Solomon’s Kingdom

Good afternoon, brethren. It’s wonderful to see you all. Before we get into the message, I have a very important question for all of you.

Who’s looking forward to the heat this week? Ninety-five plus, six, seven days straight, no rain, full sun. There’s only three, four, five, there’s a few of you. I’ll make a note. I’ll be speaking to you after Pentecost tomorrow, because we’ll gladly have you on the crew outside in the grounds. Some of us may be wilting and melting away. We’ll need your help. We look forward to this weather all winter long, at least as a good Canadian, I did. I look forward to the heat in the summer. It was a nice relief from the cold in the winter, so we will be enjoying it outside this week. One part we may not be enjoying is running around with all the hoses, keeping everything that’s green out there from wilting, and keeping ourselves also from wilting. Well that, like I said, has nothing to do with the message. Before I get into the message, I made a note of those names, and I’ll be talking to you later.

Well, we all know that Pentecost is tomorrow and that will bring to the end of the spring holiday season as we keep each year. It’s been a time, since starting back at Passover time, we look back at great events that God has done throughout history in the past, and we review those events. We look to those events, and we see what God has done. Today after, those that will hear this in the field, if they’re here in the field, the spring holidays will be behind them. I want to look at a great event that God did. A great event that was full of miracles, and I wanted to look at it as a way to look back and a way to look forward.

You may be wondering what are we going to look at? Well, I want to dig into and look closely at the reign of King Solomon. What lessons we can learn from it personally, learn from it that we can apply today a very important lesson, specific lesson. What parallels and how it parallels the coming kingdom of God, and how it shows God’s greatness. We don’t often specifically dig into or go through Solomon’s reign. This afternoon we will. It’ll be a little bit of a history lesson, a little bit of just going into details we don’t often always look at.

I’m sure you all have come across this at some point or another, just as a little bit of a setup. If you start looking about creation in the world and how the earth was created and how God created man and put man on the earth, and you go looking online, you’ll find that typically, mankind will minimize what is in the Bible. It’ll make it it’s just a story. It’s just an analogy. It didn’t really happen. How many other events? The flood. The flood was just a local flood. The arc wasn’t that big. All the animals weren’t on it, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. The Red Sea, no, Moses just led a few Israelites through the Reed Sea, not the Red Sea.

If you look that up online, that is what man does. That’s what the god of this world has done to anything that God has done that is great. You go searching for it and the historians will make it smaller, make it insignificant. If you go look up King David, many will question whether King David actually existed. Many historians don’t believe he’s actually a real figure. If you look up King Solomon, King Solomon basically, many will say he was just a legend.

Well, I say all of that because we’re different people. We look at God’s word, the Bible, and we believe it. It’s what God said. What happened in the Bible is what happened. We read it and we believe it, that God did it as he says, not as the god of this world will make it smaller. So when we dig into King Solomon’s reign, its parallels, how it shows God’s greatness and the lesson for us. We’re going to see it as how God sees it. How God relays it. Not how this world does because this world questions whether Solomon’s reign actually happened. And of course, they do because it has great significance, and it shows the greatness in the God that we serve, and we believe in.

Well, to start, let’s go to First Kings three and verse five. In a way, the beginning of the story of Solomon, it starts before here, but this is the start of his reign. In First Kings three and verse five, we’ll break a little bit into the context where Solomon would go up to sacrifice to the Lord, to sacrifice to God, and let’s read. Let’s actually begin reading in verse four. In first Kings three and verse four, we begin looking at his reign.

“And the king went to Gibeon,” the king Solomon, “...to sacrifice there; and for there was the great high place; a thousand burnt offerings did Solomon offer upon that altar.” Now just to start with man, and historians say, would that be possible? A thousand burnt offerings. To lay groundwork, that’s what God said. That’s what Solomon did. Could you imagine doing that yourself? Put yourself in those shoes or those sandals of his and make those thousand burnt offerings. It makes the picture real.

“At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream. And God said, ask what I shall give you. And Solomon said, Thou hast showed unto your servant David my father great mercy,” continue reading here, “...according as he walked before in the truth, and righteousness, and in uprightness of heart; and you have kept him his great kindness, and you have given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day. And now, O Lord my God, you have made your servant king instead of David my father: and I am but little child: I know not how to go out or come in.”

So, God asked him, “Ask, and you shall receive.” Ask what you want, and I’ll give it to you. And here Solomon lays out his request. “...and I know not how to go out or come in. And your servant is in the midst of a people which you have chosen, a great people, that cannot be numbered for, counted for multitude.” How many millions of Israelites were there? Again, the history books will say maybe, maybe a million. How many millions were there? How big was the nation?

“Give therefore your servant an understanding heart to judge your people, that you may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this so great a people? And this speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing.” So, he asked to give an understanding heart to judge your people. And God’s response to his request, “And God said unto him, because you had asked this thing, you hast not asked for yourself a long life; neither asked for riches for yourself, nor asked for the life of your enemies; but has asked for yourself understanding to discern judgment. Behold, I have done according to your words; lo, I have given you a wise and understanding heart; so that there is none like you before you and shall be none like you that shall rise after you.”

I’ll read verse thirteen to end here. “And I also have given you which you hast not asked, both riches, and honor: so that there shall not be any among the kings like unto you all your days.” Here, God asks Solomon as the king, as he’s just a newly crowned king, “What would you like? What do you need?” And Solomon asked for wisdom, and God gave it. So ultimately, the whole entirety of Solomon’s reign was because it started with what God gave him. God gave him wisdom and an understanding heart. God gave him that and that to teach to Israel.

Let’s see how that affected Israel. We won’t get into the entire story as we go through chapter three here. As we know the two women and the child that’s died and how Solomon explains the dividing of the baby, but in verse twenty-eight is what I want to focus on. Here is the effect of the wisdom that God gave Solomon. The great thing that God had done in giving Solomon wisdom so that he could have good judgment.

