all the other nations; we want to have a central government; we want a strong military; we want a king that will judge us; and we want to be like other nations." As a nation, Israel was different; God was in charge up to this point. It was God who opened up the Red Sea. It was God who delivered them from the Egyptians. It was God who preserved them through the wilderness. It was God who threw down the walls of Jericho. It was God leading the nation and what made Israel so unique is that they were unlike all the other nations. It's sad that they wanted to be just like all of the other nations. That saddened the Prophet Samuel's heart and God said, "Samuel, they're not really rebelling against you, don't take it to heart; their rebelling is against me." They wanted a king and they got a king. His name was Saul and he was not a good choice. But they entered into a period of the monarchy, the united monarchy, and that's a phrase that is a part of Israel's history. Three kings formed the united monarchy: Saul, David and Solomon, and they are in succession and then the kingdom splits up and that's what we are going to see in this study. Saul is gone and his reign is over; David is gone and his reign is over and we are going to see the transition from David to Solomon. During this united monarchy, it was a period of great physical expansion and it was also an era of learning and wisdom. David wrote songs and Psalms. There were beautiful poetic expressions in his reign. Of course Solomon continues that. He was also a prolific writer, poet, songwriter and was brilliant. He also expanded the kingdom. He took the kingdom of Israel from a small Middle Eastern state to a geographical superpower expanding its borders from the Mediterranean toward the Euphrates River, which is presently in Iraq and from the Red Sea and Arabia in the South all the way up to Lebanon. Under Solomon he developed a strong navy, a fleet of ships, a merchant marine and they became very powerful. However, while they grew physically and militarily they grew weak spiritually. There was an increase of national prosperity and a decrease of spirituality all at the same time.
The Book of 1 Kings covers a period of about 120 to 130 years. From the reign of Solomon which begins the book, to the reign of Ahaziah, which ends the book. We don't know who wrote this book. There is a big question mark after the word author. There is a tradition that says that the prophet Jeremiah wrote it. It's a tradition that comes from Judaism. Actually, the Talmud, one of the Jewish writings, ascribes the writings of 1 Kings to Jeremiah but we don't know for sure. It doesn't really follow his style as we read it in the book of Jeremiah but somebody wrote it.
You can divide this book into two sections: chapters 1 through 11 and then chapters 12 through 22. It's easy to divide the book and get an overall scope. The first part is a united kingdom and the second part is a divided kingdom. It was a united kingdom under Solomon and a divided kingdom into two different nations with Judah in the south and Israel in the north. In the first 11 chapters, the United Kingdom is the reign of Solomon and that will be highlighted and we'll spend most of our time there in this study. In chapters 12 through 22 the divided kingdom is not the reign of Solomon but the reign of several kings in the north and in the south that are competing with each other. Because they are also mentioned in the book of Chronicles as well, we're not going to spend a lot of time there in this study.
Let's start with chapter 1, verse 1: "Now King David was old, advanced in years." This is the end of David's life and the end of his life was not tranquil or peaceful. We have this idea that, "When I grow old I'll slow down a little bit and life will peaceful," but it doesn't always work that way. Anybody who knows the human race knows that we get fraught with frailty the older we get and David the King was notwithstanding. He had all sorts of problems growing older and in fact he seems to turn a little senile, forgetting his promises and some of his contracts. He also needs nursing care and at the same time there is a rebellion going on in his house. It continues: "And they put covers on him but he could not get warm." We learn by putting a few figures together from 2 Samuel chapter 5 verse 4 and also here that when David died he was 70 years old. That's not really that old, yet it says that "He was old and advanced in years." Seventy is really not that old especially by today's standards, but I will say that David lived a hard life. He was burned out. You know his history and the kind of things he faced and he did and the kind of things that happened as a consequence to his choices so his body was probably shot. We get a little glimpse of this at the end of 2 Samuel in chapter 21. It's David's last recorded battle with the Philistines and the Bible says, "David grew faint." That is the first time this was ever written to describe David. He was such a good warrior, but in that last battle he started feeling it and it took a toll on him and now at 70 he's going to die. In chapter 1 verse 5, one of David's sons' a stepbrother of Solomon is mentioned. "Then Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, 'I will be king'; and he prepared for himself chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him." This is David's fourth son; (he has a lot of kids and I can't keep track of them). He had eight wives, if that tells you anything. He had lots of problems with his kids and several have already died. Amnon was killed by his step brother Absalom. Absalom was killed by his commander Joab and he had a couple of other sons that also died. Chileab, his second son by Abigail died and so