1 Kings

     After ruling the Israelite nation for 40 years, David is nearing the end of his life as the book of 1 Kings opens.  His life has been plagued by problems brought on by his children.  Remember, for instance, Absalom's rebellion and attempt to steal the kingdom from his father.
     The first story in 1 Kings deals with Adonijah, another son who decides that he will be the one to succeed his father.  David is so old that he is not aware of Adonijah's plans until Nathan, the prophet of God who has faithfully assisted David for so many years, sends Bathsheba to inform him.  David has already indicated that Solomon, his son by Bathsheba, is to take his place.  But Adonijah has refused to accept this.
     So David sends Nathan, along with Zadok the priest and Benaiah the mighty soldier to anoint Solomon as king.  The people unite under Solomon and Adonijah's revolt is eliminated.
     After David's death Adonijah persuades Bathsheba to present to Solomon what the new king sees to be a bad request, so Benaiah is sent to kill Adonijah.
     The priesthood is taken from Abiathar, who sided with Adonijah in the rebellion, and given to Zadok.  As we learn from 1 Kings 2:27, this fulfills what God told Eli back in 1 Samuel 2:35.  Remember that Eli's sons were described in 1 Samuel 2:12 as, "worthless men," and that God told Eli that the priesthood was to be given to someone more faithful?
     Solomon also sends Benaiah to kill Joab, David's troublesome army commander who also sided with Adonijah.
     When David had been forced to flee Jerusalem because of Absalom's revolt, a man named Shimei ran along the hills and cursed him.  Solomon allows Shimei to remain in a house in Jerusalem, but warns him that he will die if he ever leaves.  After three years Shimei foolishly leaves to recover two run-away servants, and Solomon orders Benaiah to kill him.
     With these potential enemies out of the way, Solomon begins to develop his kingdom.  He almost starts out on the right foot, as we learn from 1 Kings 3:3.
     "Now Solomon loved the Lord," this verse notes, "walking in the statutes of his father David."
     Unfortunately, the rest of this verse contains a foreboding observation.
     "Except he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places," the verse concludes.  Is "almost" going to be enough to keep Solomon on the right track as he leads the nation?  We'll have to see as the story progresses.
     God appears to Solomon at the beginning of his reign and asks the new king what he would like to receive.
     "You were kind to my father, David," Solomon recognizes in 1 Kings 3:6.
     "And now, O Lord my God," he continues in verses 7-9, "Thou hast made Thy servant king in place of my father David; yet I am but a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in.
     "And Thy servant is in the midst of Thy people which Thou hast chosen, a great people who cannot be numbered or counted for multitude.
     "So give Thy servant an understanding heart to judge Thy people to discern between good and evil.  For who is able to judge this great people of Thine?"
     "Because you have asked this thing," God responds in verses 11-12, "and have not asked for yourself long life, nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have you asked for the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself discernment to understand justice, behold, I have done according to your words.  Behold, I have given you a wise and discerning heart, so that there has been no one like you before you, nor shall one like you arise after you."
     "And I have also given you what you have not asked," God continues in the next verse, "both riches and honor, so that there will not be any among the kings like you all your days."
     There is a condition, however, as we learn in the following verse.
     "And if you walk in My ways, keeping My statutes and commandments, as your father David walked," God promises, "then I will prolong your days."
     Solomon's wisdom is quickly tested with the famous case involving two women and their babies.  One of the babies has been accidentally killed in its sleep, and both women claim the living child.
     "She switched the babies!" one accuses.
     "That's not true," the other responds.
     "Bring a sword," Solomon orders, and divide the living child and give half to each woman."
     "No," one of the women cries out, "give him to the other woman."
     "Divide him," the second woman suggests.
     "Give the first woman the living child," Solomon announces, "and by no means kill him.  She is his mother."
     Solomon's fame spreads quickly following this judgment.