Let’s read verse twenty-eight. “And all Israel heard of the judgments which the king had judged; and they feared the king: for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to do judgment.” So, to start his reign, God gave him wisdom. God gave him the ability to do judgment. How that set things up, how that set things in order for the rest of his reign, we’re going to learn about. But can you imagine being given wisdom the way Solomon was given you?

Imagine the ability that he had to make decisions, to make righteous judgment, to teach all of Israel, to teach his princes and his leaders, and for those leaders and princes to teach the rest and the entire kingdom, the entire nation. And all of Israel, they feared the king. They honored the king. They looked towards the king. And that set up the kingdom, his reign, to be something that has never been on earth before, and since.

Let’s go to Second Chronicles nine and verse twenty-three. So, Solomon, in his wisdom, what did he teach? Talks a little bit about a parallel of his reign towards the kingdom. Let’s go to two Chronicles nine and verse twenty-three. Build a picture of one of one of the parallels. So, in Second Chronicles nine and verse twenty-three, and also, we’ll have a little bit of fun here with some history. A little bit of fun and open our minds truly to what God had done with Solomon’s reign, with the effect of giving Solomon ultimately, God’s wisdom, God’s ability to make righteous judgment.

So, in Second Chronicles nine and verse twenty-three, let’s read. We may return to this chapter later, but let’s just read this one verse. “And all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom, that God had put in his heart.” Now, I said earlier, going through creation and the flood and Moses, et cetera, we’re a different people. We read God’s word, and we take God’s word as what it is. So, in the beginning of this verse, it says, “And all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon.” It says all the kings.

Now, I know where my mind is from growing up in America, North America, and Canada. I know the history lessons that I’ve received from public schooling. I look at our history, and my look at history as very narrow. I’m going to look at this verse without what we believe and without believing God’s in the way that we do believe God. “Well, that was just the kings around Solomon. It wasn’t all the kings of the earth.” Well, let’s expound that. God says it was all the kings of the earth.

There was an Olmec civilization in Central America. They became the Aztecs later. They had kings. This verse says all the kings of the earth sought Solomon. That changes it a little bit. There’s a Zhou dynasty in China. One of their kings, just an ancillary note, was known for his great journeys. I know I speculate. Did he journey to see what Solomon had to say? Egypt and Syria, of course, nearby, they had kings and pharaohs. Did they come and look? Did they come and see what he had to say? What about the Hittites? Even the Greeks. The Greeks would be common in our history lessons. They had rulers at the time. Did their kings come and see?

As we let that roll around in your mind, God’s word says, all the kings of the earth sought the presence of the Lord. Was it just the neighboring countries, or was it all? I named kings that we know, or that archaeologists know, that reigned all over the earth, from Central America to China, Egypt, Syria, the Hittites, the Greek. I’m sure there’s others. God’s word says they all came. How great was Solomon’s reign?

Let’s go to First Kings ten and verse twenty-four just to add to the picture a little. First Kings ten and verse twenty-four. I will say as a side story to the YAS lessons or the CBL lessons that we have today, as a little boy, I learned about Abraham. I learned about King David and King Solomon, and for whatever reason, I always thought Abraham was out there just by himself in the Middle East and nothing else was happening. We know by history, and if you study history, a lot else was happening. You read the Bible and you see King Solomon reigned, you think that’s the only thing that was happening on earth, a lot was happening on earth. A lot more was happening on earth and a lot greater was Solomon’s reign.

First Kings ten and verse twenty-four, a lot greater than the world man’s way of thinking would ever look at it. So here, First Kings ten and verse twenty-four, just another verse that says very similar. “And all the earth sought to Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart.” We’re going to dig in and look at what he taught. But all the earth sought to Solomon, and it’s interesting, my margin says sought the face of Solomon. Just didn’t want to see, hear him or hear about him, or if there were tablets or however, they communicated or wrote in those days, they wanted to read about him or they wanted to see his face. They wanted to see the real thing.

And it said all the earth. Do you know we are ones that love stories? We always love a good story. Can you imagine how quickly the story of King Solomon spread throughout all the earth? It’s possible. And we read God’s word, and it says all the earth. Put that roll around. What was that like? How was that? How did that happen? Of course, we cannot know all things. But here God says again, all the earth sought Solomon, sought his face, wanted to find him, wanted to see him.

Let’s go to First Kings four and verse twenty-nine, and now let’s read what he taught, a little bit, a summary of what he taught. There’s no way, there’s no sermon or set of sermons that could go through all that Solomon taught, and you’ll see why in a moment. But First Kings four and verse twenty-nine, and we’ll read through to verse thirty-four and then discuss the scriptures. “And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largess of heart, even as the sand that is on the seashore. And Solomon’s wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east country, and all the wisdom of Egypt.”

So let us think about that for a moment. All the children of the east country, so all the children of the east, his wisdom excelled. And again, I’ll say I speculate. Is that why a king in China was known for long journeys? Because all the kings sought him? Sought to hear what he had to teach? And can you imagine too, and all the wisdom of Egypt? Now that’s a little closer to home to maybe our schooling. We know that we look to Egypt for its wisdom and its ability and what it’s done over history, and Solomon’s wisdom excelled all of it. Solomon’s wisdom, the wisdom that God gave him, was greater than anything that was in Egypt. And we know what Egypt pictures, Egypt pictures the world, God’s wisdom, of course, is better than any wisdom that is in the world. You can begin to understand a little why everyone that heard the story of this king would want to come and see him, and talk to him, and hear him.