did the first son that was birth by Bathsheba. So he had lots of family problems and deaths among his sons but he also had sons that were in rebellion against him that took a toll on David's life as well. An interesting thing that I have noted about David is that it seems to be that David didn't discipline his children and was sort of an aloof father and didn't get involved and never made a confrontation. This is interesting because here you have a guy who is able to lead a nation but who is not able to lead his own family. Adonijah's stepbrother, Solomon will have a lot to say in the book of Proverb's about raising children. Here're a couple of nuggets. Proverbs 20 verse 15: "A child left to himself brings shame to his mother." He probably wrote that because he saw this within his own family and with how his dad raised his kids. Proverbs 13 verse 24: "He who spares the rod hates his son but whoever loves him will discipline him promptly." So here you have Adonijah, the fourth son of David by one his wives named Haggith who exalts himself and says, "I'm going to be the king." In verse 11 Nathan the prophet hears what's going on and quickly tells Bathsheba who tells David and apparently had told either Nathan or Bathsheba, "No, no, no Solomon is going to take my place as the king." But maybe he had forgotten about that and so they quickly tell David and Solomon is put in his place as the King.
Chapter 2 is the death of David and his final instructions to now the new king, not Adonijah, but King Solomon. In verse 10 we have David's obituary: "So David rested with his fathers, and was buried in the City of David. The period that David reigned over Israel was forty years; seven years he reigned in Hebron, and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years. Then Solomon sat on the throne of his father David; and his kingdom was firmly established." Before David dies and Solomon is now the new king, David takes him aside and gives him some practical instructions regarding some people who are in the kingdom. There is some political house cleaning that needs to take place and David had a good cabinet of people and a good staff, however, they could pose potential problems to Solomon. Solomon was young and inexperienced. David was a strong, firm leader and knew how to get things done and how to manage well; he was seasoned. So, though these people were good for David because he could handle them because he was a strong leader, Solomon however may not be able to handle them because he was young and inexperienced. So he mentions a couple to him. One is Joab. He was his commander in chief but Joab was the guy that murdered Absalom and Abner, Saul's commander in chief when he defected or tried to. Abner also killed Amasa, his brother and so there is blood on his hands and David knows that this guy was a wild card and he warns Solomon. Another guy on the list is a guy by the name of Shimei. He was the man who cursed David when there was the revolt of Absalom against David and David had to flee Jerusalem going over the Mount of Olives and out into the wilderness. It seemed that there was this guy who was by the side of the road named Shimei who took the opportunity to get mad at David and throw dust in the air and curse him and David forgave him but he said, "Watch out for that gnarly, wily Shimei." He tells him, "Don't let his gray hair go down to the grave in peace."
In chapter 3 verse 3 we read that Solomon loved the Lord and walked in the statutes of his father David. Verse 5: "At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, 'Ask! What shall I give you?'" Here is an interesting question: If someone gave you a million dollars today what would you do with it? Here, it seems that God gives Solomon a blank check. His name is on it and Solomon just has to fill in what he wants. He can give anything. "Ask! What do you want? I'll give it to you." What would you do and what would you ask for? It's an interesting question and it really happened to Solomon. I don't really know what I'd ask for. I'd probably want to cop out and say, "Look Lord, You know best and You know better than I what I need so give me what You think I need." But Solomon could ask anything he wanted. What he asks for is interesting. I'll tell you what I think is going on in Solomon's heart. He's the king and he is excited but the weight of responsibility of his dad's kingdom is sort of sinking in at this point. He knows he needs wisdom to handle people, to make decisions, to expand the kingdom, to build the temple that his dad had given him plans for, so he needs God's wisdom. You've heard that old saying that says, "Life is short, play hard." I think his motto was, "Life is short, pray hard and pray well." He prayed hard and he prayed smart and in verse 8 he says: "'And Your servant is in the midst of Your people whom You have chosen, a great people, too numerous to be numbered or counted. Therefore give to Your servant an understanding heart,'" (literally a hearing heart). "Lord help me to hear Your voice and to make decisions that reflect what You are saying about us as Your people." "'To judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?' The speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing. Then God said to him: 'Because you have asked this thing, and have not asked long life for yourself, nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have asked the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern justice, behold, I have done according to your words; see, I have given you a wise and understanding heart, so that there has not been anyone like you before you, nor shall any like you arise after you. And I have also given you what you have not asked: both riches and honor.'"
Now keep that thought in mind as we go to chapter 4, verse 29 where God sums it up: "And God gave Solomon wisdom and exceedingly great understanding, and largeness of heart like the sand on the seashore." I love that description. In other words, when Solomon reigned as a political ruler he not only had brains but he had heart. He not only made wise decisions with his head, he had, "largeness of heart." I think it's great for any leader, especially any political leader to have both; intelligence but a large heart. You can be smart but the Bible tells us that knowledge puffs up and love builds up. And you can be smart but cold and aloof and harsh. If on the other hand however, you're all heart and no brain, you're going to be soft and sentimental and a weak leader. But to have a combination of both is beautiful. In fact, that is a good prayer for us to ask God; for our hearts to grow. "Lord help me to grow and be large hearted, filled with grace and Your love." After all Jesus said, "The world will know that we're His disciples if we love one another." It's our largeness of heart as Solomon has displayed here.
Solomon was wise and he built a temple and reshaped the city of Jerusalem building new streets, new public buildings, and expanding the borders of the kingdom. In chapter 4 verse 32 it indicates his writing ability as he composed 3,000 proverbs, some of which we have in the book of Proverbs. He composed 1,005 songs (wouldn't you love to have the tunes and scores to his music?) He was also the main author of the book of Proverbs, the book of Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon.
Chapters 5 through 10 have an emphasis; together, these chapters describe the splendor of King Solomon. How great he was as a builder and a scholar and how famous he became as people heard about him from around the world and came there to check it out. He built a temple. According to 1 Chronicles chapter 28, (which has a parallel between Kings and Chronicles) there is some overlapping history and we'll explain why in another study. But in 1 Chronicles chapter 28 it indicates that David already had plans drawn up for the temple structure, the vestibule, and some of the structure implements of the temple but he wasn't allowed to build it and he passed those plans on to his son Solomon who will build the temple. How does he do it? First he forms a friendship with a family friend. There was a guy up in the city of Tyre on the Mediterranean Coast up in Lebanon named Hiram. He was the king of Tyre and was a friend of Solomon's dad David and now he is a friend of King Solomon. Solomon asks for help to build this temple and Hiram says, "Sure, and I'll give you people and I'll give you free access to the land to cut down cedar." Much of the temple was built with cedar wood. They entered into this agreement and Solomon agrees to pay him 130,000 bushels of wheat and 120 gallons of olive oil every year in exchange for some people who had wisdom working with cedar wood and who had access to those forests.
In chapter 5 verse 13 we'll discover how many workers worked on this building. "Then King Solomon raised up a labor force out of all Israel; and the labor force was thirty thousand men. And he sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month in shifts: they were one month in Lebanon and two months at home; Adoniram was in charge of the labor force. Solomon had seventy thousand who carried burdens, and eighty thousand who quarried stone in the mountains, besides three thousand three hundred from the chiefs of Solomon's deputies, who supervised the people who labored in the work. And the king commanded them to quarry large stones, costly stones, and hewn stones, to lay the foundation of the temple. So Solomon's builders, Hiram's builders, and the Gebalites quarried them; and they prepared timber and stones to build the temple." Altogether 183,000 men were the workforce for Solomon's temple! Thirty thousand would go up to Lebanon and help select the trees, cut them down, and bring materials down. Those 30,000 worked in shifts; 10,000 worked a month and then they were off for two months (I kind of like that - it's a good job; you work hard labor for a month then take a vacation for two months). So at any given time there were 10,000 people up in Lebanon helping select those trees and bring down the materials. Then there were 70,000 grunt laborers. These were the big muscle grunt guys who would carry the stuff. There were 80,000 stone cutters and 3300 supervisors. So there was a huge workforce to build the temple. The temple of Solomon represents the very pinnacle, the zenith of Solomon's glory. I want to describe it because it is one of the major topics in the books of Kings and Chronicles; a lot is mentioned about the temple. In fact, the temple becomes the very heart of Judaism and the heart of their social life. It was the centerpiece of their life. There's a little writing called the Midrash, a commentary on Judaism that says, "The heart of the world is the Nation of Israel and the center or the heart of the Nation of Israel is the City of Jerusalem. The heart of the City of Jerusalem is the Temple." In other words, they say that the Temple of Solomon is the very epicenter of God's plan and program on earth. It is the very center of the world and it was certainly the center of their social life.
