the second book of chronicles · 2012-08-30 · the second book of chronicles 2:14–3:10 785 blue,...

The Second Book of chronicleSchAPTer 1 Oct. 13Solomon Asks for Wisdom

Solomon the son of David was strengthened in his kingdom, and Yahweh his God was with him, and magnified him exceedingly. 2 Solomon spoke to all Israel, to the captains of thousands and of hun-dreds, and to the judges, and to every prince in all Israel, the heads of the fathers’ households. 3 So Solomon, and all the assembly with him, went to the high place that was at Gibeon; for there was the Tent of Meeting of God, which Moses the servant of Yahweh had made in the wilderness. 4 But David had brought the ark of God up from Kiriath Jearim to the place that David had prepared for it; for he had pitched a tent for it at Je-rusalem. 5 Moreover the bronze altar, that Bezalel the son of Uri the son of Hur had made, was there before the tabernacle of Yahweh; and Solomon

and the assembly were seeking coun-sel there. 6 Solomon went up there to the bronze altar before Yahweh which was at the Tent of Meeting and offered one thousand burnt offerings on it. 7 In that night God appeared to Solomon and said to him, Ask what I shall give you. 8 Solomon said to God, You have shown great grace to David my father, and have made me king in his place. 9 Now, Yahweh God, let your promise to David my father be established; for you have made me king over a people like the dust of the earth in multitude. 10 Now give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people; for who can judge this your people, that is so great? 11 God said to Solomon, Because this was in your heart, and you have not asked riches, wealth, or honour, nor the life of those who hate you, neither yet have asked long life; but have asked

1:6 The Chronicles record is very positive compared to the accounts of Solomon in 1 Kings. But Solomon’s many sacrifices must be compared with Mic. 6:7, which says that God isn’t impressed by such “thousands” of sacrifices, but looks instead for hu-mility, justice and kindness in a person. Solomon’s father had likewise appreciated that the cattle on one thousand hills are God’s and so we can’t give Him anything materially which He doesn’t have, but we can give Him our personalities and char-acters (Ps. 50:10). But Solomon thought that external generosity to God was what He wanted, and he ignored the spiritual sacrifices which are far more important to God.1:10 ‘Going out and coming in’ is an idiom for leadership. Solomon was asking for wisdom because he thought that he was the Messiah, and he saw wisdom as a Mes-sianic characteristic. He failed to realize that the promises to Abraham and David were only being primarily fulfilled in him (e.g. 1 Kings 4:20); he thought that he was the ultimate fulfilment of them (1 Kings 8:20 states this in so many words). His lack of faith and vision of the future Kingdom lead him to this proud and arrogant conclusion (cp. building up our own ‘Kingdom’ in this life through our lack of vision of the future Kingdom which is to come at Christ’s return).

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wisdom and knowledge for yourself, that you may judge my people, over whom I have made you king: 12 wis-dom and knowledge is granted to you. I will give you riches, wealth, and honour, such as none of the kings have had who have been before you; neither shall there any after you have the like.

Solomon’s Prosperity13 So Solomon came from the high place that was at Gibeon, from be-fore the Tent of Meeting, to Jeru-salem; and he reigned over Israel. 14 Solomon gathered chariots and horsemen: and he had one thousand four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, that he placed in the chariot cities, and with the king at Jerusalem. 15 The king made silver and gold to be in Jerusalem as stones, and cedars made he to be as abundant as the sycamore trees that are in the

lowland. 16 The horses which Solo-mon had were brought out of Egypt and from Kue; the king’s merchants purchased them from Kue. 17 They brought out of Egypt a chariot for six hundred pieces of silver, and a horse for one hundred and fifty. They also brought them out for all the kings of the Hittites, and the kings of Syria.

chAPTer 2 Oct. 13Solomon Arranges Raw Materials for the Temple from Huram

Now Solomon purposed to build a house for the name of Yah-weh, and a house for his kingdom. 2 Solomon counted out seventy thou-sand men to bear burdens, and eighty thousand men who were stone cutters in the mountains, and three thousand six hundred to oversee them. 3 Solo-mon sent to Huram the king of Tyre saying, As you dealt with David my father, and sent him cedars to build

1:11 We too can prefer wisdom over wealth when we decide to turn down a more demanding or a second job or course of education because we don’t want to be left without time or heart for God’s word. 1:16 The king’s merchants purchased them – This was specific disobedience to Dt. 17:16, which taught that Israel’s king shouldn’t cause the people to go to Egypt to buy horses. And Solomon would have copied out this section of the law and memorized it (Dt. 17:18). This shows how we have a tendency to not only ignore God’s word but actually to do exactly the opposite. Israel was strategically situated between Egypt and other nations, and so Solomon became a middleman for the horse and chariot trade (:17); but Israel were not to have horses and chariots themselves (Dt. 17:16). In-evitably, Solomon ended up keeping horses for himself because he was ‘in the trade’, and became obsessed with them. It’s rather like a person dealing in alcohol becoming themselves an alcoholic; and in more subtle ways we too can fall for the goods of Egypt through wilful association with them and enabling others to enjoy them.2:1 Solomon wanted to build two houses, one for God and another for himself. There was always a duality in Solomon’s service, rather than a total commitment to God alone.2:3-6 These words seem to smack of a false humility. He pompously informs Hiram of the magnificence of his project, lost in the manic obsession of the powerful architect,

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him a house in which to dwell, so deal with me. 4 Behold, I am about to build a house for the name of Yah-weh my God, to dedicate it to Him, and to burn before Him incense of sweet spices, and for the continual showbread, and for the burnt offer-ings morning and evening, on the Sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the set feasts of Yahweh our God. This is an ordinance forever to Israel. 5 The house which I build is great; for our God is great above all gods. 6 But who is able to build Him a house, since heaven and the heaven of heavens can’t contain Him? Who am I then, that I should build Him a house, except just to burn incense before Him? 7 Now therefore send me a man talented to work in gold, silver, brass, iron, purple, crimson and blue, and who knows how to produce engravings, to be with the talented men who are with me in Ju-dah and in Jerusalem, whom David my father provided. 8 Send me also cedar trees, fir trees, and algum trees, out of Lebanon; for I know that your servants know how to cut timber in

Lebanon. My servants shall be with your servants, 9 even to prepare me timber in abundance; for the house which I am about to build shall be great and wonderful. 10 Behold, I will give to your servants, the cut-ters who cut timber, twenty thou-sand measures of beaten wheat, and twenty thousand measures of barley, and twenty thousand baths of wine, and twenty thousand baths of oil. 11 Then Huram the king of Tyre an-swered in a writing which he sent to Solomon, Because Yahweh loves His people, therefore He has made you king over them. 12 Huram contin-ued, Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Israel That made heaven and earth, Who has given to David the king a wise son, endowed with discretion and understanding, that should build a house for Yahweh, and a house for His kingdom. 13 Now I have sent a talented man endowed with un-derstanding, of Huram my fathers, 14 the son of a woman of the daugh-ters of Dan; and his father was a man of Tyre, talented to work in gold, sil-ver, brass, iron, stone, timber, purple,

and then concludes: “Who am I then, that I should build (God) an house?”. Confirma-tion of this is provided by the way in which Jer. 22:13-17 describes Jehoiakim’s proud building of his own cedar house in the language of Solomon’s building of the temple. We can serve God with pride, in which case it is an abomination. There’s an obvious contradiction in Solomon’s reasoning; if God is indeed so great that He doesn’t dwell in human houses (Acts 7:48; 17:24), then why build Him a house? This was all false humility, draped, as it were, in out of context Biblical quotation and spiritual allusion. 2:5 The house which I build is great – The Hebrew word translated “great” is used again by Solomon at the end of his life when he lost his faith and looked back at how he had built “great” buildings (Ecc. 2:4) in a vain search for self-fulfilment which he ultimately found to be vanity. The lesson of Solomon is that we can serve God on a surface level whilst our heart is far from Him, and the works we do for Him are in fact only a living out of our vain search for self-fulfilment, rather than a total devotion to Him and His causes.


blue, fine linen and crimson, also to engrave any kind of engraving, and to devise any device. Let there be a place appointed to him with your tal-ented men, and with the talented men of my lord David your father. 15 Now therefore the wheat and the barley, the oil and the wine, which my lord has spoken of, let him send to his servants; 16 and we will cut wood out of Lebanon, as much as you shall need. We will bring it to you in floats by sea to Joppa; and you shall carry it up to Jerusalem. 17 Solomon num-bered all the foreigners who were in the land of Israel, after the number-ing with which David his father had numbered them; and they were found one hundred and fifty-three thousand six hundred. 18 He set seventy thou-sand of them to bear burdens, and eighty thousand to be stone cutters in the mountains, and three thousand six hundred overseers to set the peo-ple to work.

