Day 2 — Solomon’s life mirrors my own to a certain extent, minus the world-inspiring wisdom and riches plus hundreds of nuptials of geopolitical convenience.
- He started out with the best of intentions, i.e. tuned to God’s frequency.
- He loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of his father, David (1st Kings 3:3).
- David felt guilty that he was living in a cedar-paneled house, while God’s house was a tent (1 Chr. 17:1-15).
- He acknowledged his weakness, being young and prone to lack of discernment (1st Kings 3:7-9; 2 Chr. 1:7-12).
- God came to Solomon at the beginning of his reign and asked him what he wanted (1st Kings 3:5), and Solomon asked for “an understanding heart to judge Your people to discern between good and evil.” God gave him “a wise and discerning heart” (1st Kings 3:12).
- As God did several times before — as Israel was about to enter the Promised Land, as the second generation of Israel was about to enter the Land after the 40 years of judgment in the wilderness, etc. — He reminded Solomon that the persistence of His rule was dependent on His obedience.
- About two decades later, after the dedication of the lavish temple and the king’s palace, God confirms that the persistence of His Presence and His Name on that house and of Israel in the Land was dependent upon following God’s commands, statutes and ordinances (1st Kings 9).
- Otherwise, God would knock down His own house, throw Israel out of the Land and make Israel a forgotten name (1st Kings 9:6-9).
- God came to Solomon at the beginning of his reign and asked him what he wanted (1st Kings 3:5), and Solomon asked for “an understanding heart to judge Your people to discern between good and evil.” God gave him “a wise and discerning heart” (1st Kings 3:12).
- He loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of his father, David (1st Kings 3:3).
- Combined with those best intentions was a recipe for Solomon’s undoing:
- The people were into offering sacrifices on “high places, because there was no house built for the Name of the LORD until those days” (1st Kings 3:2).
- God and pagan deities were worshipped on “high places.”
- Gibeon, where the ark and tabernacle were, was called a “great high place” (1st Kings 3:4).
- The people were not to sacrifice anywhere they wished (Lev. 17:1-5).
- Where was the Tent of Meeting — a.k.a. House of the LORD (Deut. 23:18), Temple of the LORD (Josh. 6:24), Tabernacle of Witness (Num. 17:8) — at that time?
- Gibeon (1st Sam. 22:9), from Nob and then from Shiloh.
- Jerusalem, where David had built a tent to house (2nd Sam. 16:7).
- What happened when the half-tribe of Mannaseh set up an replica altar of the LORD in their territory during the time of the judges?
- God and pagan deities were worshipped on “high places.”
- “Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of his father David, except he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.” (1st Kings 3:3 NASB)
- The people were into offering sacrifices on “high places, because there was no house built for the Name of the LORD until those days” (1st Kings 3:2).
Tabernacle vs. temple
God emphasized that He doesn’t need an ediface.
- “Thus says the LORD, ‘Heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool. Where then is a house you could build for Me? And where is a place that I may rest? “For My hand made all these things, Thus all these things came into being,’ declares the LORD. “But to this one I will look, To him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word.’ ” (Isa. 66:1-2 NASB)
- How is the rebuke in Isaiah 66 similar to Stephen’s defense in Acts 7?
Speaker: Jeff.
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