To sum it up the Temple of Solomon was twice the dimension of the tabernacle. Think back of going into the court of the tabernacle. It was a tent structure and they had a cloth wall around it. Once you get into that courtyard, you would look and see a tent in front of you and the tent that you see in front of you is divided up into two sections: the holy place in the front and the holy of holies behind it. During the tabernacle days, the tent was 15 feet wide by 45 feet deep divided into two. The Temple was twice that - 30 feet wide by 90 feet deep. When it comes to the height of the Temple, it wasn't double but three times as high, or 45 feet high, from the bottom to the top of the Tabernacle. Even though the Temple was double the size of the Tabernacle, it was relatively small; 30 by 90 which is 2700 square feet. And even though it was only 2700 square feet it was an amazing building. White limestone, cedar planking (can you imagine the smell of that building, lined with cedar) and overlaid with gold in some places. So though it was only 2700 square feet, to reproduce that today would cost roughly 11 million dollars; so we are talking a price of $4,000 per square foot to build; it was very ornate and very costly. It took Solomon seven and one half years to finish it. During those seven and one half years while it was being built it was said, and it is recorded in the Bible, that you couldn't hear the sound of a hammer because the stones were cut away from the site, taken to the Temple site and slid into place and it was so precise that you couldn't even put a knife blade between the stones. Some of these stones were quite large; 80 tons; 100 tons; you may ask how I know that. I know that because they are still there. After all of this time some of the stones of Solomon's Temple can be seen today in the City of Jerusalem. There are traces of it. You can destroy a city but 80 or 100 ton stones don't burn; they are still around for a long time and some of them remain even to this day.
In the 1800's a cave was discovered on the north end of the city of Jerusalem where the wall goes around Jerusalem on the north side and if you are familiar with the city and you remember the Damascus gate which is the gate facing the north towards Damascus, if you stood at that that gate and looked inward toward the old city, and you looked toward the left a little bit you'd see a door. If you go through the door and go through this large underground quarry called Solomon's Quarries where scholars believe the stones were cut for the temple of Solomon, taken out from under the city, and taken to the temple site. What's wild is that you can visit Solomon's quarries and you can see the evidence of how they cut the stones. There're holes in the white limestone. They would drill long holes in the limestone and they would put sticks in it. Little round branches inside these holes, fill it with water, and the wood would expand and they would time the expansion with the water so that it would crack the stone in different sections and then they would level it, flatten it, cut it down precisely, and carry it out to the temple mount.
Chapter 7 verse 51 tells us that the temple was finished after seven one half years. "So all the work that King Solomon had done for the house of the Lord was finished; and Solomon brought in the things which his father David had dedicated: the silver and the gold and the furnishings. He put them in the treasuries of the house of the Lord." The next few chapters describe that. He brings the Ark of the Covenant and places it inside; the temple furnishings in the court and the holy place and the holy of holies. Once it's all done God shows up; and I mean literally - that cloud; that Shakinah came and filled the temple so that the priest couldn't even see and they had to vacate the premises. God showed up in the Temple and dwelt there.
After all of this magnificent scene, Solomon speaks to the people as their king and also worships the Lord as their spiritual leader. If you were to tally up the cost of not just that 2700 square feet structure, but the total cost of the temple: stone work, court yard stone, white limestone for the temple, the gold the silver, the bronze that we'll soon mention, the silk vestments for the priests, the purple vestments for the singers, the instrumentation, harps, etc., the labor, if you tally it all together they say that to reproduce Solomon's Temple today materials and labor would be 174 billion dollars. That's one building. God dwelt there for a period of time until in Ezekiel the prophet, His presence actual leaves and the people can see the presence of God leaving east over the Mount of Olives and out toward the wilderness. Now fast forward to today. Today we know that God doesn’t really care about buildings and structures like back then. That was a visible, touchable area where they could visit and God was at the center of their nation. Today it is very different. Paul the Apostle, a Jewish Rabi, stood in Athens on the Areopogos where there were temples all around to different gods and goddesses. There was even one to the unknown god. Remember what he said? He said, "God is the creator of the heavens and the earth and the Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands." I've been in lofty cathedrals in Europe and huts in Africa and in different places of worship around the world and there is nothing intrinsically special about the place. The only thing that makes a place of worship like that special in any regard, is whom is being worshiped and the One that is being adored in that place. It's like any house. What turns a house into a home? The people and the relationships there. When people come to worship God then it's a wonderful place but it is just a place. The temple today isn't a building like this or a stone building in Jerusalem or a lofty cathedral. God dwells within us. The Bible says, "You're the Temple of the Holy Spirit." We are the temple of the Holy Spirit. He dwells not in temples made with human hands but in humans who have received Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.
