I Kings Chapter 9
Please read: I Kings 9 –
It took Solomon 7 years to build the temple or the house of God, and he was 13 years in building his own home. Quick math tells us that for 20 years of Solomon’s reign he was involved in a massive construction project. The Bible tells us that immediately after his building was completed that God visited him a second time. God had something important to say to Solomon and the Bible says that He appeared to him. We know the first time that God appeared to Solomon was in a dream at Gibeon.
1 Kings 3:5 At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night, and God said, “Ask what I shall give you.”
There is no mention of God’s appearance being in a dream this time. This may have been a visit of the Lord Jesus to Solomon. God had wanted to express to Solomon a great promise that was conditional. It came with a warning that God wanted Solomon to hear, absorb, and pass on to His children and His children’s children. God wanted Solomon and his descendants to acknowledge the God that brought them out of Egypt, redeemed them and set them free. He wanted them to follow after Him in obedience and not turn to worship other gods. If they disobeyed Him, all the beautiful buildings that Solomon had just finished building, would be destroyed.
Let's Reflect
1. According to verse 3 what important truth do we learn about prayer?
2. God put His stamp of approval on the temple that Solomon built. He did not say that He would live there but what did God say He would do?
3. As I read verse 4, I loved reading about the way God saw David’s life, and I fear that we do not see the wonderful godly example that he was because we can so easily point to his sins. But that can be true of any believer today. Our sins can be what mar our testimony to others. And more importantly there is another truth we need to get ahold of, and that is that David repented of his sins and God forgave him. What did God say about David when He encouraged Solomon to follow in his father’s footsteps?
4. It is of note that while God showed that He was pleased with the temple that Solomon had built for Him, He also warned that He would not stop it from being destroyed if there was disobedience in the land. What did God tell Solomon would be the reason that would be told, as to why God allowed a destruction of the temple and the land to occur?
5. Solomon was a wise businessman. He gave Hiram twenty cities as payment for all the lumber he had supplied for the building projects. That may seem generous; however, Solomon was wise not to give him the best of the land. What did Hiram say about the cities once he had seen them?
6. Besides the buildings and security walls that Solomon built, he began to acquire great wealth. How much gold did he receive from Hiram?
7. There is a description of the slave labor that he used for all his construction projects. These people were not Israelites. Who were the people that Solomon drafted to be slave laborers? See verses 20 and 21.
8. Verse 24 mentions something that was made for his wife who was the daughter of the Pharoah of Egypt. She had been given as a treaty transaction. What did Solomon build for her?
9. The last verse also mentions another great building project of Solomon’s. What was it?
10. We know that Solomon was a man who strived to walk with the Lord. What does verse 25 say that he did?