“For he was wiser than all the men; than Ethan the Ezrahite, than Heman, Chalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol: and his fame was in all nations round about, and he spoke three thousand proverbs: and his songs were a thousand-and-five.” He held those all in memory, you would assume. He spoke three thousand proverbs. I don’t think all of them are recorded in the Bible. “And his songs were three-thousand-and-five.” Can you imagine? Would you want to hear all of them? They’re all God’s wisdom. At one point in time, we will. When we’re in the kingdom, we can hear them all, we can understand them all.

“And he spoke of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon and even unto the hyssop that springs out of the wall.” So, from the largest tree, the cedar of Lebanon, to the smallest tree that grows in a crack in a wall. “He spoke of also the beasts, of fowl, and of creeping things, and of fishes. And there came all the people to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all the kings of the earth, which had heard of his wisdom.”

Here, it’s laid out what Solomon taught. And let’s go back to verse twenty-nine. Just three words here, wisdom, understanding, and heart, expanded out of what his wisdom, what gave wisdom, understanding, exceeding much, and largeness of heart. Wisdom, the word, the Hebrew word there, talks about in war, in administration, in religious affairs, in ethical reasoning, so in all administrations of the state. Understanding and intelligence. Active understanding, insight. How deep was the insight? Three-thousand proverbs. Knowledge of objects, a teacher. So, he was able to teach. Not just that he had all this wisdom, but all this wisdom was able to be taught. That’s why all of men wanted to see his face.

And a heart, the inner man, the mind, wild, inner part. Seat of emotions and passion, seat of courage and character. He knew the heart. He understood the heart. God gave him that ability. How deep and how broad was God’s wisdom that was given to Solomon? How much of those proverbs do you want to hear, or those songs would you want to hear? As a side point, we read over, we talked about trees, he talked about animals. What did he know? We know in the Ecclesiastes, he talks about the spirit in an animal, which is interesting, the side story.

We come across many animals here on the campus, and it was last year, standing behind the pole barn, one of the grounds team, and we’re discussing we were discussing a few things about the day. And as we were, we were looking into the valley, and here was a deer, walking by itself, and right alongside was a deer’s friend, a wild turkey. And the two of them were just, as, I guess, the… I will say this, as the younger ones will say, the two were just chilling in the valley.

I can’t believe I just said, “the young’uns,” say that, because you know what that means? That I’m not, but I’m the opposite of that. Oh, well, time does go on, unfortunately. But anyways, back to the story. So here, this deer and this wild turkey, walking through the valley. And we discussed it, and actually discussed it that night at home, and for some reason, my son had already looked up why a deer and a wild turkey would be walking together for some… I have no idea why he looked it up, but he already knew the answer. Basically, the deer can hear really well, and the turkey can see really well. So, the two of them support each other. The two of them protect each other. The two of them help warn each other of prey.

I want to go back to... So, let’s take this back to Solomon’s wisdom. He spoke of also a beast. Did he know what would be going on between the turkey and the deer? Did he know what the purpose that God had for the two of them to hang out, to be together, to be buddies? Well, what did Solomon know? What can we know? What will we know? We can know a lot through God’s word, but what will we know in the future to look back now and to look ahead?

The other part that Solomon talked about, he spoke of trees. The longer I work on the campus, the more at awe I am of God’s creation. The more I study about it. And only recently, this is something that just completely changes how I’ve thought about God’s creation and then especially about trees. And this goes back to Solomon’s wisdom. What did God give him? What could he understand?

Man through its tools finally proved that two trees of different species will actually share resources. So, when one has more resources from the sun, it’ll share it through the ground to the other tree. They’re not of the same species. They are different species. I believe it’s a fern and a birch. That happened, I believe in... Oh, it happened in all of the forests, but where they tested it was in the West of North America.

So, two trees were working together, in a sense. I mean they’re maybe over-humanizing it, but what did Solomon know? Did Solomon know that without scientific equipment we have? Did God show Solomon that, “Hey what could these two trees have made? These two trees work together.” It’s another story on how those trees work together and the God we serve. First, what mankind thinks about creation and thinks about trees, but back to Solomon, the wisdom that he knew.

If he spoke of trees, I’m pretty sure he didn’t speak only of how they look, their shape, described them. I’m sure he spoke on how they actually work, how they work together, how all of God’s creation works together. Let that all, both the story of the animal, the story of the trees, the breaking out of wisdom, understanding in the heart, let that all roll around and how much wisdom God gave Solomon, how big and how vast it was, and why all around the earth at the time that heard of Solomon wanted to see him, wanted to talk to him.

Let’s go to Proverbs one and verse two. So as a little bit into some of the proverbs of his. I’ll just read the first two scriptures, but in Proverbs, wisdom is mentioned thirty-eight times, understanding, nineteen times, but heart is mentioned ninety-one times. Take that in some ways, where’s God’s mind? Understanding the heart, understanding their heart, our hearts is most important, most importantly recorded in the Proverbs.

So, “The Proverbs of Solomon...” Proverbs one, verse one, “The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, the king of Israel; To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding.” And then at the rest of the book of Proverbs recorded some of what he taught, some of what God had given him. Now, what is the parallel? As we kind of come to the end of this section. Let’s go to Micah four and verse two.

The parallel to the kingdom, our minds were expanded on the greatness of the wisdom that God gave to Solomon. What is the parallel here towards the kingdom? We’ll often read this as we pass through the spring holidays and look towards the fall holidays. We’ll also look towards the coming kingdom as it is as we all earnestly wait for it. This is what we’re looking forward to. Micah four and verse two, “And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.”

We just went through some scriptures here that show during Solomon’s reign that all the kings of the earth, came to Jerusalem to hear Solomon. All that heard in the earth came to see his face. We’ll see in the kingdom when God rules on earth and the kingdom is here, all mankind will do the same. An amazing parallel, and one of the reasons, there are many, why the god of this world, why the historians of this world will make the story of Solomon as small as possible. The god of this world does not want God’s kingdom here.