I'm going to read a little section from 1 Corinthians chapter 3 and it's the apostle Paul writing to the church of Corinth and he says to them: "For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, you are God's building. According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one's work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one's work, of what sort it is. If anyone's work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are." So God lives in people and corporately in the church especially is the idea of this section of Scripture. There's a special presence of God that occurs when two or three or five or 500 or 2000 people gather together and we are on the same page and we pray and we worship and we go through the Word and our lives are being filled up with His glory and His presence. There's a special meeting that takes place when the Temple of God, God's people, gather together.
Solomon's splendor is also seen in chapter 10 with a very interesting visitor all the way from the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula. We would say that it is present day Arabia or even Yemen, down at that Arabian tip southern peninsula. It's the queen of Sheba. She heard about Solomon's fame and in verse 1: "Now when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came to test him with hard questions." Hard questions means riddles or puzzles or conundrums. "Let's see if he can figure this out." "So Solomon answered all of her questions. There was nothing so difficult for the king that he could not explain it to her." Wouldn't it have been cool to have been around to hear the kind of questions that were asked Solomon as well as the kind of answers that were given by the wisdom of God to be able to answer them? I would have loved it. I'm just trying to imagine what they might be and I can't. All I can say is, I wish Solomon were around today because there are a few questions I would like to ask him; there are a few conundrums and riddles I don't understand. For instance, I'd like to ask him, "How is it that you can blow on a dogs face and they hate it; but if you put them in a car they want the window rolled down and the wind is in their face the whole time?" I can't figure that one out. Maybe Solomon could tell me that. Maybe he could tell me, "Why is it that if a 7/11 is opened 24 hours a day that there are locks on the doors?" Silly things like that but I bet Solomon could help me figure these riddles out. The Queen of Sheba tested him with these questions. Verse 6: "Then she said to the king: 'It was a true report which I heard in my own land about your words and your wisdom. However I did not believe the words until I came and saw with my own eyes; and indeed the half was not told me. Your wisdom and prosperity exceed the fame of which I heard.'" In the New Testament, our Lord Jesus Christ mentions Solomon underscoring the fact that he lived in great pomp and splendor and glory and it is sort of a back handed compliment to his glory. He is giving the Sermon on the Mount and in chapter 6 He says, "Don't worry about what you are going to wear. Don't worry about your cloths, what you are going to put on. Look at the lilies of the field, they don't spin, they don't worry they don't toil, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these." Of course that would attest to the truth that Solomon was wealthy and was living a glorious lifestyle but what God could do in providing was much, much greater.
Solomon has a problem and it's probably good to bring it up now because it affects everything from here on out. He had many problems but one of them was a management problem. He was a tax and spend king. He overtaxed and overburdened the people and it was that financial overbearing that eventually led to the kingdom splitting into two, north and south. How did he live in such glory and in such splendor? He had his own palace which took longer to build than even the temple; twice as long. He taxed the people and he over taxed them. He was oppressive and his son Rehoboam will be even worse. Something grabs my attention that I want to point out before we move on. What grabs my attention is Solomon's yearly wage and how it is stated here. In fact there is only one time besides this that this number shows up and it is in Revelation chapter 13. Look at chapter 10, verse 14: "The weight of gold that came to Solomon yearly was six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold." 666 That is 25 tons of gold - that was his annual salary. It's written here in talent form and it is interesting that the king who eventually brought the people down into idolatry because he fell into it himself, the king over Israel that oppressed them has the same number trademark as another king who is going to come and bear rule over Jerusalem by force and set up his temple - the anti-Christ. It is as if Solomon becomes not a type of Christ like David but in fact a type of the anti-Christ. It's just interesting to notice that it is the only other mention of 666. He was very glorious and very wealthy which makes me wonder as I continue to read, I wonder how well Solomon knew the book of Deuteronomy. You may ask, "Why do you wonder that?" Because there are instructions in Deuteronomy about how a king is to function in Israel. In fact the law required that every king of Israel has a copy of the law handwritten by himself. That means that he has to sit down and in long hand, not on the computer, not download it, cut and paste, but handwrite it out for himself so he knows what he says and among the stipulations of the king out of Deuteronomy 17 it says, "The king shall not multiply horses." If you go to Megiddo in Jerusalem today, you will see all over Israel, Hazor up north, the stables, the famous stables of King Solomon because he multiplied horses to himself. "He shall not multiply wives." Uh-oh! He had lots of wives; probably more than horses. And it continues, "He shall not multiply silver nor gold greatly." He flagrantly broke all of those.
