SATURDAY, DECEMBER 12

ADVENT: 14 DAYS

Solomon

1 Kings 3:5

 At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.”

Bible Readings

1:46 God speaks to Solomon. This is found in 1 Kings 3

1:07 King Solomon’s Wealth

3:42 Solomon’s Temple

10:20 Same as above, but more information

Historical Artwork: SOLOMON

What good is a Great King’s successor, when everything has already been done under the sun?

This may have been Solomon’s thoughts of himself and his future as he became the next King of Israel after his father David had died.

Solomon expressed his heart and wisdom with his writings similar to his father, but he lived much different life than David. Solomon wrote most of the Proverbs, Songs of Solomon, and Ecclesiastes.

Everything that was David’s, was handed over to Solomon. Israel was at peace, and had amassed a lot of wealth - and would continue to do so.

King Solomon lived a life of EXCESS. Where does this lead to? Do you have excess?

Solomon finished the building project of a new Temple for God - David’s desire. No longer would the Ark of the Covenant be kept inside of a Tabernacle made of animal skins (God had dwelt, or had His presence enclosed in an animal skin Tabernacle) Now, God allowed David’s son to build a stone structure, a Temple. 1 Kings 6 - 8

1 Kings 8:63

“Solomon offered to the Lord a peace offering of 22,000 cattle and 120,000 sheep and goats. And so the king and all the people of Israel dedicated the Temple of the Lord.”

There were rules set up in Deuteronomy 17:14-17 for the Kings of Israel. DO NOT: have many wives, or marry foreign women, or own horses and buy things from Egypt, or acquire gold and silver. Solomon does ALL these things.

1 Kings 11:1-3

Now King Solomon loved many foreign women. Besides Pharaoh’s daughter, he married women from Moab, Ammon, Edom, Sidon, and from among the Hittites. The Lord had clearly instructed the people of Israel, “You must not marry them, because they will turn your hearts to their gods.” Yet Solomon insisted on loving them anyway. He had 700 wives of royal birth and 300 concubines. And in fact, they did turn his heart away from the Lord.

1 Kings 4 is a running list of staff - Priests - 3, Prophets - 0

1 Kings 4:26

“Solomon had four thousand stalls for chariot horses, and twelve thousand horses.”

1 Kings 10:14-15

"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."

666 talents equals 25 tons - Solomon received this yearly.

EXCESS! WHAT YOU OWN - OWNS YOU!

King Solomon had every earthly possession he desired. Near the end of his life, we read his last verses in the Book of Ecclesiastes:

Ecclesiastes 12:8-14

“Everything is meaningless,” says the Teacher, “completely meaningless.”

Keep this in mind: The Teacher was considered wise, and he taught the people everything he knew. He listened carefully to many proverbs, studying and classifying them. The Teacher sought to find just the right words to express truths clearly. The words of the wise are like cattle prods—painful but helpful. Their collected sayings are like a nail-studded stick with which a shepherd drives the sheep.

But, my child, let me give you some further advice: Be careful, for writing books is endless, and much study wears you out. That’s the whole story. Here now is my final conclusion: Fear God and obey his commands, for this is everyone’s duty.  God will judge us for everything we do, including every secret thing, whether good or bad.

Where are your priorities, how do you choose to spend your time and your days? Where does satisfaction and contentment that LASTS - come from?

Questions

Prayer