I Kings 1-11:43

[00:00:00] Two books of kings this evening, I don't think we are going to get very much farther than the end of the reign of Solomon. But that will bring us to the end of the first section of that very simple outline of these two books, that is the United Kingdom. Now, there are just four things I want to say before we actually look at the these 11 chapters. [00:00:32] We are not going to go back over what we have already said, although there'll be one or two points that we shall underline as we go forward. [00:00:40] If those of you who've missed the introduction to these two books, then there is a recording of it. And if you see David, it can be arranged for you to hear that. [00:00:52] But the first thing I would like to say as we take this, these 11 chapters, is that we have now reached the climax of what we could call sacred history. [00:01:07] Solomon is the climax of divine history. He is the crown of all God's dealings in a definite way with his people. And that is why you will find when you are reading through these 11 chapters, that we are taken back quite a few times to Egypt and we are reminded that it all began with the people being brought out of Egypt. [00:01:41] That's very interesting. Solomon is the zenith, as it were, of sacred history. It is the high water. [00:01:55] And we've got to underline that once more. And that is one of the reasons why, when faced with the dilemma as to whether to try and take the whole outline in one evening, which we could have done, or whether to take the step, this section to do with Solomon's reign and its end, I chose, I feel, with the Holy Spirit definitely governing us, that we should just take the reign of Solomon. The reason is, I don't want to leave any confusion in anyone's mind as to a very distinct termination of a faith. See, if we're going to try and take a whole three, these three sections of these two books, I'm very much afraid that trying to take so much a period of something like 500 years with three completely different phases, I think we would lose quite a lot. Particularly this point that I'm making that the end of Solomon's reign, or Solomon's reign as a whole, is the climax of divine history in the Old Testament. [00:03:13] Now, I would like to add one something more to that, which is this, that Solomon is also the heart and the core of biblical revelation. That is, when we come to Solomon's reign, we have, as it were, entered into the very holiest place of all in biblical revelation. [00:03:41] There is nothing in the whole Bible that is not more central and not more truly the heart of all God has revealed than here, in type, in shadow, in the reign of Solomon. [00:03:58] That is why, as I think I said when last we were speaking about kings, that is why Chronicles overlaps Kings. That is why kings, the four books of the kingdom, come to an end and are not taken up any further. As far as they're concerned, that is the end of history. Chronicles picks it up from Adam, goes right over the same period again, and then traces it right on to the rebuilding of the house after the exile. [00:04:32] That's very important that we should understand that. Two things. Then, very simply, I want you to grasp the secret. The first is that Solomon's reign is the climax of divine history. It is, as it were, the crowd when we've got there. There is a sense in which history closes down as far as a more definite movement of God are concerned. And secondly, Solomon is the heart of biblical revelation. Here we come to the heart of the whole. [00:05:10] We come really to the region. What is the motivating spirit in all God's deeds? From the beginning, they are, as it were, unveiled, revealed to us in the reign of silence. [00:05:27] And that leads me to say one other thing as well, and that is that after Solomon, and this is what all I want you to note comes after these two things. But after Solomon's reign, everything is really a question of return to or recovery of what has been revealed. [00:05:50] That is, after the reign of Solomon in Old Testament history, there is really no fresh revelation. [00:06:00] The Lord says a good deal more, tremendous amount more to the prophet. But there is no new great, shall I say, act in history. There's no Red Sea, there's no Exodus, there's no revelation of the law on Mount Sinai. There's no unveiling of the land and the inheritance. There's no unveiling of the kingdom. And the third, all that comes to an end, Solomon. And from then on, after Solomon, the rest of the Old Testament is taken up with a continual seeking to bring back the people to what has been revealed. That is why the prophetical office takes precedent from Solomon's reign on them up to Solomon. The priest and the king have both been prominent. The prophet has been there, but he had a back seat. Now from Solomon, the king begins slowly to take a backseat. He loses out spiritually. He is no longer the power in God's economy that he was, nor really is the priest. But we find that the prophet comes into his own. And it is continually a question of the Lord through the prophet seeking to bring About a return to what has been revealed and a recovery of what has been revealed that is most important for us to understand. [00:07:32] Up to Solomon. It is an unfolding revelation in history, not only in words, but in history. [00:07:40] Great creative acts of God in human history. [00:07:47] Just in the same way that God created this world and is expressed through it. So he has taken the history of humanity, in particular the history of a people, and has creatively expressed Himself through great acts, historical acts, he has given himself, expressed himself. [00:08:09] But those come really to an end. [00:08:14] We have reached the heart of it. [00:08:20] There is one other thing I would like to add to that, and that is this. We are dealing this evening with what we have called the United Kingdom. [00:08:30] And it was just in my heart to underline something about this United Kingdom. [00:08:38] I suppose in the whole history of Israel there was only something like about 60 years when the nation was really wholly united. 