Clouds on the Horizon

INTRODUCTION: Choosing life in Christ, not in one big purchase, but in decision after decision, choice after choice, nickel by nickel.

1 A SECOND APPEARING

Chapter 9 begins with Israel at the peak ...

We have just celebrated what is, literally, THE mountaintop experience of God’s People in the Old Testament. Life in the nation of Israel doesn’t get better than it is, right here, in Solomon’s time. The magnificent temple has been built. Seven years of construction - on a quiet work site, precut and carried stone and timber carefully put in place on site. No expense spared … the best of materials, the best of craftsmanship .... The building is finished. But more than that:

The LORD of the universe has moved in and made this building - His footstool here on earth. The God who cannot be contained by the entire universe He spoke into being, has decided to make Himself known on this earth - by His Word and by His Presence. Two words you need to keep in your mind if you want to understand God … if you want to understand REALITY - are these two words: “Transcendance” and “Imminence”. Transcendance - that’s the ‘otherness of God’. He is eternal, He is infinite in glory - He ‘transcends’ … our greatest understanding - He is fully ‘other’.

“Imminence” - that’s the ‘nearness’ of God. If God was ONLY ‘transcendant’ - he wouldn’t be knowable - how can a finite, creature, limited by time, by space, by the puny brains that we’re born with - - how can a human being like you are and I am - how can we ever presume to know the INFINITE God - why that’s the height of presumption, isn’t it? Some people ‘get that’ - they see how

But if you stop there - you are limiting God. You are doing the very thing that you accuse the other side of doing - creating God in your own image: “IF I was that great - nobody could ever know me.”

But the God of the Bible has made Himself known. Nature itself tells you that. Why would a ....

Verse 1 gives us the context of what’s going on in Israel when our text takes place. “As soon as Solomon had finished building the house of the LORD and the king’s house and all that Solomon desired to build ...”. It has been twenty years of construction - the temple, the palace and multiple other projects. The kingdom has taken shape.

That word in verse 1: “desired” - that’s a powerful word. It’s not ‘desire’ as in, ‘I desire a piece of cake after dinner’. This is ‘desire’ that, in the Old Testament, translates a man’s longing for a woman, or God’s strong love for his people or a human being’s longing for God. This is a strong emotional attachment - a passion. Solomon’s PASSION was to do God’s will - the temple building work is at the heart of this king’s reign. And it’s finished. Solomon is in a good place. Israel is in a good place.

It’s summer time in BC - the sun is shining, it’s warm … covid is non-existent and people are delighting in life. It doesn’t get any better than this.

And verse 2 tells us that it is NOW that the LORD appears to Solomon. Now, remember that this isn’t the first time God appears to Solomon. The first time was back in chapter 3, when Solomon was a young kid, just beginning his royal career. He loved the LORD - he was in the middle of worship - and God appears to him:

“Ask me for whatever you want” Solomon asks for wisdom. He says, “I’m king - but I don’t know how to lead this great, massive people of Yours. I’m just a kid! I want to be able to discern between good and evil.”

That was the right answer. God says, “Because you asked for wisdom and not riches or power over your enemies … I’m going to give you those things too, along with more wisdom than anyone alive.”

That visit from God marked the beginning of Solomon’s rise to greatness. Now God appears again when Solomon is at the PEAK of greatness.

And He comes in response to Solomon’s prayer. In chapter 8, when he’s dedicating the temple, he prays some pretty specific prayers. 1 Kings 8:25-26, he prays about his royal dynasty. God promised his father an ongoing throne. And in 1 Kings 8:27-29, he prays about the temple. That God’s eyes would always be open to this place.

And in this appearance, God gives his answer to that prayer. It’s a two-part answer.

FIrst, the temple - in v. 3, “… I have consecrated this house you have built, by putting my name there forever. My eyes and my heart will be there for all time.” That’s a done deal.

But as for your dynasty - as for your enjoyment of my presence … THAT is conditional. Look at vv. 4-5 again, “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 ...”.

So, “Your enjoyment of my presence depends on your choices. If you choose to obey - you’ll stand firm. IF you choose to DISOBEY … if you go your own way … then there WILL be consequences you do not enjoy.”

Now, did you notice whom God uses, in v. 4, as an example of obedience? DAVID. This is a model of faithfulness?!! This is the guy who took another man’s wife and then plotted and ordered the death of that man to cover up his own guilt. This is the one who ignored the rape of his daughter by his son and the heart-cry of his other son Absalom for some fatherly care. This is an example of faithfulness?!

