King Solomon

- King David

King David is dead

His predecessor King Saul, was dead.

Israel had just completed its first Monarchy and its second Monarchy.

The Dynasty that was to be the legacy of King Saul, was torn from him by God almighty,

And it was given to another, King David, of the line of the tribe of Judah.

David was a man of war, and blood, and a man after God’s on heart.

Because of his contempt in how he handled his great sin, God punished him through warfare, and internal family chaos.

His son Absolom raped his sister, Tamar.

Not to be confused with the Tamar the daughter in law of Judah who bore him Perez.

Then, this same son gathered an army against King David’s throne.

Here was Solomon, his father, King David just died,

- Young Ruler

His older brother, Adonijah, along with some kingdom officials, committed treason, by trying to usurp the crown,

And this was just beginning of his reign.

Solomon recognized the job he had cutout for him was too much for him to handle, without help.

In a dream, the Lord spoke to Solomon, and asked him what he wanted the Lord to do for him.

Solomon said, Lord I want enough wisdom to rule your people,

1 Kings 3:5 (CSB)

5 At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream at night. God said, “Ask. What should I give you?”

1 Kings 3:7–14 (CSB)

7 “Lord my God, you have now made your servant king in my father David’s place. Yet I am just a youth with no experience in leadership. 8 Your servant is among your people you have chosen, a people too many to be numbered or counted. 9 So give your servant a receptive heart to judge your people and to discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of yours?”

10 Now it pleased the Lord that Solomon had requested this. 11 So God said to him, “Because you have requested this and did not ask for long life or riches for yourself, or the death of your enemies, but you asked discernment for yourself to administer justice, 12 I will therefore do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and understanding heart, so that there has never been anyone like you before and never will be again. 13 In addition, I will give you what you did not ask for: both riches and honor, so that no king will be your equal during your entire life. 14 If you walk in my ways and keep my statutes and commands just as your father David did, I will give you a long life.”

I was a young child when I read about the account of King Solomon.

- Gift of Wisdom

Among many key essentials to Solomons account, one stood out to me immensely

Even as a young child, learning about God and all of His creation.

Here he was King, but he wanted wisdom.

I told God myself, when I read that story,

That I too wanted Wisdom, more than any other gift, and I search for it every day.

King Solomon was the son of David and Bathsheba after she became a widow, through murder and deceit.

Aside from his unsurpassed wisdom, Solomon was famous for several other things as well.

Like, his wealth,

13 In addition, I will give you what you did not ask for: both riches and honor, so that no king will be your equal during your entire life.

He was the richest man in his days.

He had many woman

1 Kings 11:1–3 (CSB)

1 King Solomon loved many foreign women in addition to Pharaoh’s daughter: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women 2 from the nations about which the Lord had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, and they must not intermarry with you, because they will turn your heart away to follow their gods.” To these women Solomon was deeply attached in love. 3 He had seven hundred wives who were princesses and three hundred who were concubines, and they turned his heart away.

That’s a thousand women he had.

Wow,

My brain can’t even comprehend that number of wives.

But, the greatest accomplishment that Solomon achieved was the building of the First Temple.

- The Temple

Temple?

What is a Temple?

Tyndale Bible Dictionary (Temple)

The temple was God’s dwelling place among his people. God’s presence, symbolized in the shekinah glory

God’s dwelling place

Right now, you and I are the Temple where God lives. Amen

But back then, in those days, the temple didn’t exist.

Remember, Israel came out of Egypt as pagans.

Abraham was called from paganism, which led to Isaac, then Jacob, then Jacobs children,

Which led to Joseph being in Egypt which brought the rest of Jacobs people.

In Egypt, they were enslaved, then liberated by Moses, through the power of God.

While they were still in the desert, wandering, God instructed them to set up a Tabernacle.

What is a Tabernacle?

Tyndale Bible Dictionary (Tabernacle)

A portable sanctuary in keeping with the demand for easy mobility, it was the symbol of God’s presence with his people and, therefore, of his availability, as well as a place where his will was communicated

So, a tabernacle was a mobil sanctuary.

It was a large tent, that was a temporary housing for the what?

- The Ark of The Covenant

For God’s presence.

In the desert after Egypt, God instructed them to build the Ark of the Covenant.

Exodus 25:10–11 (CSB)

10 “They are to make an ark of acacia wood, forty-five inches long, twenty-seven inches wide, and twenty-seven inches high. 11 Overlay it with pure gold; overlay it both inside and out. Also make a gold molding all around it.

Exodus 25:17 (CSB)

17 Make a mercy seat of pure gold, forty-five inches long and twenty-seven inches wide.

Exodus 25:21–22 (CSB)

21 Set the mercy seat on top of the ark and put the tablets of the testimony that I will give you into the ark. 22 I will meet with you there above the mercy seat, between the two cherubim that are over the ark of the testimony; I will speak with you from there about all that I command you regarding the Israelites.

The Ark of the covenant would store the tablets of the ten commandments, a golden pot of manna that God provided, and Aaron’s staff that budded.

So, in Solomon’s time, Israel was still worshipping at the tabernacle, the mobil home of the presence of God, in the Tabernacle.

Scripture tells us that the Ark was located alone in a separate room, called the Holy of Holies.

Only the high priest could enter into it.

They used to tie a rope around the waist of the priest, before he would go in,

Just in case, he offended God by doing something wrong or whatever, and God killed him, they could pull his body from there without having to defile the Holy of Holies by going in after him.

Because that is where God’s Mercy seat was, the home of the Ark of the Covenant.

David realized this was unfitting for Israel now, to be a nation, and a military force to be reckoned with.

It was time for the Lord’s dwelling, The Ark of The Covenant, to have it’s own home.

A Temple.

Having a Temple to the Lord would firmly establish Israel’s God in the world and beyond.

But God said, nope, you aren’t going to be the one to build it.

David said in

1 Chronicles 28:3 (CSB)

3 but God said to me, ‘You are not to build a house for my name because you are a man of war and have shed blood.’

Solomon recounts the story in

1 Kings 8:17–19 (CSB)

17 My father David had his heart set on building a temple for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. 18 But the Lord said to my father David, “Since your heart was set on building a temple for my name, you have done well to have this desire. 19 Yet you are not the one to build it; instead, your son, your own offspring, will build it for my name.”

Solomon built the first Temple of Yahweh in the 480th year since they came our of Egypt

Making it the year, 957 BC

(https://www.bu.edu/mzank/Michael_Zank/Jerusalem/templemount.html#:~:text=The%20First%20Temple%20was%20constructed,

%2C%20until%20Josiah%20(reigned%20c.)

The Temple served as a house for the Ark of The Covenant.

The Ark was where God dwelled among the Israelites.

Now the Ark is normally considered as one piece, like a box

But there are actually two pieces.

One is the box or cavity where the artifacts are stored, like the manna and the tablets containing the ten commandments, etc.

But its important to understand that the Ark was constructed as two pieces.

The box was made of Acacia wood, and the Lid, or the top was made out of solid gold.

On the top of the lid were Cherubim, angelic sculptures facing each other in the center,

Forming a seat from which God sat.

- Where is the Ark?

It was called the Mercy Seat.

Sadly for Israel however, God kept His word.

Multiple times God warned Israel that as a condition of His protection and blessings, they would have to obey

But, history proves they blew it big time.

Even Solomon in all of his wisdom, and blessings, was carried away into idolatry and moral debauchery.

Setting the tone for the rest of the Monarchy’s of both Judah and Israel

And around the year, 587 BC, God allowed the Babylonians, under the command of Nebuchadnezzar to destroy the first temple.

(https://www.moon.com/travel/arts-culture/jerusalem-history-first-second-temples/#:~:text=During%20the%20First%20Temple%20period,Babylon%2C%20when%20he%20conquered%20Jerusalem.)

Effectively ending what is called the First Temple period, that lasted from 1000 BC to 586 BC

The interesting thing about this is, by the time the Babylonians reached the temple, the Ark of The Covenant was gone.

Whats even more interesting it, no one knows where it went.

Scripture doesn’t tell us where it went,

Could you imagine what that would to the world, and the theory of evolution, if the Ark of The Covenant was found,

and presented to the world?

It would be like finding Noah’s ark and presenting it to the world. wow!

Regardless, - What does this mean?

Well, it means the second temple, that is also called Herod’s temple,

It’s The Temple that stood when Jesus walked the earth.

The Ark of The Covenant wasn’t in there.

We are the Temple of God now?

There about six different theories of what may have happened to it.

Two of the most prominent are these

The Ark was smuggled out of Israel during the time of an evil king Manasseh who defiled the temple and tried to end Judaism in Judah.

Devout priest, to prevent it from being defiled or destroyed took it to a Egypt and built a Jewish community around it.

The community was located on an island in the middle of the Nile next to modern Aswan Egypt.

The Island is called Elephantine Island.

Archeological evidence indicated there was a replica of Solomons temple built there by this jewish community before being destroyed

Then it was taken from there to Ethiopia.

Now, there is a strong belief in Ethiopia that they have the Ark of The Covenant.

Supposedly it is being held and protected around the clock by dedicated for-life guards in a church called

Our Lady Mary of Zion in Axum, Ethiopia

2. Current Rabbinical tradition believes the Ark is locked away in a cave somewhere underneath the current temple mount.

Which they believe that the Spirit of God not only emanates horizontally, but also vertically, straight up into the would be temple,

In 1982 Rabbi Getz, believed he was within 40 ft from finding the cave storing it, but when the muslims found out they were digging under the Mosque they threatened with riots, and the dig stopped.

(https://www.levitt.com/essays/ark)

Why is this all important you may ask

Since we don’t need the Ark of the Covenant any more.

Well one of the reasons is, because the Bible predicts that there will be a third temple built one day.

If they build a third temple what will it be housing?

What will be the purpose?

Well the second temple did not have the Ark and they still built it and worshipped there.

Does the Ark of The Covenant still exist?

Right now, only God knows.

- The Mercy Seat

But there is a significant new testament reference to it.

Revelation 11:19 (CSB)

19 Then the temple of God in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant appeared in his temple. There were flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder, an earthquake, and severe hail.

So, where ever it is, it is destined to play a part in during the end times somehow.

Now for this next observation we are indebted to Bible scholars who have pointed this out.

Regardless of which idea of where the Ark is, it is interested to note this point.

Remember I said some think it ended up in Ethiopia?

Well listen to a prophecy given to Cush, Ethiopia about the Messiah

Isaiah 18:7 (CSB)

7 At that time a gift will be brought to the Lord of Armies from a people tall and smooth-skinned, a people feared far and near, a powerful nation with a strange language, whose land is divided by rivers—to Mount Zion, the place of the name of the Lord of Armies.

Isaiah is saying that a gift from them would be offered.

Could it be the Solid Gold Mercy Seat?

Could it really be in Ethiopia?

We don’t know but it’s possible.

One last interesting possible correlation from the New Testament in Acts.

Acts 8:26–31 (CSB)

26 An angel of the Lord spoke to Philip: “Get up and go south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is the desert road.) 27 So he got up and went. There was an Ethiopian man, a eunuch and high official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of her entire treasury. He had come to worship in Jerusalem 28 and was sitting in his chariot on his way home, reading the prophet Isaiah aloud. 29 The Spirit told Philip, “Go and join that chariot.” 30 When Philip ran up to it, he heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, “Do you understand what you’re reading?” 31 “How can I,” he said, “unless someone guides me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.

Notice here it was an Ethiopian official from the Queen,

No doubt he had an entourage with him.

He was confused about the prophecy.

Could it be that when the Ethiopians heard that there was rumors of the Messiah had come,

They thought it was time to fulfill Isaiah’s prophecy about their gift?

Like, hey it’s time to deliver the Ark of The Covenant and the Mercy seat?

Could it be thats why he was confused, because he brought the gift, but the Messiah was killed, and thats what God sent Philip to explain?

Hey, you had the right idea, but its not quite time yet?

But what lesson is there in learning about Solomon and the Ark?

God’s blessings are yours.

They are yours in all its splendor.

As long as you adhere to your part of the covenant,

Remember, a covenant is a contractual agreement between parties.

Ill do this if you do that.

If you are diligent to fulfill your part by presenting your bodies as a living sacrifice, the blessings of that relationship are yours.

But if you are intent and diligent to live as you promised to God, when you accepting Jesus,

Then its no wonder why the evil kings of this world have turned your houses into houses of chaos, and despair.

depression, addiction etc.

The Babylonians of our day have ransacked your house, and had its pleasure in turning your house upside down,

Why did they have such liberty?

Because the voice of God wasn’t in your house when they got there.

Is your heart the Lord’s temple today?

Don’t leave here today without making sure you are saved and have the Holy Spirit living within you.

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