God’s desire has always been to spread the knowledge of this glory throughout the world. It is only logical that some point in Israel’s history we would see a crescendo of the Kingdom of God in the Old Testament. Solomon’s reign as king shows such a climax.

[Full audio version of this sermon can be found on the PRV website]

•    Solomon’s dream

o    Asks for wisdom
o    Read 1 Kings 3:5-15

•    Wise ruling of the two mothers
•    Secured the borders (rest in the land)
•    Builds the temple

o    Before this sacrifices to God was made throughout the land
o    The Temple consolidated power to Jerusalem and with the King
o    Took seven years to build
o    One of the Wonders of the Ancient world

•    Dedication of the temple

o    The Ark of the Covenant was placed in the Holy of Holiness

When the priests withdrew from the Holy Place, the cloud filled the temple of the LORD. And the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled his temple.  -1 Kings 8:10-11

•    Prayer of dedication (1 Kings 8:22-66)

o    Could spend days looking at this one prayer
o    Some highlights

* Temple cannot hold God

“But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built! Yet give attention to your servant’s prayer and his plea for mercy, LORD my God. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is praying in your presence this day. May your eyes be open toward this temple night and day, this place of which you said, ‘My Name shall be there,’ so that you will hear the prayer your servant prays toward this place. Hear the supplication of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray toward this place. Hear from heaven, your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive. -1 Kings 8:27-30

* Listen to the people who pray at the temple
* Foreigner

“As for the foreigner who does not belong to your people Israel but has come from a distant land because of your name— 42 for they will hear of your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm—when they come and pray toward this temple, 43 then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your own people Israel, and may know that this house I have built bears your Name. -1 Kings 8:41-43

* Celebrated for 14 days
* Sacrificed

•    22 thousand cattle
•    120,000 sheep and goats

Picture of the Kingdom (1 Kings 4 and 10)

1.    Kingdom celebration and multiplication

a.    The people of Israel are numerous
b.    They ate, drank and were happy
c.    Occupied the land

2.    Kingdom prosperity

a.    Daily table of Solomon

i.    185 bushels of fine flour
ii.    375 bushels of meal
iii.    10 head of stall-fed cattle
iv.    20 head of pasture-fed cattle
v.    100 sheep and goats
vi.    Deer, gazelles, roebucks and choice fowl

b.    Banquet

i.    This Kingdom of God is likened to a banquet throughout Scriptures
ii.    Jesus preformed his first miracle at a wedding; feed both the Jews and the Gentiles via the bread and fish;
iii.    We are to continue to eat the supper of the God until Jesus comes again. Communion not only reminds us of what Jesus did, but it looks forward to the banquet supper in heaven
iv.    The return of Jesus is called the “wedding supper of the lamb”

3.    Kingdom peace

a.    There was peace in the land
b.    Shalom “means more than the absence of war. It means total well-being in every aspect of your life – your health, marriage, children, your relationship with your neighbor, your crops, herds, vines, fruit trees, the weather, feasts, worship and celebration. Not only was the royal court something to behold but also every Israelite family lived under their own vine and their own fig tree. They experienced shalom because of the sheer power of Solomon’s rule express in his military machine and efficient economy.” –Derek Morphew

4.    Kingdom life

a.    Covers everything in life – not just spiritually, but material as well
b.    Solomon

i.    wrote 3,000 proverbs – practical sayings to help in day-to-day life
ii.    wrote 1,005 songs/psalms – worshiper
iii.    Song of Solomon – sex life
iv.    Accomplished scientist

1.    Plants (botany)
2.    Animals (zoology)
3.    Birds (ornithology)
4.    Reptiles (herpetology)
5.    Fish (ichthyologist)

c.    The wholeness of life flows from the rule of God

5.    Kingdom mission

a.    Known throughout the world

i.    Wiser than all the men of the East, Egypt, and all bunch of other guys

b.    Queen of Sheba – a gentile coming to Israel because she heard of Solomon and God

When the queen of Sheba heard about the fame of Solomon and his relationship to the LORD, she came to test Solomon with hard questions. – 1 Kings 10:1

c.    The world sought audience with Solomon

King Solomon was greater in riches and wisdom than all the other kings of the earth.  The whole world sought audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom God had put in his heart. -1 Kings 10:23-24

Solomon’s failures

Embedded into these passages are some items that show that that everything was perfect in Solomon’s kingdom. There were things that violate God’s covenant.

•    Forced labor policies – both Israelites and foreigner
•    Land – Solomon gave away 20 towns in Galilee to the king of Tyre to raise money
•    Army – accumulation of chariots, which would have been useless in the hills of Israel. The only reason for chariots was offensive war on the plains.
•    Wives – Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines (un-married sex partners).

* He married them to secure international treaties – only such treaties and marriages mean engaging in ceremonies with idols and foreign gods
* Each of these wives brought their abominable practices to Israel

As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father had been. He followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molek the detestable god of the Ammonites.  So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the LORD; he did not follow the LORD completely, as David his father had done.    – 1 Kings 11:4-6

* Solomon also built temples and shrines to these false gods

•    Word of warning from God (1 Kings 9:3-9)

* God heard Solomon’s player and pleas concerning the dedication of the Temple
* God said he would consecrate it
* But if Solomon or his son’s turned away from Him, then He will leave the Temple and all who see it will scoff at it.

•    Because of Solomon’s sins, God took the kingdom of Israel away from his sons. Only He did so after Solomon died because God loved David. This love for David is also why God left one tribe (Judah) under the kingship of David’s heirs.

Conclusion

•    The Kingdom of God is practical

* It covers all areas of life
* We are to give everything to Him

•    Warning

* It is the small foxes that damage the vines
* We are not to retreat into the desert and hide among ourselves
* We have to push into Jesus and follow Him in everything