40 years of that was in the reign of Solomon. [00:09:00] His reign from beginning to end was one of unity, of true and essential unity. [00:09:09] Even if you remember, when you look back into history in Moses time, there wasn't real unity. [00:09:15] Certainly there was very little unity in the period of the Judges. [00:09:20] And you know as well as I do that in the history of David, for a large portion of his life, the country was split into two opposed camps. [00:09:33] As soon as Solomon dies, the unity is destroyed and two camps are once again clearly to be seen. And those two camps continue. And they continued right on down to the very time of the Lord Jesus own life on this earth. [00:09:55] That's very important for us to understand because I think that we shall learn a lot about this whole matter of unity, this question of unity. [00:10:04] We shall find out, I think, that unity is something which is in its essential character, beyond the capacity and grasp of fallen man. [00:10:18] That is unity, whether it. Whatever scale you like to look at it, whatever level you want to look at it is really beyond the ability or even the capacity of fallen man. [00:10:34] Unity is something which is essentially spiritual and heavenly, very important for us to understand. Something essentially spiritual and heavenly. [00:10:46] In our fallen nature, we cannot really be one for very long. And the history of the children of God is an adequate expression, an adequate evidence of that simple fact. When you think of Christendom today, split up into a million little fragments and sections, it's just the same old story again of the inability and incapacity of man to be really wonderful. We shall see, I think, as we go on, just how this unity is destroyed. The influences which are at work quite under the surface to destroy the unity that was there in the reign of. I think it's an impressive thing. Do you not think that in the whole history of the nation there should have been this one brief, short spell of true unity? [00:11:47] Amazing fact. [00:11:50] Well, now let's turn together to one king. As we look together at the first chapter and we find from the first chapter to chapter two and verse 12, we find the story of Solomon's accession to the throne, his coming to the throne. [00:12:22] You will already remember that in the second book of Samuel we have had David's last. [00:12:30] His death wasn't actually recorded, but we have already had his dying words. Here we find his last days. And once again this chapter or two is filled with spiritual instruction. How did Solomon really come to the throne? [00:12:52] Solomon was not the eldest of David's sons. The two elders of David's sons, we know, have already met with untimely ends. [00:13:04] We don't know what happened to the third eldest Chiliad, as far as we know, because Scripture makes no mention of him. We have come to the conclusion that he must have died somehow and that left the next the fourth, and therefore the one, humanly speaking, king with the right to the throne, the right player to the throne. His name was Adonijah. [00:13:29] But the Lord had already revealed through Nathan and to David that Solomon was the one chosen of God to be king in his father's place. [00:13:47] And here we find, as always, I'm afraid, in an atmosphere of real history and spiritual experience and even of unity, we find faction at work. [00:14:07] It's very interesting because some of it is not apparent. And therefore these chapters have presented many people with great views, difficulty. Why these harsh words of David before he died to Solomon about that man who had had been so loyal to David, Joab, why did David say to Solomon, now you find occasion to execute that man? [00:14:36] And then there were other people that seem to have served David well. And yet David marks them out as he is dying, as people that need to be watched very carefully. What really is the key to this? [00:14:53] It is simply that, as always, there are those who had their eye not on the glory of the Lord, and not upon the Lord's interest so much as their own welfare and their own position and ministry. Whenever you get people either ministry conscious or position conscious, you will have trouble, mark my words. Always, as soon as a person thinks they've got something and have all bound up with what they are and the position they have and the ministry they ought to have, and how the Lord's revealed it to them and all the rest of it, you can be quite sure that you're heading for very real trouble in that direction. [00:15:38] Here you have the seed of real trouble. You have a young girl. Her name is Abhishek. [00:15:48] It is quite clear by implication in the story that she is very, very fond, if not deeply involved with Adonijah. [00:15:58] I'm not going to go into it, but if anyone wants to know the evidence for that, come and see me afterwards and I'll point it out to you. But it is quite clear that Abishag, who was chosen to look after the king and minister to the king, was in the plot. And that is why it says in one little spot that when Bathsheba went in, it expressly said that Abishag was ministering. In other words, she. Her job was to keep people away from the old king, see that nothing got food to him his ears about the plot. But Bathsheba was the favorite. [00:16:27] He was David's favorite wife. And not even Abisha could stop Bathsheba from getting to David. Then you have Joab. [00:16:40] You know, we've already noticed the history of Joab. A very strong man, a very skillful man, a very cunning man, a very hard man in some ways a very loyal man, but an