Chapter 11 verse 1: "But Solomon," (that's not a good way to begin a sentence with the word but - it's not a good way to begin a chapter after it says that Solomon did this and he did that, and it was wonderful and marvelous and a temple was built, but....that means that in contrast to all the good stuff comes all of the bad stuff.) "But King Solomon loved many foreign women, as well as the daughter of Pharaoh: women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites--from the nations of whom the Lord had said to the children of Israel, 'You shall not intermarry with them, nor they with you. Surely they will turn away your hearts after their gods.' Solomon clung to these in love." Solomon had a divided heart. The divided heart led him to divided marriages (plural). Divided marriages led to divided affections. Divided affections led to a divided nation and that is the legacy Solomon left - a divided nation. His heart was divided and everything else around him showed what was going on inside. "And he had seven hundred wives." Oh my! Women, would you want 700 husbands? Men, would you want 700 wives? I think we can all say, "Amen! No!" That's just the beginning. "He had princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart." Get this profile. Here is a very gifted man, creatively and intellectually but very weak morally because he has a divided heart. He became self obsessed. Here is a guy who wrote the book of wisdom, the book of Proverbs. The book on marriage, on raising children, the book on wisdom and staying away from temptation and all of those great things in Proverbs. I read a Proverb every single day. There are 31 Proverbs and there are 30 or 31 days in a month and it's perfect. I read it twelve times a year. But here is a guy who wrote the book and didn't follow his own advice. He should have read Proverbs! It's ironic, isn't it?
There was a story a few years back that came out on the associated press about a fellow in San Jose, California named Luke Goodrich. Luke Goodrich was burning garbage out in the back yard. By state law, it is illegal to burn garbage outside in the city precincts of San Jose, California. A wind came up and spread the fire around and 100 acres were burned. Six helicopters and 400 fire fighters later, they put it out. What is ironic is that Luke Goodrich was then the captain of the San Jose Fire Department. That is a lot like Solomon. You see what he did and it's ironic because he wrote the book but he didn't follow it.
Chapter 12 is a key chapter. The kingdom is divided. There are two men in this chapter that you need to remember because they devise a lineage from here on of other kings: Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, from up north, the ten northern tribes, and Rehoboam the son of Solomon. Let me tell you something about Solomon's son, Rehoboam, this new young king. Solomon started right. Rehoboam didn't even start right; he did not do what his dad did. His dad at least prayed to God and asked him for wisdom, but Rehoboam didn't. In fact, he didn't even take advice from wiser, older people. He wanted sort of the young, hip, slick mod, his comprades to give him advice. Everybody told him, "You better ease up on the tax burden because your dad was a tax and spend king and unless you ease up, you are going to split this nation." He didn't listen and said to them, "You think my dad was bad, I'll be worse." He thought he would control by force. Jeroboam, the son of Nebat came in and said, "Forget you," and took a whole host of people with him up north. Then the kingdom becomes divided. Now from here on out you have two countries with two kingdoms; ten tribes in the north and two in the south. The kingdom of Israel is in the north and the kingdom of Judah is in the south. Rehoboam was smart enough to stay in Jerusalem because he knew the emotional heart of Israel was still the temple and people would feel tugged and feel like they wanted to go back to the temple to worship but Jeroboam solved the problem. He said, "I'll put two new sites of worship up in the north; one at Bethel in the center of the country and one at Dan, in the north of the country. We'll have a priesthood and a temple and false gods and goddesses and a whole idolatry system was developed from here on out. Verse 16: "Now when all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people answered the king, saying: 'What share have we in David? We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse. To your tents, O Israel! Now, see to your own house, O David!' So Israel departed to their tents. But Rehoboam reigned over the children of Israel who dwelt in the cities of Judah." Jeroboam was an opportunist. I know it sounds confusing. You have the "Boam boys" - Jeroboam up north and Rehoboam down south and they are not even related. Jeroboam was the opportunist and he saw weakness in the kingdom. He saw weakness in the leadership of this young king and thought, "I can get in and I can have a place." So the kingdom was split.