chAPTer 3 Oct. 14The Dimensions and Specifications of the Temple

Then Solomon began to build the house of Yahweh at Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where Yahweh appeared to David his father, which he prepared in the place that David

had appointed, in the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. 2 He began to build in the second day of the second month, in the fourth year of his reign. 3 Now these are the foun-dations which Solomon laid for the building of God’s house. The length by cubits after the first measure was sixty cubits and the breadth twenty cubits. 4 The porch that was in front, its length, according to the breadth of the house, was twenty cubits, and the height one hundred and twenty; and he overlaid it within with pure gold. 5 The greater house he made with a ceiling of fir wood which he over-laid with fine gold, and ornamented it with palm trees and chains. 6 He garnished the house with precious stones for beauty: and the gold was gold of Parvaim. 7 He overlaid also the house, the beams, the thresholds and its walls and its doors, with gold; and engraved cherubim on the walls. 8 He made the most holy place: its length, according to the breadth of the house, was twenty cubits, and its breadth twenty cubits; and he over-laid it with fine gold, amounting to six hundred talents. 9 The weight of the nails was fifty shekels of gold. He overlaid the upper rooms with gold. 10 In the most holy place he made two cherubim of wood; and

3:1 This implies David assumed that the spot where the Angel appeared to him in 2 Sam. 24:17,18 was where he should build the temple. But this could be one of several examples of David wildly over-interpreting in order to justify his obsession with his son building a temple.Mount Moriah – This was where Abraham offered Isaac (Gen. 22:2), and it was near Jerusalem – further strengthening the connections between that offering and the sacri-fice of Christ on a hill outside Jerusalem.3:3 A cubit was the distance from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger.


they overlaid them with gold. 11 The wings of the cherubim were twenty cubits long. The wing of the one was five cubits, reaching to the wall of the house; and the other wing was five cubits, reaching to the wing of the other cherub. 12 The wing of the other cherub was five cubits, reach-ing to the wall of the house; and the other wing was five cubits, joining to the wing of the other cherub. 13 The wings of these cherubim spread themselves forth twenty cubits. They stood on their feet, and their faces were toward the house. 14 He made the veil of blue, purple, crim-son and fine linen, and decorated it with cherubim. 15 Also he made be-

fore the house two pillars of thirty-five cubits high, and the capital that was on the top of each of them was five cubits. 16 He made chains in the oracle, and put them on the tops of the pillars; and he made one hundred pomegranates, and put them on the chains. 17 He set up the pillars before the temple, one on the right hand, and the other on the left; and called the name of that on the right hand Jachin, and the name of that on the left Boaz.

chAPTer 4 Oct. 14Details of the Temple Furniture

Then he made an altar of brass, twenty cubits in length, and 3:12 Joining to the wing of the other cherub – The cherubim totally covered the ark. In the Psalms, David reflects that the righteous dwell under the shadow of God’s wings (Ps. 17:8; 36:7), as if we are located on the atonement cover which was on top of the ark, where the blood of atonement was sprinkled, which represented christ’s blood. Our covering by God’s Angelic cherubim protection is therefore total and complete. But the cherubim described here aren’t those which covered the ark; these covered the entire Most Holy Place. Likewise the constant theme of cherubim everywhere in the temple suggests that Solomon wished to expand the concept of the holiness and protection of the atonement cover to the entire temple. The temple represents all God’s people; for we are His temple. The New Testament expands the theme further – the person of each individual believer is the temple of God (1 Cor. 3:17; 6:19). Each of us personally becomes as it were within the Most Holy Place and likewise constantly in God’s most intense presence and covered by His wings.4:1 Stephen says that David tried to find a tabernacle for God, “But Solomon built him an house. Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet, Heaven is my throne... what house will ye build me?” (Acts 7:46-49 AV). This cannot mean ‘God no longer dwells in the temple as He used to before Christ’s death’, because the reason given is that the prophet Isaiah says that God can-not live in houses. This reason was true in Isaiah’s time, before the time of christ. It would seem that Stephen is politely saying: ‘Solomon made this mistake of thinking that God can be limited to a physical building. You’re making just the same mistake’. And he goes on to make a comment which could well allude to this: “Ye do always resist the Holy Spirit: as your fathers (including Solomon) did, so do ye” (Acts 7:51 AV). Further evidence that Stephen saw Solomon’s building of the temple in a nega-tive light is provided by the link between Acts 7:41 and 48: “They made a calf... and rejoiced in the works of their own hands... howbeit the Most High dwelleth not in


twenty cubits in breadth, and ten cubits in height. 2 Also he made the molten sea of ten cubits from brim to brim, round in compass; and its height was five cubits; and a line of thirty cubits encircled it. 3 Under it was the likeness of oxen which en-circled it for ten cubits, encircling the sea. The oxen were in two rows, cast when it was cast. 4 It stood on twelve oxen, three looking toward the north, three looking toward the west, three looking toward the south and three looking toward the east. The sea was set on them above, and all their back parts were inward. 5 It was a handbreadth thick; and its brim was worked like the brim of a cup, like the flower of a lily. It received and held three thousand baths. 6 He made also ten basins, and put five on the right hand and five on the left, to wash in them. Such things as related to the burnt offering they washed in them; but the sea was for the priests to wash in. 7 He made the ten lamp-stands of gold according to the com-mand concerning them; and he set them in the temple, five on the right hand and five on the left. 8 He made also ten tables, and placed them in the temple, five on the right side and five on the left. He made one hun-dred basins of gold. 9 furthermore he

made the court of the priests, and the great court, and doors for the court, and overlaid their doors with brass. 10 He set the sea on the right side of the house eastward, toward the south. 11 Huram made the pots, the shovels and the basins. So Huram made an end of doing the work that he did for king Solomon in God’s house: 12 the two pillars, and the bowls, and the two capitals which were on the top of the pillars, and the two networks to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the top of the pillars, 13 and the four hundred pomegran-ates for the two networks; two rows of pomegranates for each network, to cover the two bowls of the capi-tals that were on the pillars. 14 He made also the bases, and the basins he made on the bases; 15 one sea, and the twelve oxen under it. 16 Huram his father also made the pots, the shovels, the forks, and all its vessels for king Solomon for the house of Yahweh of bright brass. 17 The king cast them in the plain of the Jordan, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zeredah. 18 Thus Solomon made all these vessels in great abundance; for the weight of the brass could not be estimated. 19 Solomon made all the vessels that were in God’s house, the golden altar also, and the tables

temples made with hands” (AV). The word “made” is stressed here in the record of Solomon’s building the temple (3:8,10,14-16; 4:1,2,6-9,14,18,19,21). The work of the temple was very much produced by men’s hands (2:7,8). Things made with hands re-fers to idols in several Old Testament passages (e.g. Is. 2:8; 17:8; 31:7). Significantly, Solomon’s temple is described as being made with hands in 1 Chron. 29:5. The lesson ought to be clear: we can expend huge effort in apparently serving God when in fact we are only serving ourselves; and thus we can turn the supposed service of God into an idol.


with the showbread on them; 20 and the lampstands with their lamps, to burn before the oracle according to the commandment, of pure gold; 21 and the flowers, and the lamps, and the tongs, of gold (perfect gold); 22 and the snuffers, basins, spoons and fire pans, of pure gold. As for the entry of the house, the inner doors of it for the most holy place, and the doors of the main hall of the temple were of gold.

chAPTer 5 Oct. 15The Temple Is Dedicated with Praise

Thus all the work that Solomon did for the house of Yahweh was finished. Solomon brought in the things that David his father had dedicated, even the silver and the gold, and all the vessels, and put them in the treasuries of the house of God. 2 Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the princes of the fathers’ households of the children of Israel, to Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of

the covenant of Yahweh out of the city of David, which is Zion. 3 And all the men of Israel assembled them-selves to the king at the feast, which was in the seventh month. 4 All the elders of Israel came. The levites took up the ark; 5 and they brought up the ark, and the Tent of Meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the Tent; these the priests the levites brought up. 6 King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, that were assembled to him, were before the ark, sacrificing sheep and cattle, that could not be counted nor numbered for multitude. 7 The priests brought in the ark of the covenant of Yahweh to its place, into the oracle of the house, to the most holy place, even under the wings of the cherubim. 8 for the cherubim spread forth their wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim covered the ark and its poles. 9 The poles were so long that the ends of the poles were seen from the ark before the oracle; but they were not seen outside. It is there to this day. 10 There was nothing in

