ROUTE 66 15. Destination: 1 Kings Just like 1and 2 Samuel the books of 1st and 2nd Kings formed ONE book In the Hebrew manuscripts. Their division into 2 books has its origin in the Septuagint. In your Bibles you might often see a footnote that begins with LXX that is a reference to the Septuagint Which is Greek translation of the Jewish Scriptures. In the Septuagint the books of 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings are called The 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Books of the Kingdoms. As we will see tonight, this is a very appropriate title for these 1and 2 Kings. The plural word Kingdoms refers to the nation of Israel divided. The Bible is silent concerning the author of 1 Kings. We don t know who that is, although, some ancient tradition claims Jeremiah to be the author and that he penned it just after the fall of Judah around 485 BC. That would fit with Jeremiah s ministry as he ministered at the fall of the nation. What is for certain is that it was inspired by the Holy Spirit 2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is breathed out by God. The Books of 1-2 KINGS are the continuation of Israel s history; specifically the continuation of that period of Israel s history known as The Monarchy. 1 and 2 Kings cover some 400+ years in the nation s history. 1 Kings opens with Solomon coming to the throne and 2 Kings ends with the reign Jehoiachin in Judah and the DESTRUCTION of Jerusalem. At the beginning of 1 Kings the temple is BUILT. At the end of 2 Kings the TEMPLE is BURNED. In 1 Kings 6 we re given a time stamp that frames the chronology of 1 Kings narrative. 2 Kings 6:1 1 In the four hundred and eightieth year after the people of Israel came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon s reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, which is the second month, he began to build the house of the Lord. 480 years after they left Egypt puts the date somewhere around 970 years before Jesus. 1 Kings covers approximately 125 years. We ll see how the book unpacks those 125 years for us.
The book of I Kings is really important for us because it continues the story line of the Nation of Israel. The book of I Kings is really important for us because it records the DIVISION of the united kingdom of Israel into TWO kingdoms Israel in the North and Judah in the South. The northern kingdom of Israel was comprised of 10 of the tribes of Israel. The southern kingdom of Judah was made up of Judah and Benjamin. In the NORTHERN kingdom SAMARIA becomes the capital. In the SOUTHERN kingdom JERUSALEM remains the capital. It is really hard to understand the rest of Old Testament History and the prophets without the record of 1 and 2 Kings. 1 Kings is a part of that narrative. If you ve ever read the prophetic books of the Bible and wondered WHAT in the world is God talking about? Or, WHY is God so upset the prophets were speaking and writing in a very specific historical context the historical context of 1-2 Kings. No small side note It was within the historical framework of 1 Kings that a lot of other Old Testament books were written. The Song of Solomon was written in the early part of Solomon s reign. 1 Kings gives us the events happening in Solomon s world when he wrote that book of the Bible. Solomon was penning the book of Proverbs during his reign before 1 Kings 11. Its believed that he penned the book of Ecclesiastes right after 1 Kings 11 where God told him the kingdom was going to be torn from him. In addition to that, a handful of psalms were written during the time of this book. At least two of those psalms were written by Solomon while others were written by other songwriters during the that time. So when you read the Song of Solomon, the book of Ecclesiastes and some of the psalms, you can reference 1 Kings for the spiritual and national context of those books. THE CENTRAL MESSAGE OF 1 KINGS 1 Kings is radically relevant to us today because it tells the story of the incremental and disastrous consequences of disregarding and disobeying the Word of God. We will see this in the life of Solomon. Make sure you mark this passage in a way that you can t miss it. 1 Kings 11:9-13 9 And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had
appeared to him twice 10 and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods. But he did not keep what the Lord commanded. 11 Therefore the Lord said to Solomon, Since this has been your practice and you have not kept my covenant and my statutes that I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you and will give it to your servant. 12 Yet for the sake of David your father I will not do it in your days, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son. 13 However, I will not tear away all the kingdom, but I will give one tribe to your son, for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem that I have chosen. We will see this in the life of the nation. As 1 Kings opens the nation of Israel is at the apex of its history. It was not an empire. God never intended for Israel to be an empire that would conquer and control nations. Israel was brought into existence to bring the light of the True and Living God to the world. But the people progressively departed from the Word of God and got progressively further from the God of the Word and His ways. That resulted in the dividing of the nation and the overthrow of the nation. The northern kingdom will be led into captivity by the Assyrians and the southern kingdom will be led into captivity by the Babylonians. 1 Kings teaches us individuals and nations are undone by unrighteousness. Proverbs 14:34 Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people. If you want to know why Proverbs is so important and relevant for us, do you know who wrote that? Solomon! 1 Corinthians 10:11-12 Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come. 12 Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. Under the reign of king David, the worship of God and the Word of God was at the very center of the kingdom. We will see that Solomon began his reign there. But he wandered from the Lord and worshipped idols. By the time we get to 1 Kings 15 the nation was filled with idols and all of the perversion that follows idolatry. Another huge reason why the book of 1 Kings is so radically relevant to us is because it teaches us the danger of ignoring or blowing off the light of
God s Word of God that we have received. Solomon s downfall, and the downfall of the nation was not for lack of light! Solomon had been exhorted by his dad to follow the Lord, to commit to the Lord. The aged king David said these words to his young son Solomon just before he would be crowned king 1 Kings 2:1-2 When David s time to die drew near, he commanded Solomon his son, saying, 2 I am about to go the way of all the earth. David starts with a really big dose of reality: FACT ALL of us are going to die. David takes his son back to Genesis 3! Because of sin EVERY human being is headed for the grave (barring the rapture of the church). You can almost hear the calm in David s voice. No fear, simply I am going the way of all the earth. We remember what David wrote many years earlier Psalm 23:1; 4 The LORD is my shepherd.. 4 though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. In the place that is most feared by man David is being a good dad for the first time! Be strong, and show yourself a man, MEN underline, highlight, asterisk, draw a circle around it, arrows pointing to it because THAT is what God wants you to do. It s time to Take courage and be a man. Okay, dad. What s does it mean to be a man? What does that look like? Fallen culture is going to give us countless broken versions of what it means to be a man; what that looks like. In the words of David the Holy Spirit defines what it means to be a man. 1 Kings 2:2-4..Be strong, and show yourself a man, 3 and keep the charge of the Lord your God, walking in his ways and keeping his statutes, his commandments, his rules, and his testimonies, as it is
written in the Law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn, 4 that the Lord may establish his word that he spoke concerning me, saying, If your sons pay close attention to their way, to walk before me in faithfulness with all their heart and with all their soul, you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel. Here s what defines manhood: keep the charge of the Lord your God That means more than obey. KEEP = to hedge about (as with thorns), i.e. guard; to protect, attend to, take heed, mark, look narrowly, observe, preserve, regard, reserve, save. Here s what defines manhood: walking in his ways and keeping his statutes, his commandments, his rules, and his testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses. Son God has told you the way that He wants you to live now you must CHOOSE to LIVE in that way. When I read these words of David I not only hear the calm in his voice; I hear the ache in his voice as well because David knew first hand the disastrous outcome of disregarding the Word and the Will of God. HERE S THE POINT You must choose whether or not you are going to live for the Jesus follow Jesus or live your own way, live after your fallen emotions, passions and desires. Before Solomon is crowned king he has the light of God s Word defining what it means to be a man a man that could lead a nation because he was a man lead by God. But God gave him even more light. In Chapter 3 the Lord spoke to Solomon. 1 Kings 3:14 14 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. God says the same thing David said in fact, David said what was in the Lord s heart and in Chapter three Solomon gets it straight from the Lord. In Chapter 9, 20 years into the reign of Solomon, at the height of his success, the Lord appeared to Solomon as second time.
1 Kings 9:4-5 And as for you, if you will walk before me, as David your father walked, with integrity of heart and uprightness, doing according to all that I have commanded you, and keeping my statutes and my rules, 5 then I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised David your father, saying, You shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel. So Solomon had the exhortation from his father David, twice the Lord appeared to him and exhorted him, and he had his dad s life that preached to him about the importance of treasuring and living in the Word of God. Take a look at the screen Deuteronomy 17:18 18 And when he (the king) sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law, approved by the Levitical priests. It doesn t mean write your own copy where you pick and choose what you like but you get write an exact word for word copy. Your copy is going to be approved as word for word accurate. 9 And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, How often was he supposed to read it? Every day. that he may learn to fear the Lord his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them, 20 that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, either to the right hand or to the left, so that he may continue long in his kingdom, he and his children, in Israel. What was the king required to do? Get to know the Word because Psalm 119:130 The unfolding (KJV entrance) of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple. Psalm 119:3 How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word. HERE S THE DEAL Solomon s sin was not for lack of light! He had the exhortation from godly men. He had the Lord speaking directly to him, and he had the Word of God that he should ve been reading daily.
You and I have the exact same thing only more! We not only have David s life to preach to us we have Solomon s life to preach to us as well. We live in this side of the cross and resurrection. We have the complete canon of Scripture. We have the exhortation of godly men and women that have gone before us. When you start to move towards sin they love us and lean in to our lives, speak the truth in love. We ve got the spirit of God speaking to us. He speaks to us all the time. When you re sitting in front of your computer and you re about to push a button that is going to fill your screen with something you shouldn t look at, God speaks to you doesn t he? When fallen culture speaks to you, when your fallen emotions and passions and desires speak to you, you ve got to violate the voice of the Spirit and the Word of God to keep doing what you re doing. THIS IS SO HUGE God speaks to us! God has given us His Word and He wants us to read it daily because the world s gone crazy, and sanity is only found in the Gospel. It s the Word of God that strengthens you, transforms you by the renewing of your mind, and directs you in a very dark world. Unless you treasure, read and believe the gospel, everything you do will be driven by pride, fear, fallen emotions, fallen passions and fallen desires. So, Solomon s demise is tragic because it could ve been avoided. But he did not keep what the Lord commanded. He never made hearing and doing the Word the priority of his life. He just spent all of his energies in making the nation wealthy and powerful while his own life and the life of the nation was spiritually bankrupt and weakened. In the book of Ecclesiastes Solomon admits that he squandered his energy on wrong priorities! Ecclesiastes means preacher. When we read Ecclesiastes we are reading a book birthed from the life and times of Solomon. And when we read it Solomon is preaching to us from the grave. Solomon said, I wasted my life. He tells us that he spent much of his time, talents and treasure pursuing pleasure, pursuing possessions, and pursuing fame. He spent very little time pursuing the Lord. As a result, he built a kingdom that collapsed because it had no foundation to hold it up. Do you want to have your life in order? Do you want to have a life that stands? Here s the strategy: It s all about Jesus. Not Jesus first! It s Jesus is everything! When your life is all about Jesus everything else
follows in its proper order. But, if Jesus isn t your everything, things are going to be out of order. THE OUTLINE (in the printed and online notes) I. The Forty Years Reign Of King Solomon (Ch.1-11) Solomon s accession and early acts (Ch. 1-4) Solomon s Temple and palace built (Ch.5-8) Solomon s fame and glory (Ch.9-10) Solomon s decline and death (Ch.11:1-43) II. The First Eighty Years Of The Two Kingdoms (Ch.12-22) The Ascension of Reheboam (the son of Solomon): The Disruption (Ch.12:1-33) Judah s Kings - Reheboam to Jehoshaphat (Ch.13-22) Israel s Kings - Jereboam to Ahaziah (Ch.13-22) Ministry of the prophet Elijah to Israel (Ch.17-22) The STRUCTURE of the 1 KINGS: The book is made up of 22 chapters and divides right in the middle. Chapters 1-11 are devoted to Solomon and his reign of 40 years. The nation is united under his reign. Chapter 11 is the dividing point of the book. It records the death of Solomon. The second half of the book talks about what happens to this kingdom after Solomon s death. In 1 Kings 12 the unity of the nation is disrupted. Chapters 12-22 cover approximately the first 80-85 years of the northern and southern kingdoms and follows the story of 12 different kings. It doesn t really end the Septuagint just ran out of space in the scroll and we jump into 2 Kings, which is a continuation of 1 Kings. Solomon s life is divided into three parts. I. Chapters 1-4 Solomon s accession to power
II. Chapters 5-10 Solomon s fame and glory III. Chapter 11 Solomon s decline and death I. Chapters 1-4 Solomon s accession to power Solomon came to the throne under some difficult circumstances. In the NATURAL order of things, Adonijah was the oldest surviving son of David and heir apparent to the throne. Amnon was dead. Absalom was dead. Chiliab had passed from the scene. Each of David s older sons had GREAT ambition with virtually NO character. Adonijah copied the conduct of his brother Absalom in every respect (2 Sam 15). But David had already made it clear that Solomon was to succeed him as the next king of Israel. Solomon was about 15 17 years old. David delayed crowning Solomon as king because of Solomon s youth. David s delay created a political vacuum in the kingdom and Adonijah took that opportunity to usurp the throne Adonijah convinced Joab, who was commander of the kings army, to side with him. He also convinced one of the priests to side with him. Adonijah, Joab, the priest and a large group of people gathered to put a crown on Adonijah s head. When David heard about it he said, No way. He got Nathan the prophet, another one of the priests, his mighty men and the palace guard and they went down and put the crown on Solomon s head. 1 Kings 2:44-46 44 and the king has sent with him Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites and the Pelethites. And they had him ride on the king s mule. 45 And Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet have anointed him king at Gihon, and they have gone up from there rejoicing, so that the city is in an uproar. This is the noise that you have heard. 46 Solomon sits on the royal throne. So Solomon was young (in his teens) and inexperienced. On top of that the nation was in turmoil and sin was starting to work it s way into the nation. That is when God called Solomon to power. Try imagine how the people were processing all of this. Solomon s dad, David, was a truly
REMARKABLE man! He had been king for FORTY years! Imagine that! Many of you aren t even 40 years old. Imagine having only one guy in the White House for your entire life. Then Imagine that he s a good guy a guy who brought the nation to prayer and wrote songs of worship to the Lord. So you re an Israelite and you ve only known life under king David. Then they put a crown on the head of a teenager. Now try imagine you're Solomon! How do you step into David s sandals? How do you do what God has called you to do when all of that is staring you in the face? The Holy Spirit tells us what Solomon did 1 Kings 3:4 And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the great high place. Solomon used to offer a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. The burnt offering (as we learned in Leviticus) was completely consumed on the altar. That represented your life being fully consecrated; fully given to the Lord. One would ve been enough. How many did he bring? 1,000! The sheer number of burnt offerings was Solomon s way of saying, I can't do this job without you, God. I m holding nothing back! I m all yours. Solomon said God, I give my self to you. Then we read in Verse 5 that the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream at night and says to Solomon, 1 Kings 3:5 Ask what I shall give you. Think about that! (Maybe you have). WHAT IF God appeared to you and asked you, What shall I Give you? I wonder what I would ask for. 1 Kings 3:6-9 6 And Solomon said, You have shown great and steadfast love to your servant David my father, because he walked before you in faithfulness, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart toward you. And you have kept for him this great and steadfast love and have given him a son to sit on his throne this day. 7 And now, O Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of David my father, although I am but a little child. I do not know how to go out or come in. 8 And your servant is in the midst of your people whom you have chosen, a great people, too many to be numbered or
counted for multitude. 9 Give your servant therefore an understanding mind (a hearing heart) to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people? 1 Kings 3:10-14 10 It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this. 11 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, 12 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. 13 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. 14 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. Verse 15 is so great! 1 Kings 3:15 15 And Solomon awoke, and behold, it was a dream. Have you ever had a dream you thought was from the Lord? Here was Solomon having this very vivid dream. While he s dreaming he s thinking This is so awesome God s going to give me everything! And then his alarm goes off. He was no doubt thinking (as you or I would) How do I know if that was really God speaking to me in that dream and if He s really going to do what He told me in the dream? The answer Solomon, you re going to have to walk this out live every day trusting God to supply you with the wisdom you asked for. A lot of people are familiar what happened. Two prostitutes came before the king to plead their case. Both were pregnant, both gave birth around the same time. One child died and each of them claimed that it was the other one s child that died. One claimed that while she was sleeping that the other one stole her living child and replaced it with the dead child. The other woman says that s not what happened. No witnesses. No such thing as DNA testing. How do you resolve the case? Solomon, 15 years old, squeaky voice and oversized crown, hears the case and says Bring me
a sword. They give him a sword and he says, Bring me the baby. He says, I ll just lop this thing in half and you can each have half a baby and it s resolved. One woman says, Ya that s what we should do. The other woman says, No, don t harm the baby! She can have the child. Solomon says, That s the love of a mother the living baby belongs to the woman who would rather surrender the child to another than see the child die. The whole kingdom said, That was awesome! This 15 year old has the goods. 1 Kings 4:29-34 29 And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding beyond measure, and breadth of mind like the sand on the seashore, 30 so that Solomon s wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all the people of the east and all the wisdom of Egypt. 31 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. 32 He also spoke 3,000 proverbs, and his songs were 1,005. We do not have all of his 3,000 proverbs fewer than six hundred are recorded in the Book of Proverbs. He was a prolific song writer, but only 1 was a hit: The Song of Solomon. 33 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.. Solomon was a like a walking encyclopedia. Solomon s scientific knowledge is used time and again in Proverbs to illustrate and communicate the application of spiritual truth. 34 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 1 Kings is radically relevant because it instructs us by way of Solomon s life that it is not enough to have wisdom. Solomon possessed wisdom beyond anything we can grasp. His wisdom and accomplishments were so tremendous that he became an international celebrity! The most influential people in the world came to see his vast accomplishments and hear his great wisdom. But the man who possessed and dispensed wisdom failed to apply it to his own life. Thus the wisest man who ever lived (i.e., with the greatest wisdom) did not live as wisely as many others who preceded and followed him. Having insight into life does not guarantee that one will
choose to do what is right. Think about how many pastors are no longer in ministry because of moral failure. Men whose job was to know and explain the Word failed to apply it to their own lives! QUOTE: Chambers p. 750 I. Chapters 5-10 Solomon s fame and glory Chapters 9 and 10 talk about the wealth of the land but Chapter 5-7 record Solomon s greatest accomplishment the building of the temple; and then Chapter 8 recounts Solomon dedicating the temple. In Chapter 8 we find that the whole nation has gathered together in the seven month. Those of you who have been with us in our study of the book of Nehemiah know what happened in the middle of the seventh month of the year the feast of Tabernacles. 1 Kings 8:1 1 Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the fathers houses of the people of Israel, before King Solomon in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the city of David, which is Zion. I think it s important to note that at the center of the nation was the temple. The Temple was a permanent version of the Tabernacle that was constructed under the direction of Moses while Israel was wandering in the wilderness following their Exodus from Egypt. In the 5 th leg of our Route 66 series we did a brief overview of the Tabernacle and its furnishings. In our verse-by-verse study of Exodus (back in in 2005) we spent a number of Monday nights learning about the Tabernacle and it s furnishings. In Exodus 25 Moses was given the detailed plans for the materials and construction of the Ark and and then God told Moses why that piece of furniture was to be the centerpiece of Israel s worship. Exodus 25:21-22 And you shall put the mercy seat on the top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the testimony that I shall give you. 22 There I will meet with you, and from above the mercy seat, The Temple was at the center of the nation but the temple wasn't "opened" until the Ark of the Covenant was set within the Holy of holies. The Temple was the centerpiece of the nation; the Ark of the Covenant
was the centerpiece of the Temple it contained the testimony of God, the Word of God and there alone would God meet with man. HERE S THE PICTURE The Ark of the Covenant is all about Jesus. Jesus is the centerpiece of our approach to God and worship of God. JESUS, the Righteous One who KEPT the Law perfectly. I fall so short of it, but my Lord KEPT it perfectly! By faith I am in Jesus! Jesus has become MY righteousness before the Holy God of the universe. JESUS, the ONE and ONLY place where the Holy God of the universe will meet with sinful man God says, I will meet you there... there where the blood is sprinkled to atone for sin. JESUS, manifesting the Glory of God. 2 Cor 4:6 For God who commanded the light to shine out of the darkness has shined into our hearts the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus. JESUS, the CENTERPIECE of the Church, The CENTERPIECE of Worship. There is NO POINT of church or worship without JESUS. 1 Kings 8:10 10 And when the priests came out of the Holy Place, a cloud filled the house of the Lord, 11 so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord. cloud occurs about eighty times in the O.T. and three-quarters of those refer to the pillar of cloud which directed the Israelites through the desert and represented God s presence over the tabernacle. The concept of the GLORY of the Lord is a hard one to define. Some define it as the radiant outshining of His character and presence. Here it is manifested in a cloud. glory The basic meaning is to be heavy, weighty. The weightiness of the Lord filled the structure Solomon had built for the worship of the Lord. Here s a list of Biblical references to this cloud of glory This is the cloud that stood by Israel in the wilderness (Exodus 13:21-22)
This is the cloud of glory that God spoke to Israel from (Exodus 16:10) This is the cloud from which God met with Moses and others (Exodus 19:9, 24:15-18, Numbers 11:25, 12:5, 16:42) This is the cloud that stood by the door of the Tabernacle (Exodus 33:9-10) This is the cloud from which God appeared to the High Priest in the Holy Place inside the veil (Leviticus 16:2) This is the cloud of Ezekiel's vision, filling the temple of God with the brightness of His glory (Ezekiel 10:4) Could it be that this is how the glory of the Lord overshadowed Mary when she conceived Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:35) This is the cloud present at the transfiguration of Jesus (Luke 9:34-35) This is the cloud of glory that received Jesus into heaven at His ascension (Acts 1:9) This is the cloud that will display the glory of Jesus Christ when He returns in triumph to this earth (Luke 21:27, Revelation 1:7) TWO POINTS OF APPLICATION 1. God had honored the place with His presence, and He made it the singular location where He would manifest his glory in a tangible way. 2. God shows up when we meet to worship Him. In the margin of your Bible write 2 Chronicles 5 2 Chronicles 5:11-14 And when the priests came out of the Holy Place (for all the priests who were present had consecrated themselves, without regard to their divisions, 12 and all the Levitical singers, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun, their sons and kinsmen, arrayed in fine linen, with cymbals, harps, and lyres, stood east of the altar with 120 priests who were trumpeters; 13 and it was the duty of the trumpeters and singers to make themselves heard in unison in praise and thanksgiving
to the Lord), and when the song was raised, with trumpets and cymbals and other musical instruments, in praise to the Lord, For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever, the house, the house of the Lord, was filled with a cloud, 14 so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of God. How awesome. They temple was seven years in the making. They brought the Ark of the Covenant into the Holy of holies, and when they come out this band starts playing their hearts out, the people are celebrating and worshipping the Lord, and God shows up. HERE S THE PICTURE When we, the redeemed, gather to worship our redeemer; make Him the center of our attention, He shows up. He speaks to us and works in our hearts and lives individually and corporately. In response to all of this Solomon stood up before the people, raised his arms and dropped to his knees and began to pray. He said, God, there is no God like you! God, we built you this temple but the heavens and the heavens of heavens can t contain you. This is just a touch of who You are, God. You re so glorious and yet it pleases you to manifest Your presence to us in this place! Then he began to intercede for the people. From here we move to the third section of Solomon s life. III. Chapter 11 Solomon s decline and death Here s another reason why 1 Kings is so important to us. While Solomon was flourishing on the outside, doing great things for God, building great things for God, and even demonstrating a genuine relationship with the Living God, things were not flourishing on the inside. The man who wrote Proverbs 4:23 (Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life) wasn t guarding his own heart! While there was peace and unparalleled prosperity in the nation, while the temple was filled with worshippers, all was not well in king s heart and in the kingdom. QUOTE: Alexander Whyte the secret worm was gnawing all the time in the royal staff upon which Solomon leaned.
In the words of Oswald Chambers, Solomon was becoming a deserter! He let his own opinions take the place of the revealed will of God. Solomon's kingdom was amazing in its wealth, military power, and prestige. Those things did NOT bring security to Israel! The true security of Israel did not rest in any of those things. It rested in the blessing of God and in the obedience and faithfulness of their king. 1 Kings 11:1-2 Now King Solomon loved many foreign women. 2 from the nations concerning which the Lord had said to the people of Israel, You shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you, for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods. Solomon clung to these in love. Rather than cling to the Lord in love he allowed many women to be the object of his affection, his master passion. 1 Kings 11:3-8 3 He had 700 wives, princesses, and 300 concubines. And his wives turned away his heart. 4 For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father. 5 For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. 6 So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and did not wholly follow the Lord, as David his father had done. 7 Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Molech the abomination of the Ammonites, on the mountain east of Jerusalem. 8 And so he did for all his foreign wives, who made offerings and sacrificed to their gods. Here's how archaeologists describe the worship of Molek: Molek was depicted as a human figure with a bull s head. The idols of Molech had outstretched arms. They were stretched out to receive the children that men and women sacrificed to him. The image of metal was heated red hot by fire kindled and the children laid on its arms, rolled off into the fiery pit below. In order to drown the cries of the victims, flutes were played and drums were beaten and mothers stood by without tears or sobs to give the impression of the voluntary character of the offering.
Molek was the god of sexual pleasure. People who worshipped sex ended up with children they didn't want. What did they do with the children they didn't want? They gave them back to Molech! They were disposable! They burned them alive! ALL of that was introduced and allowed by Solomon. HUGE STUFF The life of Solomon warns us! This is the power of lust! It can blind us and bind us in a fog of spiritual confusion until we do things we never thought we would do. Sex is THE god of 21 st century fallen culture. Men and women are defined by sexual pleasure, derive their identity from things sexual. The outcome is the same as the day of Solomon. Children conceived in meaningless sex have no meaning they are disposable. The only difference is that today there s no metal idol, no fire. There s saline solution to burn babies alive in the womb, or D and C s where babies are essentially torn to bits in the womb. AGAIN Oswald Chambers QUOTE: Chambers p. 750 God didn't leave Israel in the dark concerning kings. God didn't leave kings in the dark concerning about the things they should and should not do. In Deuteronomy 17 God said, Do this: Read the Scriptures every day. God said, Don t do these three things: Don't not acquire many horses, don't acquire many wives, lest your heart turn away, don't acquire excessive silver and gold. What did Solomon do? He did the three things he was told not to do! While was doing some great things for God he was holding his opinion higher than the revelation of Scripture! In Chapter 11 we re told of how the Lord allow adversaries to be raised up against Solomon. One was a man named Rezon. Why did the Lord do that? BECAUSE God loved Solomon! The Lord brought adversity into Solomon s life to bring Solomon down from his high horse and bring him back to his knees. Did you know that the famous evangelist John Wesley had his own Rezon? His Rezon was his own wife. Wherever Wesley went to preach his wife would get up on the platform and say Don t listen to this man! She would rant and rave during his sermons. Wesley saw the
purpose for his wife and her behavior Humility has been worked into my heart and prayer is a pre-requisite for every day of my life. Any adversary or adversity in our lives is there as a part of God s gracious plans and purposes and therefore we must embrace that adversary/adversity as from the Lord. The Lord brought another adversary into the realm. He is a major player in the final section of the book. His name was Jeroboam. He was talented, industrious and courageous. From the human vantage point he was a very together guy. But this guy teaches us a lot! Though he had ability he had no history with God. Though he had talent, it was not tempered by God. He was blessed but not broken. In verses 29-33 of chapter 11 we are told that God ordained the division of Israel and the reign of Jeroboam. As a judgment upon Solomon s divided heart and idolatry God DIVIDED Solomon s kingdom. Amazingly, Jeroboam had the opportunity to establish a parallel dynasty to the House of David if he remained loyal to the Lord. Both Jeroboam and David were appointed by God to follow after disobedient kings. David waited upon the LORD to remove Saul from the throne of Israel remained loyal to Saul and Saul s son Jonathan and God blessed his reign. Jeroboam did not wait on the LORD and he made his own way to the throne and God did not bless his reign. 1 Kings 11:42-43 42 And the time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty 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 place. Many commentators believe that Solomon began his reign when he was about 20 years old. This means that Solomon did not live a particularly long life. 1 Kings 3:14 14 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. QUOTE: Adam Clarke "When we consider the excess in which he
lived, and the criminal passions which he must have indulged among his thousand wives, and their idolatrous and impure worship, this life was as long as could be reasonably expected." The second half of the book records the events in Israel s history that culminated in the division of the nation. Chapter 11 introduced us to one of the major players Jeroboam. Chapter 12 introduces us to the other major player Rehoboam, the son of Solomon. Reheboam served as a catalyst for the division of the nation. At the tome of his coronation the people from the 10 northern tribes expressed their opinion about his dads labor policies and wanted him to understand that things couldn't continue as they had for the last 40 years. His response was bad in judgment and harsh in words. Rehoboam's harshness and arrogance didn t merely result in the 10 Northern tribes rejecting him it resulted in those tribes rejecting the entire dynasty of David. Jeroboam became the king over the 10 northern tribes. He turned his heart from God and he set up two places of worship, one in Dan, the other in Bethel. He set up false gods, golden calves and he told them, This is your God. He set up false feasts so that the people wouldn t have to go to Jerusalem and then he set up false priests over these false gods. Now, after that happens, the rest of 1 Kings goes like this it talks a little bit about the kings in the north and a little bit about the kings in the south and how they relate to each other. Eighty-five years goes by. There are eight kings in the north and there are four kings in the south. It s important for us to note that for the remainder of this book all of these kings took a back seat in to the ministry of the prophets. These men of God stood in the midst of the moral and spiritual darkness and proclaimed that God was calling individuals to stand up and serve him. The most famous of these guys is a guy by the name of Elijah. Six chapters are devoted to him beginning in Chapter 17 to the end of 1 Kings and continued into 2 Kings. Elijah was a man who was called out of obscurity. We don t know anything about this guy. We don t know how old is he? Is he 14 or is he 40? We don t know anything about him. He steps
onto the pages of scripture out of nowhere. He s not formally trained. He s not formally schooled. He has no political protocol no access to the then king of the northern kingdom, Ahab. About all we know about him is that he had bad taste in clothes and had a bad hair cut. His name means My God is the LORD. In an era when everyone was worshipping other gods bowing their knee to all kinds of other master passions his very name said MY God is Yahweh. He came out of nowhere and stood before two of the most wicked people in all of the Bible (Ahab and Jezebel) and says As the Lord the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word. And, he turns around and walks out. I m just trying to imagine the look on the faces of Ahab and Jezebel! WHAT? What was that? He did that at the prospect of losing his life! Elijah showed up about 3 ½ years later and says 1 Kings 18:20-21; 23-24 20 So Ahab sent to all the people of Israel and gathered the prophets together at Mount Carmel. 21 And Elijah came near to all the people and said, How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.. 23 Let two bulls be given to us, and let them choose one bull for themselves and cut it in pieces and lay it on the wood, but put no fire to it. And I will prepare the other bull and lay it on the wood and put no fire to it. 24 And you call upon the name of your god, and I will call upon the name of the Lord, and the God who answers by fire, he is God. Despite the ranting and ravings of the 400 prophets of Ba-al no fire came from heaven. 1 Kings 18:36-38 36 And at the time of the offering of the oblation, Elijah the prophet came near and said, O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word. 37 Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back. 38 Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water
that was in the trench. 39 And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, The Lord, he is God; the Lord, he is God. So 1 Kings closes with this obscure character who came out of nowhere, and stepped into a world that was a train wreck of idolatry. He becomes not only the major character of the second half of the book, he becomes one of the most important characters in the history of humanity. How was he so influential in such a dark, broken time in the history of the nation of Israel. By his life Elijah said, My God is the Yahweh, that s who my God is He is my master passion. 1 Kings is radically relevant because it sets before us the life of Elijah and calls US to action. His life will speak to those whose hearts are moved and broken as they look at the train wreck of fallen culture. His life speaks to the man or woman who sees the wreckage of sin and idolatry and says, I m just one person Nobody knows who I am Nobody knows who my parents are I m not qualified I m not trained What could I ever do? God s looking for a man, looking for a woman, whose very lives will say, My God is the Lord Jesus. God is looking for the person who knows that they stand before the living God ( As the Lord the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand). JESUS in 1 Kings Jesus is greater than Solomon. Luke 11:31 31 The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here. In Jesus is hidden all of the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. He is the embodiment of truth and wisdom. Unlike Solomon, Jesus lived, spoke and acted in perfect harmony with the truth Because He is full of grace and truth. The temporary prosperity, wealth and majesty of Solomon s reign fades to nothing in comparison to the Kingdom of Jesus. Solomon built with stones Jesus builds with living stones. He is making a living temple out of our lives.
Jesus is greater in His person, being the very Son of God. He is greater in His wisdom (Col. 2:3) Jesus is greater in His wealth (see Col. 1:19 and 2:9). In disobedience to God Solomon took wives for his own gratification. Jesus Christ in perfect obedience to the Father gave Himself for the sake of His bride; shed His blood to cleanse her from sin and redeem her out from under the penalty and power of sin The power and beauty of Solomon s kingdom has faded and all that remains is relegated to archaeology. Jesus is greater in His power and glory. One day Jesus will reign over a greater kingdom His Kingdom will never fade, never grow old it lasts forever and ever.