The next section. What was it like for the Israelites during Solomon’s reign? What was it like for him? What will it be like in the kingdom? And how great was it? Things that we are discussing this afternoon. Let’s go to First... First, let’s go to First Kings four and verse twenty. Could have mentioned earlier you could have left the marker in First Kings four. We back to First Kings often. First Kings four. And we’ll begin reading in verse twenty and we’ll read through to verse twenty-five. “And Judah and Israel were many...” repeats what we read earlier, “...as the sand which is by the sea and multitude, eating and drinking, and making merry.”

So, the Israelites under the reign of Solomon, how we Just read under the wisdom and teaching of Solomon that came from God, what was it like for Israel? What was it like for the Israelites? And they were eating and drinking and making merry. It were great times. It was good times. Let’s read as we continue in verse twenty-one. Let’s read about Solomon.

“...And Solomon reigned over all the kingdoms from the river and unto the land of the Philistines, and unto the border of Egypt; they brought presents, and served Solomon all the days of his life. And Solomon’s provisions for one day was thirty measures of fine flour, threescore measures of meal, ten fat oxen, and twenty oxen out of the pastures, and a hundred sheep, besides harts, and roebucks, and Fallow deer, and fatted fowl. For he had dominion over all the region on this side of the river, from Tiphsah even to Azzah, and over all the kings on this side of the river: and he had peace on all sides round about. And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, and every man under his vine and under his fig tree, from Dan even to Beersheba, all the days of Solomon.”

So here we see what it was like for Israel. What it was like for those in Judah and Israel under Solomon’s reign, under the wisdom of God. Let’s look at the verse in verse twenty-five. Look at this verse in more detail and this is an analogy of how it was under Solomon’s reign. Now let’s look at it. So dwell here... is to dwell. Just expand the picture. What does it look like? We know there is future prophetic significance for the meaning of this verse and we’ll turn to a verse in Micah later. But let’s look at it, what does it mean in the picture here? The picture under King Solomon in the kingdom of Israel.

And to start, “...and every man under his vine and his fig tree and to dwell…” to dwell safely. So here to dwell, to settle, establish, habitation and habit, make to keeps. Everyone has made and kept their own home, their own place. They’re in safety. A place of refuge. There’s security and trust all around. There’s assurance and confidence and hope all around for all of those in Israel, all of those in God’s kingdom. What a difference in the world we live in today.

And vine, oftentimes vine equals grapes, at least growing up in southern Ontario were surrounded by vineyards. Vines equaled grapes. And what does that culturally point to our and even in our society today and society then? Well, it points to wine, peace, joy, merriment, happiness. We read that earlier. They are drinking and making merry, all of Israel. They are provided for. They had tremendous blessings. They had abundance. The fig tree, as an analogy, here, and to just paint the picture of the kingdom under Solomon, there’s abundant food. There’s shade and shelter. Again, all of Israel was provided for.

In parallel, we’re looking at, let’s go to Micah four and verse four just to paint the picture a little broader, paint the picture with a little more detail. There’s a word in Micah four that wasn’t in First Kings. As we look back to Solomon’s reign, to look forward to the kingdom of God and what it will be like, let’s go to Micah. I found Micah quickly earlier and not this time.

All right, Micah four and verse four. Let’s read the whole verse. “But they shall sit, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, and none shall make them afraid, for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken.” So, of course, that points to the future. That points to a future time and has greater significance than just the words that I laid out. We will not get into that, but there is a different word here. The extra word that is in this part is, “None shall make them afraid.” The word afraid, shudder with terror, hasten with anxiety, discomfort, fray, quake, and tremble. It’s a mess of a fray, quake, tremble, discomfort. In Solomon’s reign, during those forty years, nobody was afraid. What was that like?

Let’s look at the news today, the world today, what we all get to look forward to, for all of mankind when God’s kingdom is here. I would venture to say that being afraid is something that we almost naturally do every day, even though where we live, speaking to us here, at God’s headquarters in Wadsworth, Ohio, we do live in relative peace and safety in a way that most of the world doesn’t. Even most of our own country doesn’t. But being afraid is a part of our existence. We lock our doors. We lock our cars. We’re concerned if we drive in certain cities, certain parts of certain cities. If someone approaches us that isn’t dressed well or looks opposing, we have fear. We’re afraid.

There almost isn’t a day that... it’s just what we do. When we go online, and for whatever reason, you know, what we see. And we’re worried there’s cyber security. Is someone going to phish? Is someone going to... going to hack my accounts? It’s always with us. It’s always in the back of our minds. Could we even... Could we even understand what it’s like to have it all taken away that we don’t fear, we’re not afraid at all? How great was Solomon’s kingdom, because of what God gave him, because of what God blessed Israel with? How great will the kingdom be that you’re not afraid? Yet we all, or...

Many of us have children. Many of us... all of us are around children. Not to be afraid for their safety ever? Yes, here... here at the campus, we get to enjoy an example of what it’s like to be in the kingdom, when we don’t, necessarily don’t worry the same way for our children. But out in the world, in this world, it’s constantly. It’s on everyone’s mind, their safety. Imagine that isn’t there ever. That any mother never has to worry or be afraid for their children. What was that... What was that like, during King Solomon’s time? What will that be like in the future? How great King Solomon’s reign was, how important an example it was... it is, for all of us to look back a little today as we do look forward to the future?

What else did Solomon do? Let’s talk a little bit about what he planted and what he built. Let’s go to Ecclesiastes two. The wisdom that God gave Solomon, with the peace that we read about, that God gave him, the abilities, the riches, the resources. What did he do? Go to Ecclesiastes two. And as we read about this, and we read about what Solomon did, with the wisdom that God gave him, with the resources that God gave him, it always curiously is in the back of my mind, Christ, when he was on earth, was a carpenter. He also built. He always also made things, made homes, made shelters, made other... Probably a carpenter made furniture. Endless amount of things. He was a builder.

