I Kings 10:14-11:43

Dear RTB’ers,

Today we close the book on Solomon, with good news followed by bad news, worse news, and the worst possible activities and outcomes. First, the good news – more reports on his wealth, wisdom, security, and power (I Kings 10:14-29). This good news is followed immediately (in I Kings 11) by bad news (foreign wives), worse news (his adversaries) and the worst possible news, his falling away from seeking only the One True God: And the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, Who … had commanded him … that he should not go after other gods. But he did not keep what the LORD commanded. (vv. 11:9-10) While it may seem that Solomon got more and more careless over his 40 years of reign as king, we need to remember that one of the first things that Solomon did (after settling scores for his father) was to take a foreign wife – Pharaoh’s daughter (I Kings 3:1). Yes, for sure it was a political alliance, but it was also that first step down a wrong path.

With that my mind wanders to my favorite poem, Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken”:

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood…
:
:
:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Robert Frost, “The Road Not Taken”

Solomon was certainly on a road not taken – never taken by anyone in all of history! But somehow, he got on that road more traveled, one that we all have taken for a time, having only Jesus’ redemption to bring us back to that perfect road, that road where we travel with Him as our all-knowing guide and glorious companion.

Blessings.

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See also: May 20 (2023) / I Kings 11; II Chronicles 9:29-31.

I Kings 9:1-10:13

Dear RTB’ers,

An early sentence in today’s reading caught my eye: And the LORD said to him, “I have heard your prayer and your plea, which you have made before Me…” (v. 9:3a) The Lord heard Solomon’s prayer (from yesterday’s reading). Solomon was no more human and no more loved by God than any one of us. The Lord acknowledged Solomon’s prayer (in person), and I have no doubt but that God hears every prayer from every one of us, and that He acts on our prayers according to His will. If His answer to any of our prayers is “no” or “not yet”, He has His reasons – and He is God and we are not. I suspect that His answer to many of our prayers is actually “Yes, but…”. And that’s good by me!

Sentence after sentence, paragraph after paragraph, page after page, more and more of Solomon’s wealth and power! I chuckled that Solomon gave Hiram twenty cities in Galilee, but that Hiram was displeased with those cities (I Kings 9:11-13). But Galilee is the region where Jesus grew up and where (presumably) He spent most of His ministry time. So He clearly redeemed Galilee from Hiram’s disfavor!! 

Blessings.

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See also:

• May 14 (2023) / II Chronicles 6-7; I Kings 9:1-9
• May 15 (2023) / I Kings 9:10-10:29; II Chronicles 8-9:28

I Kings 8:12-66

Dear RTB’ers,

With the temple and its furnishings complete, Solomon now leads the people with an introductory speech (I Kings 8:12-21), his prayer to the Lord (I Kings 8:13-53), a blessing upon the assembly (I Kings 8:54-61), and offerings and sacrifices for the next two weeks (I Kings 8:62-66).

There were a couple of sections of Solomon’s prayer that were particularly touching to me. First, his prayer was very personal for each of the assembled people (and to us today): …whatever prayer, whatever plea is made by any man, … each knowing the affliction of his own heart and stretching out his hands toward this house, then hear in heaven Your dwelling place and forgive and act and render to each whose heart You know, according to all his ways (for You, You only, know the hearts of all the children of mankind), that they may fear You all the days that they live… (vv. 38-40) Yes, God knows our hearts, He knows our needs, and He has His desires for us – whatever we do according to His will.

Second, Solomon remembered the foreigner: Likewise, when a foreigner, who is not of Your people Israel, comes from a far country for Your name’s sake… (vv. 41, ff.) From the text it’s clear that Solomon is praying for foreign “pilgrims” who travel to Jerusalem, to the temple to pray to the God of Israel. But my heart went out to people in our own United States who have come to our country, both legally and illegally, seeking a better life for themselves and their families. I particularly have in mind our Avanza kids and their families, but there are also thousands of refugees who have come here to escape misery back home. Lord, I pray that You watch over all of these foreigners in our land.

Blessings.

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See also: May 13 (2023) / I Kings 8; II Chronicles 5.

I Kings 7:13-8:11

Dear RTB’ers,

Yesterday, the Temple structure; today, the Temple furnishings. Here’s an artist’s rendering of the Temple and its furnishings, courtesy of ESV, to which John pointed us yesterday:

So now we have the Temple and its furnishings and finally, the Ark of the Covenant brought into the Temple. You probably remember the story of David bringing the ark from the house of Abinadab to the house of Obed-edom and from there on to Jerusalem, with Uzzah dying because he touched the Ark and Michal scorning David’s dancing before the Lord. (II Samuel 6) We have none of that drama today: And all the elders of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark. And they brought up the ark of the LORD the tent of meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the tent; the priests and the Levites brought them up. And King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, who had assembled before him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing so many sheep and oxen that they could not be counted or numbered. (vv. 7:3-5) Today we close with the Lord’s affirmation of all the work done to His glory: And when the priests came out of the Holy Place, a cloud filled the house of the LORD … for the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD. (vv. 7:10b, 11b) AMEN!

Blessings.

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See also: May 12 (2023) / I Kings 7; II Chronicles 4.

I Kings 6:1-7:12

Dear RTB’ers,

It was easier to imagine the Tabernacle in the wilderness and to see artists’ renderings than to picture the design of Solomon’s Temple. Images that I have found online help, especially their depictions of the three main sections – the Most Holy Place (also referred to as the “inner sanctuary, I Kings 6:16,17,19,20 and more); the “house” (or nave, I Kings 6:17); and an outer area, as suggested by the “entrance to the nave” wording in I Kings 6:33. But those “side chambers” are more difficult to picture: And he made side chambers all around. The lowest story was five cubits broad, the middle one was six cubits broad, and the third was seven cubits broad. For around the outside of the house he made offsets on the wall in order that the supporting beams should not be inserted into the walls of the house. (vv. 5b-6) If any of you can find an artist’s depiction of those side chambers, please send us the link.

