sermon20220515 Solomon: The King Who had Everything and Nothing 2 Chronicles 1-9
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1 Solomon the son of David established himself in his kingdom, and the Lord his God was with him and made him exceedingly great. 2 Solomon spoke to all Israel, to the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, to the judges, and to all the leaders in all Israel, the heads of fathers’ houses. 3 And Solomon, and all the assembly with him, went to the high place that was at Gibeon, for the tent of meeting of God, which Moses the servant of the Lord had made in the wilderness, was there. 4 (But David had brought up the ark of God from Kiriath-jearim to the place that David had prepared for it, for he had pitched a tent for it in Jerusalem.) 5 Moreover, the bronze altar that Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, had made, was there before the tabernacle of the Lord. And Solomon and the assembly sought it out. 6 And Solomon went up there to the bronze altar before the Lord, which was at the tent of meeting, and offered a thousand burnt offerings on it. 7 In that night God appeared to Solomon, and said to him, “Ask what I shall give you.” 8 And Solomon said to God, “You have shown great and steadfast love to David my father, and have made me king in his place. 9 O Lord God, let your word to David my father be now fulfilled, for you have made me king over a people as numerous as the dust of the earth. 10 Give me now wisdom and knowledge to go out and come in before this people, for who can govern this people of yours, which is so great?” 11 God answered Solomon, “Because this was in your heart, and you have not asked for possessions, wealth, honor, or the life of those who hate you, and have not even asked for long life, but have asked for wisdom and knowledge for yourself that you may govern my people over whom I have made you king, 12 wisdom and knowledge are granted to you. I will also give you riches, possessions, and honor, such as none of the kings had who were before you, and none after you shall have the like.” 13 So Solomon came from the high place at Gibeon, from before the tent of meeting, to Jerusalem. And he reigned over Israel. 14 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. 15 And the king made silver and gold as common in Jerusalem as stone, and he made cedar as plentiful as the sycamore of the Shephelah. 16 And Solomon’s import of horses was from Egypt and Kue, and the king’s traders would buy them from Kue for a price. 17 They imported a chariot from Egypt for 600 shekels of silver, and a horse for 150. Likewise through them these were exported to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Syria.
The Queen’s Speech
History was made in the House of Commons of the British Parliament on May 10 as Parliament in both houses, the House of Commons and the House of Lords, met for the annual queen's speech (think of Congress, where Congress is made up of the Senate and the House of Representatives). That is the official opening of Parliament. But the queen didn't give the speech yesterday there in Parliament on that official state occasion, an occasion of rare ceremony. She didn't give the speech and it was blamed on a lack of mobility given her age.
But the interesting thing is, of course, that the Prince of Wales, her heir, gave the speech, Prince Charles delivered the queen's speech before Parliament. Now, there's a lot of politics involved here. The speech is actually written by the Parliamentary majority party, is not written by the monarch, is delivered by the monarch. The big issue here is the ceremony that is involved and the historical political tradition that is represented there. Then in this case, the important thing to recognize is that Prince Charles was not there to give Prince Charles's speech, not the Prince of Wales's speech, it was the Queen's speech, and the queen wasn't there. But guess what was there, her crown sitting on a throne. It wasn't just any of the crowns Queen Elizabeth II might wear, it was the Imperial State Crown, and that crown represented the monarchy.
The monarchy was there even as the queen was not, represented by the crown. And you ask, "Why is that so important?" Well, most people wouldn't even think about this, but as you look at the pictures of Prince Charles delivering the queen's speech with the crown next to him, you need to recognize that something represented there was actually a prelude to what would become the constitutional republic of the United States of America. The British monarch, as represented in the state opening of Parliament, is not an autocrat, is not a dictator, is not a totalitarian, is not an absolute monarch. The actual constitutional order of the British monarchy is the crown-in-parliament. It's often referred to as the king-in-parliament, or in the case of Queen Elizabeth II, the queen-in-parliament.
But the issue is the constitutional principle of the queen-in-parliament. In other words, this is a recognition of the fact that even as the monarchy is separate from the Parliament, the Parliament and the monarchy are inseparable. And the monarch does not reign and does not rule independent of the legitimacy of the British government. The British government also draws its legitimacy from the venerable nature and tradition, the majesty of the crown.
The crown is a symbol of the monarchy. In this case, the crown is a symbol of the queen, the queen together with the elected officials is a symbol of the type of government, a representative government. And so, what is the connection to Christ? What is the connection to the Bible? What is the connection to Solomon?
The throne, the king, everything about the civil laws and government of Israel, is meant to point to YHWH, the LORD, the one who sits on the throne of Heaven.
Two words: Soteriological and Doxological -
Truth: If you take Christ off the throne of your life and put yourself on the throne, you are following the same path as every unfaithful king in the Old Testament
Some kings were more godly than other kings. But the kings of United Israel, Saul, then, David, then Solomon, were to represent the Lord as they ruled. They were called the Lord’s anointed. After the Kingdom Divided, the kings of the nation of Judah were supposed to be image bearers of the Great King of Heaven. And when they were not, the Lord would send prophets to them. Samuel was sent to Saul, Nathan was sent to David. But Nathan died during the reign of Solomon and it’s here that we see the power of a prophetic voice in the rule of the Kings. And we’ll see this again and again: ignore the word of God, ignore the voice of God, ignore the commands of God, and you will stray from the will of God
The theme of this morning’s message: ignore the word of God, the voice of God, and the commands of God, and you will stray from the will of God
the word of God - letting the word of Christ dwell in you richly
the voice of God - godly accountability, the godly promptings of the Holy Spirit
the commands of God - the divine rules and boundaries which God has given so that we can be protected from our sinful hearts
4 For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father.
6 So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and did not wholly follow the Lord, as David his father had done.