So what did Solomon do with all that God blessed him with? He was also a builder. Let’s go to... We’re all in Ecclesiastes two, verse four. It’s worded a little awkwardly in the King James English here. “I made me great works; I builded me houses; I planted me vineyards. I made me gardens and orchards, I planted trees in them of all kind of fruits. I made me pools of water to water therewith the wood that brings forth trees. I got me servants and maidens and had servants born in my house. I also had great possessions of great and small cattle above all that were in Jerusalem before me. I gathered me also silver and gold and peculiar treasure of the kings and of the provinces. I gat me men singers and woman singers and the delights, the sons and men in musical instruments of all sorts.”

So he built great things and he had great entertainment, proper entertainment of all sorts. “So I was great and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem and also, my wisdom remained with me.” Talk a little bit about what he made and what society was like then. And compare it to what this world will think that David, Solomon’s father, and Solomon were just a bunch of tribal leaders running around what they all call not the Promised Land, but they’ll call Palestine or the Middle East. They won’t recognize it for what it is. What was society like? We’ll dig more into it when we learn about how he built God’s temple.

But he built houses, not one house, multiple houses. He planted vineyards, gardens, orchards, trees, and pools of water to water therewith the wood that brings forth trees. On the campus, we have an irrigation system that helps with the heat that’s coming, will help keep things a little greener. It won’t do what God’s rain can do, but it will help a little. So what I find interesting, personally, when we read this scripture, “I made me pools of water to water therewith the wood that brings forth trees.” So, he planted trees and he set up an irrigation system to water those trees.

Were they running around with buckets and the Israelites had nothing better to do but then to take buckets around the trees or was there actually an irrigation system? Was there actually intensive agriculture to provide for all of this, to make all of this happen? Solomon’s reign, the kingdom at that time, was much more complex, much more advanced than mankind will give God credit for.

Let’s learn about the temple, God’s temple that Solomon built. Let’s go to First Kings six and verse one. At some point, we’ll get the opportunity to talk to Solomon, talk to David, talk to all the greats of the Bible. I’d like to know what he did. He didn’t have the wonders of electricity to pump water out of ponds, to force it through pipes, to turn sprinklers on, but he still had an irrigation system. He still watered his trees. I want to know how he did it. I want to know what tricks he had to keep that grass green and those trees lush. I’m sure they had their system, they had their advances. Maybe they did it better than we did. It’d be fun to learn in detail, to learn in person, at some point.

But let’s talk about the greatest thing that Solomon was allowed to build, that Solomon was given the resources to build, and we’ll go into all the details of building a temple. We’ll discuss a few of the highlights. Let’s begin reading in verse one of chapter six in First Kings here. “And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, which is the second month, he began to build the House of the Lord.” Setting the timing up, the building of the house.

“And the house which the King Solomon built for the Lord, the length thereof was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof was twenty cubits, and the height thereof was thirty cubits. And the porch before the temple of the house was twenty cubits…” Now cubits can be a foot and a half, so we can do some math there, so twenty cubits are close to thirty feet, “…was the length thereof to the breadth of the house, and ten cubits was the breadth thereof before the house. And for the house was made windows of narrow lights.”

And it goes, “And against the wall of the house, he built chambers roundabout, and against the walls of the house roundabout, both the temple and the oracle, and he made chambers roundabout.” So some of the details. And let’s just jump down to verse seven because this verse was talking about the irrigation and how he watered his trees. Let’s talk about this first a little bit. Let’s read it first, a little. Let’s read it, to start. “And the house, when it was in building, was built of stone made ready before it was brought to the site: so that there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house, while it was in building.”

So we’re talking about how great Solomon’s kingdom was, that God gave him. We’re talking about how advanced society was then, how advanced God’s kingdom would be. Even they didn’t have the luxuries we have, didn’t have any smartphones, they couldn’t text. So how did this happen? How did this happen that as the house was being built, the stone was made ready before it was brought to the site. So the building site was quiet. Many of us, I’m sure, have been on a building site. Has anyone seen a quiet building site without sound? All right, I’m the only one raising my hand. That’s good. Because if you did, you would have been here.

And if you would have been there, well, that would be a little different story. None of us have… No, none of us were there. We’re reading about it for our edification. So while the temple was being laid, while the foundation was being placed, while those massive stones that are the foundation of the temple were being brought to the site, they were measured and cut miles away. Some of them were brought down from Lebanon. How did they communicate back and forward? What were the designs? How did they write them out? How did they engineer them out? How did they communicate with one another? How advanced would they have had to be?

How much communication would Israel, the workers, if you read throughout First Kings earlier in the chapter, the workers in Lebanon, how would they know what to do? How would they know what to cut? How would they know the measurements? No, they didn’t have what we can do, and we can send a text immediately to get a measurement right because it was wrong. Now, the other side of it, if you read it, the stone came at the right size for the right spot at the right time, every time. What was that like? How great of a building site was that?

I’ll make fun of, try to… when the Egyptians built the pyramids, were they that quiet? I doubt it. Actually, I know they weren’t, because they didn’t have the hand of God doing it. They didn’t have God leading it. They didn’t have God’s wisdom. So can you imagine building the temple and on that construction site, it’s quiet. And all the communication, all the designs, all the architects, the engineering, the discussions, the planning that would have to go in to make that happen, it’s unbelievable, but it happened. We believe it.

It’s hard to wrap your mind around how that’s even possible, but that’s what’s in God’s word. And you’ll ask any engineer, you’ll ask any historian, and they’ll probably laugh at you if you say, “That’s how the temple was built.” They won’t believe it, but we believe it. We accept it as God’s word. How amazing the God we serve is.

