Day #152

Sermon - Audio
1 Kings 3-4, 2 Chronicles 1, Psalm 72 - Audio
1 Kings 3-4, 2 Chronicles 1, Psalm 72 - Reading

Daily Insights - Please Comment

108

1 Kings 3-4

• 3.1: Solomon’s marriage to a daughter of Pharaoh tells us two things. First, that Israel is a prominent nation at the time, second, that Solomon is already heading down hill after having the kingdom established firmly in his hands.
• 3.3-4: Although Solomon is heading downhill, the writer of Kings points out that for the most part he still is following God’s covenant. Gibeon is the most important high place because the tabernacle is located there.
• 3.5: It was often the practice of people to sleep in a holy place in the hopes that God would come and speak with them.
• 3.7: “little child” –Solomon is about 30 years old when he becomes king. He is not a child literally, but he feels incompetent to rule wisely.
• 3.9: Solomon’s request for wisdom focuses on the ability to administer justice (cf. Moses and his role in administering justice in Exodus 18).
• 3.14: A long life is contingent on following the ways of the covenant.
• 3.15: “feast” is a special festive dinner with wine. The meal was to be one that was joyous and celebrative. Solomon’s holding this feast celebrates the promise that God has made to him.
• 3.16: Prostitutes usually became such in two ways. First, people would abandon infant girls to die. These girls would be found by those who ran brothels and they would be raised to be prostitutes. The second way that women entered prostitution was because of poverty. Parents would sell their daughters or a woman who found herself a widow or for some other reason living in poverty could turn to prostitution. We can imagine this is one of the reasons that care for widows was such a high priority for God, he did not want women ending up in this degrading place. In spite of God’s heart on this matter, prostitute still are part of Israelite society.
• 3.16-28: The story shows the wisdom of Solomon as he administers justice.
• 1 Kings 4 continues the theme of the wisdom of Solomon. His wisdom is shown in the administration/government that he puts together and in knowledge about God’s creation.
• 4.6: “forced labor” This group of people is mainly those who have been captured in wars with foreign nations.
• 4.7-19: These 12 districts are not the same as the 12 tribes. It seems that Solomon is trying to solidify his power and weaken tribal affiliations.
• 4.11,15: Two of the governors are son-in-laws of Solomon. This list, then, must come from a bit later in Solomon’s reign.
• 4.20-21: Again we see the writer of kings showing how God’s promises are kept. The people being as numerous as sands of the seashore fulfills God’s promise in Genesis 22.17 and 32.12. The extent of the nation’s boarders fulfills the promise of God to Abraham in Genesis 15.18 and 17.8.
• 4.24: Solomon enjoys the benefits that came from David’s battling against the nations. David had war, Solomon gets peace. This peace made possible Solomon’s focus on building the temple and his palace.
• 4.25: “Safety” The Hebrew word means to have a sense of well-being and security because you have someone you place your confidence in who will keep you secure. Here, given the context, the someone would seem to be Solomon who is living covenantally (in a manly way) and so protecting the entire nation.
• 4.25: Vine and fig tree is an expression that speaks of prosperity and peace. The vine and fig tree were symbols of both Israel and agricultural abundance. The picture comes from an actual practice of growing vines and fig trees so they go up walls and make for a shady place where people can sit and relax.
• 4.29: Solomon’s wisdom was broader than administering justice. Apparently God gave him a broad expanse of wisdom to understand creation and the wisdom (proverbs) to understand how to do life well.
• 4.34: The world comes to Solomon’s door to learn from him.

2 Chronicles 1

• Chronicles 1.1: The promise to the exiles that have returned to Judah in this verse is: when God is with you, great things can happen. Solomon will show his covenant commitment in this chapter as he faithfully makes preparations to build “the House” (Temple) and calls the people to join in the effort.
• 1.2: The event of Solomon’s speech includes “all Israel”. The Chronicler gives us a united nation seeking after God and a wise king leading them to God.
• 1.3: Solomon connects the beginning of his reign with the faithful servant of God, Moses. As Moses was a faithful leader, so Solomon seeks to be the same. His heart for such leadership will be revealed in his nighttime request to God in 2 Chronicles 1.7-13.
• 1.4: As his father had brought all the people together for the moving of the Ark, Solomon brings all the people together at the beginning of his reign. There is to be no favoritism toward any one tribe.
• 1.5: Solomon and the people seek out God at the tabernacle. They long to have his guidance as a new ruler takes his place. This will be the first, and only, peaceful transition of power in Israel. The peaceful transition is connected with seeking God’s wisdom and honoring him with sacrifices.
• 1.6: 1,000 is a number of completeness and fullness. Solomon did not offer 1000 sacrifices; rather he offered an abundance of sacrifice that reflected the completeness of his devotion.
• 1.7: It is likely that Solomon remained in the temple and slept before the altar seeking a vision from God as he began his reign. In the Ancient Near East people would sleep in temples or holy places in order to receive visions. Jacob receives a vision on the way to Laban’s. After he does, he declares that he has been in the house of God but he did not know it.
• 1.8: Steadfast love is covenant love. This connects to 2 Samuel where God makes his covenant with David to establish David’s line on the throne.
• 1.10: Solomon asks for wisdom to govern and to make judgments in difficult cases. (Remember the set up of Moses—the most difficult cases came to him, while other leaders handled the others. We see this hinted at in David’s reign when we find Absalom in the gate keeping people from going to his father to have their cases settled so Absalom can build a coalition to take over the country.) God not only gives him this wisdom, but as we find in the book of Proverbs he receives a wealth of other types of wisdom as well.
• 1.11-12: God is pleased with Solomon’s response because it shows his concern for being a godly judge, being a king who cares for the people and also the dynasty.
• 1.13: Solomon leaves the tabernacle and returns to Jerusalem to begin his reign. In a small way this foreshadows Jesus who spends 40 days in the wilderness and then begins his ministry.
• 1.14-17: God shows that he keeps his promises to those who are faithful to him. This theme of God’s covenant promises kept and covenant curses sent for the unfaithful will flow constantly through 2 Chronicles.

Psalm 72 is a royal Psalm that was used at the coronation of kings.

• The heading on this psalm says “of Solomon”. This is an interesting bit of info since in 1 Kings 10 the queen of Sheba points out that true leaders pursue righteousness and justice.
• The “of Solomon” also gives us some insight into the context of justice. We have a picture given to us in the story of the two prostitutes in 1 Kings that justice means giving wise and fair decisions
• Solomon’s reign is a cautionary tale because he starts out as a King of righteousness and justice and ends up be a person who is focused on himself
• An interesting point to this Psalm is that the king’s first concern is with the needy and afflicted and weak. Their blood is actually precious in his sight. This is an upside down way of looking at things. One might note that Solomon was known for his high taxes that sucked the life out of people and that his son Rehoboam promised to make things worse.
• Vs 17 tells that rulers should not only seek to bless their own people, but be a blessing to other nations as well.