Sermon Tone Analysis

2 Chronicles begins…

*1* Solomon son of David established himself firmly over his kingdom, for the Lord his God was with him and made him exceedingly great.

2 Then Solomon spoke to all Israel—to the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, to the judges and to all the leaders in Israel, the heads of families—        3 and Solomon and the whole assembly went to the high place at Gibeon, for God’s Tent of Meeting was there, which Moses the Lord’s servant had made in the desert.

4 Now David had brought up the ark of God from Kiriath Jearim to the place he had prepared for it, because he had pitched a tent for it in Jerusalem.

5 But the bronze altar that Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, had made was in Gibeon in front of the tabernacle of the Lord; so Solomon and the assembly inquired of him there.

6 Solomon went up to the bronze altar before the Lord in the Tent of Meeting and offered a thousand burnt offerings on it.

7 That night God appeared to Solomon and said to him, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.”

8 Solomon answered God, “You have shown great kindness to David my father and have made me king in his place.

9 Now, Lord God, let your promise to my father David be confirmed, for you have made me king over a people who are as numerous as the dust of the earth.

       10 Give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may lead this people, for who is able to govern this great people of yours?”

11 God said to Solomon, “Since this is your heart’s desire and you have not asked for wealth, riches or honor, nor for the death of your enemies, and since you have not asked for a long life but for wisdom and knowledge to govern my people over whom I have made you king,         12 therefore wisdom and knowledge will be given you.

And I will also give you wealth, riches and honor, such as no king who was before you ever had and none after you will have.”

13 Then Solomon went to Jerusalem from the high place at Gibeon, from before the Tent of Meeting.

And he reigned over Israel.

14 Solomon accumulated chariots and horses; he had fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand horses,  which he kept in the chariot cities and also with him in Jerusalem.

15 The king made silver and gold as common in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar as plentiful as sycamore-fig trees in the foothills.

16 Solomon’s horses were imported from Egypt and from Kue—the royal merchants purchased them from Kue. 17 They imported a chariot from Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for a hundred and fifty.

They also exported them to all the kings of the Hittites and of the Arameans.

I read that passage this week and began to wonder what kind of man would do that –when he could have had anything he wanted, why did Solomon ask for wisdom?

He could have asked for favor like Joseph did.

He could have asked that the presence of God never depart from him like Moses did.

He could have asked for courage like Joshua or military insight like Gideon.

But instead he asked for wisdom.

So who is this man Solomon?

§       The name “Solomon” means “peaceful”.

§       He is David’s second son by Bathsheba.

You will remember that their first child died at birth.

§       He was probably born about B.C. 1035

§       He was tutored by the prophet Nathan, 2 Sam 12:24, 25

§       He was the first king of Israel “born in the purple.”

His father chose him as his successor, passing over the claims of his elder sons about the age of 16-18

§       He took the throne before David died and had to thwart off an uprising started by his ½ brother Adonijah 1 Kings 1:5–40.

§       The first thing Solomon did after he settled himself in his kingdom, was enter into an alliance with Egypt by the marriage of the daughter of Pharaoh, (We know nothing about her)

 

§       He surrounded himself with all the luxuries and grandeur of an Eastern monarch, and his government prospered.

§       Solomon reigned for forty years

§       the Hebrew monarchy gained its highest splendor in the first half of his reign

 

We know that for years before his death David collected materials for building a temple in Jerusalem to house the ark of the covenant.

We also know that God did not allow David that privilege because of his sin.

§       Solomon oversaw construction of the temple.

§       After the completion of the temple, Solomon built many other buildings in Jerusalem and in other parts of his kingdom.

§       While the temple took 7 years and 6 months to complete, it took Solomon 13 years to build a royal palace at Ophel.

Let me tell you about this palace.

§       It was 100 cubits long, 50 broad, and 30 high.

If a cubit is 18” that would be 150 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet tall.

§       The roof was supported by forty-five cedar pillars, so that the hall looked like a forest of cedar wood.

§       In front of this “house” was another building, which was called the Porch of Pillars

§       and in front of this building was the “Hall of Judgment,” where Solomon administered justice and gave audience to his people.

§       And if that is not enough another section of this house was set apart as the residence of his wife (Pharaoh’s daughter).

From the palace there was a private staircase of red and scented sandal wood which led up to the temple.

§       In addition to buildings, Solomon’s builders engineered ways of bringing water into the city

§       They built military outpost throughout the kingdom to insure their safety & defense

§       During Solomon’s reign Israel enjoyed great commercial prosperity.

We know that Solomon entered into an alliance with Hiram, king of Tyre.

Remember Tyre was the center of trade between Israel Egypt and Arabia.

§       By sea Israel traded with Spain, India and the coasts of Africa,

History calls this the “golden age” of Israel.

§       Besides material prosperity Solomon was know for his intellectual activity.

o      He spoke 3000 proverbs

o      Wrote 1005 songs

§       People came from all over the known world  “to hear the wisdom of Solomon.”

§       Chronicles notes a visit from “the queen of the south” or  the “queen of Sheba”, a country in Arabia.

o      We fail to realize that she had to cross the dessert to do this.

That is was a long, grueling journey, and that a queen normally wouldn’t do this.

So let me ask you, based on what I have just shared with you.

Did Solomon put his wisdom to good use?

Up to this point in his life did he use God’s gift wisely?

Yeah, I think so.

Pretty much.

Then what happened?

§       Too much temptation.

Too much wealth and too many wives.

I Kings 11:

11  King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh’s daughter—Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites.

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.

3 He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray.

As Peter has taught us in previous lessons, we know that it was a custom, to include beautiful women as part of the bargain in treaty negotiations to seal the deal.

When Solomon was amassing more and more territory, there was constant influx of wives and concubines in his court.

This led to his downfall.

Rabbit trail:

§       To feed his household for one day required

o      30 measures of fine flour,

o      60 measures of meal,

o      ten fat oxen,

o      twenty oxen out of the pastures,

o      100 hundred sheep,

o      harts, and roebucks, fallow-deer, fatted fowl

 

 

Back to the passage (I Kings 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.

5 He followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molech the detestable god of the Ammonites.

6 So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the Lord; he did not follow the Lord completely, as David his father had done.

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.

8 He did the same for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and offered sacrifices to their gods.

I think at this time, Solomon may have been bored.

Much of what we know about his life during this time comes from his writings in the Book of Ecclesiastes.

§       He had finished his building campaigns,

§       Israel was secure militarily,

§       they had tons of wealth.

So what we have is an idle king living among 1000 idle women, and their idle children and attendants.

Solomon lost focus.