The rest of the book, chapters 13 through 22 is a running parallel account of these two kingdoms. So in chapter 12 we have the split and in chapters 13 through 22 we have two tracts. There are eight kings in the north and five kings in the south and they are going to be mentioned again in the book of Chronicles. The rest of the book confuses the reader so I'm going to sum it up for you. It is confusing because the narrative bounces back and forth from north to south and vice-versa. There are these two rival kingdoms that are always fighting each other and that comprises the rest of the book. There are eight kings that are mentioned in the rest of the book. The eight kings in the north are: Jeroboam, Nadab, Baasha, Elah, Zimri, Omri, Ahab, and Ahaziah. All of those are mentioned and that finishes out the book. None of these kings were any good. They were all rotten, bad, and junky leaders. Not a good thing is said about them. They are all idolaters and pagan worshipers. They get worse and worse.
There are four kings mentioned in the rest of the book, down south in Judah. They are: Rehoboam, Abijam, Asa, and Jehoshaphat. There are only two of those that are right in God's eyes.
Chapter 15, verse 11 it says of Asa: "He did right in the eyes of the Lord," and that is also mentioned of King Jehoshaphat in chapter 22, verse 43. There is one king in all of these who was one of the worse of all that surfaces and is highlighted here and his name is King Ahab. Remember the name Ahab? He married a really rotten wife named Jezebel. Her name has become synonymous with an evil kind of a woman. Jezebel was Sidonean. She comes from another country up north and she was a Baal worshipper and King Ahab of Israel married her and took on not only this new wife but her worship system and introduced pagan Baal worship to the nation of Israel. It got really bad. When things get really bad God has a really good plan. In a really bad time he sent in a really good dude, a prophet by the name of Elijah who was articulate, fiery, and uncompromising.
Chapters 17 through 22 record the conflict between the man of God and the man of the world; Elijah and King Ahab. Elijah was a miracle worker. Eight miracles are mentioned in this book that the prophet Elijah performed. That's why when Jesus came on the scene they asked, "Are You John the Baptist? Are You Elijah or one of the prophets?" Because though Jesus was a man of love, He was also fiery and articulate and also a miracle worker. Elijah did things like suspend the rain for three and one half years and that takes us to this scene in chapter 18 which brings a confrontation on Mount Carmel. Suspending the rain was an embarrassment to a Baal worshiper because they believed that the god Baal controlled the rain and was the storm god. They believed that the reason it rains on earth is because Baal is favorable. When it doesn't rain for three and one half years and they have been praying to Baal, they are awfully embarrassed. That's good and now it brings a confrontation. Elijah says in chapter 18 to Ahab, "I tell you what. Let's assemble all of the 450 false prophets of Baal and Asherah on top of Mount Carmel and let's have a showdown; let's have a battle of the gods." Because they were singing, "My god's better than your god," and Elijah and saying, "No way!" Now it's One against hundreds of false worshipers. Verse 17: "Then it happened, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said to him, 'Is that you, O troubler of Israel?'" To King Ahab the man of God was the problem when actually Ahab was his own worst enemy. "And he answered, 'I have not troubled Israel, but you and your father's house have, in that you have forsaken the commandments of the Lord and have followed the Baals.'" See how fiery he is? He is standing in front of a king who can cut his head off saying, "I'm not the problem, you are. You and your dad and everybody else; you pagan worshipers." Verse 25: "Now Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, 'Choose one bull for yourselves and prepare it first, for you are many; and call on the name of your god, but put no fire under it.' So they took the bull which was given them, and they prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even till noon." That's a long prayer meeting; hours and hours; "'Oh, Baal, hear us!' But there was no voice; no one answered. Then they leaped about the altar which they had made. And so it was, at noon, that Elijah mocked them and said," he's an interesting character. He certainly not a guy who thinks, "I don't want to offend them." Instead, he is thinking, "How can I offend them? What could I say that would really be a mock to them?" And he says, "'Cry louder, for he is a god; either he is meditating, or he is busy." By the way, depending on which translation you read it can be very colorful. The New Living Translation translates it as: "Perhaps he is relieving himself!" That's quite a mockery. "'or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is sleeping and must be awakened.' So they cried aloud, and cut themselves, as was their custom, with knives and lances, until the blood gushed out on them." (Gross and ineffective!) In steps Elijah and in Verses 36 and 37 he utters a simple prayer with a total of 63 words. Not from morning until noon but just a two verse prayer and his prayer worked. This is exactly what James had in mind in James chapter 5 when he said, "The fervent effectual prayer of a righteous man avails much," and he points to Elijah doing this. "Lord, hear me, please hear me and show them that there is a God in Israel and that their god is false; come through and manifest Yourself and Your glory to Your people." God caused fire to fall down from heaven and it consumed the sacrifice on the altar and everyone was blown away and they fled in different directions. Elijah chased them down and killed them all!