9 And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice 10 and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods. But he did not keep what the Lord commanded.
26 Did not Solomon king of Israel sin on account of such women? Among the many nations there was no king like him, and he was beloved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel. Nevertheless, foreign women made even him to sin.
“Made even him to sin.” The people under Nehemiah had made several vows in chapter 10 : they agreed to obey God’s Word, abstain from intermarriage with pagans, keep the Sabbath, and support temple worship. Less than a decade later, they had broken every promise.
The danger of the slow walk away from the Lord...
Let’s look at some Old Testament scriptures...
1 “The whole commandment that I command you today you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land that the Lord swore to give to your fathers. 2 And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. 3 And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. 4 Your clothing did not wear out on you and your foot did not swell these forty years. 5 Know then in your heart that, as a man disciplines his son, the Lord your God disciplines you. 6 So you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God by walking in his ways and by fearing him. 7 For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing out in the valleys and hills, 8 a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey, 9 a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper. 10 And you shall eat and be full, and you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land he has given you. 11 “Take care lest you forget the Lord your God by not keeping his commandments and his rules and his statutes, which I command you today, 12 lest, when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them, 13 and when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied, 14 then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, 15 who led you through the great and terrifying wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water, who brought you water out of the flinty rock, 16 who fed you in the wilderness with manna that your fathers did not know, that he might humble you and test you, to do you good in the end. 17 Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’ 18 You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day. 19 And if you forget the Lord your God and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, I solemnly warn you today that you shall surely perish. 20 Like the nations that the Lord makes to perish before you, so shall you perish, because you would not obey the voice of the Lord your God.
Notice 8:3; 8:5-6; 8:7a, 9a, 11, 14, 17, 18
God has given you every good thing, but do not forget the Lord - the danger of MY (17).
3 you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams. For the Lord your God is testing you, to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. 4 You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice, and you shall serve him and hold fast to him. 5 But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has taught rebellion against the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you out of the house of slavery, to make you leave the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.
14 “When you come to the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and you possess it and dwell in it and then say, ‘I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are around me,’ 15 you may indeed set a king over you whom the Lord your God will choose. One from among your brothers you shall set as king over you. You may not put a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. 16 Only he must not acquire many horses for himself or cause the people to return to Egypt in order to acquire many horses, since the Lord has said to you, ‘You shall never return that way again.’ 17 And he shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away, nor shall he acquire for himself excessive silver and gold. 18 “And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law, approved by the Levitical priests. 19 And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them, 20 that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, either to the right hand or to the left, so that he may continue long in his kingdom, he and his children, in Israel.
The theme of this morning’s message: ignore the word of God, the voice of God, and the commands of God, and you will stray from the will of God
the word of God - letting the word of Christ dwell in you richly
the voice of God - godly accountability, the godly promptings of the Holy Spirit
the commands of God - the divine rules and boundaries which God has given so that we can be protected from our sinful hearts
We often make the mistake of thinking two things concerning sin:
(1) God only uses hardship to test the devotion of our heart - the Lord uses success, even “greatness”
(2) Sin and temptation are never caused by those things which we might consider to be the “blessings” of God.
1 Solomon the son of David established himself in his kingdom, and the Lord his God was with him and made him exceedingly great.
10 Give me now wisdom and knowledge to go out and come in before this people, for who can govern this people of yours, which is so great?” 11 God answered Solomon, “Because this was in your heart, and you have not asked for possessions, wealth, honor, or the life of those who hate you, and have not even asked for long life, but have asked for wisdom and knowledge for yourself that you may govern my people over whom I have made you king, 12 wisdom and knowledge are granted to you. I will also give you riches, possessions, and honor, such as none of the kings had who were before you, and none after you shall have the like.”
What do you do with what God has given you?
14 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. 15 And the king made silver and gold as common in Jerusalem as stone, and he made cedar as plentiful as the sycamore of the Shephelah. 16 And Solomon’s import of horses was from Egypt and Kue, and the king’s traders would buy them from Kue for a price. 17 They imported a chariot from Egypt for 600 shekels of silver, and a horse for 150. Likewise through them these were exported to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Syria.
22 Thus King Solomon excelled all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom.
3 He had 700 wives, who were princesses, and 300 concubines. And his wives turned away his heart.
Horses and wealth and wives - his heart was led away from the Lord
Let’s compare Jesus to Solomon:
Jesus was the true King. The King of Kings
Jesus humbled himself - Philippians 2:7-8
7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Jesus did not come to be served but to serve -
28 even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Jesus has one bride - the church
Ephesians 5:23; 2 Cor 11:2; Revelation 19:7
Jesus, though he was rich, became poor for our sake
9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.
Jesus was the doubly obedient Savior
15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.