exceedingly ambitious man. [00:16:57] Then you've got Abiathar, the high priest. [00:17:03] He's involved. [00:17:06] So you've got this little group of folk that are involved. They are, as it were, a faction. [00:17:15] And they are evidently all involved and implicated. And Adonijah decides that it's time to take the throne himself. Evidently they felt David was so old that if they presented him with a sudden fait accompli, he would give in and say, all right, and they moved ahead. But Nathan the prophet and Bathsheba and Zadok, the high priest and Benaiah are those used of God to counteract faction. [00:17:51] And you'll always find that never, never rest on laurels, never rest on past history, because you've been from the beginning with what the Lord's doing. And in it doesn't mean to say that you can't be used in a division. Tomorrow you can. One of those things that we've all got to watch all, all the time. There's ground within everyone, and that ground is forever ground for Satan. And he can make alliances there, unholy alliances, all kinds of ways and means. [00:18:20] And if you look into the story, you find that Nathan tells Bathsheba to go into David, don't think we need to spend very long. And the whole plot and faction is counteracted. [00:18:31] And David takes The step of publicly acclaiming Solomon as king in his own place, that is that Solomon comes to the throne before even David has died. And there is, as it were, a period when they both reign together that I think is quite important for us to understand. [00:18:57] There has been a. And it is very interesting to note that Adonijah, when he found out that Solomon was already made king, was so afraid that he ran into the tent of meeting, ran into the tabernacle to lay hold of the horns of the altar. [00:19:15] It is quite clear from what Nathan has said that Adonijah, if he had only managed to got the situation under control, would have destroyed both Bathsheba and Solomon. [00:19:31] That must be borne in mind if anyone says to you at different times, how very unkind, how David seems to be very treacherous in his last days. Not that at all. You're dealing here in many ways with an oriental atmosphere. You're dealing with intrigue and treachery. It's all going on the throne as to who is going to get the throne, who's going to become king. And it is very, very interesting that in that atmosphere, Solomon comes to the throne. Now, in the next few verses, we find David's charge to Solomon. And it's interesting to note here again that David has been very criticized for what he has said. But in actual fact, there's nothing that we could in any way take exception to David. After all, as anyone would. If I was a very old man and someone very young had been chosen of God to take over, I think I should say now then you're very young, you long for before I go, be careful of so and so. [00:20:48] There's been a long history behind that person, of faction and trouble and treachery. You be careful. [00:20:57] And so and so be careful. [00:21:01] And so and so careful searching. He was just outlining the pitfall for his son. And when we come to the next part, from verse 13 of chapter 2 to chapter to verse 46, we find that Solomon, although he was only a fellow of about 20, consolidates his position wonderfully. And there are three things I want you to note about it. First of all, the way he handles the whole situation firmly, that's always a key to leadership. He doesn't dither, he handles the situation firmly. As soon as he comes to the throne, when Adonijah is clinging to the horns of the altar and begging for mercy, he doesn't say to him, all right, all right, all right. He just sends a word to him to say, certainly, but if he's worthy of death, he will Die, he will certainly not be executed just like that. But if he does anything worthy of it, he will. [00:22:08] There's a firm handling. The other thing I want you to notice and remember that this does not tell us the number of years involved is the patience of Solomon. [00:22:20] Although he knows that Adonijah and Joab, who is an extended, exceedingly hard and clever man, and Abiathar, who has all his days through the reign of David being high priest, are involved in a plot, he doesn't just execute them arbitrarily. [00:22:42] He waits. [00:22:44] And it is always a good thing when there's factions to wait because faction always exposes itself. It's not of God, always exposes. And so we see first of all that as David waits, Adonijah does something which really was a serious point. He asked, he got. He managed by intrigue, get hold of Bathsheba to go into the presence of Solomon and make him promise before he she told her that she would have what she asked, which he did. [00:23:21] And then he asked her to ask for Abishu, the concubine of David. [00:23:28] Now, that you may not realize was a claim to the throne. [00:23:32] And you will also notice that Adonijah speaks to Bathsheba of the throne being really rightfully his. But he says the Lord has given it. [00:23:47] He hasn't laid down his claim on the throne, although he is clear that the Lord has marked it out for and his claim to David's concubine is an oriental move to lay claim before the whole nation to the throne. And Solomon, though young, was wise enough to know straight away that that was the seed of a new plot. [00:24:22] So he rightfully has Adonijah executed there and then that's the end of that bit of faction. [00:24:31] Then we find that as soon as Adonijah was execut, the plot is exposed. Joab flees, doesn't wait, he flees and he tries to take refuge in the altar. But again he's executed. Abiathar is deposed from his position as high priest and sent back to his family field. [00:24:56] And then we have the case of Shimei, who's a very influential member of the old house of Saul and who was obviously waiting for an opportunity to somehow cause trouble