1 Kings 9:10-10:29 "The Wisdom of Solomon, Part 2" Introduction: the Exaltation of Wisdom When we went through Proverbs we saw how exalted Wisdom is. Wisdom is the most excellent thing you can possess. If you have wisdom you have everything you need. If you don't have wisdom, you have nothing. 1 Kings tells the story of Solomon as a story of wisdom. The whole Solomon narrative revolves around the gift of wisdom and Solomon's use of that gift, centered around the building of the temple and indeed, with the worship service of chapter 8 at the very heart of the narrative. Our passage tonight returns us to the general theme of Solomon's wisdom, which we saw exhibited in chapters 3-5. In 4:29 it started with the nations and moved to Hiram. Here it moves backward, starting with Hiram and ending with the nations coming to Solomon. 1. Wisdom at Home: Hiram, Pharaoh, and the Canaanites (9:10-25) [echo of 5:1-18] If you connect verse 10 with 6:1, then verse 10 is the 500th year after Israel came up out of Egypt. Solomon has completed both the temple and his own house. Since Hiram has been faithful in providing the cedar and cypress and gold, Solomon now rewards him by giving him 20 cities in Galilee one city for every year that Hiram has supplied him. But when Hiram saw the cities, they did not please him (probably deficient in size or fortifications). His response reveals his displeasure and the accompanying note in verse 14 points out that Hiram had given around 5 tons of gold to Solomon. This is not a very good response to such a magnificent gift! It is also a slightly disturbing response: Solomon rules over all the promised land, but he is now giving away parts of it. While chapters 9-10 are still speaking of the glory of Solomon's wisdom, there are these occasional tweaks that make you wonder whether Solomon is quite as good as he sounds... Verses 15-25 have a chiastic structure that helps us see the point of this passage: a. House of Yahweh (in list), v. 15 b. Millo, v. 15 c. Pharaoh?s conquest of Gezer: gift to daughter v. 16 d. Solomon?s building with forced labor, vv. 17-19 e. Canaanites were not destroyed: forced labor, vv. 20-21 d?E Not slaves of sons of Israel, vv 22-23 c?E Pharaoh?s daughter into house, v. 24 b?E Millo, v. 24 a?E Finished house, v. 25 There is some ambiguity in this passage. Solomon is faithful. He does not enslave Israelites the way that Samuel had warned that a king would. But Solomon is unfaithful. He does not destroy the Canaanites, he puts them to forced labor. For that matter, who is the one who destroys Canaanites? Pharaoh! Pharaoh is the one who destroys Gezer. Gezer was a Canaanite stronghold only 20 miles from Jerusalem. You get these surprises every now and then. We saw last time that Solomon's kingdom extended to the whole of the promised land, but here we learn that within Solomon's kingdom was a Canaanite fortress (in fact, the fortifications of Gezer suggest that it was the best fortified city in the land). The Canaanites still lived in the land and even controlled certain cities but were generally submissive to Israel's king. But Pharaoh came from Egypt and with his superior forces captured Gezer and burnt the city with fire as a dowry for his daughter. In other words, David and Solomon had been unable to capture the city, so Solomon had Pharaoh do his dirty work! This is not especially a problem, since it is a good thing when Gentiles assist the Son of David! When Gentiles bless the Seed of Abraham, the Seed of Abraham blesses the Gentiles. And so Egypt receives Solomon's blessing in the union of the house of David with the house of Pharaoh. Nonetheless, there is a contrast. Because while Pharaoh is conducting holy war against the Canaanites, just outside Jerusalem, Solomon is putting them to forced labor. Also, the allusion to Solomon's cities for chariots and cities for horsemen is suggestive of trouble for Deuteronomy 17 had ordered kings not to multiply horses and chariots. Less obvious, is the statement that he is building "storage cities"-- but the first time that this word is used is in Exodus 1:11, where the enslaved Israelites build storage cities for Pharaoh. Solomon is becoming like Pharaoh. He does not enslave the Israelites (though he comes close); but his son Rehoboam will threaten heavier labor resulting in the rise of Jeroboam, a "Moses" who seeks to set people free! (We'll see that Jeroboam could have been a new Moses if he had been faithful; just like Saul could have been the LORD's anointed) But the overall report is generally good: Three times a year, just like Yahweh commanded, Solomon offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. While there are hints and warnings that not all is well, the main theme remains focused on Solomon's wisdom. And the conclusion of the section in verse 25 highlights his faithfulness at home. Solomon worships the LORD in the temple. (This is stark contrast with many of his descendants who will worship at the high places, or worse, will worship other gods!) 2. Wisdom Abroad: Solomon's Fleet and the Queen of Sheba (9:26-10:22) [4:29-34] Solomon's international reputation is the focus of the second part of our passage. In verses 26-28 we hear of the Solomon's fleet which used a crew of Tyrians and Israelites to sail to Ophir and bring back 15 tons of gold Solomon's fleet will continue to go out and come back throughout our passage just like a fleet should! It will reappear in 10:11-12 to bring home a "very great amount of almug wood" and again in 10:22 with gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks which is why I would suggest that 10:22 brings this section to its