1 Kings 10-12
Today we get:
- The queen of Sheba
- Solomon likes him some strange
- A nation divided
1 Kings 10
1 And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the LORD, she came to prove him with hard questions.
She didn't want him to be right, she came with the hardest questions that wisdom could answer, to PROVE him wrong. Well, she got together a bunch of people and lots of gifts and gave them to Solomon.
3 And Solomon told her all her questions: there was not any thing hid from the king, which he told her not.
Solomon was able to answer all of her questions.
When she hears his wisdom and sees how happy everyone in the kingdom is, she blesses Solomon.
9 Blessed be the LORD thy God, which delighted in thee, to set thee on the throne of Israel: because the LORD loved Israel for ever, therefore made he thee king, to do judgment and justice.
Then she gave him her gifts.
Gold, spices, and stones.
11 And the navy also of Hiram, that brought gold from Ophir, brought in from Ophir great plenty of almug trees, and precious stones.
So now, from a place that we don't know where it exists, we see almug trees, that we also don't know what they are.
Mystery trees from a mystery land.
12 And the king made of the almug trees pillars for the house of the LORD, and for the king's house, harps also and psalteries for singers: there came no such almug trees, nor were seen unto this day.
Darn right they aren't seen, no one knows what they are. Some people think they are juniper trees, others think they are red sandalwood.
13 And king Solomon gave unto the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatsoever she asked, beside that which Solomon gave her of his royal bounty. So she turned and went to her own country, she and her servants.
So she brought gifts, and then he turns around and gives her gifts instead. I wonder if he regifted?
14 Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred threescore and six talents of gold,
Each year Solomon received 666 talents of gold.
What is a talent?
A talent is the weight of a person, roughly 110 pounds. So each year, Solomon received roughly 73,260 pounds of gold. Since there's 12 troy ounces in a pound, that's 879120 troy ounces. Gold is currently trading at $800 an ounce. That means that each year, Solomon received about $703,296,000. That's a pretty good salary.
15 Beside that he had of the merchantmen, and of the traffick of the spice merchants, and of all the kings of Arabia, and of the governors of the country.
Don't forget that he was also a hub in the spice trade, adding to his income.
21 And all king Solomon's drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold; none were of silver: it was nothing accounted of in the days of Solomon.
When you are given 73,000 pounds of gold a year, you could probably wipe your butt with gold leaf and not really worry about it. Of course silver was worthless, with that much gold laying around you wouldn't need small change.
22 For the king had at sea a navy of Tharshish with the navy of Hiram: once in three years came the navy of Tharshish, bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks.
Gold, silver, ivory, apes and peacocks. That's how you know you've made it in this world. I used to think that the way to prove that you were "the man" was if you had entrance music. Another theory that I had on really being a success was if someone else held your beverage for you while you drank, but I'm mistaken. If someone brings you apes and peacocks, you are officially the cock of the walk!
23 So king Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth for riches and for wisdom.
Having apes delivered to you every three years would make ANYONE the envy of the other kings.
25 And they brought every man his present, vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and garments, and armour, and spices, horses, and mules, a rate year by year.
Great (thought Solomon) more crappy silver!
27 And the king made silver to be in Jerusalem as stones, and cedars made he to be as the sycomore trees that are in the vale, for abundance.
Silver was so worthless, it was thrown out as a stone. I wonder if it was used as the stones for stoning people. How affluent would a nation be to execute criminals by pelting them with something that has a current value of about $18 an ounce.
28 And Solomon had horses brought out of Egypt, and linen yarn: the king's merchants received the linen yarn at a price.
Linen was expensive at the time. Modern linen made of flax is also expensive.
29 And a chariot came up and went out of Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and an horse for an hundred and fifty: and so for all the kings of the Hittites, and for the kings of Syria, did they bring them out by their means.
So, even though silver was a relatively worthless commodity, they still used it as a basis for money.
1 Kings 11
1 But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites:
Moabites, Solomon descended from them. He was just getting in touch with his roots!
2 Of the nations concerning which the LORD said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: Solomon clave unto these in love.
Solomon wouldn't turn from the LORD, he's the wisest person in the world, the wisest to ever live.
3 And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart.
1000 women all bitching that they want to serve their own gods could probably turn even the wisest man into a puddle of goo.
4 For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father.
Did David have a hand in writing this?
You'd think that God would be better able to pick kings of his chosen people.
Solomon built temples to Ashtoreth, Milcom, Chemosh, and Molech.
8 And likewise did he for all his strange wives, which burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods.
So if he had a wife who worshiped the Flying Spaghetti Monster, he would have built a temple to the noodly appendage too.
9 And the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the LORD God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice,
10 And had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods: but he kept not that which the LORD commanded.
All God wants is for you to love Him, and only Him, how hard is that; especially for the wisest man in the world (as we'll see in
Proverbs 9:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.. Turning away from the LORD must be the end to wisdom.
11 Wherefore the LORD said unto Solomon, Forasmuch as this is done of thee, and thou hast not kept my covenant and my statutes, which I have commanded thee, I will surely rend the kingdom from thee, and will give it to thy servant.
God is nothing if He doesn't keep His divine word.
12 Notwithstanding in thy days I will not do it for David thy father's sake: but I will rend it out of the hand of thy son.
That's nice of Him to let Solomon finish the rule, but He'll show Solomon's son!
13 Howbeit I will not rend away all the kingdom; but will give one tribe to thy son for David my servant's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake which I have chosen.
See His divine mercy®. He promised to take it away, but He's not gonna take it away from Solomon, and then He's gonna take it away from Solomon's son, but then out of his INFINITE MERCY® He actually decides to let Solomon's son have
PART of the kingdom.
