The Chapter-A-Day thread. (3)

brinny

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1 Kings 5:

Friendly Alliance.
AKA: King Solomon and King Hiram.


King Hiram, an admirer and dear friend of King David hears that Solomon is now king. Because of King David, he builds a friendly alliance with King Solomon, and wishes to give Solomon what he needs when he hears that Solomon wants to build the Temple, which was David's hearts desire.

During this time, all of Israel was in peace, which was granted by God, for David's sake.

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brinny

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King Hiram's Friendship.

Note: It is through David's friendship with King Hiram, that Solomon is granted favor, and friendship, from King Hiram, and also because Solomon was his friend's son. God was BLESSING Solomon for DAVID'S sake. It was imperative that Solomon not only remember this, but to never ever lost sight of it, and to never ever, be "casual" about the living God, and to never "blend" the living God with "other gods" and/or other idols.

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brinny

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Coming boldly before God's throne.

(just some thoughts...)

This just came to mind (as i was listening to Spurgeon's sermon on "Prayer Perfumed With Praise") and as he spoke of us, God's children having the freedom and blessing of coming boldly before our Father's throne, this came to mind:

Esther came to mind, and the time that she was compelled to go before her husband the king's throne (at the risk of her life). She went BOLDLY. Not even hesitating.

Now it's not like we have the same dynamics here, because we don't "risk death", and our Father loves us and grants us favor, unwaveringly. We do not have to wonder what kind of "mood" He's in. We "belong" in the throne room, for we are His beloved child, a child of the King, and His ears are ALWAYS open to us, as are His arms.

"Let us therefore come BOLDLY unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." ~Heb 4:16

iu
 
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brinny

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1 Kings 6:

The Temple is Completed.
AKA: Over-taxation.


One of the little mentioned facts is that Solomon over-taxed the people. David had already given Solomon what he needed to build the Temple. There was no need to over-tax the people. In addition, Solomon "drafted" 30,000 of the Israelites to construct the Temple.

Solomon began building the Temple in the fourth year of his reign. It took seven years to complete the Temple.

"In the fourth year was the foundation of the house of the LORD laid, in the month Zif: And in the eleventh year, in the month Bul, which is the eighth month, was the house finished throughout all the parts thereof, and according to all the fashion of it. So was he seven years in building it." ~I Kings 6:37

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brinny

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Solomon.

(just some thoughts...)

Solomon, i suspect was intimidated by the prospect of reigning after his father, David. I suspect that David sensed this as well. Therefore David began his admonition to Solomon before he died, with "Be a man". Although it was true that Solomon was very young, David was as well, when he, as a shepherd boy, slew a lion and a bear with his bare hands. He was also a mere boy, too small for the king's armor, when he ran at Goliath the giant, and slew him.

David had no fear of man or beast. And the REASON that he had no fear is because he "feared God".

Solomon, i suspect, did not.

He was attempting to "fill his father's shoes" instead of giving his heart fully to the living God, and thus learning to "fear Him". He was driven by a subtle "fear", but not of God. It was of what "man" would think of him, compared to his father, King David.

This is perhaps why he was determined to build a temple to excess, and therefore deemed it necessary to "tax" the socks off of his people. He burdened them, and had no qualms about "drafting" (forcing) so many of his own people to labor in building this over-the-top intricacies and excesses of the temple, that required such heavy taxing of his own people.

His heart for God was NOT 100%, as his father King David's was.

This will un-fold later as we study Solomon further.

iu
 
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brinny

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1 Kings 7:

Solomon's House.
AKA: Burdensome Taxes.


Solomon's palace was 13 years in the making, and it was approximately twice as long as the Temple. He also built other structures for himself, such as a summer or vacation house, so to speak. He also built his wife, the daughter of Pharaoh, her own house, etc.

In all of this, he was compelled to tax his people heavily. It was a heavy heavy burden and oppressive.

31-Solomon-and-the-Plan-for-the-Temple.jpg
 
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brinny

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Solomon's Taxes.

(just some thoughts...)

In all of his building and the motivations behind it, as it was lavish and excessive to the point of an insult added to injury, of sorts, to his own people taxed so heavily, and forced into the labor of building all of these structures, including a house to his wife, the Pharaoh's daughter, who was anything but "Hebrew"), Solomon could not have been an "endearing" king to the Hebrews, and all of Israel.

This smacks of a bit like Egypt, and the slaves they forced to build structures, including the Hebrew slaves, in bondage, in Egypt, whom God FREED, using Moses to do so.

How was this "honoring" to the living God, the God of Israel? I suspect that, because Solomon's heart was not 100% for God like his father's King David's, that THIS is why he would consider marrying the Pharaoh's daughter, and how he developed a larger fracture of his heart that was already there from the beginning.

The bottom line, is that Solomon did NOT love the Lord God with all his heart, mind, soul, and strength. And this was indicated in the decisions he made, including marrying the Pharaoh's daughter, and to add insult upon injury, to build a palace for her, using the forced labor of his own people, and to simultaneously over-tax them as the structure was built by their blood, sweat, and tears.

iu
 
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brinny

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1 Kings 9:

Integrity of Heart.
AKA: Solomon's Admonition.


