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Now if you walk before me as 
your father David walked, in integrity of heart and in uprightness, 
to do according to all that I have commanded you, and if you keep 
my statutes and my judgments, then I will establish the throne 
of your kingdom over Israel forever, as I promised David your father, 
saying, you shall not fail to have a man on the throne of Israel. 
But if you or your sons at all turn from following me, and do 
not keep my commandments and my statutes which I have set 
before you, but go and serve other gods and worship them, 
then I will cut off Israel from the land which I have given them. 
And this house which I have consecrated for my name I will cast out of 
my sight. Israel will be a proverb and 
a byword among all peoples. And as for this house, which 
is exalted, everyone who passes by it will be astonished and 
will hiss and say, why has the Lord done thus to this land and 
to this house? Then they will answer, because 
they forsook the Lord their God, who brought their fathers out 
of the land of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, and worshiped 
them, and served them. Therefore the Lord has brought 
all this calamity on them. Now it happened at the end of 
20 years when Solomon had built the two houses, the house of 
the Lord and the king's house. Hiram, the king of Tyre, had 
supplied Solomon with cedar and cypress and gold as much as he 
desired. The king Solomon then gave Hiram 
20 cities in the land of Galilee. Then Hiram went from Tyre to 
see the cities which Solomon had given him, but they did not 
please him. So he said, what kind of cities 
are these which you have given me, my brother? And he called 
them the land of Kabul, as they are to this day. Then Hiram sent 
the king 120 talents of gold. And this is the reason for the 
labor force which King Solomon raised, to build the house of 
the Lord, his own house, the Milo, the wall of Jerusalem, 
Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer. Pharaoh, king of Egypt, had gone 
up and taken Gezer and burned it with fire, had killed the 
Canaanites who dwelt in the city, and had given it as a dowry to 
his daughter, Solomon's wife. And Solomon built Gezer, lower 
Beth-horon, Baalath, and Tadmor in the wilderness, in the land 
of Judah. all the storage cities that Solomon 
had, cities for his chariots and cities for his calvary, and 
whatever Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and 
in all the land of his dominion. all the people who were left 
of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, who were 
not of the children of Israel, that is, their descendants who 
were left in the land after them, whom the children of Israel had 
not been able to destroy completely. From these Solomon raised forced 
labor, as it is to this day. But of the children of Israel, 
Solomon made no forced laborers, because they were men of war 
and his servants, his officers, his captains, commanders of his 
chariots, and his cavalry. Others were chiefs of the officials 
who were over Solomon's work, 550 who ruled over the people 
who did the work. But Pharaoh's daughter came up 
from the city of David to her house, which Solomon had built 
for her. Then he built the Milo. Now three times a year Solomon 
offered burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar which 
he had built for the Lord. And he burned incense with them 
on the altar that was before the Lord. So he finished the 
temple. So Solomon also built a fleet 
of ships at Etzion Geber, which is near Eilath on the shore of 
the Red Sea in the land of Edom. Then Hiram sent his servants 
with the fleet, seamen who knew the sea, to work with the servants 
of Solomon. And they went to Ophir and acquired 
420 talents of gold from there and brought it to King Solomon. 
Amen. Well, essentially what we have 
in this particular chapter is God's second appearance to Solomon. Remember that God comes to Solomon 
in chapter 3 and tells Solomon to ask whatever it is he wishes. 
Therein, Solomon prays for wisdom, God grants wisdom, and then we 
see the proof or the evidence of that wisdom fleshed out in 
several subsequent chapters. We saw the preparation to build 
the temple in chapter five, and then the actual construction 
in chapter six and seven, and then last week and two weeks 
prior, we looked at chapter eight, where it was the dedication of 
the temple. Solomon prays, dedicates the 
temple, they then sacrifice to the Lord, and all Israel leaves, 
If we look at chapter 8 verse 66, on the eighth day he sent 
the people away and they blessed the king and went to their tents 
joyful and glad of heart for all the good that the Lord had 
done for his servant David and for Israel his people. Now essentially 
what we have in chapter 9 is a bit of a hinge. What we have 
preceding is the Golden Age. We have Solomon's ministry, Solomon's 
reign, and it's viewed only positively. Well, here in chapter 9, we see 
God tell them, or tell Solomon specifically, that faithfulness 
will result, or faithlessness will result in the temple's destruction. And not long after chapter 9, 
we see the decline of Solomon in chapters 10 and 11. And when he dies, then it comes 
to a head in chapter 12 with the division of the kingdom. 