Let’s go through a few other scriptures in chapter six here. Let’s go to verse eighteen, which is amazing in the detail that is here throughout these chapters and also in Second Chronicles. We’ll only be able to read some of it. “And the cedar of the house within was carved with knops and open flowers: all was cedar; there was no stone seen.” So we just talked about the stone that was cut and placed. And then all the stone was covered in cedar. And I think the knops, my margin tells me, it’s gourds. So there’s intricate carvings in the cedar that was used to cover the wood, the wood that was used to cover the stone. And that wood was covered in intricate carvings.

The instructions that would’ve been necessary, the work, the detail... In verse twenty, let’s read. This is just, every time I read it, I’m amazed. Try to picture it in my mind what is described here and more. We’ll just start in verse twenty, but I will expound. “The oracle at the forefront was twenty cubits in length, was twenty cubits in breadth, and twenty cubits in height thereof,” so some measurements, “and he overlaid it with pure gold; and so covered the altar which was of cedar.” So the stone was covered with cedar, and the cedar, it’s now covered with gold.

“So Solomon overlaid the house within with pure gold: and he made a partition by the chains of gold before the oracle; and he overlaid it with gold. And the whole house he overlaid with gold, until he had finished all the house: also the whole altar that was by the oracle he overlaid with gold.” Can you imagine what that would look like? The entire temple was overlaid in gold, was covered in gold. On a beautiful, bright, sunny day, what would that look like? How amazing that view that would be, to God’s instructions to how the temple was built, to show God’s glory, to show God’s greatness.

What resources did God give King Solomon to be able to do this? How much would this world want to mitigate, make it only a legend, make it only a story when this is God’s instructions? This is a story. This is the details on how God had His temple built. I don’t think there is a building in all the earth or has ever been since that has been covered in gold in that way. Not that I know of. What would the beauty of such a building be? Amazing. Amazing what God was able to do during King Solomon’s reign. So looks towards the time when the kingdom will be here, the temple will be here and God will be here.

Let’s go to Second Chronicles seven and verse one. Read a little bit about when the temple was completed. And Solomon had the prayer of dedication. It comes to an end. And all that was done and all that we’ve described only a few of the details about the temple. We’re talking about the kingdom while Solomon reigned God’s kingdom, ultimately. As I’ve said, looking back to look forward, but imagine this event. Imagine what it would be to be here, and we can see why the world makes any of the great things that God did in the Old Testament… tries to make them as of nothing.

Let’s read chapter seven and verse one. “Now when Solomon had made an end of praying, the fire came down from heaven, and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the Lord filled the house. And the priests could not enter into the house of the Lord, because the glory of the Lord had filled the Lord’s house. And when all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of the Lord upon the house, they bowed themselves with their faces to the ground upon the pavement, and worshipped, and praised the Lord, saying, For He is good; for His mercy endures for ever.”

So God gave Solomon wisdom. God gave Solomon tremendous resources. King David prepared it, prepared the resources for the temple. Solomon built it. And here we see the event of God coming to His temple. What an amazing time that would be. What an amazing event that was. We can only wonder what that event will be like in the future. The picture that it shows us. A temple covered in gold, glistening. If you think of the fire coming down from heaven, and the temple covered in gold, the light of the flames reflecting off of it. What an amazing event that was. What an amazing event that’ll be. How great was Solomon’s reign? How great was this time? It’s almost unfathomable.

It’s wonderful that we can read it, put the picture in our mind, and look forward to the future when it will be here again. God’s kingdom, God coming into His temple again, just unbelievable what that was like. Let’s read more what Solomon did, more of what he built. Let’s go to Second Chronicles. We’re there. Let’s go over to chapter eight. Yes, that was the most important thing that he built, God’s temple, but as God works, Christ was a carpenter. All through his reign Solomon built. Let’s read a little bit more about it.

Second Chronicles eight and verse one. “And it came to pass at the end of twenty years, wherein Solomon had built the house of the Lord, and his own house, that the cities which Hiram had restored to Solomon, Solomon built them, and caused the children of Israel to dwell there. And Solomon went to Hamathzobah, and prevailed against it. And he built Tadmor in the wilderness, and all the store cities, which he built in Hamath. And he built...” So the store cities, the granary, the storage cities of all food that was being produced, which he built in Hamath.

“Also he built Bethhoron the upper, and Bethhoron the lower, fenced cities,” so fortified cities, “with walls, gates, and bars; And Baalath, and all the store cities that Solomon had...” So he built them a hall. Will come to a point where it’s countless. “...and all the chariot cities...” So he built lots of cities to park all his cars, his chariots. “...and the cities of the horsemen...” Just imagine you have a city that’s for his chariots. So it’s for the Israelites’ chariots. What would you need to have a city just for chariots, and a city just for horsemen? “...and all that Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, and in Lebanon, and throughout all the land of his dominion.”

All the desire which he desired to build. That’s what my margin said. All that Solomon desired to build, he built throughout all the land. He built, and we know that he was a teacher. We know he took the understanding that God gave him and shared it. I’m sure he built these places and he shared it with all of Israel. If Israel was happy, if Israel was joyful, they were enjoying all that Solomon did. All got to participate in. Again, a picture of a kingdom that the world in a sense, in many ways, doesn’t want us to know about.

Let’s go to Isaiah two and verse four and read a parallel of what... So all the resources that God gave Solomon, all the abilities, the understanding, the teaching, the details and gifts that were given to those that worked on the temple and worked in other construction projects and led the kingdom under Solomon, was only possible. I’m going to the future first before we go back to Solomon’s time. Isaiah two and verse four, what it’ll be like in the kingdom to come.

“And He shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” So a picture of peace comes in God’s kingdom when it’s on this earth. Let’s jump to First Kings five and verse four. We know peace will come. We know that Solomon was only able to do this, to do all that we read about, to do all that he built, because God brought peace. God will bring peace to this earth, and during this great kingdom of the past, He also brought peace.

First Kings five and verse four. “But now the Lord my God has given me rest on every side, so that there is neither adversary nor evil occurrent.” So there’s not even a skirmish. There’s not even someone throwing a rock over the wall, or an arrow over the fence or the border. There’s nothing. Gave Solomon great opportunity, gave us a great example of what it would be like. And if there’s peace in the earth, we, kind of, know this today, man’s world, if there’s less war, there’s more trade. In Solomon’s time, God gave him peace and no evil occurrence all around. We know in the kingdom there will be peace as well.

Let’s look at the trading that Solomon did. Let’s look at because of this peace, because of all that he built. Because of all that he built, he needed to do some trading to bring some of those resources to the promised land, to the kingdom. Let’s go to First Kings nine and verse twenty-six. First Kings nine and verse twenty-six. Make it a little into chapter ten, but we’ll start here. “And King Solomon made a navy of ships in Eziongeber, which is beside Eloth, on the shore of the Red Sea,” so I believe that’s down where Eloth is in modern-day Israel, “in the land of Edom.”

So he made a navy of ships. Now they weren’t a bunch of canoes. Wasn’t a Canadian, to go across a bunch of little lakes. It was a navy of ships. What was a navy like then? Let’s read a little further. “And Hiram sent in the navy his servants, shipmen that had knowledge of the sea, with the servants of Solomon.” So Hiram had some knowledge and he shared and he traded. He shared that knowledge with the servants of Solomon. “And they came to Ophir, and fetched from hence gold, four hundred and twenty talents, and brought it to King Solomon.”

So here he had a navy of ships. We may read elsewhere that that navy, if you jump over to... there’s a page over in my Bible. So, First Kings ten and verse twenty-two. Let’s see if you flip a page over there if you have to. So First Kings ten and verse twenty-two. This adds a little bit to the picture. “For the king had at sea a navy of Tharshish with the navy of Hiram...” So he had two navies. You could say that that navy of Tharshish would’ve been the Mediterranean Sea. He had another navy with Hiram that was in the Red Sea. We can see that from the scripture we just read. “...and once in three years came the navy of Tharshish bringing gold and silver.”

So once in three years the navy came around or went out in a circuit. As you could see the effect in verse twenty-three, it said “...king exceeded all the kings of the earth with riches and wisdom.” Such was the state of Solomon’s reign, the state of the example of the kingdom of God on earth. Here I want to expound the picture of these navies, and we’ll look at... make some assumptions because man will say that mankind wasn’t that smart back then and couldn’t travel as far. But a boat called a trireme that I think the Greeks made more popular used more often in the Mediterranean. But if Solomon had a similar boat, how far could he travel if these navies left and came back once in every three years?

Well, a similar ship the Egyptians had. And we’re calling it a navy, so we definitely know they’re not in a little canoe with a bunch of paddles and two guys in a little boat trying to battle the Red Sea and go out to the Indian Ocean. And they knew the ways of the ocean, Hiram sent his servants. So if one of these boats that they may have had would travel only one in three days for those three years, how far could it travel? The math I did is once a day they could travel up to a hundred kilometers, sixty miles. So once in every three days they approach sixteen thousand kilometers. Sorry, I don’t know. Can’t do the conversion in my head to the miles.

How far were they going if they hugged the coasts? This is where I want to expand an example, maybe a relatable example. If they had a navy and they were hugging the coasts and they left on the Red Sea and they traveled east. And they only traveled only part of the time of those three years. They could get all the way to Singapore. If you can’t see that in your mind’s eye on a map, maybe tonight get a Globe out or get Google Maps out and see how far that is. They could travel that far. Isn’t that amazing how interconnected and how big God’s kingdom was at the time, how far Solomon went?

If they went the other way and they headed south and then ultimately west, they would get farther than Cape Town on the bottom of South Africa. How far did they go? And all of this, yes, there’s a little speculation. There’s a little making assumptions on my part, but God calls it a navy and two navies. Let’s not talk about the Mediterranean Sea. If they were there and they traveled every three years, how far could they have gone? How far into Europe would they have gone? Look at the greatness of the kingdom that God had with Solomon, how interconnected they were, how detailed they were, how far they traveled.

Let’s see the effect of it. We’ll spot through it a little bit in chapter ten here. We all are familiar with the story of the Queen of Sheba. She came from Africa. She came to learn about Solomon. One of the things that I that I want to focus on, we’ll read a little bit first, is what she brought as a relation to what the trading that was going on is how much if these ships are traveling and returning back to Solomon every three years, how far could they go? Let’s learn a little bit about the Queen of Sheba.

“And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord,” in chapter ten and verse one, “she came to prove him with hard questions. And she came to Jerusalem with a very great train, with camels that bare spices, and very much gold, and precious stones: and when she was come to Solomon, she communed with him of all that was in her heart. And Solomon told her all her questions: there was not any thing hid from the king, which he told her not.

“And when the queen of Sheba had seen all Solomon’s wisdom, and the house that he had built, and the meat of his table, and the sitting of his servants,” and in verse five, “and the attendance of his ministers, and their apparel, and his cupbearers,” she saw his entire court, and in the end of verse five, “there was no more spirit in her.” In a sense, she fainted. Wow. She was so blown away she fainted. There was no spirit in her. She was weak. “And she said to the king, It was a true report that I heard in mine own land of the acts and of thy wisdom. Howbeit I believed not the words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it. And behold,” we’re in verse seven, “behold half of it was not told me.”

So even the stories that reached around the world, the full story was not seen until you came to see it. “And the wisdom and prosperity exceeds the fame which I heard.” And in verse eight. “Happy are your men, happy are your servants, which stand continually before thee, and that hear your wisdom. Blesses be the Lord God which delights in you.” It’s just a picture of what she saw, a picture of what the court was like, a picture, in verse eight, of what all Israel was like. They were all happily serving their king, happily serving their king that had God’s wisdom and taught God’s wisdom. Again, how great was the kingdom when Solomon reigned? What a picture that is for us, what a picture that is of what will come.

Let’s go to verse twenty-two here, just an example, verse ten. Actually, let’s read verse twenty-one. “And all King Solomon’s drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold.” Just a picture here. “None were of silver: it was nothing accounted of in the days of Solomon. For the king had at the..” twenty-two. All right, I’m missing... Give me a moment here. I’m missing the scripture that I wanted to look at. See if my eye falls on it. And it’s not going to, but it does talk about what Queen of Sheba brought. And at a certain point, it talks about apes, and it talks about peacocks, and how far away peacocks were from the promised land.

They’re in India or Southeast Asia. My assumptions were made. They could travel all the way to Singapore and Southeast Asia. How interconnected was man at that time? How far was God’s reach through His kingdom, through as an example? Then how many people heard about it? If the Queen of Sheba brought a peacock, who did she trade with to bring the peacock, and why did she? And did she tell a little bit of the story when she did, or her servant did?

And all of this, as a side point, it is interesting reading the assumptions I made about a trireme, but we read about Hiram and knowing the sea. I’d looked up a story about a man in nineteen seventy-six, a Polynesian that went on a trip that was twenty-six hundred miles, forty-two hundred kilometers. He went from Hawaii to Tahiti. He used no navigational tools. He only used what in his culture the elders had taught him. He only used the stars, the winds, the currents, the clouds, and the birds. And he made it through open ocean from Hawaii to Tahiti. Put that in the picture of Solomon’s kingdom, in the picture of these navies, in the picture of how far the Queen of Sheba came and how far she traded.

If this man with some knowledge of the stars can navigate the Big Blue, as many call the Pacific Ocean, without any navigational tools, what was Solomon’s navy able to do? It’s only fun to speculate that someday we will know how far they went. Imagine going across the ocean and the only GPS you have is God’s stars at night. Wouldn’t that be amazing? You can cross the entire ocean and all you have is God’s creation showing you how to get across it. Those times you may be here again, but no, we right now depend on GPS, that smartphone with that map to get us from point A to point B.

Well, as we come to a conclusion, go to the Ecclesiastes. What are we to learn? Let’s go to Ecclesiastes one and verse twelve. Ecclesiastes one and verse twelve. And all the books in the Old Testament here, there’s much more to learn about the Solomon’s time. Let us read a few verses here. “And I the Preacher was king over Israel and Jerusalem.”

And verse thirteen, Ecclesiastes one. “And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven: this sore travail which God has given to the sons of man to be exercised therewith.”

And verse fourteen. “And I have seen all the works that are done under heaven and behold, all is vanity and vexation of the spirit.” So he looked at all of it, he looked at all that he could do, and Solomon said all is vanity. All is for nothing. Well, all the blessings and all the time during God’s Kingdom as it was under his reign, his conclusion was all is vanity. So what is missing? What is missing here, and what could be missing with us, and what could be missing with mankind in the Kingdom to come? So under Solomon’s reign, they had all the physical blessings. They had everything, but they were missing one thing.

Let’s go to Romans eight and verse five. So they had all the physical blessings. They had everything that God could provide for them. They had peace, they had safety, they had food, they had abundance, they had abilities to create and to build, but it was all physical. So Solomon says all is vanity. So what is missing? Let’s go to Romans eight and verse five. So if you have all the blessings, you have all that God can provide and all of Israel, and we know if you read the story of ancient Israel, they quickly changed after Solomon’s reign. So Israel quickly went astray. Even Solomon at the end for a while went astray too. They didn’t change one thing.

Let’s read in Romans eight and verse five. “For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” So with all the blessings that was given to Solomon and given to Israel, in a sense, it is all vanity if there isn’t a change in the spirit. We all know this well. We’ve all studied this before. That’s a lesson to us or a reminder to us, a reminder we may quandary, how was that possible? They had it all and they didn’t change. How will it be in the kingdom? Again, they’ll have it all, will they change? No. We must change our spirit. We must change our minds.

We must focus on the things of the Spirit. That is what makes it all the purpose for it all. Ultimately, let’s go to... and where the effect of it and what God calls us. Let’s go to verse fourteen in Romans eight. “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God...” So if it’s not just physical and we make that spiritual change and we change our hearts and we’re not just enjoying all the blessings as ancient Israel was, and maybe future Israel and future mankind will again, and we’re making it, this is who we are. “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they’re the sons of God.” So if we’re spiritually minded and it’s not just enjoying the physical blessings, God calls us His sons, His daughters, part of His family.

To conclude, let’s go back to Ecclesiastes twelve. And I mentioned that Solomon may have strayed for a time, but the last thing that he wrote was ultimately instruction to us, be an indication where he ultimately... how he ultimately ended. Ecclesiastes twelve, and we’ll begin reading in verse twelve. We’ll read verse twelve and thirteen. Actually, let’s back up to verse ten. “The preacher sought to find out acceptable words,” this is really a little bit of a review, “and that what was written, was upright, and even words of truth.” Ecclesiastes twelve. The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd.” So the words of the wise.

“And further,” verse twelve, “by these, my son,” so Solomon talking to us, or God talking to us through Solomon, “be admonished: of making many books there is no end of study is a weariness of the flesh.” So all the wisdom, all the knowledge, all the books that can be written, all the books can be studied, ultimately, it’s weariness. Ultimately, to what end? To what end if there isn’t a change, if it’s only physical, and there isn’t that spiritual mind we just discussed?

Now, in verse thirteen, for the end of the matter. The end of the reign of Solomon, the example for us, instruction to us. “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter.” It’s the conclusion of the whole matter, the conclusion of Solomon’s reign, the example it is to us, and the last, we can say now, the instruction to us, is to “Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.”