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