conclusion. But chapter 10 continues this ambiguous portrait of Solomon. Gentile rulers come to him to learn wisdom, but he multiplies horses and gold, contrary to Dt 17. We start with the positive aspect: the nations come to Solomon to find wisdom. The Queen of Sheba heard of Solomon's fame. This is the fulfillment of what God had said in Dt 4:5-6, that the nations would see the wisdom of Israel's laws and would confess Yahweh. Solomon is the fulfillment of Israel. It is his wisdom that the nations now come to hear. Note that they do not come to hear Moses' wisdom, but Solomon's. This again shows how the Davidic covenant fulfills the Mosaic covenant. Solomon, the Davidic king, is all that Israel had failed to be. The Queen of Sheba had heard of his wisdom, so she tested him with hard questions. And she told him all that was on her mind (all that was in her heart). Once again we see that wisdom includes more than just intellect. He does answer all her questions. That was part of it. But we are told that she saw all the wisdom of Solomon-- and this wisdom is described sevenfold: the house that he had built, the food of his table, the seating of his officials, and the attendance of his servants, their clothing, his cupbearers, and his burnt offerings that he offered at the house of Yahweh, Wisdom includes the ordering of his kingdom, and the buildings that he had built. In a world where tribal chieftains and petty kings ruled by force and terror, Solomon ruled by wisdom. And wisdom includes at its very heart worship. The climactic demonstration of Solomon's wisdom is found in his worship. If you would be wise, then come to God's house. The house of Yahweh is the final straw. And when she beholds the glory of the wisdom of Solomon, there was no more breath in her. (10:4-5) Literally, there was no more spirit in her. She has seen the sevenfold wisdom of the Son of God, and she is stunned. Hear the response of this Gentile Queen: the report was true that I heard in my own land of your words and of your wisdom, but I did not believe the reports until I came and my own eyes had seen it. And behold, the half was not told me. Your wisdom and prosperity surpass the report that I heard. Happy are your men! Happy are your servants, who continually stand before you and hear your wisdom! What impresses the Queen of Sheba is not only Solomon's intellect, but the skill he shows in ordering and beautifying his kingdom. And her response is to give him 120 talents of gold the same amount given by Hiram when Hiram helped Solomon build the temple. Hiram of Tyre and the Queen of Sheba are two examples of Gentile rulers who respond in faith to the Son of David. Psalm 2 calls the rulers of the earth to serve Yahweh that call was answered by Hiram and Sheba. Psalm 72 is said to be a Psalm "of Solomon" (which may mean by Solomon, or perhaps about Solomon). It is certainly about him as it speaks of desert tribes bowing before him, kings of the coastlands rendering tribute, and Sheba offering gold to him. Psalm 72:17 connects the son of David to the promise to Abraham: May people be blessed in him, all nations call him blessed. And indeed, the Queen of Sheba does exactly that: Blessed be the LORD your God, who has delighted in you and set you on the throne of Israel! Because the LORD loved Israel forever, he has made you king, that you may execute justice and righteousness. Solomon is a light to the nations and so the nations now bring tribute to him as the one in whom all nations are blessed. And so because the Queen of Sheba has blessed the seed of Abraham, now Solomon blesses her, and gave her all that she desired and then some! This is what Jesus has done for us! He is the Son of David who brings the blessings of God to the nations. And if we delight in him, as the Queen of Sheba did with Solomon, then he will truly give us the desires of our hearts, because our desires will be like hers! But before she leaves, we here that the fleet of Hiram came back from Ophir with gold and almug wood and precious stones. [Incidentally, the identity of "almug wood" is quite mysterious! "Almugim" is the Hebrew.] But the result of this incoming bounty is that Solomon has an incredible income: 25 tons of gold in one year besides that which came from explorers and merchants and the kings of the west and the governors of the land. In other words, the wealth of the nations is pouring into Jerusalem. Nations are paying tribute to Solomon because he is exercising the wisdom of God. And the result is that Solomon decorates his house, as well as the house of God, with gold. He made 200 large shields and 300 small shields of beaten gold, and he placed them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon. If you remember chapter 7, we saw that the three parts of Solomon's house correspond to the three parts of the temple: the courtyard, the holy place, and the holy of holies. The House of the Forest of Lebanon corresponds to the holy place, covered with gold designed to impress you with the glory of the one who sits enthroned in the inner chamber. The shields in the House of the Forest of Lebanon are fitting symbols for the king. And in verse 21 we hear that all the drinking vessels of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were also of gold (just like the utensils for the priests in the holy place). But in verses 18-20 we hear of the glorious throne in Throne Room (the part of Solomon's house that parallels the Most Holy Place where Yahweh is enthroned upon the cherubim). Solomon is the Son of God whose earthly throne is designed as an imitation of God's heavenly throne. Six steps lead up to the throne, which itself