Read the Bible in Lockdown - Day 56 - 1 Kings 4

in read the bible in lockdown as we continue to look at solomon's kingdom we get glimpses of the eternal kingdom to come when jesus returns uh that happened in our passage today so let's head back to one kings 1 kings chapter 4 and as you can see it begins with a list of all the chief officials of king solomon i could read it out but i feel like i'd just be doing it for your entertainment purposes of seeing how i'd go at pronouncing all the names so i'll leave you to read through all those people as you can see that solomon was a worthy administrator and uh leader of um of all these officials under him for uh the way that he ruled uh let's keep going on to verse 20. the people of judah and israel were as numerous as a sand on the seashore they ate they drank and they were happy now i wonder if those words ring any bells for you all the way back at the start of genesis abraham a god promised abraham that he would make abraham into a people as numerous as the sand on the sea shore all the way back in genesis 12 and so here is a partial fulfillment of that that god's people are now so numerous and let's keep going verse 21 and solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the euphrates river to the land of the philistines as far as the border of egypt these countries brought tribute and were solomon's subjects all his life so here's a map of that uh we've got uh the euphrates river right at the top there on top of hamath all the way down to the border in egypt so israel and judah kind of the uh the the main bit of the uh israelite people they were there's they're in the blue but uh solomon had charge of all the other nations around him as well they all brought tribute to him and we see this wealth in verse 22 solomon's daily provisions were 30 cores of the finest flower and 60 cores of meal 10 head of stall-fed cattle 20 of pasture-fed cattle and 100 sheep and goats as well as deer gazelles roebucks and choice fowl for he ruled over all the kingdoms west of the euphrates river from tifsa to gaza and had peace on all sides during solomon's lifetime judah and israel from damn to beersheba lived in safety everyone under their own vine and under their own fig tree so we can see the wonderful provision that god has given solomon a bountiful picture of god's uh god's final banquet on the last day as well and we can see god's people were living in safety no no threat from outside each being able to get each provided for and not under threat but we do have uh some troubling signs as well for solomon verse 26 solomon had 4 000 stalls for chariot horses and 12 000 horses now we're going to go back to remember deuteronomy 17 we've looked at that so far god's uh command to the king whenever he is established and there's a line about horses verse 16 the king moreover must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself okay so horses are good for an army but not good for the lord's army because they are from uh from egypt okay so some warring signs in solomon's uh decision making i keep going verse 27 the district governors each in his month supplied provision for king solomon and all who came to the king's table they saw to it that nothing was lacking they also brought to the proper place their quotas of barley and straw for the chariot horses and the other horses so of course the horses had to eat part of the provision too but anyway so got a picture of wonderful safety wonderful peace wonderful provision in solomon's kingdom and then verse 29 god gave solomon wisdom and very great insight and a breath of understanding as measureless as a sand on the seashore solomon's wisdom was greater than the wisdom of all the people of the east and greater than all the wisdom of egypt he was wiser than anyone else including ethan do you know that was a bible name but there you go ethan the ezra height wiser than himan not he-man anyway uh calcol and dada the sons of mahal and his fame spread to all the surrounding nations he spoke to three he spoke three thousand proverbs and his songs numbered a thousand and five that's where we get the book of proverbs from by the way uh probably he spoke about plant life from the cedar of lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of walls he also spoke about animals and birds reptiles and fish from all the nations people came to listen to solomon's wisdom sent by all the kings of the world who had heard of his wisdom so solomon has been given so much wisdom and understanding uh by god he wrote proverbs down he uh knew a lot about science and animals and things like that and uh his fame was reaching it was far-reaching to the uh to the nations around him and so this gives us this picture of what solomon has and his kingdom gives us a picture of the greater kingdom to come and the future that we will have as part of god's people life may not be spectacular now may not be plentiful now but uh we can put our hope in the glorious future of a multitude of god's people who will live at peace and rest from enemies have ample provision and live under a wise king and of course god has chosen and installed that king and his name is jesus so here's an earthly taste in this uh chapter of solomon's rule so that we may put our hope in the greater greater kingdom to come when jesus returns

Channel: All Saints North Epping

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Length: 6min 15sec (375 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 12 2021