This episode takes us on a journey through the grandeur of Solomon’s reign, highlighting his wisdom and wealth, solidified by the awe-inspiring visit from the Queen of Sheba. As Alan J. Huth guides us through these pivotal biblical chapters, we discover how Solomon’s story represents the eternal balance between divine blessings and human actions. Let these passages inspire you to reflect on your walk with God and the tangible ways His blessings manifest when we align with His will.
Welcome to Add Bible, an audio daily devotion from the Ezra Project. Alan J. Huth shares a Bible passage with comments from over 35 years of his personal Bible reading journals and applies the Word of God to our daily lives.
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Today we are going to cover 1 Kings chapters 9 and 10. We’re going to see the Lord appeared to Solomon and then Solomon’s great wisdom and wealth on display. Let’s listen to our guest reader, former president of the Colorado State Senate, Senator Kevin Grantham, as he reads 1 Kings 9 and 10.
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1 Kings 9 As soon as Solomon had finished building the house of the Lord and the king’s house and all that Solomon desired to build, the Lord appeared to Solomon a second time as he had appeared to him at Gibeon. And the Lord said to him, I have heard your prayer and your plea, which you have made before me. I have consecrated this house that you have built by putting my name there forever. My eyes and my heart will be there for all time. And as for you, if you will walk before me as David your father walked, with integrity of heart and uprightness, doing according to all that I have commanded you and keeping my statutes and my rules, then I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised David your father, saying, You shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel. But if you turn aside from following me, you or your children, and do not keep my commandments and my statutes that I have set before you, but go and serve other gods and worship them, Then I will cut off Israel from the land that I have given them, and the house that I have consecrated for my name I will cast out of my sight. And Israel will become a proverb and a byword among all peoples. And this house will become a heap of ruins. Everyone passing by it will be astonished and will hiss, and they will say, Why has the Lord done this to this land and to this house? Then they will say, Because they abandoned the Lord their God, who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt and laid hold on other gods and worshipped them and served them. Therefore the Lord has brought all this disaster on them. At the end of twenty years in which Solomon had built the two houses, the house of the Lord and the king’s house, and Hiram king of Tyre had supplied Solomon with cedar and cypress timber and gold as much as he desired, King Solomon gave to Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee. But when Hiram came from Tyre to see the cities that Solomon had given him, they did not please him. Therefore he said, What kind of cities are these that you have given me, my brother? So they are called the land of Kabul to this day. Hiram had sent to the king one hundred twenty talents of gold. And this is the account of the forced labor that King Solomon drafted to build the house of the Lord and his own house and the Milo and the wall of Jerusalem and Hazor and Megiddo and Gezer. Pharaoh, king of Egypt, had gone up and captured Gezer and burnt it with fire and had killed the Canaanites who lived in the city and had given it as dowry to his daughter, Solomon’s wife. So Solomon rebuilt Gezer. and lower Beth Horon, and Baalath, and Tamar, in the wilderness, in the land of Judah, and all the store cities that Solomon had, and the cities for his chariots, and the cities for his horsemen, and whatever Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion, all the people who were left of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, who were not of the people of Israel, their descendants who were left after them in the land, whom the people of Israel were unable to devote to destruction, these Solomon drafted to be slaves, and so they are to this day. But of the people of Israel Solomon made no slaves. They were the soldiers, they were his officials, his commanders, his captains, his chariot commanders, and his horsemen. These were the chief officers who were over Solomon’s work. 550 who had charge of the people who carried on the work. But Pharaoh’s daughter went up from the city of David to her own house that Solomon had built for her. Then he built the Milo. Three times a year Solomon used to offer up burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar that he built to the Lord, making offerings with it before the Lord. So he finished the house. King Solomon built a fleet of ships at Ezeon-Geber, which is near Eloth, on the shore of the Red Sea in the land of Edom. And Hiram sent with the fleet his servants, seamen, who were familiar with the sea, together with the servants of Solomon. And they went to Ophir and brought from there gold, 420 talents, and they brought it to King Solomon. 1 Kings 10 Now when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came to test him with hard questions. She came to Jerusalem with a very great retinue, with camels bearing spices and very much gold and precious stones. And when she came to Solomon, she told him all that was on her mind. And Solomon answered all her questions. There was nothing hidden from the king that he could not explain to her. And when the queen of Sheba had seen all the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built, the food of his table, the seating of his officials, and the attendance of his servants, their clothing, his cupbearers, and his burnt offerings that he offered at the house of the Lord, there was no more breath in her. And she said to the king, The report was true that I heard in my own land of your words and of your wisdom. But I did not believe the reports until I came, and my own eyes had seen it. And behold, the half was not told me. Your wisdom and prosperity surpassed the report that I heard. Happy are your men, happy are your servants, who continually stand before you and hear your wisdom. Blessed be the Lord your God who has delighted in you and set you on the throne of Israel, because the Lord loved Israel forever. He has made you king, that you may execute justice and righteousness. Then she gave the king 120 talents of gold and a very great quantity of spices and precious stones. Never again came such an abundance of spices as these that the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon. Moreover, the fleet of Hiram, which brought gold from Ophir, brought from Ophir a very great amount of almagwood and precious stones. And the king made of the almagwood supports for the house of the Lord and for the king’s house, also lyres and harps for the singers. No such almagwood has come or been seen to this day. And King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all that she desired, whatever she asked besides what was given her by the bounty of King Solomon. So she turned and went back to her own land with her servants. Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was 666 talents of gold, besides that which came from the explorers and from the business of the merchants and from all the kings of the west and from the governors of the land. King Solomon made 200 large shields of beaten gold. 600 shekels of gold went into each shield. And he made 300 shields of beaten gold. Three minas of gold went into each shield. And the king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon. The king also made a great ivory throne and overlaid it with the finest gold. The throne had six steps, and at the back of the throne was a calf’s head, and on each side of the seat were armrests and two lions standing beside the armrests, while twelve lions stood there, one on each end of a step on the six steps. The like of it was never made in any kingdom. 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, None were of silver. Silver was not considered as anything in the days of Solomon. For the king had a fleet of ships at Tarshish at sea with the fleet of Hiram. Once every three years the fleet of ships of Tarshish used to come bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacock. Thus King Solomon excelled all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom, and the whole earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom which God had put into his mind. Every one of them brought his present, articles of silver and gold, garments, myrrh, spices, horses, and mules, so much year by year. And Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen, He had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen, whom he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem. And the king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stone, and he made cedar as plentiful as the sycamore of the Shephelah. And Solomon’s import of horses was from Egypt and Cui, and the king’s traders received them from Cui at a price. A chariot could be imported from Egypt for 600 shekels of silver and a horse for 150. And so through the king’s traders they were exported to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Syria.
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Due to the length of the readings, I will not refer to my journals today, but let’s look at chapters 9 and 10 of 1 Kings. In the opening verses of chapter 9, the Lord appears to Solomon. In verse 3, he reminds Solomon and us that he is a God who hears our prayers. He also reminds Solomon and us that he is a God of conditions. Verse 4 says, Verse 5 says, Verse 6 says, And verse 7 says, then I will cut off Israel. So God was conditional with Solomon. He is conditional with us. He reminds us, when we walk with him, we will be blessed. But if we turn aside, we will be cursed. In chapter 10, Solomon gets a visit from Queen Sheba. The blessings of God, his wisdom, and his riches are on display. Verse 3 says he answers all her questions. Verse 4 and 5 remind us of how good it can be when we’re under the blessings of God. And when the queen of Sheba had seen all the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built, the food of his table, the seating of his officials, and the attendance of his servants, their clothing, his cupbearers, and his burnt offerings that he offered at the house of the Lord, there was no more breath in her. Yes, God’s blessings can be breathtaking. Verse 8 also reminds us under the blessings of God that we can be happy. Happy are your men, happy are your servants. Are you being blessed by the Lord because you walk in His ways? And are you happy? And do people see? that you are happy and joyful because of the blessings of God in your life. It was evident to Queen Sheba. Is it evident to your friends? And lastly, under the blessings of God, there was so much favor, so much wealth, so much prosperity. Verse 21 says silver was not considered as anything in the days of Solomon. As we close out 1 Kings 9 and 10, how did all this happen? Why was there so much prosperity, wealth, and blessings here? We go back to chapter 9. Those verses we started with today. Verse 4. If you will walk before me. Verse 5. Then I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever. Verse 6. But if you turn aside from following me. And verse 7. Then I will cut off Israel. Solomon was blessed. Israel was blessed. Because initially he walked in the Lord. How about you? Are you walking with the Lord with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your soul? If so, I hope you’re experiencing the blessings of God. If you’re not experiencing the blessings of God, check your level of commitment to Him. Step a little closer to God Almighty. Father, we thank you for these wonderful chapters. Chapters of prosperity, wealth, and blessing. When we walk in your ways, you are a more than enough God. And your desire is to shower us with blessings so that we have more than enough. But thank you for reminding us that you are conditional. You expect some things from us too. May we walk in your ways. May these chapters draw us closer to you. In the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.
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