1 Kings 10 (Part 2) Bible Study (Solomon's Great Wealth) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

First Kings 10 verse 14. Father, with great gratitude in

1 Kings 10:14

our hearts, we are thankful that we can be reunited, reunited

around your word and we pray that at this time you would

assist us as you have been assisting us in song and

attentiveness. Lord, empower us now as we

engage with. The Word of God.

We pray that the Spirit of wisdom and revelation would be

our guide. We pray Lord, that our hearts

would thirst for the scriptures, that we would not find ourselves

indifferent or self-sufficient or self reliant.

Lord, we lean into you with expectation, believing that even

in this portrait of the Word of God we will have fresh eyes and

receive fresh insight for our hearts and for our worship's

sake. We look to you again, trusting

in your provision. For our manna in Jesus name we

pray. Amen.

It is no surprise to any serious student of the Word of God that

the scriptures is a comprehensive and intricate

text, and by virtue of its depth, one of the features of

the detailed portions of the Word of God is that there is an

absolute record of numbers. Numbers.

I'm talking about actual numbers and when we read these numbers,

majority of them just deal with the numbering of people, tribes,

nations, maybe some items here and there.

And most of that testifies to the historicity of the

scriptures, their eyewitness accounts of these biblical

events. Apart from that, you might find

the value of numbers in predictive prophecy where God,

in desiring to showcases foreknowledge will tell of an

event that is yet to come to pass and we'll even at times

give the number of years or days that this thing will occur.

And in other cases, when we look at numbers in the Bible, the

Holy Spirit in his perfect authorship grants us patterns

throughout the scriptures with certain numbers in order to

communicate certain spiritual truths.

And there are many examples of this that we've seen that we

might be familiar with. The number that comes to mind is

the number 40, a very prominent and obvious number from cover to

cover. We think about the 40 years that

the Israelites were wandering in the wilderness.

We think in the New Testament, of the 40 days that Jesus spent

in his own wilderness. I think of Goliath, who spent 40

days taunting the nation of Israel, and the list goes on and

on and on of how there is this consistent association with the

number 40 and the idea of testing or time of trial.

The Bible makes that clear. It's obvious to us because the

Bible makes it obvious to us. Now, unfortunately, there is

some who have taken the numbers in the Scriptures to another

extreme, where they feel as though every number has symbolic

value, every number has significance.

And so they spend their efforts and their energy trying to

decode some secret meaning by using some numerical value

system or these elaborate equations that really end up

leading us into strange conclusions.

That is a dangerous way of handling the word of God.

And the reason I'm saying all of this at the outset of our Bible

study tonight is because we're going to read a few verses, and

the first verse that we're going to encounter contains a number,

a number that we are familiar with that should stop us in our

tracks. And so let's read these verses.

We're not going to read the entirety of the rest of this

chapter, but just the first few. And then we will take our time

to dissect what the Holy Spirit has to say.

Verse 14. Now the weight of gold that came

to Solomon in one year was 666 talents of gold, besides that

which came from the explorers, and from the business of the

merchants, and from all the kings of the West, and from the

governors of the land. King Solomon made 200 large

Shields of beaten gold. 600 shekels of gold went into each

shield, and he made 300 Shields of beaten gold. 3 Minas of gold

went into each shield, and the king put them in the House of

the force of Lebanon. The king also made a great ivory

throne and overlaid it with the finest gold.

The throne had six steps and the throne had a Round Top and on

each side of the seat where armrest and two lines standing

beside the armrest, while 12 lines stood there, one on each

end of a step on the six steps. The like of it was never made in

any Kingdom. All King Solomon's drinking

vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the House of the

Force of Lebanon were of pure gold.

None were of silver. Silver was not considered as

anything in the days of Solomon and so again we read of these

vast numbers and the one that should stand out to us is what

we find here. In verse 14 we read of his

yearly salary and the number is 666 talents of gold.

Some estimate the value of that to be in the hundreds of

millions of dollars. This man's wealth was

unprecedented. Israel's prosperity was unlike

at any time in its history. And as we look here, we might

think to ourselves, is this strange coincidence?

Is there anything worth meditating on here?

Some would say let's just move on, this is simple coincidence,

let's not make too much of this. And others would say hold on,

maybe there is something deep here because this is such a rare

number in the Bible. So the number 666 is found how

many times in the scriptures if you include this text?

Are you sure? Look at everybody.

Attentive for Bible study. We are going to deal with those

two. And there is another one.

There is a total of three. Let me give you a couple seconds

to think where you might find it.

If you do know where it is, well in the Bible, study here and

just rejoice because it's a very obscure passage.

The only other place #666 is found is in the book of Ezra in

Ezra chapter 2 verse 13, where we read a list there of the

Ezra 2:13

returning exiles, and this number makes up of the sons of

Adunaikim 666. So we have 666 here with

Solomon, 666 in terms of the return, exile, and where's the

last number of 666 found in the Book of Revelation, chapter 13?

Revelation 13 · chapter mention

When the Holy Spirit deals with the beast or the Antichrist,

what do we make of this? What do we do with this?

Is John by the Spirit, referring to one of these two Old

Testament passages to provide greater insight into what may

seem like a cryptic message concerning the Antichrist?

Well, let's think about it for a moment here.

If we look at this number again, you mentioned earlier that there

was two times that it is referred and I think that number

two is important because Ezra doesn't have the same

overlapping themes as Solomon's context and revelations context.

In other words, the number 666 is linked to two individuals in

all of the Bible and all of the scriptures and all the God

breathed records. This number is linked to only

two distinct people, and I think there's something there for us

to consider. If we think here about Solomon

and we link it with Revelation 13 again, there might be not

including Ezra's reference, some kind of connection, some kind of

parallel, and these are just suggestions.

These are not dogmatic, but something worth chewing on and

maybe exploring further concerning the artistry and the

mind of God. Look at Revelation 1318 with me

as we look at where this other reference of 666 is mentioned in

Revelation 1318. The Holy Spirit says this calls

for wisdom. Let the one who has

understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is

the number of a man and his number is 666.

The first thing that I want to bring to your attention is that

both individuals and this number are tied to the theme of wisdom.

The theme of wisdom. In Solomon's case, we know that

he was a ruler who wielded supernatural wisdom.

In the case, in the context of the beast, we are called to

exercise wisdom and understanding his nature, his

character, his identity. There's a second thing.

There's a second, perhaps pattern that's worth

considering. Both individuals in the number

666 are contextually associated with the practice of business

and trade and commerce, and both exercising unusual economic

authority and power. So keep your finger there in

Revelation 13 and go to 1617 and notice what's mentioned with the

Beast. We're told here concerning the

Beast and his image. Also, it causes all, both small

and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be

marked on the right hand or the forehead so that no one can buy

or sell unless he has the mark that is the name of the beast or

the number of its name. So here we're told of this,

Mark. We're told of this beast.

And we're told that this beast, this political figure, will be

able to cause people to feel trapped, that they won't be able

to do simple transactions or simple business apart from

pledging their allegiance to him.

And again, that number is linked to that context and that

experience in that reality. And we come back to our text of

our study. And what do we read in First

Kings 10? Well, let's read again verse 14

to verse 16. Now the weight of the gold that

came to Solomon in one year was 666 talents of gold, besides

that which came from the explorers and from the business

of the merchants and from all the kings of the West and from

the governors of the land. Again, just consider the themes

here. You have this number that's

linked to this economic realm, both here with Solomon and the

Beast, who share this number. There's a final thing, and I

think it is the most significant thing.

It is the placement of this number, 666, in Solomon's story

and what it is preparing us for. So we look at these verses and

we read a few of them, and we might get the impression that

this is some irrelevant, meaningless summary of Solomon's

wealth. And that would be wrong.

That would be wrong, because there is, of course, practical

insight. But this is setting the stage

for a very important chapter in Israel's history, and that's

First Kings 11, where Solomon will commit apostasy.

And so we read of the talents of gold here that he was able to

acquire. And more than that, we read of

his accumulation of more wealth, and what he does with it are

serious flags concerning his faith.

This is not just a catalogue of what he owns.

This is indicators and reminders of the compromising flaws that

he tolerated, the issues concerning his character.

And so we look at this man and he might think, yes, it's

speaking highly of him, but it's really not.

This man is about to depart from his allegiance to the Lord and

will worship false gods. And what about the beast?

What about Revelation 13? Again, what do we just cover?

Well, we glazed on the fact that there is this kind of connection

with the call to wisdom. Solomon had the wisdom.

We are called to have wisdom. We see this practice of the

business trade and commerce and merchants and selling and buying

both associated with this number in terms of its placement.

And lastly, we see the theme of apostasy.

This is going to be a set up for us to see the decline of

Solomon. And what do we read of the

beast? We read of him calling for

people to make a complete departure from the true God and

his gospel. And not just that, but to

worship something. Else, and that's found in

Revelation 14, you know, you had people ask is the vaccine.

The mark of the beast, have you been asked that I got some

emails is the COVID-19 maybe we have to take that thing out.

So the mention of that just in case of censorship.

Is the thing, is it the mark? Because look, we can't go into

our favorite restaurants and we can't travel and we can't do

this. No, it's not the mark for one

main reason. The mark will be a pledge of

worship to a man, to a man. And here's what we're told in

Revelation 14 verse nine. And another Angel 1/3 followed

them, saying with a loud voice If anyone worships the beast and

its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand,

then he goes on to explain in verse 10.

That the wrath of God is reserved for such a person.

So again, both contexts containing the number 666 are

closely connected to idolatry. And if these points are

persuasive to you, let me warn you that in no way am I

suggesting that the Antichrist is going to be some kind of

reincarnated Solomon. But perhaps the thematic

overlaps provide us this ominous understanding this layer to many

other layers, and understanding the beasts and revelation.

An insight that may suggest how, like Solomon, there is a future

leader who is to come, and initially he will present

himself as unbelievably wise, incredibly powerful one who will

shape culture and bring nations to their knees.

And yet, eventually. Will lead the masses into false

worship. This is what we see here with

this number. And so this is verse 14.

But we read on and we read a verse 16.

King Solomon made 200 large Shields of beaten gold. 600

shekels of gold went into each shield, and he made 300 Shields

of beaten gold. 3 Minas of gold went into each shield, and the

king put them in the House of the forest of Lebanon.

We've dealt with the House of the Force of Lebanon in a past

Bible study. We use this as a reference to

confirm that it was most likely utilized as an Armory for the

nation of Israel. But there is another meaning

here. There's something else for us to

be able to apply to our lives because in just a few chapters

we're going to see reference to not just this place, but to

these Shields that were used in this Armory for a decorative

purpose. You're not going to use golden

Shields to go to war. But again, this man had such

overwhelming income of gold, it's as though they just wanted

to do so much with it and things that didn't even seem to make

sense, like golden cups as we read.

But there's a spiritual principle with this, and it's

only when you come to 1st Kings 14 where you read of Solomon's

son, Rehab Ohm, that you learn why this is an important thing

to grasp. Rehab Ohm will also fall into

idolatry. Worse, he will commit more

grievous rebellion against God than his Father's, And after a

few short years, the Lord's patience wears out and he

exercises divine chastisement toward Rehoboam.

And the way that he does it is that he allows the king of Egypt

to be unleashed and to ransack Jerusalem.

And here's what we read in verse 25 of First Kings 14.

In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, Shishak, King of Egypt

came up against Jerusalem. He took away the treasures of

the House of the Lord and the treasures of the King's house.

He took away everything. He also took away all the

Shields of gold that Solomon had made.

And King Rehoboam made in their place Shields of bronze, and

committed them to the hands of the officers of the guard who

kept the door of the King's house.

So Solomon during his reign was able to create these beautified

Shields to decorate this glorious house known as the

House of the Forests of Lebanon. And just in a matter of five

years, five years into the reign of his son, those Shields are

removed and they are replaced with something inferior, these

Shields of brass. And again, you look at that and

you see that as an unfortunate transition, right?

No, there is a spiritual lesson there.

Because again, the reason for these Shields being removed was

the consequence of sin. Here's the lesson.

If you just look at these verses and you connect them, This is

why. Let me remind you, read your

Bible a verse a day ain't going to cut it.

If you want Revelation, finish the book that you started.

So I read here in chapter 10 that there's this elaborate

Shields being placed into this house.

And then in few chapters I realize that a king removes them

from Egypt. He takes them and this is the

result of divine discipline. Sin will always impoverish you.

Sin will always lessen the quality of life that God has in

mind for us. Sin steals from you.

Sin will diminish and take from you not the physical but the

spiritual treasures that the Lord longs to adorn you with.

Sin robs sin takes saying brother.

Why is this important? For many reasons, Because often

times when we're tempted to sin, we think we're gaining

something. We think we're adding something.

We're adding a thrill. We're adding purpose.

We're adding safety. We're adding peace.

We're adding happiness. No, no, no.

Be reminded, even in this illustration, sin will always

grab, and often times take more than you anticipated.

Because there are some smart sinners out there who know that

there is always a price to any decision.

But in their foolishness, they would think, well, no.

And sin, though I'm making some kind of an investment.