and get a member of Saul's house once more, get someone from Saul's house to occupy the throne. And therefore David waits. Solomon waits three years over Shimei, putting him under house arrest, a serious thing. [00:25:28] And when Shimei breaks that house arrest, he insults the authority of Solomon, Solomon has him executed. And in that way, all the troublemakers are wisely and with great justice settled and Solomon's throne is consolidated. So there's something, at any rate, at very beginning of his reign. Now in from chapter three, we get the keynote of his reign. That's only just the beginning lays the foundation of his reign. Chapter three, we get the keynote. And I want you to note straight away that there are certain things about Solomon. From chapter three, the first 15 verses, we have really the whole weakness of Solomon set forth. [00:26:18] There's no doubt about it. These few verses have been inserted here, not in strictly chronological order, as a key note to Solomon's whole reign. [00:26:31] And we find certain things that constitute his weakness and certain things that constitute his strength. What are the things that constitute his weakness? First of all, it says straightaway he makes an alliance with Egypt that involved, as you remember when we spoke about the high places, that involved a recognition of the gods of Egypt. [00:26:54] That was one of Solomon's greatest mistakes. May I say this rather blatantly, but still, I think it needs to be said Solomon's fall was not evil desire as many people. [00:27:09] His huge harem was not just the result of Edel in him. It was a definite political move on his side. All those foreign wives of his were political alliances in order to somehow or other link himself with all kinds of people and thus make a real bond of friendship and link of friendship with all these different royal families of the different surrounding tribes. That's one of the biggest points about the reign of Solomon. That was his recourse. He made an alliance with Egypt. Then you note he married Pharaoh's daughter, which of course was part of the alliance with her name. [00:28:00] That cemented the alliance and that was a very real weakness. Then again, you'll notice that the word of God puts something around, inverts the order. [00:28:14] It says that he was so many, it says, till he had made an end of building his own house and the house of the Lord. Now in actual fact, he built the house of the Lord first and his own house afterwards. Why does, why does the writer, at the very beginning of Solomon's reign, invert the order? [00:28:33] Now here you've got a real weakness. Solomon spent seven years building the house of the Lord, but he spent 13 building his own. [00:28:42] Although Solomon's heart was set on building the house of the Lord, there's no doubt about it that there was a tremendous amount of his own personal, personal welfare taken up with it. And that is the reason for Ezekiel's great cry. Do you remember that we read last Sunday that when the Lord rebuilds His house. He will certainly see that the threshold of the kings is not next door to his threshold and that the burial places of the kings is not next door to the house of God. The thing without to think that the harem of Solomon, of the kings was in the very precincts of the house of God. So you see the very beginning of the reign of Solomon, where already his weaknesses are already being underlined for us. The alliance with Egypt, the marriage with Pharaoh's daughter, the great building scattered not only the house of God that was wonderful, but his own palaces that were tremendous buildings and cost thousands of pounds. [00:29:57] When we take chronicles, I write some figures up there which I think will so amaze you that you will hardly be able to please your ears as to the sums of money involved. If the building of the temple they were so vast that by present day standards you will be very, very surprised. [00:30:19] So we have to take note of all that. Then again, it says in these few verses that he compromised over the high places. The people worshipped in the high places. And you know what that means. [00:30:32] He had it within his power to abolish every high place, the land, and he never did it. And indeed it said he himself burnt himself and worshipped in the high places. He may not have gone so far at the beginning of his reign as he did at the end, but he did not only allow the high places to continue, he himself touched them, he himself was involved partly with them. These are the weaknesses of Solomon. Over against the weaknesses of Solomon, we find something very wonderful. We find here portrayed one or two wonderful points about him. First of all, it says he loved the Lord as one of the keys to Solomon's reign. He loved the Lord in spite of it all. [00:31:18] Secondly, he built the house of the Lord, it says, and he built the walls of Jerusalem. Two things which you know as well as I do mean a lot in scripture. The house of God and the walls of Jerusalem. These are the two things that it specifically underlined that he did at the beginning of his reign. [00:31:37] And then again you will also notice something else very wonderful says that when he went up to one of the high places to sacrifice great amount of sacrifices, it was his official religious coronation. He'd already been clown, but this was his official coronation. It says the Lord appeared to him in a dream. [00:31:58] And this really in this we are at the heart of Solomon's life and character. The Lord appeared to him and said, Solomon, what would you like to give you? [00:32:09] And Solomon's one request was for an understanding heart. [00:32:15] Now that is the key. Solomon's reign. Undoubtedly why the Lord never left him in his reign. It's why the Lord so wonderfully took up Solomon. You see, in spite of it all, Solomon really at the very root of his