In today’s section, we read about:
· The dedication of the temple and Solomon’s prayer
· God’s second appearance to Solomon
· The riches of Solomon’s achievements
· The visit of the Queen of Sheba, and Solomon’s many wives
· The division of the kingdom after Solomon’s death
· The sin of the northern kingdom
· The sin of the kings of the southern kingdom until king Asa
Some things that struck me:
8:13 – there is something about the tone of everything Solomon says and does which I find slightly jarring, particularly when compared to David. Here it is “Now I have built a glorious temple for you, a place where you can live forever”. It’s almost as if Solomon is telling God that God should be grateful that he had time to fit him in with all the other building going on
As for the rest of ch8 and Solomon’s prayer, all the words are there, and are an echo of Lev 26 and Deut 30, but somehow there is something missing (or maybe this is just my imagination)
8:27 is great - “But will God really live on earth? Why, even the highest heavens cannot contain you. How much less the temple I have built!”
8:41-43 is a great vision of the future when God’s glory will be made known throughout the world and people will flock to worship Him.
God’s second appearance to Solomon in ch 9 is both a comfort (Solomon’s prayer has been answered), a promise (lasting dynasty if he obeys whole-heartedly) and a warning (consequences of turning away from God).
Ch 10 shows how God has fulfilled his promises of 1 Ki 3:13. When I read that no throne in the world could compare with Solomon’s, I thought immediately of Is 66:1 “This is what the Lord says: Heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool.”
Ch 11 – Solomon has ignored the warning of Ex 34:16 and allowed himself to be seduced by all these foreign women. Two thoughts struck me. (1) If even Solomon, the wisest man who has ever lived or ever will live is so far short of God’s standards, what hope is there for the rest of us?; (2) it is not our wisdom or skills that God is interested in, it is our hearts. 11:2 says “Solomon insisted on loving them anyway”. It was a conscious decision of Solomon’s to disobey. Both of these thoughts should point us to the realisation that we are totally dependent of the grace and mercy of God, and He is such an incredible God that he accepts us and makes it possible to know him.
11:13 – Solomon doesn’t suffer the same fate as Saul, just as God promised in 2 Sam 7:15. This also seems to follow the pattern Chris showed us about sin being followed by judgment, then the effects of the punishment are mitigated by grace.
Jereboam has the chance to become king of a lasting dynasty, because of God’s amazing offer, yet he blew the chance and instead made idols, and encouraged his people to follow them. In fact, it was a whole new religious order, as he appointed as a priest anyone who wanted to be one.
I’m not really sure I know what to make of ch 13 and the prophet killed but not eaten by a lion, other than we have to be obedient to God, and not look at what other people have been called to do.
1 Ki 15:5 is a great tribute not just to David - “for David had done what was pleasing in the Lord’s sight and had obeyed the Lord’s commands throughout his life, except in the affair concerning Uriah the Hittite” – but also to the honesty of the Bible. It is a bul****t-free zone. I also like 15:4 where it says God allowed David’s descendants to continue ruling, shining like a lamp.
Good for king Asa. I have this picture of his grandmother being ushered out like Aunt Agatha (PG Wodehouse’s Jeeves stories) onto the streets and her bags being thrown after her. It probably didn’t happen like that, but Asa’s dedication was such that it might.
The events in the northern kingdom are reminiscent of the time of the judges, albeit less anarchic. There is a descent to civil war, brutality and utter godlessness.
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