In The Word
Read: 1 Kings 9:1-10:13
God’s Promise and Warning
9 Now it came about when Solomon had finished building the house of the Lordand the king’s house, and all that Solomon desired to do, 2 that the Lord appeared to Solomon a second time, as He had appeared to him at Gibeon. 3 And the Lordsaid to him, “I have heard your prayer and your plea which you have offered before Me; I have consecrated this house which you have built, by putting My name there forever, and My eyes and My heart will be there always. 4 As for you, if you walk before Me as your father David walked, in integrity of heart and honesty, acting in accordance with everything that I have commanded you, and if you keep My statutes and My ordinances, 5 then I will establish the throne of your kingdom over Israel forever, just as I promised to your father David, saying, ‘You shall not be deprived of a man on the throne of Israel.’
6 “But if you or your sons indeed turn away from following Me, and do not keep My commandments and My statutes which I have placed before you, but you go and serve other gods and worship them, 7 then I will cut Israel off from the land which I have given them, and the house which I have consecrated for My name, I will expel from My sight. So Israel will become a saying and an object of derision among all peoples. 8 And this house will become a heap of ruins; everyone who passes by it will be appalled and hiss and say, ‘Why has the Lord done such a thing to this land and this house?’ 9 And they will say, ‘Because they abandoned the Lord their God, who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and they adopted other gods and worshiped and served them, for that reason the Lord has brought all this adversity on them.’”
Cities Given to Hiram
10 Now it came about at the end of twenty years in which Solomon had built the two houses, the house of the Lord and the king’s house 11 (Hiram king of Tyre had supplied Solomon with cedar and juniper timber and gold, satisfying all his desire), that King Solomon then gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee. 12 So Hiram left Tyre to see the cities which Solomon had given him, and they did not please him. 13 And he said, “What are these cities which you have given me, my brother?” So they have been called the land of Cabul to this day. 14 And Hiram sent to the king 120 talents of gold.
15 Now this is the account of the forced labor which King Solomon conscripted to build the house of the Lord, his own house, the Millo, the wall of Jerusalem, Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer. 16 For Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up and overthrown Gezer and burned it with fire, and killed the Canaanites who lived in the city; and he had given it as a dowry to his daughter, Solomon’s wife. 17 So Solomon rebuilt Gezer and the lower Beth-horon, 18 and Baalath and Tamar in the wilderness, in the land of Judah, 19 and all the storage cities which Solomon had, that is, the cities for his chariots and the cities for his horsemen, and everything that it pleased Solomon to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land under his rule. 20 As for all the people who were left of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, who were not of the sons of Israel,21 their descendants who were left after them in the land, whom the sons of Israel were unable to completely eliminate, from them Solomon conscripted forced laborers, as they are to this day. 22 But Solomon did not make slaves of the sons of Israel; for they were men of war, his servants, his commanders, his charioteers, his chariot commanders, and his horsemen.
23 These were the chief officers who were in charge of Solomon’s work, 550, who ruled over the people doing the work.
24 As soon as Pharaoh’s daughter came up from the city of David to her house which Solomon had built for her, he then built the Millo.
25 Now three times a year Solomon offered burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar which he had built for the Lord, burning incense with them on the altarwhich was before the Lord. So he finished the house.
26 King Solomon also built a fleet of ships in Ezion-geber, which is near Eloth on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom. 27 And Hiram sent his servants with the fleet, sailors who knew the sea, along with the servants of Solomon. 28 And they went to Ophir and received 420 talents of gold from there, and brought it to King Solomon.
The Queen of Sheba
10 Now when the queen of Sheba heard about the fame of Solomon in relation to the name of the Lord, she came to test him with riddles. 2 So she came to Jerusalem with a very large entourage, with camels carrying balsam oil and a very large quantity of gold and precious stones. When she came to Solomon, she spoke to him about everything that was in her heart. 3 And Solomon answered all her questions; nothing was concealed from the king which he did not explain to her. 4 When the queen of Sheba saw all the wisdom of Solomon, and the house that he had built, 5 and the food of his table, the seating of his servants, the service of his waiters and their attire, his cupbearers, and his burnt offerings which he offered at the house of the Lord, she was breathless. 6 Then she said to the king, “It was a true story that I heard in my own land about your words and your wisdom. 7 But I did not believe the stories until I came and my own eyes saw it all. And behold, the half of it was not reported to me. You have exceeded in wisdom and prosperity the report which I heard. 8 Blessed are your men, and blessed are these servants of yours who stand before you continually and hear your wisdom!9 Blessed be the Lord your God who delighted in you to put you on the throne of Israel; because the Lord loves Israel forever, He made you king, to do justice and righteousness.” 10 Then she gave the king 120 talents of gold, and a very large amount of balsam oil and precious stones. Never again did such a large quantity of balsam oil come in as that which the queen of Sheba gave King Solomon.
11 And the ships of Hiram as well, which brought gold from Ophir, brought in from Ophir a very great number of almug trees and precious stones. 12 The king made from the almug trees supports for the house of the Lord and for the king’s house, and lyres and harps for the singers; such almug trees have not come in again, nor have they been seen to this day.
13 And King Solomon granted the queen of Sheba everything she desired, whatever she requested, besides what he gave her in proportion to his royal bounty. Then she departed and went to her own land together with her servants.
New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Walking In The Word
Solomon had finished building both the Lord’s house and his own house. He dedicated it all to the Lord and prayed, asking the Lord to dwell there (even though no house nor even the heavens could contain God). The Lord appeared to him a second time to let Solomon know that He indeed had heard his request and would answer it, but that was not all. He gave Solomon a personal message: “If you continue to walk before Me with integrity and uprightness of heart according to My commands and ordinances, then I will establish you forever just as I promised. However, if you turn from following My ways, this great house you built and asked Me to dwell in will become a heap of ruin.” Here we can learn that every promise from God has an “if” attached to it.
Notice in chapter 10 how the Queen of Sheba heard about the fame of Solomon. Remember, this fame was one of the things God had promised to give Solomon, even though he asked for wisdom. He was also given the wisdom to answer any question she asked, and he received great wealth. Solomon walked in the promises of God.
God desires for us to walk in these same promises. If we will continue to walk in His ways with integrity and uprightness of heart, we will be amazed at how He will establish us and bless us to glorify His name. God’s Spirit will fill us with wisdom so nothing would be hidden from us. Remember, the fame the people need to see is that which concerns the name of the Lord (chapter 10:1).