5:6 Sacrificing sheep and cattle, that could not be counted – Whilst the record here isn’t specifically critical of Solomon, he failed to understand his father David’s reflec-tion that all the cattle on every hill are God’s (Ps. 50:10) and therefore God doesn’t so much as seek animal sacrifice from us as desire faith and a broken casting of ourselves upon God. David came to that understanding because his sin against Uriah and Bath-sheba deserved death and there was no animal sacrifice which could take away that guilt – he had to throw himself upon God’s grace and learn that the real sacrifice God sought was that of a broken, penitent heart (Ps. 51:16,17). Solomon didn’t recognize his sins as David did, he didn’t mess up so publically as David did, and therefore he failed to appreciate this, focussing instead on the external rather than the internal. It’s amazing how God uses human sin and failure to teach us; those like Solomon who don’t sin publically and don’t recognize the weight of their private sins are often lead into the shallow, empty spirituality and surface level service of God which we see in Solomon at this time. See on 7:5.5:8 The cherubim covered the ark – See on 3:12.


the ark except the two tables which Moses put in it at Horeb, when Yah-weh made a covenant with the chil-dren of Israel when they came out of Egypt. 11 The priests came out of the holy place, (for all the priests who were present had sanctified themselves, and didn’t keep their divisions; 12 also the levites who were the singers, all of them, even Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun, and their sons and their brothers, arrayed in fine linen, with cymbals and stringed instruments and harps, stood at the east end of the altar, and with them one hundred twenty priests sound-ing with trumpets). 13 The trumpet-ers and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking Yahweh; and they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised Yahweh, saying, For He is good; for His loving kindness en-dures forever! Then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of

Yahweh, 14 so that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud; for the glory of Yahweh filled God’s house.

chAPTer 6 Oct. 15Solomon Addresses the People

Then Solomon said, Yahweh has said that He would dwell in the thick darkness. 2 But I have built You a house of habitation, and a place for You to dwell in forever. 3 The king turned his face and blessed all the as-sembly of Israel; and all the assem-bly of Israel stood. 4 He said, Blessed be Yahweh the God of Israel, Who spoke with His mouth to David my father and has with His hands ful-filled it saying, 5 Since the day that I brought forth My people out of the land of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel to build a house in, that My name might be there; neither chose I any man to be prince over My people Israel. 6 But I have chosen Jerusalem, that

6:2 A place for You to dwell in forever – This is one of several hints that Solomon felt that the full fulfilment of the Davidic promises was to be found in him (see on :10). He failed to look forward to the spirit of christ, instead becoming obsessed with the achievement of his own works. He was largely encouraged in this by David, who seems to have felt that Solomon was the Messiah figure the promises spoke about. Thus Ps.72 is dedicated to Solomon, and yet it speaks clearly of the messianic King-dom. David thus came to misquote and misapply the promises God made to him in his obsession about his own family, rather than seeing the promises as concerning the great spiritual family which would be built by Messiah. Solomon repeated his father’s error. God had told David that He did not want a physical house, because He had never commanded this to be done at any time in the past. Solomon misquotes this in :5,6 to mean that God had never asked for a physical house in the past, but now He had asked David’s son to build such a house in Jerusalem. This is a lesson to us all against misquoting and misapplying Scripture to justify how we would like things to be for us and our immediate family.6:6. Solomon claims that God said: “But I have chosen Jerusalem, that My name might be there”. God had chosen no resting place, although it would have been po-


My name might be there; and have chosen David to be over My people Israel. 7 Now it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of Yahweh, the God of Is-rael. 8 But Yahweh said to David my father, Whereas it was in your heart to build a house for My name, you did well that it was in your heart. 9 Nevertheless you shall not build the house; but your son who shall come forth out of your body, he shall build the house for My name. 10 Yahweh has performed His word that He spoke; for I have risen up in the place of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, as Yahweh promised, and have built the house for the name of Yahweh, the God of Israel. 11 Therein I have set the ark, in which is the covenant of Yahweh, which He made with the children of Israel.

Solomon’s Prayer of Dedication12 He stood before the altar of Yahweh in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread forth his hands 13 (for Solomon had made a bronze

scaffold, five cubits long, five cubits broad and three cubits high, and had set it in the midst of the court; and on it he stood, and kneeled down on his knees before all the assembly of Isra-el, and spread forth his hands toward heaven). 14 He said, Yahweh, the God of Israel, there is no God like You, in heaven or on earth; You Who keep covenant and loving kindness with Your servants who walk before You with all their heart; 15 Who has kept with Your servant David my fa-ther that which You promised him: yes, You spoke with Your mouth, and have fulfilled it with Your hand, as it is this day. 16 Now therefore, Yahweh the God of Israel, keep with Your servant David my father that which You promised him saying, There shall not fail you a man in My sight to sit on the throne of Is-rael, if only your children take heed to their way, to walk in My law as you have walked before Me. 17 Now therefore, Yahweh the God of Israel, let Your word be verified which You spoke to Your servant David. 18 But will God indeed dwell with men on

litically convenient for Solomon if Jerusalem as a city was where God had chosen to dwell. And so he kept thinking that way until he persuaded himself that in fact this was what God had said, and misquoted God’s word to that end. 6:10 Yahweh has performed His word that He spoke – The promise to David about his great son building God’s house was a promise of Messiah building a house in the sense of a spiritual family (Lk. 1:31-35). The promise was given in response to David’s desire to build a physical house for God. But Solomon was too eager to see the prophecy fulfilled in him and before his eyes, and this lack of Christ-centeredness and focus on the future, ultimate Kingdom of God on earth led him astray.6:12, 13 The record emphasizes how Solomon prayed in front of everyone and showed his apparent humility before all. Christ’s teaching condemning such behaviour may well allude to Solomon’s failures in these things (Mt. 6:6).6:18 These fine words contradict what Solomon just said in :2, that he was building a house where God would dwell, and would do so, he claimed, “for ever”. This is all


the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens can’t contain You; how much less this house which I have built! 19 Yet have respect for the prayer of Your servant and to his supplication, Yahweh my God, to lis-ten to the cry and to the prayer which Your servant prays before You; 20 that Your eyes may be open toward this house day and night, even toward the place where you have said that You would put Your name; to listen to the prayer which Your servant shall pray toward this place. 21 listen to the petitions of Your servant and of Your people Israel when they shall pray toward this place. Yes, hear from Your dwelling place, even from heaven; and when You hear, forgive. 22 If a man sin against his neigh-bour, and an oath is laid on him to cause him to swear, and he comes and swears before your altar in this house; 23 then hear from heaven, and do, and judge your servants, bringing retribution to the wicked, to bring his way on his own head; and justifying the righteous, to give him accord-ing to his righteousness. 24 If Your people Israel be struck down before

the enemy because they have sinned against You, and shall turn again and confess Your name, and pray and make supplication before You in this house; 25 then hear from heaven, and forgive the sin of your people Israel, and bring them again to the land which You gave to them and to their fathers. 26 When the sky is shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against You; if they pray toward this place, and confess Your name and turn from their sin, when You afflict them; 27 then hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of Your servants and of Your people Israel, when You teach them the good way in which they should walk; and send rain on Your land, which You have given to Your people for an inherit-ance. 28 If there is famine in the land, if there is plague, blight or mildew, locust or caterpillar; if their enemies besiege them in the land of their cit-ies; whatever plague or whatever sickness there is; 29 whatever prayer and supplication be made by any man, or by all Your people Israel who shall know every man his own plague and his own sorrow of heart,

therefore false humility, which is something every spiritual person must ever be on their guard against.6:20 Pray toward this place – Prayer should’ve been directed toward God, but Solo-mon gave in to the human tendency to want a buffer between God and man, just as Israel didn’t want to hear God speaking directly with them. Popular religion has pan-dered to this tendency through hierarchical systems of priesthood etc., but God has al-ways revealed Himself as thirsting for relationship with man and therefore is eager for the most direct form of contact with us which our humanity permits. This is supremely enabled for those who are by status “in Christ” who can come directly to God because of christ’s achievement for us.6:24 Turn again and confess Your name – God’s Name refers to the declaration of His characteristics (Ex. 34:4-6). Repentance involves a recognition both of our wrong-ness, and God’s rightness. See on 12:6.


and shall spread forth his hands to-ward this house; 30 then hear from heaven Your dwelling place and for-give, and render to each man accord-ing to all his ways, whose heart You know; (for You, even You only, know the hearts of the children of men;) 31 that they may fear You, to walk in Your ways, so long as they live in the land which You gave to our fathers. 32 Moreover concerning the foreigner, who is not of Your people Israel, when he shall come from a far country for Your great name’s sake and because of Your mighty hand and Your outstretched arm; when they shall come and pray toward this house; 33 then hear from heaven,

even from Your dwelling place, and do according to all that the foreigner calls to You for; that all the peoples of the earth may know Your name and fear You, as does Your people Israel, and that they may know that this house which I have built is called by Your name. 34 If Your people go out to battle against their enemies, by whatever way You shall send them, and they pray to You toward this city which You have chosen, and the house which I have built for your name; 35 then hear from heaven their prayer and their supplication, and uphold their case. 36 If they sin against You (for there is no man who sins not) and You are angry with

