I have been on a very long journey to read the Old Testament in chronological order, which (once passed the first few books) is much more difficult than I would have guessed. Once I got passed the divided kingdom and it was going to take a few different books at once to move forward, I made a decision to go back and read more of the end of the united kingdom before it got too far away. So I read some Psalms, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon.
Now, I am heading back to the narrative; but as a refresher, I am going to read through some I Kings and II Chronicles that I've already reviewed.
I Kings 10
- The Queen of Sheba comes to visit Solomon and test him with difficult questions due to his renown and the Lord.
- The shock and awe of his wisdom and wealth left her deflated.
- So acknowledged the Lord and gave Solomon a bunch of money and goods.
- He turned that gold into golden shields to display.
- Everything in his house was gold. It says there wasn't a silver cup in sight.
- Greater than all of the kings on the earth in riches and wisdom.
- And we can't forget all of the horses and chariots.
Note that there are several things on this list that are prohibited to the King of Israel in Deuteronomy.
I Kings 11
- Solomon loved many foreign woman. And many from regions where the Lord prohibited association because they would turn a kings heart away.
- But Solomon held fast to this love.
- They turned his heart away from singular devotion to the Lord of David.
- He followed even the worst of the false gods and built for them high places. And did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.
- Now the Lord was angry with Solomon. Even pointing out that God had appeared to him twice.
- He promises to tear Solomon's kingdom away and give it to his servants. He does offer grace for the sake of David and says that this won't happen until Solomon is died and he will preserve one tribe for David's sake.
- Then we learn about some adversaries that start to grow toward God's promised future:
- (South kingdom) Hadad the Edomite-wanted vengeance for David wiping out the males in Edom
- (North kingdom) Rezon leader of a marauder band of men who had been exiled to Damascus.
- Of course, the infamous Jeroboam who showed his hoodlum skills so Solomon picked him up.
- And, not necessarily an adversary, but the prophet Ahijah who was send to Jeroboam to tell him the prophesy of how he would tear the kingdom from Solomon's son.
- God makes the same covenant with Jeroboam that he offered to Solomon. (Spoiler alert- Jeroboam does not keep up his end very well.)
- Solomon hears of this and instead of tuning and begging God for forgiveness...he tries to have Jeroboam killed.
- And that's it for Solomon. We stop hearing about him once his heart completely turns from the Lord. (my editorial comment, that's no written in there.)
II Chronicles 9
- Same description of The visit from the Queen of Sheba. Why she came, what she saw, how she responded, the gift she gave.
- Same review of what he did with the gold and treasures. The gold shields, his fancy throne, everything in the house made of gold, not a "worthless" silver cup in sight.
- And of course, horse and chariots.
- He was ruler over all the kings from the Euphrates River, to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt.
This chapter ends the same way...no more details about Solomon. He ruled 40 years, dies, was buried in the City of David, and his son, Rehoboam reigned.