1Kings 10: 14-29 Is He the One?

INTRODUCTION:

·       God’s promise immediately following the fall of man in the Garden was wondered at, maybe doubted, or even forgotten.

I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.  — Genesis 3:15 (CSB)

·       This prophetic promise was clarified further in Genesis.

And all the nations of the earth will be blessed by your offspring because you have obeyed my command.” — Genesis 22:18 (CSB)

I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of the sky, I will give your offspring all these lands, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed by your offspring, — Genesis 26:4 (CSB)

Your offspring will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out toward the west, the east, the north, and the south. All the peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. — Genesis 28:14 (CSB)

·       King Solomon’s father, Kind David, started out with great promise.  Following King David’s moral failure that started from his rooftop, David’s kingdom never recovered its moral foundation.

·       Thus far, King Solomon’s kingdom has demonstrated great favor from the LORD.  People of his day may have asked, “Is he the one?”. 

·       This week we will see evidence of why they may have considered this to be true, along with perhaps problems beginning to surface.

SCENE 1: Prosperity and .  (14-25)

1.     His Gold.  ($1.2 billion dollars)

2.     His Gold on Display.  (Larger shields $520,218.70, Smaller shields $93,198.32)

3.     His Throne.  (Seven levels above the ground) (Decorated with lions)

On the seventh day God had completed his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done.  God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, for on it he rested from all his work of creation. — Genesis 2:2-3 (CSB)

Then I saw in the right hand of the one seated on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides, sealed with seven seals. I also saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?” But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or even to look in it. I wept and wept because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or even to look in it. Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep. Look, the Lion from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered so that he is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.” Then I saw one like a slaughtered lamb standing in the midst of the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent into all the earth. He went and took the scroll out of the right hand of the one seated on the throne. — Revelation 5:1-7 (CSB)     

4.     No need for silver. (Ivory, apes, and peacocks)

5.     His . 

o   Greater than all other kings in prosperity and wisdom.

Where is the one who is wise? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the debater of this age? Hasn’t God made the world’s wisdom foolish? For since, in God’s wisdom, the world did not know God through wisdom, God was pleased to save those who believe through the foolishness of what is preached. For the Jews ask for signs and the Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles. Yet to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God, because God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength. — 1 Corinthians 1:20-25 (CSB)

“Don’t store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves don’t break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. So if the light within you is darkness, how deep is that darkness! “No one can serve two masters, since either he will hate one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. — Matthew 6:19-24 (CSB)

o   We tend to be either paralyzed by lack of prosperity or intoxicated by too much of it.  (Get a job, get generous)  Either case is a heart issue. 

SCENE 2: appearing.  (26-29)

“Now our writer adds four notes that take us by surprise.  There was more to the astonishing kingdom of Solomon that the queen of Sheba notices or “the whole earth” cared about at this stage.  These four things begin to cast a shadow on all we have seen.” John Woodhouse[1]  (Lets look at these four cracks)

1.     Those . 

o   Chariots represented military strength.  God told Israel not to be afraid of chariots and instructed Israel to burn them. 

o   Later Isaiah put it this way:

Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help and who depend on horses! They trust in the abundance of chariots and in the large number of horsemen. They do not look to the Holy One of Israel, and they do not seek the Lord. — Isaiah 31:1 (CSB)

2.     That wealth.

o   The writer mentions the extravagant wealth again.  Is there the implication that it was too much?

Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” — Matthew 19:24 (CSB)

3.     Horses from ?

o   Kue was to the north and Egypt to the south.  What about the warning from Deuteronomy?

However, he must not acquire many horses for himself or send the people back to Egypt to acquire many horses, for the Lord has told you, ‘You are never to go back that way again.’ — Deuteronomy 17:16 (CSB)

4.     Hint of ?

o   The trouble with prosperity can be you want more of it. 

o   Is Israel beginning to look like “all the other nations” with their commerce and trade?

o   The nations listed here have been historical enemies of Israel. 

o   Nothing positive is mentioned again about King Solomon again.  Just like his father, he started out well but did not end so. 

o   This leaves us with the question, “Who is this greater king?”

The queen of the south will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and look ​— ​something greater than Solomon is here. — Matthew 12:42 (CSB)

EMERALD CITY:

THE RICH YOUNG RULER

As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up, knelt down before him, and asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? ”

“Why do you call me good? ” Jesus asked him. “No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments: Do not murder; do not commit adultery; do not steal; do not bear false witness; do not defraud; honor your father and mother. ”

He said to him, “Teacher, I have kept all these from my youth.”

Looking at him, Jesus loved him and said to him, “You lack one thing: Go, sell all you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” But he was dismayed by this demand, and he went away grieving, because he had many possessions. — Mark 10:17-22 (CSB)

1.     Where is your heart?