In God’s eyes, it is. And this is important friend, because it proves that when God is talking about obedience, He’s not talking like a policeman who just stands disinterestedly in heaven, with his sin radar-gun … waiting until you blow it, so He can blast you - which is what he really wants to do.

No - God’s concern isn’t to measure your obedience by whether you committed this or that sin. God’s concern is the direction of your life. What pathway are you on? His main concern is idolatry. “Which God are you truly going to worship and serve?”

Verse 6, “… If you turn aside from following me … and do not keep my commandments .... but GO AND SERVE OTHER GODS AND WORSHIP THEM ...”

If that happens … then, v. 7: “Then I will cut off Israel from the land that I have given them and the house 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.”

I don’t know if you remember, but back in chapter 4, at the beginning of Solomon’s reign - I pointed out a word that is used in a couple of different ways. 1 Kings 4:21, “Solomon RULED over all the kingdoms ...”. Then, 1 Kings 4:32, “(Solomon) spoke 3,000 proverbs.”

The same Hebrew word is used for BOTH - ‘RULED’ in v. 21 and ‘PROVERB’. It’s the Hebrew word, ‘Mashal’. And it’s the same word in v. 7 of chapter 9. God is saying: “You will become a proverb in the negative sense. You will be the object lesson that parents use - when they want to warn their kids. ‘Don’t make that choice … or you’ll end up … Like THAT!’”

ILLUSTRATION

Vv. 8-9

God is saying to Solomon: “I’ve given you wisdom and you’ve been following me. But wisdom CANNOT stand alone. The FEAR OF THE LORD is the beginning of wisdom. And, if you stop worshiping and serving the one true God .... then say goodbye to the wisdom, too. You will end up living among the ruins of broken dreams and piles of misery.”

This is a sobering warning. And I cannot help but look around today - at a society built on the foundation of the Christian Bible, but trying, with ever-increasing fervor - to push God OUT the door. And we wonder why misery is rising?

CS Lewis: Men without Chests.

It’s all about the choices you make - day after day after day.

You need to hear this, Christian .... If I asked you, “How do you come to Jesus Christ for salvation?” … I wonder what you would say. I hope you would say: “I put my trust in His finished work alone as my only hope.” How many times do you have to do that? “Once -

The problem for many Christians is that they get that part right. But they think that growing in Christ - maturity in faith and deepening joy comes in the same way:

1 Kings Solomon’s Future Accomplishments

We can get everything we want out of life, but we still end up losing, if we choose our own road instead of God’s road. Dale Ralph Davis says it well: “One may be enjoying a thoroughly successful kingly (or financial or professional or ministerial) career and yet end in utter ruin unless one takes obedience to the first commandment as his very highest calling.” In other words, unless we put God first in everything, we are heading for our own destruction. Our love for earthly possessions will fill us with greed; our desire for sexual pleasure will lead us into foolhardy relationships; our lust for personal prominence will cause us to trample on the needs of others. If that is the way we are heading in life, then we are bound for failure. We had better go another direction and turn down the road not taken—the road of faith in Jesus Christ! As the Scripture says, “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God” (Heb. 3:12).

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2 A LIFE RICH WITH THE LORD’S BLESSINGS, 9:10-10:20

a. Solomon’s Dominion, 9:10-28

Verses 10- the end of chapter 9 lists a number of details of the Kingdom, as Solomon has become a mature leader. READ vv. 10-11; vv. 26-28 -

This king has truly arrived: Israelites hated the sea - it was a place of chaos and danger. But Solomon isn’t afraid. He doesn’t just have a couple of boats … He builds a whole fleet of ships - that sail from distant ports and bring back massive amounts of gold: 420 talents x 75 pounds=

These are, literally, the golden years.

Notice what comes right before the description of the gold: Solomon’s worship. Verse 25. That’s not a coincidence. The Bible is telling us: “Solomon is faithful in his worship ...serving the LORD. And as long as he’s doing that … the blessings are rolling.”

b. Solomon’s Famous Wisdom: Visit from a foreign Queen, 10:1-13

Chapter 10 begins with another example of just how bright is the sunshine in Israel - how well things are going with God’s people during these days of Solomon’s reign. Solomon is not only a star in his neighborhood - among the countries next door. His reputation has spread far and wide. Let’s pick up the story in chapter 10:1-5 READ.

Maybe you’ve heard of this queen before - but you have no idea where Sheba is. In the Ancient Near East, Sheba was located where the country of Yemen is today. It’s at the southern end of the Arabian peninsula. The best-watered and most fertile region in all of Arabia. Sheba had a strong agriculture industry. But, because of its location, it was also a trade depot, doing business with Africa, India and the Mediterranean. Now, to get from Sheba to Jerusalem, this queen would have to make her way north, through the barren, scorched desert of what is now Saudi Arabia. She would have to go through the modern country of Jordan and then into Israel. It’s a journey of somewhere around 2,250 KILOMETERS - with no airplanes, no trains, no way of sailing there and no highways … just camles.

You don’t make THAT kind of a journey, unless you are going to see something big. You don’t drive all the way to Arizona on vacation to see a hole in the ground - you go to see the Grand Canyon. And you don’t pack up your kids and drive to California to see a clown or go on just another amusement park ride … you go to Disneyland. And, if you are royalty, and you hear of some famous person with amazing talent - well, you usually don’t go anywhere yourself. You send your ambassadors, your emissaries.

But not here. The queen of Sheba is one of the most powerful and influential women in the world. But shepacks her things and she sets out herself on this journey of months - because she needs to see Solomon for herself. THere are questions she wants him to answer.

See the entourage, pulling into Jerusalem … a caravan of camel after camel arrives, loaded down with the goods for which Sheba was famous: there are spices and gold and precious stones.

The formalities are attended to … and then the queen starts asking questions of Israel’s king. Now, do you get an image in your mind, here, of Alex Trebek - trying to find out how much trivia Solomon knows? “I’ll take Proverbs for a thousand please, queen.” That’s not the right picture.

You see, anybody who’s born into the right family, in the right birth order, can be a king. But are you just an accidental king - or do you really know how to lead and rule a people? Well, in the Ancient World, the way to find out what kind of king someone is, is to go to them, describe some difficult problems to them and then see how they resolve the problems.

The queen of Sheba asks Solomon the hardest questions she knows … she’s had weeks on a camel to come up with the best. Verse 3, “… And Solomon answered all her questions; there was nothing hidden from the king that he could not explain to her.”

Did you notice how verse 5 ends? “… there was no more breath in her.” The queen is so amazed by what she’s heard and seen from Solomon - that she is left breathless.”

Finally she catches her breath and speaks, in vv. 6-10. READ.

What a testimony: “I heard great things about you back at home - and I was skeptical. But now, that I’ve come and seen and heard you for myself … well, the reports I heard didn’t tell the half of it. They didn’t do you justice.

Solomon truly is the wisest man in the world. God really did answer that prayer he prayed those 20 years ago. He’s kept His promise.

But there’s more here than just a testimony to Solomon’s wisdom. Do you notice the worship here? It starts right in v. 1 of chapter 10: “… when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon CONCERNING THE NAME OF THE LORD … she came to test him.”

And then v. 9, “Blessed be the LORD (God’s covenant name, ‘Yahweh’) 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.”

Don’t miss the queen’s focus here: Here is a foreigner reminding Solomon - that he was made king by God - not for Solomon’s sake - but because God loves his people and wants them to live under a leader who provides justice and righteousness.

“Oh Solomon - as long as you keep providing that kind of leadership to your people … the summer sun will never set. God is blessing and He won’t stop … if you keep your eyes in the right place.”

This foreign queen, is worshiping the one, TRUE God - who is capable of loving FOREVER. She is one of the very first Gentiles to worship God. That makes Sheba one of the very first fulfillments of God’s promise to Abraham that He would use Abraham’s descendants to bless ALL the nations with His saving Grace: “Through you all the families of the earth will be blessed” (Genesis 12:3). It’s also another answer to Solomon’s prayer in chapter 8. In 1 Kings 8:60, he prayed ‘that all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD is GOd - there is no other.”

And do you see a foreshadowing here of the coming of Christ? When Jesus was born, remember the wise men? They came from the east - from another long distance, they were royalty too. They arrived in Bethlehem with their gifts and anounced that they came to worship his Majesty, the King (Matt. 2:1-2). The wise men also symbolized the nations that would come to Christ.

In fact, Jesus talk3ed about this very queen of Sheba in his day. There were crowds of people - hearing his teaching with an authority they have never heard before; they’re watching his miracles - and eating the food he multiplies … they are in the very presence of God, in human flesh … and yet, it’s not enough for them: They keep asking for another sign, to ‘prove’ He really is the Messiah, sent from God to rescue His people.

Luke 11:31, “The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of teh earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.”

The greatest blessing of all is still in the queen of Sheba’s future: it’s coming when Jesus comes for His own and gives her the blessing of eternal life - as she stands with the righteous. She came to see God’s king and she trusted God’s king.

1 Kings See for Yourself

Lee Strobel, the award-winning journalist who wrote The Case for Christ. Strobel had always assumed that “God was merely a product of wishful thinking, of ancient mythology, of primitive superstition.” He had also assumed that all the available evidence showed that Jesus was merely an ordinary human being. Then, to his dismay, Strobel’s wife became a Christian. The change in her life was so extraordinary that he decided to launch an all-out investigation into the facts surrounding Christianity. Setting aside his former prejudices, he took a fresh look at the evidence. He read books, asked questions, interviewed experts, studied history, explored archaeology, and, most importantly, studied the Bible verse by verse. By the time he was finished, Strobel had to admit the unthinkable: Jesus Christ is the Savior God.

Anyone who is willing to take a serious look at Jesus will discover that he is everything advertised and more. The best way to take a good look at Jesus is to read what the Bible says about him, especially in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. These books were written “so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:31; cf. Luke 1:4).

Before she heads for home - the queen hands over to Solomon a huge cache of gifts. Verse 10, READ.

Four and a half TONS of gold - but that’s not even the gift that’s stressed in our text. The emphasis is on ‘a very great quantity of costly spices’ that you couldn’t even find to buy in the finest shops in Israel. More and more gifts for this king of God’s people.

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3 WARNING SIGNS - 10:14-28

The rest of chapter 10 paints a more colorul picture of Solomon’s wealth in these days of summer-time blessing. And by colorful, I mean golden. The word ‘gold’ is mentioned no less than 10 times here. Verse 14 tells us that the weight of god coming to Solomon’s coffers in 1 year was 666 talents. We don’t know whether that was Solomon’s yearly income - or whether it was one, record-setting year. But either way, we’re talking a staggering fortune - almost 50 thousand POUNDS of gold - hundreds of millions of dollars today.

Solomon has SO MUCH gold that v. 16 tells us he made 200 large shields of gold - at 7 and a half pounds of gold each. Plus 300 child-sized shields at 3 and 3/4 pounds of gold each. How likely do you think it would be for a soldier today to take a gold rifle onto the battlefield? Like zero chance?! Well that’s exactly the same likelihood that Israel’s army would use gold shields in Solomon’s day.

These are pure decoration and they all are put in Solomon’s massive palace.

And there’s more gold. If you walk into the throne room of the palace, vv. 18-20 describe what you will see. You see in front of you a throne unlike any other you have ever seen. A huge, solid ivory structure … six steps up with a high, round backed seat at the top, with thick armrests on either side. That would be impressive enough, but on every step there are lions, one on either side of the step. And on the platform at the top, where the seat is - on the outside of the armrests, there are two more lions - one on each side, standing guard beside the king. And to top it all off, the whole throne is overlaid with, you know what … more gold.

Gold is everywhere. In fact, v. 21 tells us that if you happen to be at the palace and you need a glass of water to quench your thirst - that water is going to be brought to you in a golden goblet. Verse 21, “All King Solomon’s drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were of pure gole. None were of silver. (I love this part) .... Silver was not considered as anything in the days of Solomon.” And verse 27, “And the king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stone ...”. Silver cups were the equivalent of paper cups to us today - throw away stuff.

And every three years, verse 22 tells us - “the fleet of ships of Tarshish used to come bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes and peacocks.” Solomon even had a zoo filled with exotic animals if you got tired of looking at gold everywhere.

Would you want to live in Solomon’s Israel? These are the days every one of us would want to live in, aren’t they? This is the blessing of God.

Solomon asked for wisdom. God says, “Good choice. Because you made that choice - I’ll give you wisdom PLUS riches because your heart is in the right place.”

Now Solomon’s living the Good Life - The Blessing of God on display in these lazy, golden days of summer.

Oh, but is it all good?

If you look carefully, you can see that clouds are forming on the horizon. Solomon