Then God makes Solomon some enemies.
Hadad the Edomite.
Rezon the son of Eliadah.
Jeroboam an Ephriathite.
The only one of real consequence is Jeroboam.
Solomon set Jeroboam as a leader over the house of Joseph (Ephriam and Manasseh); one day, as Jeroboam was walking down the street, a prophet, Ahijah grabbed Jeroboam's shirt and ripped it into 12 pieces, then he kept two and gave Jeroboam the other 10.
31 And he said to Jeroboam, Take thee ten pieces: for thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, Behold, I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give ten tribes to thee:
It was a new shirt, Jeroboam was probably freaked out by the prophet showing up and just ripping his new shirt.
35 But I will take the kingdom out of his son's hand, and will give it unto thee, even ten tribes.
Leaving out Judah and Benjamin.
37 And I will take thee, and thou shalt reign according to all that thy soul desireth, and shalt be king over Israel.
All he has to do, is the same as all of the kings; JUST DO EXACTLY WHAT GOD TELLS HIM.
40 Solomon sought therefore to kill Jeroboam. And Jeroboam arose, and fled into Egypt, unto Shishak king of Egypt, and was in Egypt until the death of Solomon.
Egypt, the place to hide when your life is on the line.
41 And the rest of the acts of Solomon, and all that he did, and his wisdom, are they not written in the book of the acts of Solomon?
I dunno, never read the "acts of Solomon". Apparently, it is lost.
Solomon was king for 40 years.
43 And Solomon slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David his father: and Rehoboam his son reigned in his stead.
All hail the new king Rehoboam!
So who all has been king so far?
1. Saul, turned his back on God at the battle with Agag.
2. Ishbosheth, made the mistake of becoming king when it should have been David.
3. David, committed adultery with Bathsheba.
4. Solomon, made temples to other Gods.
5. Rehoboam, ruler of Judah due to his fathers temples.
1 Kings 12
1 And Rehoboam went to Shechem: for all Israel were come to Shechem to make him king.
That's nice, apparently the 10 tribes don't realize they are supposed to reject him yet.
The people talked to Rehoboam.
4 Thy father made our yoke grievous: now therefore make thou the grievous service of thy father, and his heavy yoke which he put upon us, lighter, and we will serve thee.
I don't recall reading anywhere that said the Solomon made everyone work harder than they should have?
Oh, maybe the yoke was the taxes that provided Solomon with the 666 talents of gold each year.
Rehoboam asks the people for three days to ponder the lessening of the yoke. So he consults with his elder counsel.
7 And they spake unto him, saying, If thou wilt be a servant unto this people this day, and wilt serve them, and answer them, and speak good words to them, then they will be thy servants for ever.
Reduce their taxes, and they will be happy to give you whatever it is that they are taxed.
Manipulation of mass mood, by raising the taxes to an unbearable level, and then lowering them to a point that's still higher than before, and the people think you are giving them a break.
Rehoboam asks his buddies what they think he should do.
11 And now whereas my father did lade you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke: my father hath chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.
That doesn't sound like good advice.
13 And the king answered the people roughly, and forsook the old men's counsel that they gave him;
14 And spake to them after the counsel of the young men, saying, My father made your yoke heavy, and I will add to your yoke: my father also chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.
He spoke to them practically word for word what his buddies said.
16 So when all Israel saw that the king hearkened not unto them, the people answered the king, saying, What portion have we in David? neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse: to your tents, O Israel: now see to thine own house, David. So Israel departed unto their tents.
They left... angrily.
18 Then king Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was over the tribute; and all Israel stoned him with stones, that he died. Therefore king Rehoboam made speed to get him up to his chariot, to flee to Jerusalem.
So Adoram goes out to collect the taxes, and the people stoned him. I wonder if they used silver? Here's your friggin tribute!!!
20 And it came to pass, when all Israel heard that Jeroboam was come again, that they sent and called him unto the congregation, and made him king over all Israel: there was none that followed the house of David, but the tribe of Judah only.
And Benjamin.
21 And when Rehoboam was come to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah, with the tribe of Benjamin, an hundred and fourscore thousand chosen men, which were warriors, to fight against the house of Israel, to bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam the son of Solomon.
Have we lost a tribe already, or where does Levi fit into this civil family war?
But war was temporarily averted when Shemaiah receives a message of God saying to not go fight the rest of the tribes.
25 Then Jeroboam built Shechem in mount Ephraim, and dwelt therein; and went out from thence, and built Penuel.
Jeroboam builds his castle.
Jeroboam then realizes that the people still need to sacrifice in Jerusalem, as that's where Solomon's temple is, so he builds a couple of his own.
28 Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
The first king of the Northern Kingdom of Israel is an idolater. But hey, Aaron did the same thing.
29 And he set the one in Bethel, and the other put he in Dan.
30 And this thing became a sin: for the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan.
Not DAN, yes, even unto Dan.
31 And he made an house of high places, and made priests of the lowest of the people, which were not of the sons of Levi.
Of course he made priests from the low people, you think any self respecting Levi would be a priest for a gold cow?
33 So he offered upon the altar which he had made in Bethel the fifteenth day of the eighth month, even in the month which he had devised of his own heart; and ordained a feast unto the children of Israel: and he offered upon the altar, and burnt incense.
Strange gods, strange incense, strange sacrifices... Jeroboam is definitely getting off to a bad start as king, or he's just being as bad as the rest.
So what have we learned today?
1. If one woman can corrupt a man, imagine how bad 1000 women could be.
2. Solomon's had 666 talents, none of which would get him to win American Idol.
3. Rehoboam raised taxes, Jeroboam raised Idols. Which would YOU rather have? Higher taxes or eternity in hell?
YIC
V