God speaks to Solomon again. He reminds Solomon to walk before Him in "integrity of heart", as his father King David did, which means "whole-hearted" and "wise-hearted", and to never chase after other "gods" and/or "turn" away from Him. God tells Solomon that if he walks before Him in integrity of heart that he and all of Israel will be blessed. However He adds that if Solomon fails to walk in integrity of heart before Him, that he and all of Israel will fall.

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brinny

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1 Kings 11:

Solomon's Abominations.

King Solomon dismisses/spurns God's command and warning.

"But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites: Of the nations concerning which the Lord said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: Solomon clave unto these in love. And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart. For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. And Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and went not fully after the Lord, as did David his father. Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon. And likewise did he for all his strange wives, which burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods. And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the Lord God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice, And had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods: but he kept not that which the Lord commanded." ~I Kings 11:1-10

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brinny

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Solomon's Wives.

Note: Here is where Solomon's rejecting of the living God began. But it was even before he actually "acted" on his blatant rebellion, apostasy, and disregard for God and His commands. It was in his "heart" that it all began. The bottom line, is that he never "feared" God, nor did he love God as his father David did. The fact that he did not, bottom line, "fear" God, means that he had a dismissive disregard for God, which became evident as time went on as he committed one abomination after another.

"But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites: Of the nations concerning which the Lord said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: Solomon clave unto these in love. And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart." ~I Kings 11:1-3

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brinny

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Solomon's Foolishness.

Note: Solomon was given the gift of wisdom and discernment from God. Yet he not only threw it away, but he stomped on it, so to speak. He became a fool, especially in his old age, and a weak and downright silly (the antithesis to "wise") and a tragic excuse of a king. What a shameful mar to not only his father David, but to the living God he was.

God preserved his throne only for David's sake. With Solomon's death, the kingdom would be torn asunder. What an abominable "legacy" Solomon left for Israel and the generations after him.

It contrasted starkly with the legacy that David left to Solomon.

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brinny

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1 Kings 12:

Rehoboam Is King.
AKA: Destruction Commences.


"The king answered the people harshly. Rejecting the advice given him by the elders, he followed the advice of the young men and said, “My father made your yoke heavy; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions." ~I Kings 12:13-14
iu

From the beginning he was stiff-necked and foolish. He actually "threatened" the people, that he would be oppressive and tax them much more heavily than his father King Solomon did.

He rejected the counsel and wise advice of his fathers advisors and listened instead to those he grew up with, and they advised him terribly.

Thus there commences the splitting of the country, for the people rebelled and rejected this horrendous threat from the new king.

iu
 
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brinny

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1 Kings 13:

An Odd Chapter.
AKA: The prophet that was bamboozled and lied to.
AKA: I'm still processing what happened to him.


I just don't understand what happened to this Prophet and why. He is obedient to God when he interacts with King Jeroboam. And then an old prophet heard about this Prophet, hunts him down, and "lied" to him to deceive him into disobeying God's commands that he was sworn to obey. That old Prophet is the one who should'a gotten what happened to this Prophet who obeyed God. He was attacked and killed by a lion.

Now what's interesting is that neither Prophet is mentioned by name. In addition, the Prophet that was killed by the lion was lied to and deceived. It was the old Prophet who lied and deceived this other Prophet.

WHY did this ol' Prophet DO this???!!!!

And THEN he goes seeking the Prophet's dead body and "buries" him? HE'S the one that caused his death. So why NOW does he want to bury him?

Say wut?

Odd.

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brinny

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1 Kings 14:

Jeroboam's Deception.
iu
"Oh! What A Tangled Web We Weave When First We Practice To Deceive" ~Sir Walter Scott

Jeroboam not only has a deceptive plan to attempt to deceive a Godly Prophet, but through this, God Himself. If that wasn't bad enough, he gets his wife involved. He tells his wife to "disguise" herself, and go to Ahijah this Godly Prophet (who was blind) because their son, Abijah, was ill. However, God had spoken to Ahijah the Prophet about this. And God had pronounced judgement on Jeroboam, which included the death of his son.

Ahijah the Prophet confronted Jeroboam's wife and chastised her, and told her God's judgement on her husband and that their son would die the minute she set foot back in their city.

And it all un-folded just as Ahijah the Prophet foretold it would.

iu
 
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brinny

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1 Kings 15:

A Righteous King.

Asa reigns as king after his father, King Abijam dies.

"And Asa did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, as did David his father. And he took away the sodomites out of the land, and removed all the idols that his fathers had made. And also Maachah his mother, even her he removed from being queen, because she had made an idol in a grove; and Asa destroyed her idol, and burnt it by the brook Kidron. But the high places were not removed: nevertheless Asa's heart was perfect with the Lord all his days." ~1 Kings 15:11-14


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brinny

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1 Kings 16:

Uh-Oh.
King Ahab Marries Jezebel.


Now Ahab (king of Israel) was even more evil than the evil kings before him. He compounds the evil even moreso when he marries the evil Jezebel.

"And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord above all that were before him. And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took to wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Zidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshipped him. And he reared up an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he had built in Samaria. And Ahab made a grove; and Ahab did more to provoke the LordGod of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him." ~I Kings 16:30-33
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