6:30 Render to every man according to all his ways – This will happen when Christ returns at the final day of judgment (Rev. 22:12). And yet it is said to happen in re-sponse to prayer now. When we pray, we come before God’s throne; the experience of prayer is therefore a foretaste of the day of judgment. As we feel toward the Lord now when we are in His presence in prayer, so we will then.6:33 Solomon speaks as if the heavens where God lived were actually the temple; he bid men pray towards the temple where God lived, rather than to God in Heaven. Yet theoretically he recognized the magnitude of God (:18); yet the vastness of God, both in power and spirituality, meant little to him; it failed to humble him as it should have done. It is a feature of human nature to be able to perceive truth and yet act the very opposite. His enthusiasm for his own works lead him to lose a true relationship with God. The idea of salvation by grace became lost on him, loving response to God’s for-giveness was not on his agenda, he felt true humility was unnecessary for him, given his certainty that he was King as God intended.6:35 Uphold their case – The crises encountered by God’s people on earth are as it were considered by the court of Heaven, with God acting as both the advocate and judge, upholding their case. But this is if we bring our case before Him in prayer. This is why simply telling God the situation we’re in, although He knows it in the sense that He knows all things, is so necessary.6:36 Solomon is alluding in this verse to God’s threatened punishments for Israel if they totally rebelled against Him. But Solomon seems to minimize that sin by describ-ing it as if it’s inevitable – “for there is no man who sins not”. God set before Israel the blessings for obedience and abiding in the covenant, and the curses for disobedience and breaking covenant with God, which included being scattered amongst the Gentiles and losing their land. And Solomon minimizes such serious rebellion as something or-dinary. This minimizing of sin is what led him to spiritual self-destruction.


them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captive to a land far off or near; 37 yet if they shall repent themselves in the land where they are carried captive, and turn again, and make supplication to You in the land of their captivity say-ing, We have sinned, we have done perversely, and have dealt wickedly; 38 if they return to You with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity to where they have carried them captive, and pray toward their land which You gave to their fathers and to the city which You have chosen, and toward the house which I have built for Your name: 39 then hear from heaven, even from Your dwelling place, their prayer and their petitions, and uphold their case and forgive Your people who have sinned against You. 40 Now, my God, let, I beg You, Your eyes be open, and let Your ears be attentive, to the prayer that is made in this place. 41 Now therefore arise, Yahweh God, into Your resting place, You and the ark of Your strength: let Your priests, Yahweh God, be clothed with salva-tion, and let Your saints rejoice in goodness. 42 Yahweh God, don’t turn

away the face of Your anointed. Re-member Your graces to David Your servant.

chAPTer 7 Oct. 16God Accepts the Temple

Now when Solomon had made an end of praying, the fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of Yahweh filled the house. 2 The priests could not enter into the house of Yahweh, because the glory of Yahweh filled Yahweh’s house. 3 All the children of Israel looked on, when the fire came down, and the glory of Yahweh was on the house; and they bowed themselves with their faces to the ground on the pavement and worshipped and gave thanks to Yahweh saying, For He is good; for His grace endures for ever. 4 Then the king and all the people offered sacrifice before Yahweh. 5 King Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty-two thousand head of cattle, and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the people dedicated God’s house. 6 The priests stood, according to their positions; the levites also with instruments

7:1 Although God had clearly told David that He didn’t want a physical house built for Him, He made a concession to Israel’s weakness as He did in allowing them to have a human king – and worked through that concession, that lower level of spiritual life which His people had chosen. Such is His thirst for relationship with us His peo-ple. Therefore His glory filled the temple as a sign that despite Solomon’s pompous prayer of chapter 6, He was willing to accept that system of temple presence.7:5 These huge numbers of animal sacrifices weren’t really what God was looking for; each animal represented the dedication of one person, and we cannot dedicate other people’s devotion; they must themselves offer it. The fact Solomon’s animal sacrifices were too many or too large to fit on the altar God had designed and specified the size of (:7) indicates that they weren’t what God had intended. See on 5:6.


of music of Yahweh, which David the king had made to give thanks to Yahweh, when David praised by their ministry saying, For His grace endures forever. The priests sounded trumpets before them; and all Israel stood. 7 Moreover Solomon made the middle of the court holy that was before the house of Yahweh; for there he offered the burnt offer-ings, and the fat of the peace offer-ings, because the bronze altar which Solomon had made was not able to receive the burnt offering, and the meal offering, and the fat. 8 So Solo-mon held the feast at that time seven days, and all Israel with him, a very great assembly, from the entrance of Hamath to the brook of Egypt. 9 On the eighth day they held a solemn as-sembly; for they kept the dedication of the altar seven days, and the feast

seven days. 10 On the twenty-third day of the seventh month he sent the people away to their tents, joyful and glad of heart for the grace that Yahweh had shown to David, and to Solomon, and to Israel His people. 11 Thus Solomon finished the house of Yahweh, and the king’s house. He successfully completed all that came into Solomon’s heart to make in the house of Yahweh, and in his own house.

God Responds to Solomon’s Prayer12 Yahweh appeared to Solomon by night and said to him, I have heard your prayer, and have chosen this place to Myself for a house of sac-rifice. 13 If I shut up the sky so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send plague among My people; 14 if My

7:11 The house of Yahweh, and in his own house – Twice in this verse and often else-where we see God’s house paralleled with Solomon’s house. His dedication to God’s house wasn’t total and undivided.7:12 2 God accepted the temple only as a place of sacrifice, i.e. a glorified altar (cp. 2 Sam. 24:17,18). And yet – God didn’t really want sacrifice (Ps. 40:6; Heb. 10:5). It was a concession to weakness.7:14 Solomon in his prayer had said that if Israel sinned and then prayed toward the temple, God would then forgive them. But God corrects this; He wants sinners to pray directly to Him, and He will forgive them – the temple was not to be seen as the in-strument or mediatrix of forgiveness which Solomon envisaged. Likewise, Solomon’s implication that prayer offered in the temple would be especially acceptable was not upheld by God’s reply to him about this (6:24-26 cp. 7:12,13). Again and again we see that God thirsts for direct relationship with Him, rather than via any system of priesthood or human religion, even attending meetings because that’s our social club and family background. Solomon says that God will hear the prayers of His people be-cause the temple is called by God’s Name; but God’s response is that “My people who are called by My name” would pray to Him themselves and be heard, quite apart from the temple (6:33 cp. 7:14). He sees them as bearing His Name rather than the temple building, as Solomon perceived it. God goes on to parallel the temple and His people in :21,22, saying that if He punishes the temple He will punish the people. Solomon seems to have thought that the temple would still stand favourably in God’s eyes even


people who are called by My name shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. 15 Now My eyes shall be open and My ears sensitive to the prayer that is made in this place. 16 for now have I cho-sen and made this house holy, that My name may be there forever; and My eyes and My heart shall be there perpetually. 17 As for you, if you will walk before Me as David your father walked, and do according to all that I have commanded you and will keep My statutes and My ordi-nances; 18 then I will establish the throne of your kingdom, according as I covenanted with David your fa-ther saying, There shall not fail you a man to be ruler in Israel. 19 But if you turn away and forsake My stat-utes and My commandments which I have set before you, and shall go and

serve other gods, and worship them; 20 then I will pluck them up by the roots out of My land which I have given them; and this house, which I have made holy for My name, I will cast out of My sight, and I will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples. 21 This house, which is so high, everyone who passes by it shall be astonished, and shall say, ‘Why has Yahweh done thus to this land, and to this house?’ 22 They shall answer, ‘Because they abandoned Yahweh, the God of their fathers, who brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, and took other gods, worshipped them, and served them. Therefore He has brought all this evil on them’.

chAPTer 8 Oct. 17Solomon’s Building Projects

It happened at the end of twenty years, in which Solomon had built the house of Yahweh and his own

if the people were punished. The lesson is that it’s individual people rather than reli-gious structures, of whatever sort, which God is interested in.7:16 This is a conditional promise, followed by five verses of conditions concern-ing Solomon’s spirituality which he overlooked. Like Solomon, we too can fix upon promises without considering their conditionality. There is good reason to think that communally and individually we so easily shut our eyes to the possibility of our spiritual failure and disaster, the sense of the future we might miss. God constantly warned Solomon about the conditionality of the promises, before the building started (2 Sam. 7:14), during it (1 Kings 6:11-13) and immediately after completing it (1 Kings 9:2-9). 7:20 God here corrects Solomon’s idea that if Israel were dispersed, then the temple would still stand and they could pray to it from their dispersion.8:1 Solomon had built the house of Yahweh and his own house – Again Solomon’s building of God’s house is paralleled with building his own house, implying his dedi-cation to God’s house wasn’t wholehearted, unlike David his father. This chapter goes on to use the word “built” many times. Solomon’s building of God’s house is set with-in the context of the way he liked building anyway. At the end of his life, he admits that he went through a phase of being obsessed with building, in some vain search to


house, 2 that the cities which Huram had given to Solomon, Solomon built them, and caused the children of Israel to dwell there. 3 Solomon went to Hamath Zobah, and pre-vailed against it. 4 He built Tadmor in the wilderness, and all the stor-age cities which he built in Hamath. 5 Also he built Beth Horon the upper, and Beth Horon the lower, fortified cities, with walls, gates, and bars; 6 and Baalath, and all the storage cities that Solomon had, and all the cities for his chariots, and the cities for his horsemen, and all that Solo-mon desired to build for his pleasure in Jerusalem, and in lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion. 7 As for all the people who were left of the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, who were not of Israel; 8 of their children who were left after them in the land, whom the children of Israel didn’t consume, of them Solomon conscripted forced labour to this day. 9 But of the children of Israel, Solomon made no servants for his work; but they were men of war, and chief of his captains,

and rulers of his chariots and of his horsemen. 10 These were the chief officers of king Solomon, even two-hundred and fifty, who ruled over the people.11 Solomon brought up the daughter of Pharaoh out of the city of David to the house that he had built for her; for he said, My wife shall not dwell in the house of David king of Israel, because the places where the ark of Yahweh has come are holy. 12 Then Solomon offered burnt offer-ings to Yahweh on the altar of Yah-weh, which he had built before the porch, 13 even as the duty of every day required, offering according to the commandment of Moses, on the Sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the set feasts, three times in the year, in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tents. 14 He appointed, according to the ordinance of David his father, the divisions of the priests to their service, and the levites to their offices, to praise, and to minis-ter before the priests, as the duty of every day required; the doorkeepers also by their divisions at every gate; for so had David the man of God

find self-fulfilment without God (Ecc. 2:4). In his apparently zealous building of the temple, Solomon was therefore only serving God in ways which he enjoyed, which re-inforced his own personality type. Hence :6 speaks of how he “desired to build for his pleasure”. On one hand, we must use our God-given talents to serve Him; and yet on the other, we are asked to take up christ’s cross and follow Him, going right against the grain of how we would naturally like to be.8:6 Solomon had so many horses and chariots that he needed to build cities to store them. This was a specific disobedience to the command that the king of Israel was not to multiply horses to himself (Dt. 17:16). Yet that was the very section of the Law which he had to copy out and remember (Dt. 17:19). He had the ability, like all of us, to know God’s requirements and yet do the very opposite. He must’ve assumed that somehow he was an exception... but if we accept and love God’s principles we will not wish to make ourselves any exception to them.


commanded. 15 They didn’t depart from the commandment of the king to the priests and levites concerning any matter, or concerning the treas-ures. 16 Now all the work of Solomon was prepared to the day of the foun-dation of the house of Yahweh, and until it was finished. So the house of Yahweh was completed. 17 Then went Solomon to ezion Geber, and to eloth, on the seashore in the land of edom. 18 Huram sent him ships and servants who had knowledge of the sea by the hands of his servants; and they came with the servants of Solomon to Ophir, and fetched from there four hundred and fifty talents of gold, and brought them to king Solomon.

chAPTer 9 Oct. 18The Visit of the Queen of Sheba

When the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to Jerusalem to prove Solo-mon with hard questions, with a very great train, and camels that bore spices, and gold in abundance and precious stones. When she had come to Solomon, she talked with

him of all that was in her heart. 2 Solomon told her all her questions; and there was not anything hidden from Solomon which he didn’t tell her. 3 When the queen of Sheba had seen the wisdom of Solomon, and the house that he had built, 4 and the food of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the attendance of his ministers and their clothing, his cup bearers also and their clothing, and his ascent by which he went up to the house of Yahweh; there was no more spirit in her. 5 She said to the king, It was a true report that I heard in my own land of your acts and of your wisdom. 6 However I didn’t be-lieve their words until I came, and my eyes had seen it; and behold, the half of the greatness of your wisdom wasn’t told me: you exceed the fame that I heard. 7 Happy are your men, and happy are these your servants who stand continually before you, and hear your wisdom. 8 Blessed be Yahweh your God, who delighted in you to set you on His throne, to be king for Yahweh your God: because your God loved Israel to establish them forever, therefore He made you

9:5 No more spirit in her– The Hebrew word translated “spirit” has a wide range of meaning. It can refer to the life force within people; or as here, it can refer to the mind. 9:6 People usually need to see intellectual truths lived out in practice before they will really believe them. This is why the Gospel is more powerfully taught by people, rath-er than through impersonal mediums like the internet or reading books. 9:8 To be king for Yahweh your God – Israel were God’s Kingdom on earth, and their kings were reigning on God’s behalf. The Kingdom was therefore overturned when the last king of Israel was deposed; but it will be re-established at christ’s return (ez. 21:25-27; Acts 1:6). The hope of the coming Kingdom of God on earth is therefore the hope of the re-establishment of God’s Kingdom which once was upon earth. Again we see that the promised Kingdom will be on earth – this is the Biblical hope, not going to Heaven on death.


king over them, to do justice and righteousness. 9 She gave the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold, and spices in great abundance, and precious stones. Neither was there any such spice as the queen of Sheba gave to king Solomon. 10 The servants also of Huram, and the serv-ants of Solomon, who brought gold from Ophir, brought algum trees and precious stones. 11 The king made of the algum trees terraces for the house of Yahweh and for the king’s house, and harps and stringed instruments for the singers. There were none like these seen before in the land of Judah. 12 King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire, what-ever she asked, besides that which she had brought to the king. So she returned to her own land, she and her servants.

Solomon’s Wealth13 Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was

six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold, 14 besides that which the trad-ers and merchants brought. All the kings of Arabia and the governors of the country brought gold and silver to Solomon. 15 King Solomon made two hundred large shields of beaten gold; six hundred shekels of beaten gold went to one large shield. 16 He made three hundred other shields of beaten gold; three hundred shekels of gold went to one shield: and the king put them in the house of the for-est of lebanon. 17 Moreover the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with pure gold. 18 And there were six steps to the throne, with a footstool of gold, which were fastened to the throne, and stays on either side by the place of the seat, and two lions standing beside the stays. 19 Twelve lions stood there on both sides of the six steps: there was nothing like it made in any kingdom. 20 All king Solomon’s drinking ves-sels were of gold, and all the vessels

9:13 The reference to 666 cannot be coincidental; this is the number of a man who is the epitome of “the beast” (Rev. 13:18). There are many other similarities between the descriptions of the beast’s kingdom and that of Solomon’s kingdom. And yet his kingdom was clearly a type of Christ’s kingdom. We see in this the terrible duality possible within human beings; and we see how what may appear very spiritual and wonderful on the surface can in fact be very sinful. This is true of both individuals and communities.9:19 Solomon came to see his throne as the throne of God; he seemed to think that the promise to David that Messiah would sit on his throne could be fulfilled if he built the most amazing throne ever seen in the world. He made 12 lions to stand on either side of his throne, perhaps in imitation of how the Angels were perceived to be on either side of God’s throne (1 Kings 22:19). He was indeed sitting on the throne of the Lord as king over Israel, but in the sense that he was reigning on God’s behalf; for God was Israel’s true king. Solomon seems to have thought that he himself was some kind of God over Israel. And the lesson for us is to perceive ourselves as God’s servants and representatives, but not to take this to the extent that we think that all of our actions are thereby justified as somehow Divinely sanctioned. The end result was that Solo-


of the house of the forest of lebanon were of pure gold. Silver was noth-ing accounted of in the days of Solo-mon. 21 for the king had ships that went to Tarshish with the servants of Huram; once every three years came the ships of Tarshish, bringing gold, silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks. 22 So king Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom. 23 All the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart. 24 They brought each man his tribute, vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and clothing, ar-mour, and spices, horses, and mules, a rate year by year. 25 Solomon had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand horse-men that he stationed in the chariot cities, and with the king at Jerusa-lem. 26 He ruled over all the kings from the river even to the land of the Philistines, and to the border of Egypt. 27 The king made silver to be in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedars to be as the sycamore trees that are in the lowland, for abun-

dance. 28 They brought horses for Solomon out of Egypt, and out of all lands. 29 Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, first and last, aren’t they written in the history of Nathan the prophet, and in the prophecy of Ahi-jah the Shilonite, and in the visions of Iddo the seer concerning Jero-boam the son of Nebat? 30 Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years. 31 Solomon slept with his fathers, and he was buried in the city of David his father. Rehoboam his son reigned in his place.