is set on the seventh level like a holy mountain where the two lions stand. It would be sacrilegious to have cherubim guarding Solomon's throne after all, he is the earthly king. And so while God's throne is guarded by the two heavenly cherubim, Solomon's throne is guarded by the two earthly lions. And 12 lions, representing Israel, undergird and support the Davidic king, the second Adam who rules over the creatures of the earth! Solomon does not, like Yahweh, sit above the circle of the heavens; but he's awfully close! The glory of Solomon's golden age is revealed in the sheer quantity of gold in the story. There is a sense in which Solomon trades his wisdom for gold. His fleet brings him gold (9:28) The Queen of Sheba brings him "very much" gold (10:2) She gave him 120 talents of gold (10:10) the same as Hiram in 9:14 Hiram's fleet brings gold (10:11) We are told the annual weight of his income in gold was 666 talents of gold (plus) (10:14) Then in verses 16-21 we hear about all the things that were made of gold: golden shields, an ivory throne covered with gold drinking vessels of gold. Truly this was a "golden age"! But there is an ambiguous note in all of this: Deuteronomy 17 had warned against the king accumulating gold for himself. We need to be careful not to condemn Solomon simply for having gold. He was the king. His throne signified the throne of God, and so there would have been something fundamentally wrong if his house was not full of gold! So Solomon should have gold, but there is a danger here. Will God or gold prevail? So long as Solomon worships the LORD and uses his gold in the service of God, there should not be any difficulty. But if Solomon's son should allow his greed to get the better of him, then the gold will become dim. Conclusion: the Failure of Wisdom (10:23-29) Verses 23-29 conclude the narrative of the golden age of Solomon. Thus King Solomon excelled all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom. It so happens that the 10th century BC was a rather difficult time for many nations, so this may well be literally true! Solomon's kingdom could not match the splendor of Babylon in its glory, but in the 10th century, in the region surrounding Israel, there was no superpower to contend with Solomon. And the whole earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put into his mind. Every one of them brought his present, articles of silver and gold, garments, myrrh, spices, horses, and mules, so much year by year. The whole earth yielded its tribute to Solomon. The nations bowed the knee to the Son of David. [Indeed, this will become the prophets's vision of Messianic glory when the nations will once again bring tribute to the Son of David!] But verses 26-29 reveal the true ambiguity of Solomon's reign: He multiplies horses and chariots beyond that of any other Israelite king. He brought horses from Egypt and Kue importing chariots from Egypt as well. But verse 29 says that he also supplied chariots and horses to the kings of the Hittites and of the Syrians. He is an arms trader on the international market. In 9:20 we heard that the Hittites within Solomon's territory were enslaved (rather than destroyed as God had commanded Joshua), but now we discover that Solomon is helping restore Hittite military power. In 2 Kings 7:6 this will come back to bite Israel and of course, the kings of Syria, whom he also helps, will also be a thorn in Israel's side for generations. Solomon is the wisest man in the world, but even wisdom is not enough. Ecclesiastes 1-2 sets forth the folly of wisdom. It is possible that Solomon wrote Ecclesiastes, but I would suggest that the author of Ecclesiastes is using Solomon as his mouthpiece. He is using Solomon as evidence that even the acquisition of wisdom is but a striving after the wind. All of Solomon's building projects all his great government was vanity and a striving after wind, because in the end, both the wise man and the fool will die. Our conclusion must be that wisdom cannot save. I hope that we have learned from Moses that the Law cannot save. Torah God's instruction and direction for how his people should live cannot save. Now we learn from Solomon that wisdom cannot save. In the same way that we confess that God has done in Christ what the Law could not do, so also we must confess Christ is for us wisdom from God. Even the fulfillment of the Mosaic covenant in the Davidic covenant still does not provide the final answer to Israel's dilemma. As Kings will continue to make manifest through the coming weeks, Israel is going to die. And Israel's only hope is that there is a light beyond the grave and that God, in his mercy, will raise the dead. And when God raises the dead, then we see the manifold wisdom of God revealed in the foolishness of the cross. And in the resurrection of Jesus we see the one who brings together the glory of the temple and the glory of Solomon's house, the one seated not on a golden throne in Jerusalem, but on the very throne of thrones at the right hand of the majesty in heaven. Just out of curiosity, are you wondering, "where is the application in all this?" The one and only application in this section of Kings is this: do you see Jesus? You all are hearing the sermons Sunday morning where I am laying out Jesus' teaching on the kingdom of God. These Solomonic sermons are designed to provide the background for the morning sermons. You are quite capable of figuring out the incidental moral lessons: don't be greedy, listen to the word of God, the importance of worship, etc. But none of that means anything if you don't get the main point: this is all about the glory of Jesus!