1 & 2 Kings

1 Kings Chapter 9

The Lord Appears to Solomon

• 1Kings 9:1  And it came to pass, when Solomon had finished the building of the house of the LORD, and the king's house, and all Solomon's desire which he was pleased to do, 
• 2  That the LORD appeared to Solomon the second time, as he had appeared unto him at Gibeon. 
• 3  And the LORD said unto him, I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, that thou hast made before me: I have hallowed this house, which thou hast built, to put my name there for ever; and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually. 
• 4  And if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, in integrity of heart, and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded thee, and wilt keep my statutes and my judgments: 
• 5  Then I will establish the throne of thy kingdom upon Israel for ever, as I promised to David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man upon the throne of Israel. 
• 6  But if ye shall at all turn from following me, ye or your children, and will not keep my commandments and my statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods, and worship them: 
• 7  Then will I cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them; and this house, which I have hallowed for my name, will I cast out of my sight; and Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all people: 
• 8  And at this house, which is high, every one that passeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss; and they shall say, Why hath the LORD done thus unto this land, and to this house? 
• 9  And they shall answer, Because they forsook the LORD their God, who brought forth their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and have taken hold upon other gods, and have worshipped them, and served them: therefore hath the LORD brought upon them all this evil. 

Usually people tend to follow the king. He was an example to the rest of the citizens. God always has the faithful that stay true to Him even when governments turn away from God. Usually they are persecuted when that happens but there is always some like Daniel, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel who wholely follow the Lord. After God used Moses to lead the people out of Egypt's bondage they went into the land of Canaan and started the separate tribes and became a great nation. Joshua became their leader. Joshua stayed faithful in his day.

Later they fell away from God and started getting into idolatry, child sacrifice and many other abominations that the heathen nations around them did. They were then brought under bondage by Babylon. They were allowed to return to their home land 70 years later.

In the time when Jesus came to born of a woman and bring the gospel of the kingdom to Israel, they were subject to the Roman Empire. After the rejection of Christ, they were destroyed as a nation by the Romans in 70AD. They stayed scattered all over the earth and an heavily persecuted on and off for many years. After the German holocaust and World War 2, things began slowly to change in their favor. With the help of President Harry Truman and others, they started the nation of Israel again. Many are still returning to this day. 1948 started the latter day prophecy that will end in the 2nd coming of Jesus to set up His kingdom.

All the warnings of Moses and the prophets came to pass. God warns Solomon also of what will happen is Israel forsakes Him and do not keep His commandments. They can never blame God for what happed to them because they were warned many times what would happen if they trusted and followed the sins other nations followed. Those same nations would turn on them. They are surrounded now by nations that hate them. God has never given up on His promise to Abraham. Much more is to happen before the final end but the nation of Israel is the one nation that will be standing and faithful to God in the long run. Watch and see. The time may be close at hand. Watch Israel. We must pray that many find the Lord now and escape the things coming. Through it all God will bring Israel back into the fold. He word is true and He stands by it.

At this time in Solomon's reign, they are in their first love of the Lord. They were a strong nation. No weapon formed against them would succeed with God's hand of protection on them.

Heathen nations didn't have to attack them with weapons though although they will try. The biggest danger in the past was being friends with them and allowing them to seduce them into idolatry. That would be what brings them under bondage and cause them to be scattered over and over again. There was always those that stayed faithful. The faithful believers in God, is what keeps a nation from being destroyed for a longer time. In modern times, it is the strong, praying believers in Jesus that is keeping many a nation from being judged and destroyed. They do not realize that. They hate the moral standards of those that believe but do not realize that those believers in Jesus are keeping God's hand of protection over them longer. God will not abandon His people. When the true church leaves in the rapture, all hell will break loose. Thank God though that time will be shortened.