being, loved the Lord and longed the Lord should have his way. Now that is also for us our greatest warning. [00:32:40] We can love the Lord and we can really want the Lord to have his way. But if we don't watch the little foxes that spoil the vine, they're the things that in the end will drag down the greatest monsters. So those are the things we have to watch. Solomon is one of the greatest warnings in Scripture. Here he is a heart set on the Lord, a heart that loves the Lord when proved by the Lord. He doesn't ask for riches. He doesn't ask for long life. He doesn't ask for power. He doesn't ask for authority. He asks for wisdom. I wondered if you were going to come to the throne of the British Empire tomorrow, what exactly you would ask for the Lord? [00:33:22] Just exactly. Because we all fail our wisdom. But I wonder if we did not know the story, what we would ask for? The things that find us out, wouldn't it? As to what really, what kind of sport, spiritual character we have. Well, that's very important for us, I think, to understand. [00:33:43] I also want you to note that the Lord says to him, because you have asked for this, I will not only give you wisdom, but I will add all the other things as well. [00:33:57] This was a mark of God's favor. [00:34:01] I don't think there's anything that we could ask the Lord which is more comprehensive than wisdom. [00:34:10] Remember when I was first saved? The birth that was the burnt its way into my heart. That little one. If any man lacked wisdom, let him ask of God. And given to all men liberally and up greater than not. And it shall be given him if he ask him, faith not wavering. And I used to quote that every single morning I used to ask the Lord for his wisdom. Because my idea of wisdom is many different what it is today. It was helped with mathematics at school. I'm afraid that was my idea of wisdom in those days. [00:34:38] It's something, you know, the greatest thing. [00:34:52] And the things so pleased the Lord that he not only gave the Lord wisdom that has become proverbial down to the all ages and succeeding ages of generation. But he added the other things that Solomon never asked for. [00:35:10] Then I want you also to note another very wonderful thing. If only Solomon had gone on from there. [00:35:16] Solomon began that day with offering up sacrifices, burning incense in the high place, that Gibeon, that he hindered the day at the tent of meeting, it says that he went into the ark of the Lord, and there he sacrificed before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. That is in verse 15, I think that's very wonderful. Obviously, what God. God touching Solomon, meeting with Solomon had a very real effect upon him and brought him right back into something of the way of God. So I think we've got to note those things. [00:36:00] Then from verse 16 to chapter 4 and verse the end of chapter 4, I want you to notice the. What we can call Solomon's wisdom, wealth and glory. [00:36:17] What is Solomon? What is wisdom? [00:36:21] I don't think in the whole of Scripture can we find a more satisfactory answer as to what is wisdom than the illustration or the story that the writer selects from all the stories of Solomon's wisdom. Obviously, the writer had a tremendous selection that he could have taken all kinds of incidents and stories about the wisdom of Solomon, but he selects one story. And this story, more than anything else, describes and illustrates what real wisdom is. There were two harlots. They lived in a house. They both had children. One had a child three days later than the other. [00:37:08] And in the night one slept on, her child smothered, it died. And so the story went from the other. She got up in the night and exchanged her dead child with a living child. [00:37:25] And in Oriental courts, the king is a judge, and the poorest of the poor can find their way. [00:37:34] These two harlots came into the presence of the king and they told their respective stories. Both said the living child was theirs. [00:37:46] The whole story is graphic. I would love to know what would have happened in evangelical Christianity today if the same story were to be enacted, if someone were to bring the same type of difficulty. [00:38:06] Solomon's wisdom is exemplified in what he did. He just said simply, fetch me a sword. [00:38:13] I will cut the child in two and will give half to either mother. [00:38:20] And immediately the true mother said, no, no, she let her have the child. Don't touch the child. Let her have the child. Solomon said, give her the child. [00:38:29] Now, of course, afterwards we can all be wise. And generally speaking, after any incident, everyone is wise. [00:38:36] They all talk very cleverly afterwards. [00:38:39] But you see, real wisdom is exemplified in what Solomon did. What is wisdom? Wisdom is not knowledge. [00:38:48] Wisdom is not knowledge. [00:38:51] What is wisdom? [00:38:53] Wisdom really is an intuitive knowledge that comes to experience. [00:39:08] It is the ability to apply knowledge, the ability to. To apply knowledge, you see? Have you ever thought of the wisdom of Solomon in the way that he reacted to that case, his whole aim was to expose who was the real mother. [00:39:33] And his whole weighing up of human nature was tremendous in the way that he went about finding out who was the real mother of that child. [00:39:48] Now, that is wisdom. [00:39:51] Of course, there are thousands and thousands of Christians who are knowledgeable. They out of the trouble. [00:39:57] They've got it all. They know all the books, they know the rules, they know the regulations, they know everything. Very, very few Christians that had that wisdom which is full of the wisdom which is from above is something that one can only explain as knowledge that has come not only through books, but has been hammered out and beaten out in experience. [00:40:30] I think the best way of illustrating this is in the whole question of divorce. [00:40:37] There are thousands of Christians who are knowledgeable on the question of divorce. [00:40:41] Thousands of Christians, they're so clever. [00:40:45] They know what citizens of the law of Moses and they know what the Lord Jesus said. They know what Paul said. And they're very, very inept in the way that they casual people who've suffered with such scriptures. Wisdom is the way that takes each case on its own merits or demerits and applies the word of God. That is wisdom. [00:41:13] That is why the Lord Jesus, when the woman was taken in adultery, brought him the very act to his feet, could have so easily been harangued. [00:41:30] Because the Lord said that a woman taken adultery should be a stone. [00:41:38] The Lord applied the law in altogether different way. [00:41:45] That is wisdom. [00:41:47] Because wisdom is always justified of its children. [00:41:53] What he did with that woman had lasting results. [00:42:01] So you see, that is really the difference between wisdom and knowledge. [00:42:05] Wisdom is something which comes through our experience of life. I believe that the Lord would have all of us not knowledgeable only, but wise, that is through experience of life, able to apply knowledge. And I think it's very, very important. I perhaps you find it a bit heavy, but. [00:42:27] Oh, you have no idea all the time how we're having to take up cases where other Christians have just behaved like bulls in Chinatown. [00:42:40] The general so right, they've got all the things correct in what they said, but they've created havoc, absolute havoc. [00:42:52] And I think that's one of the things that we have to take note of. Knowledge cannot just be taken like that and battered into any given case or circumstances. [00:43:05] It needs the wisdom of Christ. [00:43:09] Christ has the wisdom of God to take each case and to apply his own word to it. And that's very important that we should understand it. [00:43:20] Then you find also the wealth of Solomon illustrated, see that it's all a question of sharing. There's one officer for each month, and he has to provide for the king's household that wealth. I often think of this in relation to the Lord Jesus, that we are all to contribute something. That's the wealth of the Lord Jesus, his body, which is the fullness of him that filleth all in all, every single one contributing something to the household of the king. That's wealth and that's glory. So these three things, wisdom, wealth and glory, are wonderfully linked. They are something shared. [00:44:01] Then from chapter five to chapter nine, we have the heart of it all, the house of God. [00:44:09] And we find that here the house of God is not viewed at as it is. In the same way that it is in Chronicles, it is viewed here from the throne. And what do we mean by that? [00:44:24] The house of God in the book of Kings is looked at all the time from the throne, from the kingdom. [00:44:36] That's why Ezekiel says in chapter 43 that this is the place of my throne. That is the house of God and the throne of God are linked. [00:44:51] King I think, shows to us the throne of God in the house of God. Whereas Chronicles speaks of it from the Lord's point of view, the house of God as his habitation. One side we see it as the means by which we are brought to the place of kingship in the presence of God. And in Chronicles it is seen from God's dwelling amongst us. [00:45:21] Here we have the house of God. And I want you just to note one or two things. First of all, in the first few verses, you will find in verse 5 of chapter 5 that purpose is needed. [00:45:35] I purpose to build a house. This purpose had been in David's heart. It was a long proved purpose. [00:45:46] I believe God, just because the house of God is so important and so precious in the sight of God, he proves it. And he takes sometimes years to prove purpose. That purpose that's really in our hearts. Then I want you also to note that there's much preparation. [00:46:10] You know, the material that is used in the house has all got to be bought. Marble has got to be quarried, stone has got to be quarried. These enormous foundation stones that had to be cut out of the hill and got ready. Enormous foundation stones, no cement, nothing else. And yet I understand that from one commentator that you can hardly put a pendant between the stones. They are so close together. [00:46:40] Stones wonderfully quality wood has got to be procured. It's got to be prepared. Everything has got to be prepared. First you have the materials, then you have the question of responsibility. I know that These people, many of them were slaves. But nevertheless, the lesson for us is that everyone has his job to do in the building of the house. Those great stones have got to be quarried, that wood has got to be cut down and prepared. We find that there are hewers of wood and there are bearers of burdens. The House of God will never be built in any other way than thousands of insignificant people getting on with hewing wood and quarrying stones. [00:47:22] Everyone likes to think they're going to have some great job in the House of God. And yet every single laborer in the House of God is as important and significant to God as anyone else. These hewers of wood and these bearers of burden, how important they are. The officers, the 3,300 officers that were over them, the way they had to do it in courses. 30,000 each year, 10,000 spending a month at work in Lebanon and two months the homeland. [00:47:55] All done on a methodical basis. But everyone having to contribute, everyone having to share responsibility in the question of the House of God. Then I want you to notice another thing about the House of God. It has a hidden history. It says 480 years from the day that they were brought out of Egypt, the first stone was put into place, they began to build the house. And 480 years, whatever we might feel chronologically, is made up 12. 40. 40 multiplied by 12. [00:48:32] What does it speak to us of but a hidden history of people being brought to the throne through trial? [00:48:42] A history that goes back right way into Egypt is taken account of in the House of God. That's where it began. The day they were brought out of Egypt, the history began. And all the way through God was purging, was purifying, was refining, was separating dross from that which was valuable, vital. [00:49:07] And here you've got the outcome. The house of God is built. That's taken up in another way. In chapter six, seven and eight. Not a single sound was heard in seven years. That huge building went up, that magnificent building went up. And never a sound of a hammer or a chisel was heard in seven years. Every bit of work that entailed any iron tool was done off the site. [00:49:36] What does that speak to us of? [00:49:39] Some people sometimes come and they think, oh, what fellowship, how they seem to be one. [00:49:46] They seem to be linked together. Sometimes when you go into a company like that, don't you feel that we think how lovely it would be to be with them. But we don't know of all the off site quarrying and chipping and so on, on. The hammering, the banging, the noise, the pressure, it all goes on. When we come into a gathering, it's all peace, just beautiful peace. [00:50:11] Often it's life and it's fellowship. [00:50:17] But all the work, the noise is all off the side, but it's there. It's all part of it. It's very necessary to it. It's preparation. One side we look at preparation going back 480 years of testing. What a history the Lord requires before he builds the house. The other side, we see it in another direction. All the hammering and pressure off, the silence. [00:50:43] But where is its value? Where is the value of 480 years history? Where is the value? [00:50:53] The value is in the house. [00:50:56] Where is the value of all the pressure and the hammering and the chipping, the cutting, the quarrying? Where is the value of it? Not in the quarry, but in the house. Not in your home. In the house of God. That's where all the value is found. Whether it goes back many years or whether it's a present day experience it all. But its value, its eternal value, its value is preserved in the house of God. Now do this, and if you forget everything else this evening, you probably will forget an awful lot because it's a bit heavy this evening. But never forget this. [00:51:35] Every bit that is contributed of God through human vessels into the house of God is eternal. [00:51:48] It is never lost. [00:51:52] That means that every experience, or any experience under the hand of the Spirit of God, with the house of God in view is eternal. [00:52:03] Its effect, its results, its value is eternal. There will come a day when you will forget the experience, when the pain of it is many years behind you. But in the house, it is there forever. It is at home. [00:52:22] Now we learn that from this hidden history that all contributes to something so tremendous. But what about the house itself? Well, we find that the house itself is twice the size of the tabernacle. [00:52:36] Twice the size of the tabernacle. We shall look at that when we come to Chronicles. But it is twice the size. For everything is as it were, doubled. All the measurements are doubled. It's much greater, it's permanent. And then I also want you to notice that it's not only permanent, but the whole thing is overlaid with pure gold. [00:52:56] Everywhere everything is overlaid with pure gold. There are three kinds of wood that are used. [00:53:04] There is cedar wood, fir wood or pine wood, and olive wood. [00:53:12] I thought much about what those three woods mean. I'm fascinated by some of the old legends that some of you who've been Anglo Catholics or Roman Catholics will understand those old legends. Why do. Why are there the old legends that always combine these three woods now? Why? What is the combination? I would love some of you to go away and think about it, because I can't say. I found the answer myself. What is the link between these three woods? Cedar, pine and olive. [00:53:43] The old Jewish legends were that when Adam left the garden, when he was driven out, he was given a seed, and he was told that it was to be planted by his son in his grave, which it was. And the saying goes that when he died, it was planted and it grew. And it grew into three trees. One was log tree, one was a pine tree, and one was a cedar tree. One of the early legends of the church was that the cross was made of three kinds of wood. [00:54:13] Olive wood, pine wood and cedar wood. [00:54:19] The tabernacle, the temple was made of three kinds of wood. That's Devon. Forget all the legends. [00:54:26] The temple was made of three kinds of wood. First, the cedar, secondly, the pine, and thirdly, the olive wood. The cedar we know speaks of nobility, nobility of character. Olive wood speaks, we also know of the Holy Spirit in human nature. That is the Holy Spirit indwelling up. What does the palace be doing? [00:54:53] What is this durability, incorruptibility. How do you get the view? But these are the three woods that are used in the house of God. And they are all overlaid with the count of ones. It is Christ we produce. [00:55:13] It takes seven years to build from beginning to end, seven years in its completion. [00:55:20] But there's something I say tremendous in every part of the house of God as we find it here in Solomon. Everything to do with the furniture, all that, it's all full of value. We shall look at that much more closely when we come to Chronicles. But here we see it as Solomon being used of God to bring it all into place and into being. [00:55:44] You see also something of the dedication when the point came to dedicate the temple. The thing that you need to notice is this, that in his prayer that we read together, Solomon relates every single thing in our life, corporate or individual, to the house of God. He says, is it prayer? Now, perhaps some of you have got unanswered prayers. He says, perhaps you're not praying toward the house. [00:56:15] Prayer must be in the name. [00:56:19] And if prayer is in the name, it's toward the house of God. That's what it means. To pray in the name means that you're linking yourself up with your other members, all the other members of the body. You can't pray in the name individualistically, you pray in the name our Father. [00:56:38] Then again, you have to note another thing, that if there is defeat, defeat must be brought to the house of God. And defeat will be turned into victory if it's brought to the house of God. If defeat is just taken on in your life, it will remain defeat. But bring defeat into the house of God. Relate yourself more fully to the house of God and it will be turned into victory. Perhaps it's a question of judgment in relationship. Perhaps someone's taken issue with you. Very well. Bring that into the house of God and you will find that in the house of God, if you will only lay down arms, the Lord will take up your court. Here it all is, all here, one after another. You go on. You will find that it's not only that, you will find if it's drought. Are any of you moaning, if I may put it rather crudely, about ministry? You say, oh, I'm not getting saved. [00:57:37] I'm not meeting the Lord as I should meet the Lord. [00:57:41] Don't you blame the people responsible for ministry, even if they are poor. [00:57:46] Just you get yourself a little more related to the house and you'll find your fit. [00:57:52] You can get blood out of stones when you're rightly related to God. [00:57:59] So remember that if there's drought, no rain, nothing, turn to the law, get yourself rightly related to the law. Come into the house of God more, pray towards the and you will find the Lord will meet you. Is it famine or trouble of some other kind? Mildew or caterpillar or blasting or something else? Locust is eaten up your history. Oh, you have such a history of God. Look at your history when you first began with the Lord, when you started out with the Lord, you had something really of the Lord to give. And what's happened to it? Mildew. Mildew. [00:58:35] It's blasted. The locust has eaten it. You've got nothing today and you know it. You feel somehow that what you had's gone and it's all just blasted with famine. Now the answer to that is to turn in a new way toward the house of God and to give yourself whatever the cost to the house of God. Not easy to live in a glass house, but that's what the house of God is. Transparentus crystal. Got to come right into it like that. Bring everything into it. Let go of everything. Be prepared to be hurt, be prepared to be disappointed, be prepared to be disillusioned. But you've got to come into the house of God. Draw out and you Lose your. Even your past history come in and everything is regained with new values. And so you can go all the way through. Is it the unsaved? Well, just let them turn to the house of God. [00:59:35] Just let them down to the house of God. And even if they don't come to the Lord and get their prayers answered, if only they will turn. See the power of the Lord in his house. Even the foreigner, if he turns trust his parents answers. What about conflict? Oh, what conflicts are. Sometimes the Lord puts us into conflicts too big for us to put us out of our debt. What is the answer? The answer is the house of God turn toward it. [01:00:06] Even when you're alone in your office or in your home and you feel the battle's too big to stand into, all your other brothers and sisters say, I'm just with them, Lord, I'm with them. I'm not having a little argument with sister so and so and brother so and so. And then say, now, Lord, bless me, Lord. Can't do that. You've got to stand in your bedroom or in your home or in your office wherever there's a conflict on, you've got to be able to say, lord, I'm with my brothers and sisters. Do answer my prayer. Stand in with them and do all that you are. That's what it means to turn toward the house. And the Lord says, even when the people of God are taken away into exile and right away from their land, if they will only turn back towards this, I will hear and I will bring them again. [01:00:53] I believe that's one of the biggest things we could take up in prayer in these days. If only we would take hold of that and pray that the people of God in exile as they are to this day, would only turn toward God in a new way. All this prayerful revival, we should be right behind it. Insofar as in any way it's a turning somehow, perhaps half blindly, but somehow towards what the Lord is really after. How we should be behind it, not just pouring cold water on dying embers, quenching smoking flags. We should beware the smallest atom of concern or express and the people of God anywhere for this. Because if they turn, the Lord will hear and will lead them into all his thoughts. [01:01:44] So there you are, that's Solomon. And when you go on from there, from that great dedication and the house of God, which is the heart, how the glory of the Lord fills it. Oh, it says the glory of the Lord filled it. So they couldn't even stand to minister. They could do nothing. The Lord just filled the whole thing. And then we reached the climax of his reign, where the Queen of Sheba's visit, that follows the house of God. But there's another whole chapter or two taken up with Solomon's increased wisdom and wealth and glory. [01:02:20] He had done the thing the Lord had given him to do, and now there was an increased wisdom. [01:02:26] And when Sheba comes to him, the queen of Sheba comes to him, it says that she gave such.