Solomon's Heart - Part I

I Kings 3
:3a And Solomon loved the LORD ,
        walking in the statutes of David his father: . . .

Solomon's heart was right toward God. He was humble enough to ask for wisdom instead of riches and walked with God a long time. And God took care of him and prospered Israel.

II Chronicles 1
:1 And Solomon
        the son of David
    was strengthened in his kingdom,
    and the LORD his God was with him,
    and magnified him exceedingly.

Now when God says magnified him exceedingly He means it.

I Kings 4
:20 Judah and Israel were many,
        as the sand which is by the sea in multitude,
    eating and drinking, and making merry.
:21 And Solomon reigned over all kingdoms
        from the river unto the land of the Philistines,
    and unto the border of Egypt: they brought presents,
    and served Solomon all the days of his life.
:22 And Solomon's provision for one day was
        thirty measures of fine flour,
        and threescore measures of meal,
            [450 bushels which can make 2,000 loaves of bread]
:23 Ten fat oxen,
    and twenty oxen out of the pastures,
    and an hundred sheep,
    beside harts,
    and roebucks,
    and fallowdeer,
    and fatted fowl. [20,000 lbs (9,070 kg) of meat]
:24 For he had dominion over all the region on this side the river, [Euphrates]
    from Tiphsah even to Azzah,
        [Tiphsah is north of the kingdom on the Euphrates River, couldn't fined Azzah]
    over all the kings on this side the river:
    and he had peace on all sides round about him.
:25 And Judah and Israel dwelt safely,
        every man under his vine
        and under his fig tree,
        from Dan even to Beersheba,
    all the days of Solomon.
:26 And Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, [that is a lot]
    and twelve thousand horsemen.
:27 And those officers provided victual for king Solomon,
    and for all that came unto king Solomon's table,
        every man in his month:
        they lacked nothing.
:28   Barley also
        and straw for the horses
            and dromedaries
        brought they unto the place where the officers were,
    every man according to his charge.

Twelve thousand people each month (a set of 12,000 for each tribe) brought food and provisions for the king and those who ate at his table. They brought enough grains for 2,000 loaves of bread a day and 20,000 pounds of meat a day. This is basically the tax on the people but it was not grievous for Israel prospered.

In I Kings 5 Solomon decides to build a house unto the name of Lord because God had told David that David's son would build the house. Because Solomon loved God he built the temple for the ark of God. He began in the fourth year, second month of his reign, 480 years after the exodus from Egypt.

It took seven years for the Temple to be built. There is an underground excavated single piece of stone under the wall of the temple mount. There was no sound of hammer or chisel at the temple site when Solomon built the temple. The stone is only a foundation rock. The fit of the stones are perfect, a piece of paper can't fit between the stones. The construction had to be built way off site so you couldn't hear it and then delivered -- it's 137 feet long -- incredible! The temple of Egypt doesn't come close to what was done by the Believers constructing the Temple for the Ark of God.
At the end of building the temple God tells us of Solomon's dedication of the temple in II Chronicles 6.

II Chronicles 6
:1 Then said Solomon,
        The LORD hath said that he would dwell in the thick darkness.
:2     But I have built an house of habitation for thee,
        and a place for thy dwelling for ever.
:3 And the king turned his face,
    and blessed the whole congregation of Israel:
    and all the congregation of Israel stood.

:14 And [Solomon] said,
        O LORD God of Israel,
        there is no God like thee in the heaven,
            nor in the earth;
        which keepest covenant,
        and shewest mercy unto thy servants,
            that walk before thee with all their hearts:
:15   Thou which hast kept with thy servant David my father
            that which thou hast promised him;
        and spakest with thy mouth,
        and hast fulfilled it with thine hand,
            as it is this day.
:16   Now therefore,
                O LORD God of Israel,
        keep with thy servant David my father
        that which thou hast promised him, saying,
            There shall not fail thee a man in my sight to sit upon the throne of Israel;
        yet so that thy children take heed to their way to walk in my law,
            as thou hast walked before me.
:17   Now then, O LORD God of Israel,
        let thy word be verified,
            which thou hast spoken unto thy servant David.
:18   But will God in very deed dwell with men on the earth?
        behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee;
        how much less this house which I have built!
:19   Have respect therefore to the prayer of thy servant,
        and to his supplication,
            O LORD my God,
        to hearken unto the cry and the prayer
            which thy servant prayeth before thee:
:20   That thine eyes may be open upon this house day and night,
        upon the place whereof thou hast said that thou wouldest put thy name there;
        to hearken unto the prayer which thy servant prayeth toward this place.
21   Hearken therefore unto the supplications of thy servant,
        and of thy people Israel,
            which they shall make toward this place:
        hear thou from thy dwelling place,
            even from heaven;
        and when thou hearest, forgive.

I encourage you to read the remainder of II Chronicles 6. It is a beautiful prayer of dedication to God. Solomon also prays for future generations and is actually foretelling of some of the events that will happen to the Children of Israel.

 God's response to Solomon's prayer:

II Chronicles 7
:1 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 the LORD filled the house.
:2 And the priests could not enter into the house of the LORD,
        because the glory of the LORD had filled the LORD'S house.
:3 And when all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down,
        and the glory of the LORD upon the house,
    they bowed themselves with their faces to the ground upon the pavement,
    and worshipped,
    and praised the LORD, saying,
        For he is good;
        for his mercy endureth for ever.
:4 Then the king
        and all the people
    offered sacrifices before the LORD.
:5 And king Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty and two thousand oxen,
        and an hundred and twenty thousand sheep:
    so the king and all the people dedicated the house of God.

The following record is God speaking to Solomon after the feasts and sacrifices (also written in II Chronicles 7: 12-22).

I Kings 9
:1 And it came to pass,
    when Solomon had finished the building of the house of the LORD,
    and the king's house, [it took 9 years to build Solomon's house]
    and all Solomon's desire which he was pleased to do,
:2 That the LORD appeared to Solomon the second time , [it is established]
        as he had appeared unto him at Gibeon.
:3 And the LORD said unto him,
        I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication,
            that thou hast made before me:
        I have hallowed this house,
                which thou hast built,
            to put my name there for ever;
            and mine eyes
            and mine heart
            shall be there perpetually.
:4     And if thou wilt walk before me ,
            as David thy father walked,
        in integrity of heart,
        and in uprightness,
        to do according to all that I have commanded thee ,
        and wilt keep my statutes and my judgments :
:5   Then I will establish the throne of thy kingdom upon Israel for ever,
            as I promised to David thy father, saying,
                There shall not fail thee a man upon the throne of Israel.

 "And if thou wilt walk before me,"--is conditional but look at the profit - establish thy throne . . . forever. God also spells out the consequences in verses 6-9:

:6    But if ye shall at all turn from following me,
            ye or your children,
        and will not keep my commandments
            and my statutes
            which I have set before you,
        but go and serve other gods,
        and worship them:
:7     Then will I cut off Israel out of the land
            which I have given them;
        and this house,
            which I have hallowed for my name,
        will I cast out of my sight;
        and Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all people:
:8     And at this house,
            which is high,
        every one that passeth by it shall be astonished,
        and shall hiss;
        and they shall say,
            Why hath the LORD done thus unto this land,
            and to this house?
:9     And they shall answer,
            Because they forsook the LORD their God,
                who brought forth their fathers out of the land of Egypt,
            and have taken hold upon other gods,
                and have worshipped them,
                and served them:
            therefore hath the LORD brought upon them all this evil.

 Continued Next Week . . .