Solomon's Other Acts

• 1Kings 9:10  And it came to pass at the end of twenty years, when Solomon had built the two houses, the house of the LORD, and the king's house, 
• 11  (Now Hiram the king of Tyre had furnished Solomon with cedar trees and fir trees, and with gold, according to all his desire,) that then king Solomon gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee. 
• 12  And Hiram came out from Tyre to see the cities which Solomon had given him; and they pleased him not. 
• 13  And he said, What cities are these which thou hast given me, my brother? And he called them the land of Cabul unto this day. 

These cities were not part of the land God gave Israel during the time of Joshua but outside of Israel according to some writers. Cabul means worthless or not to his liking.

• 1Kings 9:14  And Hiram sent to the king sixscore talents of gold. He probably was not pleased with them because of a lack of some kind or they did not profit him in any way he thought would be good.

It boggles my mind why people needed that much money.

• 1Kings 9:15  And this is the reason of the levy which king Solomon raised; for to build the house of the LORD, and his own house, and Millo, and the wall of Jerusalem, and Hazor, and Megiddo, and Gezer. 

This was a heavy tax and a burden on the people which caused trouble later in the days of Rehoboam when the elders complained about it. This is found in 1 Kings 12.

• 1Kings 9:16  For Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up, and taken Gezer, and burnt it with fire, and slain the Canaanites that dwelt in the city, and given it for a present unto his daughter, Solomon's wife. 

They things they did in those days puzzle me somewhat. Imagine living in a city that is taken over by a king and given away as a present to one's relative.

• 1Kings 9:17  And Solomon built Gezer, and Bethhoron the nether, 
• 18  And Baalath, and Tadmor in the wilderness, in the land, 
• 19  And all the cities of store that Solomon had, and cities for his chariots, and cities for his horsemen, and that which Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, and in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion. 
• 20  And all the people that were left of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, which were not of the children of Israel, 
• 21  Their children that were left after them in the land, whom the children of Israel also were not able utterly to destroy, upon those did Solomon levy a tribute of bondservice unto this day. 
• 22  But of the children of Israel did Solomon make no bondmen: but they were men of war, and his servants, and his princes, and his captains, and rulers of his chariots, and his horsemen. 

Solomon only made slaves out of those that were not natural born Israelites. Jews served and worked hard but were not slaves like the Gentiles under Solomon's reign. Sometimes though that having slaves may have helped them have places to live, plenty of food and a good life if the owners of slaves were good and kind. Throughout history though that has not always been the case. People should be free. I notice after the 1st coming of Jesus and the gospel, slavery became a thing of the past among civilized nations. It took a while though. Some people are hard headed and it's hard to break from a certain tradition or lifestyle.

• 1Kings 9:23  These were the chief of the officers that were over Solomon's work, five hundred and fifty, which bare rule over the people that wrought in the work. 
• 24  But Pharaoh's daughter came up out of the city of David unto her house which Solomon had built for her: then did he build Millo. 

Their customs were different than today. I wonder why his wife had to have a house of her own rather than live with her husband.

• 1Kings 9:25  And three times in a year did Solomon offer burnt offerings and peace offerings upon the altar which he built unto the LORD, and he burnt incense upon the altar that was before the LORD. So he finished the house. 
• 26  And king Solomon made a navy of ships in Eziongeber, which is beside Eloth, on the shore of the Red sea, in the land of Edom. 
• 27  And Hiram sent in the navy his servants, shipmen that had knowledge of the sea, with the servants of Solomon. 
• 28  And they came to Ophir, and fetched from thence gold, four hundred and twenty talents, and brought it to king Solomon. 

I notice something about history. After the coming of Jesus the first time and the spreading of the gospel, many things changed, although some nations have not yet embraced the gospel. We see this mostly in nations that embrace communism or some dominate religion that rules the people like a king. As the second coming of the Lord is getting near, there are some reverting back to heathen times and rejecting God on one hand but many are coming to the Lord on the other. God is not sleeping. He knows every thing that is going on. He also is with every single person that is faithful to Him. He is coming back for those who are waiting for Jesus to return. Of that we can be assured. -DC

• Hebrews 13:5  Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. 

1 Kings Chapter 10