chAPTer 10 Oct. 19The Division of the Kingdom

rehoboam went to Shechem; for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king. 2 When Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard of it (for he was in Egypt, where he had fled from the presence of king Solomon), then Jeroboam returned out of Egypt. 3 They sent and called him; and Jero-boam and all Israel came, and they spoke to Rehoboam saying, 4 Your father made our yoke grievous. Now therefore make lighter the grievous

mon lost sight of the future Kingdom – and we too will likewise lose our way if we de facto consider our little kingdoms to effectively be God’s Kingdom.9:23 Solomon had God’s wisdom throughout his apostasy (Ecc. 2:9), as the Truth ever remains with us in intellectual terms. God put that wisdom in his heart in order for him to help others, both in Israel and in the world; yet Solomon failed to realize that he needed to apply it to himself. The more truth passes through our lips to others, the stronger we are tempted to not apply it to ourselves personally.10:4 The temple project became an obsession with Solomon; after his death, his peo-ple complained at the “grievous service” which Solomon had subjected them to. But the Hebrew word translated “service” is that repeatedly used to describe the “service” of the temple by the people (1 Chron. 25:6; 26:8,30; 27:26; 28:13-15,20,21; 29:7; 2 Chron. 8:14).Solomon became obsessed with making others ‘serve God’ when it was effectively serving him; he came to be abusive to God’s people, when the initial idea of the temple was that it was to be built in order to help God’s people serve Him. And


service of your father, and his heavy yoke which he put on us, and we will serve you. 5 He said to them, come again to me after three days. The people departed. 6 King rehoboam took counsel with the old men who had stood before Solomon his fa-ther while he yet lived, saying, What advice do you give me to return an-swer to this people? 7 They spoke to him saying, ‘If you are kind to this people, and please them, and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants forever’. 8 But he forsook the counsel of the old men which they had given him, and took counsel with the young men who had grown up with him, who stood before him. 9 He said to them, What advice do you give, that we may return answer to this people who have spoken to me saying, ‘Make the yoke that your father put on us lighter?’ 10 The young men who had grown up with him spoke to him say-ing, Thus you shall tell the people who spoke to you saying, Your fa-ther made our yoke heavy, but make it lighter on us; thus you shall say to them, My little finger is thicker than

my father’s waist. 11 Now whereas my father burdened you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke. My father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions. 12 So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king asked, saying, Come to me again the third day. 13 The king an-swered them roughly; and king Re-hoboam forsook the advice of the old men, 14 and spoke to them after the advice of the young men saying, My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to it. My father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions. 15 So the king didn’t listen to the people; for it was brought about of God, that Yahweh might establish His word, which He spoke by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat. 16 When all Israel saw that the king didn’t lis-ten to them, the people answered the king saying, What portion have we in David? Neither have we inherit-ance in the son of Jesse! Every man to your tents, Israel! Now see to your own house, David. So all Israel de-parted to their tents. 17 But as for the

such obsession, turning well motivated projects into means of personal ego tripping, with all the resultant abuse, has sadly damaged so many within the body of Christ. Jesus invited people who were heavy burdened under a hard yoke to come to Him and have that yoke made lighter (Mt. 11:29,30). He was clearly alluding to this incident, where heavily burdened people ‘came’ seeking a lighter yoke.10:10 Younger people are often harsher than older ones, and therefore make good soldiers in wars of aggression, both literal and figurative. As we grow older we ought to become softer and the more influenced by God’s grace, rather than growing hard and gnarled as some do.10:15 It was brought about of God – Rehoboam’s response to the people seems obvi-ously wrong and unwise. Yet this error of judgment was worked through by God to fulfil His prophetic word. Whilst we have freewill, God confirms us in the attitudes and choices which we make.


children of Israel who lived in the cities of Judah, rehoboam reigned over them. 18 Then king rehoboam sent Hadoram, who was over the men subject to forced labour; and the children of Israel stoned him to death with stones. King rehoboam made speed to get himself up to his char-iot, to flee to Jerusalem. 19 So Israel rebelled against the house of David to this day.

chAPTer 11 Oct. 19Rehoboam Begins Well

When rehoboam had come to Jerusalem, he assembled the house of Judah and Benjamin, one hundred and eighty thousand cho-sen men who were warriors, to fight against Israel, to bring the kingdom again to rehoboam. 2 But the word of Yahweh came to Shemaiah the man of God saying, 3 Speak to re-hoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin saying, 4 Thus says Yah-weh, ‘You shall not go up nor fight against your brothers! Return every man to his house; for this thing is of Me’. So they listened to the words

of Yahweh, and returned from go-ing against Jeroboam. 5 rehoboam lived in Jerusalem, and built cit-ies for defence in Judah. 6 He built Bethlehem, etam, Tekoa, 7 Beth Zur, Soco, Adullam, 8 Gath, Mareshah, Ziph, 9 Adoraim, lachish, Azekah, 10 Zorah, Aijalon and Hebron, which are in Judah and in Benjamin, forti-fied cities. 11 He fortified the strong-holds, and put captains in them, and stores of food, and oil and wine. 12 He put shields and spears in every city, and made them exceed-ingly strong. Judah and Benjamin belonged to him. 13 The priests and the levites who were in all Israel re-sorted to him out of all their border. 14 for the levites left their suburbs and their possessions and came to Judah and Jerusalem; for Jeroboam and his sons cast them off, that they should not execute the priests’ office to Yahweh. 15 He appointed priests for the high places, and for the male goats, and for the calves which he had made. 16 After them, out of all the tribes of Israel, such as set their hearts to seek Yahweh, the God of Israel, came to Jerusalem to sacrifice

11:4 So they listened to the words of Yahweh – This is very commendable. When we’ve prepared to do something on a major scale, turning back from the project because we perceive God’s word to teach otherwise is a hard thing to do. But this must be the power of God’s word in our lives. Any war of aggression against our brethren just has to be wrong; and we as the Israel of God should bear this always in mind regardless of what provocation we receive from our brethren.11:14 Despite Jeroboam being so apostate from the true God, the ten tribes are still called the “brothers” of Judah (:4). No matter how far some go from the Lord or His truth, once a brother always a brother. Once a person is within the family of God through baptism into Christ, it is not for us to ever say in this life that they are no longer in that family.11:16 In times when the children of God turn away from Him, the faithful minority will go to great lengths to meet with others who are still faithful; and it may even


to Yahweh, the God of their fathers. 17 So they strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and made rehoboam the son of Solomon strong, three years; for they walked three years in the way of David and Solomon. 18 re-hoboam took him a wife, Mahalath the daughter of Jerimoth the son of David and of Abihail the daughter of eliab the son of Jesse. 19 She bore him sons: Jeush, and Shemariah, and Zaham. 20 After her he took Maacah the daughter of Absalom. She bore him Abijah, Attai, Ziza and Shelo-mith. 21 rehoboam loved Maacah the daughter of Absalom above all his wives and his concubines. (He took eighteen wives, and sixty con-cubines, and became the father of twenty-eight sons and sixty daugh-ters.) 22 rehoboam appointed Abijah the son of Maacah to be chief, the prince among his brothers; for he in-tended to make him king. 23 He dealt wisely, and settled some of his sons throughout all the lands of Judah and

Benjamin, to every fortified city: and he gave them food in abundance. He sought for them many wives.

chAPTer 12 Oct. 20The Invasion of Shishak

When the kingdom of rehobo-am was established and he had made himself strong, he forsook the law of Yahweh, and all Israel with him. 2 It happened in the fifth year of king rehoboam, that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, because they had trespassed against Yahweh, 3 with twelve hundred char-iots and sixty thousand horsemen. The people were without number who came with him out of Egypt: the lubim, the Sukkiim and the ethio-pians. 4 He took the fortified cities which pertained to Judah and came to Jerusalem. 5 Now Shemaiah the prophet came to rehoboam and to the princes of Judah, who were gath-ered together to Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said to them, Thus

require our geographical relocation, with all the economic costs associated with that (:13).11:18 This implies that David married his own niece. There were many anomalies in David’s life, especially in his personal relationships; and yet God accepted him and spoke so highly of him. This isn’t to justify any sin or complacent attitude in ourselves personally; but to encourage us in the hard work of being patiently acceptive of those who have similar anomalies in their lives.11:21 Eighteen wives, and sixty concubines – The weakness of Solomon his father was repeated in Solomon’s son. Justifying sin and worldly behaviour inevitably influ-ences our children to think such behaviour is acceptable. And in their turn, Solomon’s son sought to lead his children into failure in this area of polygamy (:23).12:1 Made himself strong – The Hebrew word translated “strong” is hezek. Good king Hezekiah had the same word within his name, but with ‘Yah’ added on the end – ‘the one made strong by Yah’. Human strength and prowess is the very opposite to God’s strength. We wonder why we don’t always have all we want – wealth, health, accept-ance, good relationships, praise of men, nice homes and vehicles... but it’s not surpris-ing really, because human strength nearly always leads us away from God.


says Yahweh, You have forsaken Me, therefore have I also left you in the hand of Shishak. 6 Then the princ-es of Israel and the king humbled themselves; and they said, Yahweh is righteous. 7 When Yahweh saw that they humbled themselves, the word of Yahweh came to Shemaiah, saying, They have humbled them-selves. I will not destroy them; but I will grant them some deliverance. My wrath shall not be poured out on Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak. 8 Nevertheless they shall be his serv-ants, that they may know My serv-ice, and the service of the kingdoms of the countries. 9 So Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, and took away the treasures of the house of Yahweh, and the treasures of the king’s house. He took it all away. He also took away the shields of gold which Solomon had made. 10 King rehoboam made in their place shields of brass, and commit-ted them to the hands of the captains of the guard who kept the door of the king’s house. 11 It was so, that as of-ten as the king entered into the house of Yahweh, the guard came and car-ried them back into the guard room. 12 When he humbled himself, the wrath of Yahweh turned from him, so as not to destroy him altogether. Moreover, in Judah there were good

things found. 13 So king rehoboam strengthened himself in Jerusalem, and reigned. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which Yahweh had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put His name there. His mother’s name was Naamah the Am-monitess. 14 He did that which was evil, because he didn’t set his heart to seek Yahweh. 15 Now the acts of Rehoboam, first and last, aren’t they written in the histories of Shemaiah the prophet and of Iddo the seer, af-ter the way of genealogies? There were wars between rehoboam and Jeroboam continually. 16 rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David; and Abijah his son reigned in his place.

chAPTer 13 Oct. 20Abijah’s Reign

In the eighteenth year of king Jero-boam began Abijah to reign over Judah. 2 He reigned three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Micaiah the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah. There was war between Abi-jah and Jeroboam. 3 Abijah joined battle with an army of valiant men of war, even four hundred thousand chosen men. Jeroboam set the bat-tle in array against him with eight

12:6 Yahweh is righteous – Repentance involves not only a recognition of our wrong-ness, but of God’s rightness. See on 6:24.12:8 They shall be his servants, that they may know My service – Sometimes God teaches us how to relate to Him by putting us in situations where we simply have to be obedient to some human entity or person. In this way we can serve our worldly mas-ters in our employment as if we are serving Christ (Col. 3:22-24; it seems Paul there is alluding to the LXX here).


hundred thousand chosen men, who were mighty men of valour. 4 Abijah stood up on Mount Zemaraim, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, and said, Hear me, Jeroboam and all Is-rael. 5 Ought you not to know that Yahweh, the God of Israel, gave the kingdom over Israel to David forever, even to him and to his sons by a cov-enant of salt? 6 Yet Jeroboam the son of Nebat, the servant of Solomon the son of David, rose up, and rebelled against his lord. 7 There were gath-ered to him vain men, base fellows, who strengthened themselves against rehoboam the son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was young and ten-derhearted, and could not withstand them. 8 Now you think to withstand the kingdom of Yahweh in the hand of the sons of David. You are a great multitude, and there are with you the golden calves which Jeroboam made you for gods. 9 Haven’t you driven out the priests of Yahweh, the sons of Aaron, and the levites, and

made priests for yourselves after the ways of the peoples of other lands? So that whoever comes to consecrate himself with a young bull and seven rams, the same may be a priest of those who are not gods. 10 But as for us, Yahweh is our God, and we have not forsaken Him. We have priests ministering to Yahweh, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites in their work: 11 and they burn to Yahweh every morning and every evening burnt offerings and sweet incense. They also set the showbread in order on the pure table; and the lampstand of gold with its lamps, to burn every evening. We keep the instruction of Yahweh our God; but you have for-saken Him. 12 Behold, God is with us at our head, and His priests with the trumpets of alarm to sound an alarm against you. Children of Is-rael, don’t fight against Yahweh, the God of your fathers; for you shall not prosper. 13 But Jeroboam caused an ambush to come about behind them:

13:7 When Rehoboam was young and tenderhearted, and could not withstand them – This was an exaggeration, because he was 41 when he became king (12:13). We can so easily justify the sins and weakness of others whom we perceive as being ‘on our side’, trying to reduce everything to a simplistic black and white view of the world, whereby people are either wonderfully good or totally bad (:11). Reality is far differ-ent – we only have to realistically analyze our own lives and personalities.13:12 Don’t fight against Yahweh – It seems Abijah was assuming that he was as it were in the place of God. He had picked a fight with Jeroboam (:3), but then realized he was outnumbered and wanted a way out – and so he starts claiming how righteous Judah are (:10-12) even though they were rebellious against God from the day He knew them (Is. 65:2; Ez. 16,20) and were worshipping idols (14:3). He also starts playing God, by assuming that his enemy is God’s enemy. Therefore God brought Judah’s strong men into a situation where they were about to be destroyed, and had to throw themselves upon His grace (:14). 13:13 This was exactly the situation which the Gentile people of Ai were in as de-scribed in Josh. 8:21,22. They were caught in an ambush and hemmed in on all sides. Judah who thought they were so superior spiritually were being taught they were no better than Gentiles who had to be cast out by God.


so they were before Judah, and the ambush was behind them. 14 When Judah looked back, behold, the bat-tle was before and behind them; and they cried to Yahweh, and the priests sounded with the trumpets. 15 Then the men of Judah gave a shout; and as the men of Judah shouted, it hap-pened, that God struck Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. 16 The children of Israel fled before Judah; and God delivered them into their hand. 17 Abijah and his people killed them with a great slaughter; so there fell down slain of Israel five hundred thousand chosen men. 18 Thus the children of Israel were overcome at that time, and the chil-dren of Judah prevailed, because they relied on Yahweh, the God of their fathers. 19 Abijah pursued after Jeroboam, and took cities from him: Bethel with its suburbs, Jeshanah with its suburbs and ephron with its suburbs. 20 Jeroboam didn’t recover strength again in the days of Abijah. Yahweh struck him, and he died. 21 But Abijah grew mighty, and took to himself fourteen wives, and be-came the father of twenty-two sons, and sixteen daughters. 22 The rest of the acts of Abijah, and his ways and his sayings, are written in the com-mentary of the prophet Iddo.

chAPTer 14 Oct. 21King Asa Begins Well

So Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of

David; and Asa his son reigned in his place. In his days the land was quiet ten years. 2 Asa did that which was good and right in the eyes of Yahweh his God. 3 He took away the foreign altars, and the high places, and broke down the pillars, and cut down the Asherim, 4 and commanded Judah to seek Yahweh, the God of their fathers, and to obey the law and the commandment. 5 Also he took away out of all the cities of Judah the high places and the sun images. The king-dom was quiet before him. 6 He built fortified cities in Judah; for the land was quiet, and he had no war in those years, because Yahweh had given him rest. 7 for he said to Judah, let us build these cities, and make walls around them, with towers, gates, and bars. The land is yet before us, be-cause we have sought Yahweh our God. We have sought Him, and He has given us rest on every side. So they built and prospered. 8 Asa had an army that carried shields and spears: out of Judah three hundred thou-sand; and out of Benjamin, that bore shields and drew bows, two hundred and eighty thousand. All these were mighty men of valour. 9 There came out against them Zerah the ethiopian with an army of a million troops, and three hundred chariots; and he came to Mareshah. 10 Then Asa went out to meet him, and they set the battle in array in the valley of Zephathah at Mareshah. 11 Asa cried to Yah-weh his God and said, Yahweh, there

14:3 This shows that the previous king’s claim to such great spirituality in Judah was hypocritical; see on 13:12.14:11 Him who has no strength – All Asa’s human strength he considered as non-


is none apart from You to help, be-tween the mighty and him who has no strength. Help us, Yahweh our God; for we rely on You, and in Your name are we come against this mul-titude. Yahweh, You are our God. Don’t let man prevail against You. 12 So Yahweh struck the ethiopians before Asa and before Judah; and the Ethiopians fled. 13 Asa and the peo-ple who were with him pursued them to Gerar. There fell of the ethiopians so many that they could not recover themselves; for they were destroyed before Yahweh and before His army; and they carried away very much booty. 14 They struck all the cities around Gerar; for the fear of Yahweh came on them. They despoiled all the cities; for there was much spoil in them. 15 They struck also the tents of the herdsmen, and carried away sheep in abundance, and camels, and returned to Jerusalem.

chAPTer 15 Oct. 21Asa’s Dedication to God

The Spirit of God came on Aza-riah the son of Oded: 2 and he went out to meet Asa and said to him, Hear me, Asa, and all Judah

and Benjamin! Yahweh is with you, while you are with Him; and if you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will for-sake you. 3 Now for a long time Is-rael was without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and with-out law. 4 But when in their distress they turned to Yahweh the God of Israel and sought Him, He was found by them. 5 In those times there was no peace to him who went out, nor to him who came in; but great trou-bles were on all the inhabitants of the lands. 6 They were broken in pieces, nation against nation, and city against city; for God troubled them with all adversity. 7 But you be strong, and don’t let your hands be slack; for your work shall be rewarded. 8 When Asa heard these words, and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took cour-age, and put away the abominations out of all the land of Judah and Ben-jamin, and out of the cities which he had taken from the hill country of ephraim; and he renewed the altar of Yahweh that was before the porch of Yahweh. 9 He gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and those who lived with them out of ephraim and Manasseh,

existent. He had learnt the lesson of 12:3 [see note there]; that the only strength is in God. God brought Asa to this realization by putting him in a situation where he was hopelessly outnumbered, just as He tried to teach Abijah in13:12.We see God work-ing to a pattern in these men’s lives, just as He does with us. He puts us in situations which are quite beyond our own strength – and then makes a way of escape (1 Cor. 10:13; 2 Cor. 1:8; 8:3). This not only strengthens our faith for the next crisis we face, but awes us into an appropriate humility.15:8 And put away the abominations out of all the land of Judah – But 14:3 says that Asa did this at the start of his reign. Whenever we root out weakness from our lives, it tends to return. The records of Judah’s kings are full of such accounts of purging out the idols – and then we read the same again soon afterwards. The tendency to idol worship was and is very strong.


and out of Simeon; for they fell to him out of Israel in abundance, when they saw that Yahweh his God was with him. 10 So they gathered them-selves together at Jerusalem in the third month, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa. 11 They sacrificed to Yahweh in that day, of the spoil which they had brought, seven hun-dred head of cattle and seven thou-sand sheep. 12 They entered into the covenant to seek Yahweh the God of their fathers, with all their heart and with all their soul; 13 and that whoever would not seek Yahweh the God of Israel, should be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman. 14 They swore to Yahweh with a loud voice, and with shout-ing, trumpets and cornets. 15 All Ju-dah rejoiced at the oath; for they had sworn with all their heart, and sought Him with their whole desire; and He was found of them: and Yahweh gave them rest all around. 16 Also Maacah, the mother of Asa the king,

he removed from being queen, be-cause she had made an abominable image for an Asherah. Asa cut down her image, and made dust of it, and burnt it at the brook Kidron. 17 But the high places were not taken away out of Israel. Nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect all his days. 18 He brought into God’s house the things that his father had dedicated, and that he himself had dedicated, silver, and gold, and vessels. 19 There was no more war until the thirty-fifth year of the reign of Asa.

chAPTer 16 Oct. 22Asa Falls Away from God

In the thirty sixth year of the reign of Asa, Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah, and built ramah, that he might not allow anyone to go out or come in to Asa king of Judah. 2 Then Asa brought out silver and gold out of the treasures of the house of Yahweh and of the king’s house, and sent to Ben Hadad king of Syria,

15:9 The faithful in the 10 tribes relocated to be near the believers in Judah. We should make every effort to fellowship with other believers, even if it may mean relocating.15:15 All Judah rejoiced at the oath – Joy comes from full dedication to God; indeed true joy can come from nothing else.Sought Him... and He was found – Christ’s invitation to seek knowing that we shall find is in the context of His teaching that whatever we ask for in prayer will be given; if we knock, the door will be opened (Mt. 7:7; Lk. 11:9). However, this isn’t a blank cheque offer to give us whatever we wish; rather is it teaching that if we pray to find God, if we really seek relationship with Him – we will find it, and thereby all other requests and needs in our lives will appear far less significant.16:2 By giving the wealth of the temple to Ben Hadad, Asa was acting as if it was his personal wealth, to spend as he wished. But those things had been given or dedicated to God; if you give somebody something, it’s theirs and no longer yours. Although God was invisible to Asa, it’s as if He was sitting there in that temple with His silver and gold – which had been given to Him in thanks for what He had done for His people. And then Asa walks up to God and takes that silver and gold right from His presence and gives it to a pagan idolater whom he considers a better defence against


who lived at Damascus saying, 3 let there be a covenant between me and you, as there was between my father and your father. Behold, I have sent you silver and gold. Go, break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel, that he may depart from me. 4 Ben Hadad listened to king Asa, and sent the captains of his armies against the cities of Israel; and they struck Ijon, and Dan, and Abel Maim, and all the storage cities of Naphtali. 5 It hap-pened, when Baasha heard of it, that he left off building ramah, and let his work cease. 6 Then Asa the king took all Judah; and they carried away the stones of ramah, and its timber, with which Baasha had built; and he built therewith Geba and Mizpah.

7 At that time Hanani the seer of vi-sions came to Asa king of Judah and said to him, Because you have relied on the king of Syria, and have not relied on Yahweh your God, there-fore is the army of the king of Syria escaped out of your hand. 8 Weren’t the ethiopians and the lubim a huge army, with exceeding many chariots and horsemen? Yet, because you re-lied on Yahweh, He delivered them into your hand. 9 For the eyes of Yahweh run back and forth through-out the whole earth, to show Himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him. Herein you have done foolishly; for from henceforth you shall have wars. 10 Then Asa was angry with the seer

enemies than God. The more we sense the presence of God, the more we perceive His total ownership. What we dedicate to God is His, it’s not for us to ‘play God’ by then taking it back and acting as if it’s ours. And we are asked to dedicate our whole lives to God.16:3 Let there be a covenant – Asa’s covenant or treaty with Yahweh in 15:12,13 demanded total dedication to Him; he should therefore have trusted in Yahweh rather than now making another covenant with a pagan king. covenant relationship with God is all demanding, as Asa had said at the time; we can’t be in covenant with more than one God. 16:8 God gave Asa a test of faith when He sent a huge army against him earlier; and Asa passed the test. But like any good teacher, God repeats the circumstances in our lives; and sometimes like Asa we may do well in one test, but fail when it is repeated. God gave Asa more such wars (:9) – not simply as a punishment, but so he would learn the lesson of trusting in God and not men against our enemies.16:9 These “eyes of Yahweh” refer to the Angels. If we ask how, mechanically, as it were, God sees and knows all things, the answer is perhaps ‘Through His Angels’. Their activity is amazing; because their work is invisible to us, we may get the impres-sion at times that God is somehow silent and inactive. But the colossal network of An-gelic work on earth is constantly humming with activity – for our sakes (Heb. 1:14).16:10 Asa oppressed some of the people at the same time – In our deepest conscience, we know when we sin; even if we don’t consciously recognize every sin. We also real-ize that sin must be punished. When we sin but don’t confess that sin, or if we refuse to accept the punishment for sin, we have a tendency to subconsciously transfer that sin onto others and punish them for it. This is why religious people can be capable of the greatest hypocrisies and inconsistencies, punishing others for the very sins which


of visions, and put him in the prison; for he was in a rage with him because of this thing. Asa oppressed some of the people at the same time. 11 Be-hold, the acts of Asa, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. 12 In the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa was diseased in his feet. His disease was exceeding great; yet in his dis-ease he didn’t turn to Yahweh, but to the physicians. 13 Asa slept with his fathers, and died in the forty-first year of his reign. 14 They buried him in his own tombs, which he had dug out for himself in the city of David, and laid him in the bed which was filled with sweet odours and vari-ous kinds of spices prepared by the perfumer’s art; and they made a very great burning for him.

chAPTer 17 Oct. 22Jehoshaphat Strengthens Judah Spiritually

Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his place, and strengthened himself against Israel. 2 He placed forces in all the fortified cities of Judah, and set garrisons in the land of Judah, and in the cities of ephraim which Asa his father had taken. 3 Yahweh was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the first ways of his father David, and didn’t seek the Baals, 4 but sought to the God of his father, and walked in His commandments and not after the

doings of Israel. 5 Therefore Yahweh established the kingdom in his hand. All Judah brought to Jehoshaphat tribute; and he had riches and honour in abundance. 6 His heart was lifted up in the ways of Yahweh. Further-more, he removed the high places and the Asherim out of Judah. 7 Also in the third year of his reign he sent his princes, even Ben Hail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel and Micaiah, to teach in the cities of Judah; 8 and with them the levites, even She-maiah, Nethaniah, Zebadiah, Asahel, Shemiramoth, Jehonathan, Adonijah, Tobijah and Tobadonijah the lev-ites; and with them elishama and Jehoram, the priests. 9 They taught in Judah, having the book of the law of Yahweh with them. They went about throughout all the cities of Judah, and taught among the people. 10 The fear of Yahweh fell on all the kingdoms of the lands that were around Judah, so that they made no war against Jehoshaphat. 11 Some of the Philis-tines brought Jehoshaphat presents, and silver for tribute. The Arabians also brought him flocks, seven thou-sand seven hundred rams, and seven thousand seven hundred male goats. 12 Jehoshaphat grew great exceeding-ly; and he built in Judah fortified and store cities. 13 He had many works in the cities of Judah; and men of war, mighty men of valour, in Jerusalem. 14 This was the numbering of them

they commit, or falsely accusing others of committing the sins they commit and then eagerly punishing them for them. Asa’s bad conscience at this time is reflected in how he treated others.17:3 In the first ways of his father David – Does this imply that David became l

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