I'm getting more in return. No, you're always going to lose.

And here's poor rehoboam thinking to himself that

although the consequence of sin cost him something and made his

reality a little bit more empty than it was before, he thought

that he can replace the blessing of God with cheap substitutes.

They took the gold, let me replace it with brass.

And what are sinners doing now? As they depart and turn their

back on the true and living God? They try to fill that empty void

with other things, the thing that only God can fill and

complete. They try to do themselves

instead of seeing what sin is doing to their soul, eroding

their soul, decaying their hearts.

Instead of repenting, they try to patch it up with their own

ideas and schemes and even some with more sin.

Here's what the prophet Jeremiah spoke to his generation

concerning sin. Jeremiah 525, if we can put it

up, this is one of my favorite verses And confronting sin,

confronting sin in my life, Confronting sin in the lives of

those that I love. Jeremiah, the prophet told this

to his people of his time and it's insightful concerning what

we read with this idea in mind. Well, if it's not there, you can

turn there. And Jeremiah 525, we read.

Your iniquities have turned these away.

Your iniquities have turned these away, and your sins have

kept good from you. Highlight it, under score it,

and if you feel it necessary, put it somewhere above your door

before you leave your house. Your sins have kept good from

you. That's one of the tragedies of

sin, unrepented iniquity and transgression.

It takes, it keeps from you that which God longs to lavish you

with. And this is the case with

Solomon in his time. Yes, he's going to lose out in

his own day, but we see Rehoboam, who unfortunately

follows in his steps. And has robbed the blessing in

his own day. That's what we learn about these

Shields. Isn't that amazing?

Who knew that golden Shields could teach us about sin?

Let's come back to our main text, shall we?

Verse 18. The king also made a great ivory

throne and overlaid it with the finest gold.

The throne had six steps and the throne had a Round Top, and on

each side of the seat were armrest and two lines standing

beside the armrest. While the 12.

Line stood there, one on each end of a step on the six steps,

the like of which it was never made in any Kingdom.

You're supposed to be amazed by this.

You're supposed to be in awe of this.

You're supposed to visualize this.

Here's this glorious throne and these engraved decorative

emblems around this throne, and it speaks of the splendor of

this man, the majesty, the magnificence, the brilliance of

his rule, of his reign, of his authority.

Clearly it was designed for those who at this time would

step into that scene to be overwhelmed with a sense of,

again, the things that I mentioned, but including the

sense of justice. And yet, as we look at this, we

learned of it, of another Bible study that it would be temporal.

It's a temporal glory. It is glorious.

It is majestic, but the grandeur of it becomes nothing in a short

amount of time. And so it really is like a

firework. The peak of Solomon's success.

And even the beauty demonstrated with examples like this is like

a flash in the sky. It moves you for a moment, but

it ends up turning into smoke and ash and disappears in the

wind, never to be seen again. But look at this verse again.

Look at this image with a wider scope of scripture in view.

The scripture speaks of many Thrones.

The scripture speaks of Thrones, that have been raised, Thrones

that have been brought low. But there is only one throne, as

you know, that will be eternal, and its glory will never fade.

It will never be challenged. It will never be overthrown.

It will remain stable, and we will forever marvel at it.

Not because of what that throne will be made of, but the one who

occupies the throne, the wisdom of that king, the love of that

king, the power of that king. We will never lose our sense of

Oz. We look upon him who sits on

that throne and will sit on it forever and ever, and the Bible

gives us glimpses. I was I stepped back this

afternoon, and I thought to myself about the throne of Jesus

Christ and the variety of its characteristics that should

cause my heart to worship. What are we to anticipate when

we see him receiving his rightful due?

And this is one verse that came to mind among many verses,

right? The verse of him who yes, will

be a king and a priest on the throne.

The extent of the authority of that throne, those who will

bring their gifts and submit to the lordship of that Yes, all of

that is wonderful. But may I present to you an

aspect of the throne of Jesus Christ that should cause your

knees to be weak and to bow before it.

Now. Revelation 321.

Here is the Lord Jesus himself speaking to one of the most

spiritually deprived churches out of the seven in the Book of

Revelation. This is this is in reference to

this is in the context of the lukewarm church.

Some interpret the seven churches as a prophetic

timetable of the condition of the church until the return of

Christ. I don't necessarily see it that

way. But this is speaking about the

lukewarm church, the church that felt as though they were

self-sufficient. This the church that felt as

though they had need of nothing, This church that prospered in

every way you can imagine except for their Spirit.

The Lord has a word for them, a word of rebuke scathing, word

blistering. And he gives this church a

church that he says if you don't repent, I'm going to vomit you

out of my mouth. I mean, this is the Lord Jesus

Christ speaking here that seems so hopeless, that seem to be so

despised. And yet is promise one of the

greatest rewards, an unthinkable, inconceivable

reward for those who seem to be so far from the standard of

holiness that Christ longs from those that he has purchased.

Here's his word to them in verse 21, the one who conquers.

I will grant him to sit with me on my throne as I also conquered

and sat down with my Father on his throne.

You see that? He's telling a bunch of lukewarm

Christians if you conquer. Conquer what?

Conquer lukewarmness. Conquer indifference.

Conquer self-reliance. If you're able to live in

victory over that, do you think many people suffer with

lukewarmness? Yes.

And here's the promise to the Lord.

If you are able to walk in victory over that, If you are

willing to remain in fellowship with me.

If you. Are willing to.

Consistently allow your heart to place me as your supreme desire

and your supreme source of all that you need.

I will give you this reward. I will allow you to sit.

With me on my throne. Now think about that.

That moves me. And I move you into confusion,

because you just heard me say that this eternal throne, this

throne that will never lose its glistening glory, the thing that

makes it so glorious, is the one who sits upon.

And now you're telling me that we're going to sit on it with

him? It's less glorious now.

No, it's more glorious because you and I sitting on his throne

is not so much US sharing in his identity or sharing in his

exaltation as him being virtue, God, and King.

We sitting on His throne, more than anything else, are

demonstrations and displays of His glory and grace.

We are trophies of His mercy. This is what the Lord is

communicating. We are trophies of His

compassion. And so again when we think about

the throne of Christ in this light.

The glory of it exceeds Solomon's for many reasons, and

and here's one of the reasons when we'll see it, we will see

grace. We're not just going to see

justice. We're not just going to see

power and authority. We're going to see grace.

Because look at those whom he is willing to sit with him, those

who were once lukewarm, those who once found satisfaction and

other things content and worldliness, but repented.

Those whom he has purchased by faith and was able to empower

unto holiness. This is the grace of this king,

and that will move us to worship as we stand before it.

And so whatever you see with Solomon's throne, it pales in

comparison. It is eclipsed by the absolute

depth of the majesty and the magnificence of the one who

occupies this throne, the Son of David, who will rule forever and

ever. And we read on verse 21, all

King Solomon's drinking vessels were of gold, and all the

vessels of the House of the Force of Lebanon were of pure

gold. None were of silver.

Silver was not considered as anything in the days of Solomon.

Can you imagine that? Let's add this verse connected

to this. Look at verse 27 and verse 27.

We read and the king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stone,

and he made cedar as plentiful as the Sycamore of Shephilah.

Think about this. You have silver now that has

been reduced to the value of rocks.

The thing that was prominent, the things that was so

available, was gold, and there was so much of it that silver

was an afterthought. That's not the case today and

there are very few. I can't think of any time in

history where this is the case. Silver was as though it was like

stone, and there's a lot of stone in Israel.

And again, we look at this and we get a snapshot of the glory

of this man's reign, surely. But again, there is a timeless

principle that's not difficult to perceive.

The this characteristic of Solomon's reign reminds us that

the value of materialism is not permanent.

It's not permanent. It's vacillating potential is

true of this life, and the change of its worth is certain

in the life to come. That's an important word for

many of us. Many of us who chase after these

things I like to jokingly refer to the streets of gold in

Jerusalem. The thing that people die,

cheat, lie and betray over will become pavement in heaven.

Here we see silver becomes as nothing, as nothing in the days

of Solomon and it's so sad to see the investments that Solomon

makes here. You you might be impressed.

I might be impressed. But it's actually a sad sign.

The reason why it is a sad sight is because Solomon was to be

preoccupied with something else. And there seems to be no

indication that he was preoccupied by what I'm about to

show you. Because in this catalog, you see

one achievement after the next. You see the wealth coming in,

and you see how he applies the wealth, extravagance, luxury,

things that we would never do with what he had.

I never thought to myself, you know, I think one day I want my.

Cupboards to be filled with cups of gold.

Where have you gone in your success for you to think this

way? And again, this takes time,

effort, thought, strategy. And as I peeled back from these

verses, I thought, but wasn't he supposed to be busy with

something else? Yes, we see here the

faithfulness of God to an extent, where he promised

Solomon, you asked for wisdom, and I'm going to honor you.

Not just with wisdom. I'm going to give you riches and

honor. We see a fulfillment of God's

faithfulness here. But there was something even

further back that was supposed to be characterizing every king,

not just this king. If we don't.

Get the impression with all the things that we read here that

Solomon was at that place. Here is the law of God

concerning the future kings of Israel, and before we even turn

there, maybe as returning there in Deuteronomy 17 verse 18.

Deuteronomy 17:18

Do you remember what the king was to do after not doing

certain things? He was not to acquire many

wives, he was not to acquire many horses.

He was not to acquire too much wealth, right?

But there was something he was to do.

There was something he must do. Do you remember what it was?

He was to take a copy of the law and write a personal copy for

himself. You want a exciting assignment

in your life. If you have the time, I

challenge you to do that. Take the book of Deuteronomy and

write it word for word in a journal.

That's what every king had to do.

A king, yes, but a scribe in some sense as well.

It was to be approved by the Levites.

But every king, for many reasons, was to have a personal

copy of the law in their hands, and not just to write at once,

though that would cause them to be very familiar with the

passages and the context. It was also to be something that

they were to make personal. It was a way of saying, make

this personal in your life, and absorb it, and read it and

digest it every single day. So let me read these verses to

you. We read in Deuteronomy 1718.

And when he sits on the throne of his Kingdom, he shall write

for himself in a book a copy of this law approved by the

Levitical priest, and it shall be with him, and he shall read

it all the days of his life. Then he may learn to fear the

Lord his God by keeping all the words of this law and these

statutes, and doing them. Why don't we complete in verse

20? What do we read there?

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 and Israel.

I love how there is a promise concerning relating to the word

of God and humility. You read this word every day

with humility, with hunger, with transparency and eagerness.

One of the rewards of that is that it will humble you and it

will keep you humble. You're not reading the Bible,

right, if you're proud by reading it.

You're not reading the Bible, right?

If you're puffed up after you've studied it, it's supposed to

humble you. Which tells me that in great

part, when I read the Bible, I'm supposed to see God.

I'm supposed to see the Lord and how transcendent he is and how

real he is and how he is able to intervene both for.

Good and injustice. And it's supposed to cause me to

feel small and to keep me dependent.

And the power of this word is not just to do that for those

who feel small and other aspects of life, but even for kings,

even for rulers, even for leaders of nations.

And so his heart would not be lifted up.

And not only that, there is a connection between knowing

people. People ask, should I read my

Bible every day? Here's a wonderful proof text.

Here's a wonderful proof text. Let me ask you this question.

Do you want longevity in your faith, in your character?

Because that's what's promised to the kings that he may

continue long in his Kingdom. I can tell you the reason, one

of the reasons why people don't go long in their faith, in their

consistency and consecration. At some point they abandoned the

word of God. At some point they abandoned

everything. Well, no.

I know preachers who did this or do that.

Yeah, but did they read it? And did it cause them to be

humble? Or were they just looking for

another sermon because they wanted a paycheck?

Big difference that he may continue long in his Kingdom.

I want to know success for the long run.

Well then you're going to have to know the word of God and

listen. Having a Bible on your night

stand is not enough. Visiting it from time to time is

not enough. Remember again the great

investment that a king was to make with the word of God.

Write it. Write a copy of it.

What does that entail? That entails dedication.

That entails discipline. That entails commitment.

Get to the word of God. Get familiar with the word of

God. Every time I read of Apollo's, I

like to go into the King James Version, just for that part,

because I like how the King James words his commitment and

his relationship with the word of God.

We're told there that he was mighty in the.

Scriptures. I like that.

I want to be mighty in the scriptures.

I'm not too concerned being mighty on the bench press or

mighty on social media. If I want to be mighty in

anything, it's in the Bible, it's in the Word.

Of God mighty in the scriptures. OK, I'm getting.

I'm losing track here. We have to go back to original

thought. Look at verse 18.

One more time, we're told again. When he sits on the throne of

his Kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this

law approved by the Levitical priest.

So again we here see that the King of Israel was to labor.

He was to labor over the word of God.

That includes making a personal copy of it, and that includes

him reading it and instead. We read of these other

achievements that that are nice. They're not necessarily evil in

itself, though there are concerning achievements at the

end of this chapter, and Solomon reaches a height in his success

where he makes. Silver to be as valuable as

stone, and all the while his heart is becoming stone.

So he is moving this people. To know great success in their

own right. And yet at the same time,

there's something shriveling in his own heart.

Who cares what you achieve if you forfeit your walk with God?

And that's what we see here. Evidently, as we're about to

find out in the next chapter, Solomon would not know true

longevity. Successful longevity.

Finishing well. And could it be because he did

not honor the prescription that would promise such an end?

And instead we see a very busy man, a very ambitious man,

making silver be a stone while his heart was becoming stone.

It's a sad sight indeed. And this is where we see the

biggest cracks in the foundation of his faith.

Let's read verse 26 to verse 29. And Solomon gathered together

Chariots and horsemen. He had 1400 Chariots and 12,000

horsemen whom he stationed in the chariot cities and with the

king in Jerusalem. And the king made silver as

common in Jerusalem as stone, and he made cedar as plentiful

as a Sycamore. Of the Shifala.

And Solomon's import of horses was from Egypt, And Q and the

King's traitors received from Q at a price.

A chariot could be imported from Egypt for 600 shekels of silver,

and a horse for 150. And so, through the King's

traitors, they were exported to all the kings of the Hittites

and the kings of Syria. OK, we've visited this verse

before in anticipation of Solomon's fall, but it's even

deeper than what we might be might be familiar with.

Did you notice something in the last part there?

So he is receiving horses, and he's exporting horses.

And who is he exporting some of these horses to?

The Hittites? Good guys or bad guys?

Are they even supposed to be in the land of Canaan?

No. So here's a people that are to

be removed from the land, and instead Solomon's doing business

with them. And remember, there's no chapter

break. Going to Chapter 11, we read of

this man multiplying his wealth. We read of this man multiplying

what Horses. And we're about to find out that

he's going to multiply his wives.

But here's how I want us to end this, because we will visit this

in the next chapter. Go back with me again to verse

23 and 24. Thus King Solomon excelled all

the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom, and the whole

earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom which

God had put into his mind. I find it scary how this is one

of many examples again how 1 can be used by God and still not be

right with God. One can exercise a gift from God

and not be walking in righteousness, and many people

are content with that. Many people are content to be in

the realm of spiritual service and not be connected to the

Savior intimately privately. But that's not.

The main point, the point that I want to drive into our hearts,

is how Jesus refers to Solomon's glamour and splendor and

provides A practical truth for his children, for those who

would follow him, for those who would face the reality of

anxiety and fear for tomorrow. Out of all the studies of

Solomon, we have yet to touch on this reference.

So I was excited to finally pull out Matthew Chapter 6, verse 28

Matthew 6:28–31

to 31 that has brought comfort to millions over the ages.

And here's where we end our Bible study tonight.

When we read this, read it for yourself and when.

Why are you anxious about clothing?

Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow.

They neither toil nor spin. Yet I tell you, even Solomon in

all his glory, was not arrayed. Like one of these?

That's incredible. Just look at a bed of lilies,

look at a field of flowers, and I want you to understand that

the complexity and the natural decor of those plants outshine

the splendor of even Solomon. Put one of those things under a

microscope and you'll know exactly what Jesus means here.

That which grows by God's Providence and his authorship,

That which needs no assistance from man, is far greater than

the fabrics that are created by man.

Look at these lilies. Look at these flowers.

Look at the colors. Look at the hues.

Look at, look at it. I had a chance to look at it,

maybe not with plants, but on birds.

And I just was an amazement. I was like the Lord painted

these feathers. But I am to look at these things

and consider something, not just how nature exceeds the

authorship of God, exceeds whatever Solomon was able to

generate. No, no, no.

Here's the point. If the Lord himself is willing

to give such attention and investment to something as short

lived, to something as perishable, as a flower, how

much more attention and investment is he willing to give

to those that he has created in his image?

How much more is he willing to invest to those who belong to

him? So you want to know how you can

marry the old and the new? I read this and I and I see how

King Solomon excelled all the kings of the earth.

And Jesus says that glory. Yeah, I beautify these flowers.

More than that. Well, Lord, you're powerful.

You're amazing. Your mind is unlike any other.

No, no, no. You don't understand.

I'm not trying to just make a point that I'm better.

I'm trying to make the point that if I'm willing to beautify

these lilies and they perish like that, how much more am I

willing to take care of you from head to toe?

Don't worry. And again, you heard me say this

earlier. As much as this is an indication

of the dive Into Darkness that Solomon is about to make, at the

same time it is still a declaration of the faithfulness

of God. Remember, God told Solomon you

asked for the right thing, and I'm going to give you more than

what you asked. Here's riches.

Here's honor. Is he not enjoying what God said

he would have? Is God not faithful to his word?

Absolutely. And if God was faithful to

Solomon with these subjective and personalized promises,

here's Matthew telling us God is.

Faithful He will be faithful to you.

He will take care of you what he has said.

He will honor. He will guide you.

He will lead you. He will clothe you.

He will feed you. He will.

He will. He takes care of the flowers.

They're there one day, and the next day they're losing life and

they're ready to be plucked out of the ground.

And here you are worrying if tomorrow we'll be able to

provide. I love how the how the Lord even

mentions about our clothing saying how relevant is that.

I'll tell you how relevant it is what happens to you when a

wedding comes up ladies fill in the blank.

Practical real life concerns and whereas the little things.

Here's the Lord saying the little things.

I'm willing to manage your life in more ways than you can

imagine. Here's the requirement from you,

though. Seek my Kingdom first, you seek

my Kingdom first. So the way to deal with anxiety

is more than just rehearsing the promises of God.

Those promises are conditional, first established within your

heart. Is my heart convinced that I

will seek His Kingdom first, no matter what His purpose, His

message, his mission is? My mandate is the banner of my

life. If you can say that, then you

and I should never feel a drop of anxiety because, he promises,

if that is your course of life, then watch me take care of you

every step along the way. Along the way, I can testify

that he does. He does, and I have so many

testimonies which I will not keep you with, about how he can

take care of everything from a house a roof over your head to

the shoes on your feet when they are ready to be replaced, he

knows how to take care of his own.

Well, that's a hopeful thought to end on in a very dark

chapter, and one that's allowing us to enter into a very dark

tunnel for the rest of our study in First King.

So let's just meditate on those truths that we might have been

very familiar with. But sometimes we need to be

reminded with shall we posture our hearts and adoration toward

this king? It is with great delight to be

in your presence, O Lord, our hearts are enlarged in love for

you. Thank you for the mastery of the

Bible. Thank you.

That week after week, and for many of us, day by day, you

remind us that this book you show us, you prove that this

book is authored by you. We are amazed by you, Thank you

that even in a text of a list of numbers and historical details,

we see your character. We see your face, we see your

love. We see the foreshadowings of a

greater king. We see principles and truths

that are tucked behind symbols and tucked behind.

Examples, good examples, terrible examples.

Oh Lord, thank you that you are ruling and reigning now.

And thank you that though you have given us salvation, and

that is enough, you go above and beyond and want to reward us for

faithfulness that you empower us to achieve.

And so, Lord, for us tonight, who might feel lukewarm and more

than just being aware of it, our content in it.

Oh Lord, may the words to the Laodicean Church be for us

tonight that you invite us to sit with you on your throne if

we conquer. If we conquer this, we finish.

Well, we finish with our eyes on you and our hearts soft and our

hands empty, not clinging to anything else except the plow

that you called us to push forward.

Lord, you are worthy. What an amazing God you are.

What a throne you sit on. A throne that you are willing to

have. Sinners who have been forgiven

to sit. What A throne that is greater

than that of ivory, covered with gold.

Greater than that who occupies it with a mine unlike any other

Lord. Your mind exceeds that of

Solomon's, and your heart does as well.

We bless your name. Oh, we're moved by your

greatness. Lord Jesus, help us see.

See you who for who you are. And, Lord, help us finish.

Well. You've brought us into 2024.

Thank you for the souls who are here week after week.

Thank you for the people that watch week after week.

Or we pray that you would bring us through another year filled

with testimonies and greater treasures that we will discover

in this book. Blessed be the name of the Lord.

In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

Amen. Yes, praise team.

You can come. Had a chance on the Sunday

morning, the last Sunday morning of our trip, to meet somebody

who watches us every single week from Australia.

She drove 2 hours to come to the meeting if she waited in line to

meet us and I was just overcome. It's like there are people who

are connected to the embassy family who are 9000 plus miles

away. And so it's so encouraging to

see you here primarily, but to know that what's happening here

is going across the world. Glory be to God.

And so we want to rejoice in the Lord that what we are

experiencing here every Friday, your eagerness making this Bible

study possible. Because I love Bible study, but

if nobody else is interested, I'm having Bible study by

myself. And I'm not one to record myself

having Bible study. But because you're here, this is

able to happen and it's able to go into the Internet streams and

platforms and people are being blessed.

We serve a mighty king, so let's stand and worship him as we

conclude this meeting.