1 Kings 1
David is getting old, and cold.
Adonijah decides he is going to succeed his father.
1:6 “...His father had never crossed him at any time by asking, "Why have you done so?..."
Nathan and Bathsheba act quickly to insure that Solomon is anointed king.
How did Solomon come into Jerusalem to become king? 1:38 “...So Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the Cherethites, and the Pelethites went down and had Solomon ride on King David's mule, and brought him to Gihon...” (Gihon was located east of the City of David in the Valley of Kidron just outside the city wall).
Who else came to Jerusalem this way? [Jesus]
1:49 Adonijah’s followers are terrified, and flee.
1 Kings 2
David’s advice to Solomon
2:2-3 “...I am going the way of all the earth. Be strong, therefore, and show yourself a man. "Keep the charge of the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, His commandments, His ordinances, and His testimonies, according to what is written in the Law of Moses, that you may succeed in all that you do and wherever you turn,...”
2:5,7,9 Repay Joab for his murders. Show kindness to Barzillai. Punish Shimei.
2:13-18 Adonijah tries to get Abishag the shunamite as his wife, but gets put to death instead (2:25).
2:27 “...Solomon dismissed Abiathar from being priest to the Lord, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord, which He had spoken concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh...”
Do you think Solomon knew he was fulfilling the word of the Lord?
Does God fulfill all that He has said, right in the middle of every day life?
Does reading what has been written give us a “heads up” on the future?
2:34,46 Joab and Shimei, like Adonijah, are executed by Benaiah.
1 Kings 3
3:5 The Lord appears to Solomon in a dream, and says “...Ask what you wish me to give you...”
What does he ask for? 3:9 “...So give Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people to discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?...”
3:10,11 Why was God pleased? [Because Solomon wanted discernment to understand justice] Remember that God cares a great deal about justice (widows, orphans, aliens).
What was Solomon’s first test concerning justice? [baby dispute]
1 Kings 4
List of officials.
4:21 Solomon ruled from the River [Euphrates] to the border of Egypt, exactly what God had covenanted with Abraham back in Gen.15:18. (Approximately 1000 years after the promise)
4:25 “...During Solomon's lifetime Judah and Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, lived in safety, each man under his own vine and fig tree...”
4:29 “...Now God gave Solomon wisdom and very great discernment and breadth of mind, like the sand that is on the seashore...” Solomon was not ‘narrow-minded’, as many Christians are accused of being.
1 Kings 5
Involved in trade, importing cedar and cypress.
Instituted shift work, with 30,000 forced laborers. 10,000 would work at a time, for a month, then have 2 months off.
1 Kings 6
6:1 480 years after the exodus, Solomon begins to build the temple, which will replace the tabernacle.
6:2 Temple is 60x20 cubits (1200 sq cubits ~ 2700 sq.ft) Tabernacle was? Courtyard dimensions 100x50, but dimensions of tabernacle were 30x10. So Solomon doubled the dimensions.
6:7 Stones prepared off site (no on-site modifications).
6:11-13 “...Now the word of the Lord came to Solomon saying, "Concerning this house which you are building, if you will walk in My statutes and execute My ordinances and keep all My commandments by walking in them, then I will carry out My word with you which I spoke to David your father. "I will dwell among the sons of Israel, and will not forsake My people Israel..."
6:38 Took 7 years to build.
1 Kings 7
7:1 Solomon’s palace took 13 years to build (almost 2x temple)
7:2 Dimensions 100x50 (5000 sq.cu ~ 11,250 sq.ft.) >4xtemple
Extravagance surfaces in times of peace.
7:10 “...The foundation was of costly stones, even large stones, stones of ten cubits and stones of eight cubits...”
12-15 foot stones for the foundation. How much do you suppose they weighed?
1 Kings 8
8:6 “...Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the house, to the most holy place, under the wings of the cherubim....”
8:8 “...the poles were so long that the ends of the poles could be seen from the holy place before the inner sanctuary...” Were they being extra careful to not touch the ark?
8:9 What did the ark contain? Just the two tablets.
8:11 What does the glory of the Lord do to priests? [Can’t stand to minister]
8:23,27,30 Prayer of dedication: “...He said, "O Lord, the God of Israel, there is no God like You in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and showing loving kindness to Your servants who walk before You with all their heart, ... But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain You, how much less this house which I have built!...”Listen to the supplication of Your servant and of Your people Israel, when they pray toward this place; hear in heaven Your dwelling place; hear and forgive...”
The wisest man recognized the connection between earthly circumstances and heavenly standing.
8:33,34 “... When Your people Israel are defeated before an enemy, because they have sinned against You, if they turn to You again and confess Your name and pray and make supplication to You in this house, then hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of Your people Israel, and bring them back to the land which You gave to their fathers...”
8:35,36 “... When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain, because they have sinned against You, and they pray toward this place and confess Your name and turn from their sin when You afflict them, then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of Your servants and of Your people Israel, indeed, teach them the good way in which they should walk. And send rain on Your land, which You have given Your people for an inheritance...”
8:37-39 “... If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence, if there is blight or mildew, locust or grasshopper, if their enemy besieges them in the land of their cities, whatever plague, whatever sickness there is, whatever prayer or supplication is made by any man or by all Your people Israel, each knowing the affliction of his own heart, and spreading his hands toward this house; then hear in heaven Your dwelling place, and forgive and act and render to each according to all his ways, whose heart You know, for You alone know the hearts of all the sons of men...”
8:46,47 “...When they sin against You (for there is no man who does not sin) and You are angry with them and deliver them to an enemy, so that they take them away captive to the land of the enemy, far off or near; if they take thought in the land where they have been taken captive, and repent and make supplication to You in the land of those who have taken them captive, saying, 'We have sinned and have committed iniquity, we have acted wickedly';...”
Sinning is inevitable.
Must think about repentance and supplication.
Did you notice Solomon’s position change? [8:22 - stood with hands spread. 8:54 - kneeling with hands spread]
Why is there a difference between Solomon’s wonderful prayer and his extravagant sinful life? [Spirit vs Flesh] [Gifting doesn’t insure righteousness!]
1 Kings 9
9:2 The Lord appeared to Solomon a second time.
How much time between the 1st and 2nd appearing?
1st in Chapter 3 after cleaning up unfinished business from his father (Adonijah, Joab, Shimei). He’s given wisdom.
2nd in Chapter 9 after building the temple (7yrs) and his house (13yrs). He’s given a warning:
9:4,5 “...As for you, if you will walk before Me as your father David walked, in integrity of heart and uprightness, doing according to all that I have commanded you and will keep My statutes and My ordinances, then I will establish the throne of your kingdom over Israel forever, just as I promised to your father David, saying, 'You shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel...”
9:6-8 “...But if you or your sons indeed turn away from following Me, and do not keep My commandments and My statutes which I have set before you, and go and serve other gods and worship them, then I will cut off Israel from the land which I have given them, and the house which I have consecrated for My name, I will cast out of My sight. So Israel will become a proverb and a byword among all peoples ...And this house will become a heap of ruins; everyone who passes by will be astonished and hiss and say, 'Why has the Lord done thus to this land and to this house?'...”
God has expectations, even when He isn’t making regular manifest appearances. How can a person choose right?
1 Kings 10
Queen of Sheba is impressed.
10:14 How much gold did Solomon get in one year? 666 Talents (25 tons, $20,000,000)
Rev.13:18 “...Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for the number is that of a man; and his number is six hundred and sixty-six...”
Solomon loads up on gold, silver, ivory, apes, peacocks, garments, weapons, spices, horses, mules, AND wives.
1 Kings 11
How many wives? [11:4 700, plus 300 concubines].
From where? [11:1 - Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, Hittites.]
Why was this a problem? [11:2 - The Lord had said “...You shall not associate with them ...for they will surely turn your heart away after other gods...”
What happened? [11:4 “...when Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away after other gods; and his heart was not wholly devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been...”
11:9 “...Now the Lord was angry with Solomon because his heart was turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice,..”
God had appeared twice. The women were in his face daily.
How can you keep your head on straight in the face of temptation?
11:12 Who suffers for the mistakes? [the next generation].
Who will suffer for your mistakes?
11:35 “...but I will take the kingdom from his son's hand and give it to you, even ten tribes...”
Ahijah prophesies that Jeroboam (from Ephraim) will rule 10 of the 12 tribes of Israel.
11:41-43 Solomon’s 40yr rule comes to an end.
How old was he? [1Chr.22:5 reveals that he was young and inexperienced when he became king, which leads some to believe he was a teenager. He may have therefore been less than 60 when he died]
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