So this is a bit of a hinge, as I said. We have the preceding 
era, which is the golden era, and then we see the downfall 
of Solomon from this section on. Not here technically, but 
I think there are hints in chapter 9 that foreshadow the fall of 
Solomon. So we'll look at the two broad 
sections in this chapter. In the first place, there is 
an exhortation to maintain faithfulness, and that's verses 1 to 9. And 
then secondly, the description of ongoing political pursuits 
in verses 10 to 28. We'll spend the most time on 
that first section tonight. Note in the first place the occasion, 
verses 1 to 3, the completion of the temple and the palace. 
After the completion of the temple and the palace, the temple is 
dedicated, Solomon prays, and we see that the Lord God hears 
that prayer and answers that prayer. It came to pass when 
Solomon had finished building the house of the Lord and the 
king's house, and all Solomon's desire which he wanted to do, 
that the Lord appeared to Solomon the second time as he had appeared 
to him at So, again, the second appearance of God to Solomon. And note in verse 3, there is 
the confirmation of God's approval upon Solomon's endeavors up to 
this point. Again, we're going to take a 
turn for the worse subsequent to chapter 9, but here God is 
reporting favorably on what has occurred. It says, the Lord had 
heard the prayer of dedication in chapter 8. The Lord had consecrated 
this house to himself. In other words, he approved of 
it. We saw that in chapter 8, when 
the glory of God came and dwelt among the people there in the 
house of the Lord. And then notice at the end of 
verse 3, we have something there called an anthropomorphism. It says, and my eyes and my heart 
will be there perpetually. Anthropomorphism is when we attribute 
to God physical features. Now, God doesn't have physical 
features. God doesn't have eyes. God doesn't 
have a heart. Now, that may sound blasphemous 
to say that God doesn't have a heart, But he doesn't. He is a spirit. He doesn't have 
the physical features that mark men. This is anthropomorphic. This is language that is accommodating 
to us as people to understand something of God. And I suspect 
that when it says that his eyes would be there perpetually, his 
providence, his care, his concern, his watchfulness, his stabilizing 
influence, his security over his people Israel. And then when 
it speaks of his heart being there perpetually, most likely 
it means his intimate presence. He will be their God. They will be his people. He will 
be near unto them and enjoy that fellowship and communion with 
the people of Israel. So it's an anthropomorphism. That is the attribution of physical 
features or attributes to God. The arm of the Lord was demonstrated 
before the nations. God doesn't have an arm. The 
eyes of the Lord, according to Chronicles, run to and fro throughout 
all the earth. Again, God doesn't have eyes. 
He is spirit. So this is anthropomorphic language 
that God uses often throughout Scripture to convey truth concerning 
himself, but in a manner that we're able to grasp. There's 
something else called anthropopathism, and that's the same sort of thing. 
That's when we attribute human feeling to God. When the scriptures 
reveal that God wept, or God sorrowed, or God agonized over 
His people Israel, well, God is eternally blessed. That language 
is designed to teach us something concerning God, but it doesn't 
literally mean that he has these feelings that shift and ebb and 
flow the way that human beings do. So anthropomorphism, anthropopathisms 
teach us truth about God, but in a manner that we can grab 
hold of. As I've said before, Much of 
Scripture is like baby talk. God speaks to us the way that 
we speak to little children, because they cannot understand 
if we speak to them as if they were college students. God speaks 
to us in His Word in a manner that is consistent with our ability 
to understand. So that's the occasion. Notice 
the assurance in verses 4 and 5. God assures Israel, God assures 
Solomon that if they are faithful, then good things will follow. 
We need to remember that so much behind the scenes of 1 Kings 
and 2 Kings and 1 and 2 Samuel is the book of Deuteronomy and 
as well the book of Leviticus. We have seen that a number of 
times, the covenant curses and the covenant blessings. Leviticus 
26, Deuteronomy chapter 28. And we see that same sort of 
thing fleshed out here by God. Now note, he refers to the Davidic 
standard in verse 4. He says, if you walk before me 
as your father David walked, in integrity of heart, and in 
uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded 
you, and if you keep my statutes and my judgments." Notice that 
David is a standard. Now, we have studied together 
1 and 2 Samuel. We have seen together that David 
had many sins. We have seen that David was not 
a faultless man. In fact, David committed two 
of the most grievous sins that are a violation of the Decalogue. 
He murdered and he committed adultery. So how in the world 
could Yahweh say, now if you walk before me as your father 
David walked, Because though David was faultless, he was not 
an idolater. We see the primary sin condemned 
by God, specifically in verses 6 to 9, and subsequently with 
reference to Solomon, is the sin of idolatry. God does hate 
and despise the sin of idolatry. So as sinful as a man that David 
was, nevertheless, his heart was faithful to the living and 
true God. He exercised fidelity. He didn't chase after Baal. He 
didn't go after Molech. He didn't go after Asherah. His 
heart was faithful to the God of Israel. And that is what we 
see in this particular passage. Not faultless, but he was never 
an idolater. As I've said before, