God had given David a wise son

                                     

                                                                1 Kings 5:7-18

 

 April 23, 2021

 

As soon as Hiram heard the words of Solomon, he rejoiced greatly and said, “Blessed be the Lord this day, who has given to David a wise son to be over this great people.”   And Hiram sent to Solomon, saying, “I have heard the message that you have sent to me. I am ready to do all you desire in the matter of cedar and cypress timber.   My servants shall bring it down to the sea from Lebanon, and I will make it into rafts to go by sea to the place you direct. And I will have them broken up there, and you shall receive it. And you shall meet my wishes by providing food for my household.”   So Hiram supplied Solomon with all the timber of cedar and cypress that he desired,  while Solomon gave Hiram 20,000 cors of wheat as food for his household, and 20,000 cors of beaten oil. Solomon gave this to Hiram year by year.   And the Lord gave Solomon wisdom, as he promised him. And there was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a treaty.

 

A friend will always find great pleasure when he sees a child of his friend, becoming a man of Integrity.  Hiram had great respect for David, and it brought joy to him to see Solomon being a wise leader.  He did all that Solomon asked of him and in return, Solomon supplied his household food, year after year.  

 

Now as you read the remainder of Chapter 5, you will see it was a great task and required a lot of men to do all that was required, so shall we pick up the account in Chapter 5:13-18.

 

 King Solomon drafted forced labor out of all Israel, and the draft numbered 30,000 men.   And he sent them to Lebanon, 10,000 a month in shifts. They would be a month in Lebanon and two months at home. Adoniram was in charge of the draft.   Solomon also had 70,000 burden-bearers and 80,000 stonecutters in the hill country,  besides Solomon's 3,300 chief officers who were over the work, who had charge of the people who carried on the work.   At the king's command, they quarried out great, costly stones in order to lay the foundation of the house with dressed stones.   So Solomon's builders and Hiram's builders and the men of Gebal did the cutting and prepared the timber and the stone to build the house.

 

Now, most of you younger folks may not understand the term (drafted), but it was very popular when I was getting out of two years of college.  It was the military, and you were drafted because we had a war going on with the Vietcong, it was referred to as the Vietnam War and many young American soldiers died in that war.  Solomon drafted 30,000 men to go to Lebanon, he also had 70,000 burden-bearers and 80,000 stonecutters in the hill country. 

 

They had a great task to undertake and God was blessing Solomon and at this point, Solomon was pleasing to the LORD.

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice

 

Preparations for Building the Temple

                                                                        1 Kings 5:1-6

 April 21, 2021

 

 Preparations for Building the Temple

Now Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon when he heard that they had anointed him king in place of his father, for Hiram always loved David.   And Solomon sent word to Hiram,   “You know that David my father could not build a house for the name of the Lord his God because of the warfare with which his enemies surrounded him until the Lord put them under the soles of his feet.   But now the Lord my God has given me rest on every side. There is neither adversary nor misfortune.   And so, I intend to build a house for the name of the Lord my God, as the Lord said to David my father, ‘Your son, whom I will set on your throne in your place, shall build the house for my name.’   Now, therefore, command that cedars of Lebanon be cut for me. And my servants will join your servants, and I will pay you for your servant's such wages as you set, for you know that there is no one among us who knows how to cut timber like the Sidonians.”

I often wonder, if today the children we raised will value the relationship of their parents.  We live in such a time of the urgent taking preference over the important, if our children do not take time to spend seeking after the Lord, and spending time in prayer and in His word, do you believe they will care to put a value on friends of their parents.

 

My wife of many years who is an amazing lady, has a love for cats, but do you understand, cats are at best fickle, they care only for themselves.  I often wonder if my generation's desire to give our children the best has produced children with the same nature as cats.  Let me share an account, a lady calls a large church  Vacation Bible School, and they have about 1200 little ankle-biters; we refer to them as precious children running everywhere.  A young mother calls the church, to inform them she is running late and wonder if they will wait to start till her child gets there, in that she does not want him disappointed.  That is not a fictional account, it happened, and unlike Solomon, who valued as a child his dad and those who loved his dad.  Unlike a child who has a mother who is so self-centered to expect a request this foolish, will have a hard time in a world that is all about getting what it wants. 

 

Now, King David was not a great dad, but Solomon's mother must have taught her son to value the things of God and to remember those who value and loved his dad. 

Note: to the few who are teaching their children, to value the things of God, to understand He is a good and loving Father that unlike our parents will always listen to them.  Will discipline His children when it is required, and guide them to love their neighbors as themselves.  But He never punishes His children, for He took his full wrath out on His One and only Son, Jesus Christ, for your sins and mine.

 

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

God gave Solomon everything He needed to be a great Leader

1 Kings 4: 20-34

April 20, 2021

 

 Judah and Israel were as many as the sand by the sea. They ate and drank and were happy.   Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates to the land of the Philistines and to the border of Egypt. They brought tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life.

Solomon's provision for one day was thirty corp^] of fine flour and sixty cors of meal,  ten fat oxen, and twenty pasture-fed cattle, a hundred sheep, besides deer, gazelles, roebucks, and fattened fowl.   For he had dominion over all the region west of the Euphrates from Tiphsah to Gaza, over all the kings west of the Euphrates. And he had peace on all sides around him.   And Judah and Israel lived in safety, from Dan even to Beersheba, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, all the days of Solomon.   Solomon also had 40,000 stalls of horses for his chariots and 12,000 horsemen.   And those officers supplied provisions for King Solomon, and for all who came to King Solomon's table, each one in his month. They let nothing be lacking.   Barley also and straw for the horses and swift steeds they brought to the place where it was required, each according to his duty.

 

And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding beyond measure, and breadth of mind like the sand on the seashore,  so that Solomon's wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all the people of the east and all the wisdom of Egypt.   For he was wiser than all other men, wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol, and his fame was in all the surrounding nations.   He also spoke 3,000 proverbs, and his songs were 1,005.   He spoke of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of the wall. He spoke also of beasts, and of birds, and of reptiles, and of fish.  And people of all nations came to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and from all the kings of the earth, who had heard of his wisdom.

 

If you wonder what a man might have the ability to be and do, one only has to look at Solomon.  But then will it help if we study all that he did, but God’s hand is not on us?  Have you heard the saying, ladder against the wrong wall?  Solomon was the earth suit, but it was God who gave him riches, and wisdom, and when you have a man who is following God’s will, and not his own, you will find a man who walks in this life full of peace and contentment.   We have many people who have gained wealth, power, and even authority, but have no understanding of what it is like to have an understanding of the ways of God, they seek peace, and they would pay any amount to have peace, but they have no room for the giver of peace and contentment.

 

Solomon understood this, I must look to and obey God’s will if I am to lead such a people as Israel.  He was a young child when He believed in God, and sought Him, and guess what Jesus said, we must come to the Father with the faith of a child, if we desire mercy and grace, if we want to live at peace with God and men.  What value do you put on living at peace with God and man?

 

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Solomon's Officials

 

1 Kings 4:1-6 – 7-19

 

April 19, 2021

 

 

Solomon's Officials

King Solomon was king over all Israel,  and these were his high officials: Azariah the son of Zadok was the priest;  Elihoreph and Ahijah the sons of Shisha were secretaries; Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder;  Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was in command of the army; Zadok and Abiathar were priests;  Azariah the son of Nathan was over the officers; Zabud the son of Nathan was priest and king's friend;  Ahishar was in charge of the palace, and Adoniram the son of Abda was in charge of the forced labor.

We might refer to these men as the movers and shakers or the power brokers of Solomon’s Kingdom.  Eleven men to carry out the desires of Solomon, and to make the part of government they were responsible for, to run in a way that met the king's requirements.

Solomon had twelve officers over all Israel, who provided food for the king and his household. Each man had to make provision for one month in the year.   These were their names: Ben-hur, in the hill country of Ephraim;  Ben-deker, in Makaz, Shaalbim, Beth-shemesh, and Elonbeth-hanan;  Ben-hesed, in Arubboth (to him belonged Socoh and all the land of Hepher);  Ben-abinadab, in all Naphath-dor (he had Taphath the daughter of Solomon as his wife);  Baana the son of Ahilud, in Taanach, Megiddo, and all Beth-shean that is beside Zarethan below Jezreel, and from Beth-shean to Abel-meholah, as far as the other side of Jokmeam;  Ben-geber, in Ramoth-gilead (he had the villages of Jair the son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead, and he had the region of Argob, which is in Bashan, sixty great cities with walls and bronze bars); Ahinadab the son of Iddo, in Mahanaim;  Ahimaaz, in Naphtali (he had taken Basemath the daughter of Solomon as his wife);  Baana the son of Hushai, in Asher and Bealoth;  Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah, in Issachar; Shimei the son of Ela, in Benjamin;  Geber the son of Uri, in the land of Gilead, the country of Sihon king of the Amorites and of Og king of Bashan. And there was one governor who was over the land.

 

As stated the twelve deputies' job was to provide food for the royal household, each had a month.

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice

Solomon's Wisdom

 1 Kings 3:16-28

 

April 17, 2021

 

Solomon's Wisdom

Then two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him.   The one woman said, “Oh, my lord, this woman and I live in the same house, and I gave birth to a child while she was in the house.   Then on the third day after I gave birth, this woman also gave birth. And we were alone. There was no one else with us in the house; only we two were in the house.   And this woman's son died in the night because she lay on him.   And she arose at midnight and took my son from beside me, while your servant slept, and laid him at her breast, and laid her dead son at my breast.   When I rose in the morning to nurse my child, behold, he was dead. But when I looked at him closely in the morning, behold, he was not the child that I had borne.”   But the other woman said, “No, the living child is mine, and the dead child is yours.” The first said, “No, the dead child is yours, and the living child is mine.” Thus, they spoke before the king.

 

Then the king said, “The one says, ‘This is my son that is alive, and your son is dead’; and the other says, ‘No; but your son is dead, and my son is the living one.’”   And the king said, “Bring me a sword.” So, a sword was brought before the king.   And the king said, “Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one and half to the other.”   Then the woman whose son was alive said to the king, because her heart yearned for her son, “Oh, my lord, give her the living child, and by no means put him to death.” But the other said, “He shall be neither mine nor yours; divide him.”   Then the king answered and said, “Give the living child to the first woman, and by no means put him to death; she is his mother.”  And all Israel heard of the judgment that the king had rendered, and they stood in awe of the king because they perceived that the wisdom of God was in him to do justice.

 

I can only imagine what our justice system would look like if the Judges and leaders had wisdom from God, and not from the world system.  But we read yesterday, that God had given Solomon wisdom like no other would ever have.  “Behold, I give you a wise and discerning mind so that none like you has been before you and none like you shall arise after you.” (1kings 3:12)

 

Are we now in a time of no hope of anyone in a Judgeship or leadership having wisdom?  Not on your life, for we find in James 1:5, ^“ If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.”

 

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

 

It Pleased the Lord

 

April 16, 2021

 

1 Kings 3:10-15

 

It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this.   And God said to him, “Because you have asked this, and have not asked for yourself long life or riches or the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right,  behold, I now do according to your word. Behold, I give you a wise and discerning mind so that none like you has been before you and none like you shall arise after you.   I give you also what you have not asked, both riches and honor so that no other king shall compare with you, all your days.  And if you will walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days.”

And Solomon awoke, and behold, it was a dream. Then he came to Jerusalem and stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and offered up burnt offerings and peace offerings, and made a feast for all his servants.

 

As you read the Scripture above and give thought to your prayer life, are you following Solomon's example?   How can we know if our prayers are pleasing to God, first and foremost turn to Matthew 6:9-13,  “This, then, is how you should pray: “‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.  Give us today our daily bread.  And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.  And lead us not into temptation,  but deliver us from the evil one.”  

 

As we read that do you stop reading and allow the Holy Spirit to renew your mind; first to understand the only things Jesus' disciples ask of him was to teach them to pray.  Next, to grasp to whom you are addressing, that the Father knows you, He saw you before you were and numbered your days on planet earth.  He knew you were going to be under the control of sin and the evil one, and from the beginning before creation, he knew that His only Son would have to become a man and die to buy you out of the control of sin.  For that reason and many more, you should study this prayer and learn also what pleases the Father.

 

In this world we will have tribulation, I did not say that but God's Word does, and for a person who has known darkness and comes out into the light of Jesus Christ, it is clear that we the Church are experiencing or will soon be experiencing tribulation.  We are told in 1 Peter 4:16-19, “Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name.   For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?   And “If the righteous is scarcely saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?” Therefore, let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.”

 

As followers of Christ, our first and foremost examination should begin in our mirror, and 2 Corinthians 13:5, gives us the first step; “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!”  A couple of questions I have to often ask myself in this examination, am I seeking God’s will or my own?  Do I understand my flesh patterns, and am I trying to get my needs met outside of Christ?   

 

Let's get honest with ourselves, I hate the evil I see in Washington D.C., I do not have a clue who is pulling the strings but I’m sure it is not President Biden or V.P. Harris.  I and most who have looked into the past election know it was stolen, but do you understand, our Father allowed this to happen, He is God, and you are not, so get over it.  In no way did I say it was God’s will to have the election to be stolen, but this I know I can go back to Jesus's prayer, and ask for His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.  He is Holy and good, and at best all men are liars, so why are you surprised at those who follow after the world, to act like their father the devil.  But you who have come out of the darkness are without excuse when you act like them.

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice

Solomon Asks for Wisdom

April 15, 2021

 

1 Kings 3;1-9

 

Solomon Asks for Wisdom

Solomon made an alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt and married his daughter. He brought her to the City of David until he finished building his palace and the temple of the Lord, and the wall around Jerusalem.   The people, however, were still sacrificing at the high places, because a temple had not yet been built for the Name of the Lord.   Solomon showed his love for the Lord by walking according to the instructions given him by his father David, except that he offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places.

The king went to Gibeon to offer sacrifices, for that was the most important high place, and Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar.   At Gibeon, the Lord appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.”

 Solomon answered, “You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day.

“Now, Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties.   Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number.   So, give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?”

 

Can you imagine a dad not getting excited when he asked this question; tell me what you want, and it will be yours.  And the son does not ask for wealth, or stuff, but says give me what I need, a discerning heart and the ability to distinguish between right and wrong.  Our Father in heaven, who will give us the desire of our hearts, gave all that Solomon ask and much more.  As we keep reading we will witness, how much the Father desires for each of us, and our lack of asking, or asking correctly according to for His will.

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice