King Solomon: The Kingdom Begins to Fade (1 Kings 4:20-5:7 & 11:1-13) (1 Kings 4:20-5:7, 1 Kings 11:1-13)
Francis Blight, 15th October 2023Part of the Autumn teaching 2023 - Kingdom Come series, preached at a Fordham Sunday Service service
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4:21 And Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the River to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt. These countries brought tribute and were Solomon's subjects all his life.
4:22 Solomon's daily provisions were thirty cors of fine flour and sixty cors of meal,
4:23 ten head of stall-fed cattle, twenty of pasture-fed cattle and a hundred sheep and goats, as well as deer, gazelles, roebucks and choice fowl.
4:24 For he ruled over all the kingdoms west of the River, from Tiphsah to Gaza, and had peace on all sides.
4:25 During Solomon's lifetime Judah and Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, lived in safety, each man under his own vine and fig tree.
4:26 Solomon had four thousand stalls for chariot horses, and twelve thousand horses.
4:27 The district officers, each in his month, supplied provisions for King Solomon and all who came to the king's table. They saw to it that nothing was lacking.
4:28 They also brought to the proper place their quotas of barley and straw for the chariot horses and the other horses.
4:29 God gave Solomon wisdom and very great insight, and a breadth of understanding as measureless as the sand on the seashore.
4:30 Solomon's wisdom was greater than the wisdom of all the men of the East, and greater than all the wisdom of Egypt.
4:31 He was wiser than any other man, including Ethan the Ezrahite-wiser than Heman, Calcol and Darda, the sons of Mahol. And his fame spread to all the surrounding nations.
4:32 He spoke three thousand proverbs and his songs numbered a thousand and five.
4:33 He described plant life, from the cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of walls. He also taught about animals and birds, reptiles and fish.
4:34 Men of all nations came to listen to Solomon's wisdom, sent by all the kings of the world, who had heard of his wisdom.
5:1 When Hiram king of Tyre heard that Solomon had been anointed king to succeed his father David, he sent his envoys to Solomon, because he had always been on friendly terms with David.
5:2 Solomon sent back this message to Hiram:
5:3 "You know that because of the wars waged against my father David from all sides, he could not build a temple for the Name of the Lord his God until the Lord put his enemies under his feet.
5:4 But now the Lord my God has given me rest on every side, and there is no adversary or disaster.
5:5 I intend, therefore, to build a temple for the Name of the Lord my God, as the Lord told my father David, when he said, 'Your son whom I will put on the throne in your place will build the temple for my Name.'
5:6 "So give orders that cedars of Lebanon be cut for me. My men will work with yours, and I will pay you for your men whatever wages you set. You know that we have no one so skilled in felling timber as the Sidonians."
5:7 When Hiram heard Solomon's message, he was greatly pleased and said, "Praise be to the Lord today, for he has given David a wise son to rule over this great nation."
11:2 They were from nations about which the Lord had told the Israelites, "You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods." Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love.
11:3 He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray.
11:4 As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been.
11:5 He followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molech the detestable god of the Ammonites.
11:6 So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the Lord ; he did not follow the Lord completely, as David his father had done.
11:7 On a hill east of Jerusalem, Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable god of Moab, and for Molech the detestable god of the Ammonites.
11:8 He did the same for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and offered sacrifices to their gods.
11:9 The Lord became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the Lord , the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice.
11:10 Although he had forbidden Solomon to follow other gods, Solomon did not keep the Lord 's command.
11:11 So the Lord said to Solomon, "Since this is your attitude and you have not kept my covenant and my decrees, which I commanded you, I will most certainly tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your subordinates.
11:12 Nevertheless, for the sake of David your father, I will not do it during your lifetime. I will tear it out of the hand of your son.
11:13 Yet I will not tear the whole kingdom from him, but will give him one tribe for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen."
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