In chapter 19, he's running from Jezebel. He runs down to Mount Sinai and he is depressed. He can go after 450 prophets of Baal and then there is a woman who yells at him and he flees down to Mount Sinai cowering. He actually wants to die because he is so tired and he is so drained; he had a long journey. He probably had hyped up adrenalin for so long and the aftermath of that sometimes is not anymore uncommon then what we read here. He says, "God, kill me!" That's the solution because he feels so depressed and he is so selfish and he wants to end his life. The solution isn't his own death. The solution is dying to self. That's why God says, "What are you talking about? Get up. There are a lot of people who haven't called on the name of Baal or who haven't bowed their knee to Baal, go unite with them."
Elijah appears twice later on in the New Testament. One time on the Mount of Transfiguration with Jesus and Moses. They talk about the kingdom and Peter says, "This is so cool, let's build three condominiums right here because this is awesome!" Then Elijah appears a second time, I believe, in the book of Revelation as one of the two witnesses. He is able to call fire down from heaven; he's able to stop the rain for three and one half years; it was very reminiscent of the prophet Elijah and he was the greatest prophet in Israel and I believe he will show up at the arena in the last days.
I want to end this study by showing you a contrast. This is the Bible from 30,000 feet and one of the things I want to show you is how the Bible all fits together. I want to compare two things that are said: one from the Old Testament that is spoken here in chapter 8 which is Solomon's prayer; and something Paul said. Solomon's prayer is in chapter 8 verses 31 and 32. Solomon prays to God and he says, "'God, When anyone sins in this country, in this nation of Israel, then hear in heaven, and act, and judge Your servants, condemning the wicked, bringing his way on his head, and justifying the righteous by giving him according to his righteousness.'" Do you see that prayer? "God, if people blow it condemn the wicked and justify the righteous." That's Solomon in the Old Testament. In the New Testament and through Jesus Christ we discover that God justifies the wicked and He declares them righteous through Jesus Christ. That's the difference. In Romans chapter 4, verse 5 Paul say: "But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness." Here Solomon says, "Justify the godly and condemn the wicked," but Paul says, "No, God will justify the ungodly." God doesn't justify the righteous because there aren't any! Romans 3, verse 10: "There is none righteous, no not one." God will now say through Jesus Christ, "Solomon, I'll declare the unrighteous righteous by applying the righteous, perfect, sinless life of Christ to their account and having Jesus take their sins." That is the great exchange and the difference between the old and the new.
Politicians didn't create the chaos! Satan did. Politicians may help a bit but Satan created it. Jesus came stepped into the chaos, the world, with the cross. He put the cross in the chaos and that is what brings healing; and that's the comparison of 1 Kings and Romans.
Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank You for the blood of Jesus Christ which cleanses a man from all sin. Any man, any woman, any child, any advanced mature older person and anyone who will say, "Lord, I am unjust. Justify me; place to my account Your perfect love and perfect life." You will declare the unrighteous righteous and the ungodly pure because of what Jesus did. That's why we need Him and that's why we love our Savior and that's why we worship You. May we worship You in the beauty of holiness. In Jesus' Name. Amen.