College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
1 Kings 9 - Introduction
CHAPTER EIGHT
SOLOMON IN ALL OF HIS GLORY
Jesus once referred to Solomon in all of his glory, and no section of Kings illustrates better than 1 Kings 9:10 to 1 Kings 10:29 the grandeur of his reign. Some of the matters related here have been previously mentioned, and others are introduced here for the first time. In general these details underscore the wisdom of Solomon's rule and the subsequent material blessing poured out upon the kingdom from the Lord. Solomon's was surely the most glorious kingdom the world had yet seen, not because it was the largest or even the most prosperous, but because of the wisdom of its king and the perfection of its government.[244]
[244] Whitcomb, STE, p. 15.
REVIEW OF CHAPTER EIGHT
I. FACTS TO MASTER
A. The time it took Solomon to build the Temple and his palace (1 Kings 9:10).
B. The location of the following fortress cities:
1. Hazor
4. Beth-horon
2. Megiddo
5. Baalath
3. Gezer
6. Tamar
C. How Solomon acquired the city of Gezer (1 Kings 9:16).
D. The names of the native people pressed into slave labor (1 Kings 9:20).
E. The southern port used by Solomon's navy (1 Kings 9:26).
F. Distant ports from which exotic goods were secured (1 Kings 9:28; 1 Kings 10:22).
G. The spot from which a curious queen came to interrogate Solomon (1 Kings 10:1).
H. The objects made by Solomon and placed in the house of the forest of Lebanon (1 Kings 10:17).
I. The number of Solomon's chariots and horses (1 Kings 10:26).
II. QUESTIONS TO PONDER
1. Why did Solomon give Hiram twenty cities? 1 Kings 9:11
2. Did Solomon force Israelites into slave work? See 1 Kings 9:22; 1 Kings 5:13.
3. Why did Solomon build a special house for Pharaoh's daughter? 1 Kings 9:24
4. Did Solomon have a navy on the Mediterranean as well as the Red Sea?
5. Where was Ophir?
6. In what way did Hiram help Solomon in his naval enterprise? Why?
7. What is behind the visit of the queen of Sheba? What is the point in Jesus-' reference to this queen? Matthew 12:42
8. What was there about Solomon's court and land that particularly impressed the queen of Sheba?
9. What are the possible symbolic significances of the various features of Solomon's throne? 1 Kings 10:18-20
10. Describe Solomon's commercial dealing in horses and chariots. 1 Kings 10:28-29
THE ROYAL DEPARTURE FROM THE DIVINE STANDARD
The Divine Standard
The Reign of Solomon
He shall not multiply bones to himself Deuteronomy 17:16
And Solomon bad four thousand stalls for horses and chariots and twelve thousand horsemen.
1 Kings 5:26; 2 Chronicles 9:25
He shall not multiply wives to himself. Deuteronomy 17:17
And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned his heart. 1 Kings 11:3
He shall not multiply to himself silver and gold, Deuteronomy 17:17
And the king made silver and gold to be in Jerusalem as stones.
ASHTARETH
The Ashtareth was the Principal Sematic goddess. She was most prevalent among the Sidonians, although she was also prominent among the Phoenicians. She was mainly a fertility goddess; however, she also represented war and love.
HADAD
This was the name of a Syrian deity meaning -the Thunderer-' who was the Amorite equivalent of the god of the storms Baal (So Ras Shamra texts). It is also written Adad, Adda, and Addu. A Hadad temple at Aleppo is known. Because of his title of a storm-god, he is usually pictured on the back of a bull with forked-lightning in his hands.
References: Zechariah 12:11
MOLECH or MOLOCH
The chief god of the Ammonites. It was constructed of brass, with a calf's head. They honored it by the sacrifice of children, in which they were caused to pass through or/ into the fire. Palestinian excavations have uncovered evidences of infant skeletons in burial places around heathen shrines. Ammonites revered Molech as a protecting father.
BAAL-BERITH
He was also called El-Berith. It literally means god of the covenant. Baal worship was so prominent that most settlements had their local Baal.