     In chapter five of 1 Kings Solomon begins making arrangements for construction of the temple.  David began preparing for the temple, but God did not allow him to build it.  Hiram, king of Tyre, provides manpower, materials and expertise in exchange for food.
     As the account in 2 Chronicles tells us, Solomon locates over 153,000 foreigners who are forced to work on the project.  The foundation is started in the second month of Solomon's fourth year as king, and the temple is completed in the eighth month of the eleventh year.
     All of the stone is prepared at the quarry, and neither hammer, nor axe, nor any other iron tool makes a sound at the building site.  Large quantities of gold and valuable wood are used in the building.  The king also constructs an impressive house for himself, as we read in 1 Kings 7.
     But, as impressive as the temple is, Solomon realizes that God does not need a physical dwelling.
     "But will God indeed dwell on the earth?" he acknowledges in 1 Kings 8:27.  "Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain Thee, how much less this house which I have built!"
     When the temple is completed, the ark of the covenant is carried in and tens of thousands of sacrifices are made.
     As God has promised, Solomon's wisdom, wealth and power grow to tremendous levels.  Gold is used everywhere; silver is not even considered to be valuable.  The Queen of Sheba visits Jerusalem to check out the reports of Solomon's grandeur.  She concludes that the reality is twice as great as the reports.
     But, as great as Solomon is, he is not immune from falling into error.
     Even during the time of Moses the people had been warned about the proper conduct for the future kings.
     "Moreover, he shall not multiply horses for himself," God commands through Moses in Deuteronomy 17:16-17, "nor shall he cause the people to return to Egypt to multiply horses, since the Lord has said to you, 'You shall never again return that way.'
     "Neither shall he multiply wives for himself, lest his heart turn away; nor shall he greatly increase silver and gold for himself."
     Let's see how faithfully Solomon follows these instructions.
     "Then Solomon formed a marriage alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt," 1 Kings 3:1 records, "and took Pharaoh's daughter and brought her to the city of David."
     "Now the weight of gold which came in to Solomon in one year was 666 talents of gold;" we find in 1 Kings 10:14-15, "besides that from the traders and the wares of the merchants and all the kings of the Arabs and the governors of the country."
     A talent, by the way, is about 120 troy pounds.  There are 12 ounces in a troy pound, so 666 talents equals about 959,000 ounces of gold.
     "Now Solomon gathered chariots and horsemen;" we learn in 1 Kings 10:26-28, "and he had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen, and he stationed them in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem.
     "And the king made silver as common as stones in Jerusalem, and he made cedars as plentiful as sycamore trees that are in the lowland.
     "Also Solomon's import of horses was from Egypt and Kue, and the king's merchants procured them from Kue for a price."
     "Now King Solomon loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh;" 1 Kings 11:1-3 reveals, "Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, from the nations concerning which the Lord had said to the sons of Israel, 'You shall not associate with them, neither shall they associate with you, for they will surely turn your heart away after their gods.'  Solomon held fast to these in love.
     "And he had seven hundred wives (and) princesses, and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned his heart away."
     Upon the death of Solomon most of the kingdom is taken from his son Rehoboam and given to Jeroboam.  Identified from now on as "Israel," the ten northern tribes which follow Jeroboam never have a king who is faithful to God.  The two southern tribes, known as "Judah," have some good and some bad kings.
     "Thus the sons of Israel were subdued at that time, and the sons of Judah conquered because they trusted in the Lord, the God of their fathers," 2 Chronicles states of one battle between the two nations.
     In 2 Chronicles 14 the army of Judah encounters a force of one million soldiers from Ethiopia.  The men of Judah win the battle because they call upon God to help them.
     "The Lord is with you when you are with Him," a prophet tells Asa, king of Judah, in 2 Chronicles 15:2.  "And if you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you."
     Unfortunately, Asa hires an army from Syria to fight his next battle instead of relying on God.  Similar stories continue throughout the parallel accounts in 1 Kings and 2 Chronicles.  It is here that we read about the evil rulers Jezebel and Ahab, as well as the good prophets Elijah and Elisha.
     But there is just one main message that flows throughout these accounts.  If we follow God He will be with us.  If we reject God He will not be with us.
     In other words, if we follow the truth, we will be set free.

Unless otherwise noted, "Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE(R), (C) Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission." (www.lockman.org)