And the materials… Stone; cedar, cypress, and olive wood – and GOLD!!! Lots of GOLD!! Are there any other materials mentioned?? All of this construction was to reflect some measure, even a small measure of God’s glory. It must have been a sight to see…!!

Blessings.

I Kings 5

Dear RTB’ers,

Solomon to Hiram: But now the LORD my God has secured me rest on every side; there is neither adversary nor misfortune. (v. 4) Solomon owes an enormous debt of gratitude to his father (and to his father’s God!). Not only does he have rest on every side, but he also had this relationship with Hiram that David had begun. (See II Samuel 5:11.) But David’s contribution to the temple building was more than just materials and a commercial alliance. Because our readings won’t get to I Chronicles for a while, here’s some further information:: Then King David said to the entire assembly, “…Now with all my ability I have provided for the house of my God … {gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, all kinds of precious stones and alabaster in abundance}. Moreover, … the treasure I have of gold and silver, I give to the house of my God, over and above all that I have already provided for the holy temple, namely, 3,000 talents of gold … and 7,000 talents of refined silver … for all the work done by the craftsmen.” (I Chronicles 29:1-5) One website calculated David’s contribution to the construction of the temple at roughly $20 billion in today’s dollars.

David’s “legacy” that he passed on to Solomon makes me think of my own father and his many contributions to my personal growth, and also to what more I might do for my own children before I go to meet the Lord. Something more than a few dollars here and there…!

Blessings.

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See also: May 11 (2023) / I Kings 5-6; II Chronicles 2-3.

I Kings 3-4

Dear RTB’ers,

A bit of a delay this morning… We closed on our new-to-us home yesterday afternoon and brought over the “essentials” to spend the night. Then we had a plumber come out this morning to fix a gas leak; he just left and I finally get around to RTB!

So now we leave David behind and focus on Solomon for a while. Today we see Solomon’s wisdom and a quick measure of his wealth. I’ve always been touched by God’s response after He made an offer to Solomon, “Ask what I shall give you.” (vv. 3:5b) When Solomon simply asked for wisdom, God responded generously: Because you have asked this, and have not asked for yourself long life or riches or the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right, behold, I now do according to your word. Behold, I give you a wise and discerning mind, so that none like you has been before you and none like you shall arise after you. I give you also what you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that no other king shall compare with you, all your days. (vv. 3:11-13)

There is no doubt in my mind that Carol and I have been abundantly blessed. I was not a person who set many goals in my life; especially I don’t remember any of those “what I wanna be when I grow up” yearnings of any sort. But God has led me from here to there, to this and that, from poverty to (relative) riches, from almost nothing to much more than I could ever have expected! Certainly for Carol and me, I give you also what you have not asked… We are fully blessed!

Blessings.

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See also: May 3 (2023) / I Kings 3-4; II Chronicles 1.

I Kings 2

Dear RTB’ers,

Adonijah, Joab, Shimei – three men, three executions, in every case Solomon taking a measure of revenge against men who in one way or another had turned against his father. In so doing, he strengthened his own kingdom against internal struggles. Although David could have taken more severe action against these three men, he did not choose to do so. I wondered about that. David seemed weak in disciplining his sons Amnon and Absalom, both of whom could have deserved to be executed for their actions. So I wondered…

If we go far forward in our readings to I Chronicles 22 we see more words from David to Solomon than the few paragraphs we read today. Specifically, David charges Solomon to build a temple: David said to Solomon, “My son, I had it in my heart to build a house to the name of the LORD my God. But the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ‘You have shed much blood and have waged great wars. You shall not build a house to My name, because you have shed so much blood before Me on the earth. Behold, a son shall be born to you who shall be a man of rest. … He shall build a house for My name. (I Chronicles 22:7-10; see also I Chr. 28:3) We don’t see these words from God back in II Samuel 7, where David first broached the idea of building a house for God, but evidently the notion that he had shed much blood must have stuck with David. Maybe that’s why he could not command capital punishment against men who fully deserved it? Amnon, Absalom, Adonijah, Joab, Shimei – all dead, but none by David’s hand or by his order. Was that because he was tired of shedding blood? Or was it that his shedding blood had prevented him from building that house for God? Any thoughts from you all, or am I just rambling?

Blessings.

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See also: April 19 (2023) / I Kings 1-2.

I Kings 1

Dear RTB’ers,

King David is getting old; who will succeed him? There is no mention in II Samuel of David swearing to Bathsheba that Solomon would be his successor, as Nathan says to Bathsheba in I Kings 1:13 (repeated by Bathsheba in I Kings 1:17 and confirmed by David in I Kings 1:30). So there must have been a clear understanding within the leadership that Solomon would become king. This expectation is further amplified by Adonijah’s invitation to all of David’s sons to join in his coronation, with Solomon excluded. Accordingly, David follows through with Bathsheba’s request and has Solomon anointed as king (vv. 30, ff.).

There remains, then, Adonijah’s attempt to take over the throne. As David’s oldest surviving son (see II Samuel 3:2-4; we assume that Chileab has also died) Adonijah saw himself as the rightful heir. By excluding Solomon from his coronation, he is effectively admitting that he is rebelling against King David’s wishes, but he continues anyhow. Did he not learn anything from Absalom’s ill-fated attempt to usurp David? Why not go directly to the king instead of forming his own plans? Thankfully, in contrast to Absalom’s rebellion, Adonijah’s supporters flee and his rebellion is short-lived. More on Adonijah tomorrow…!

Blessings.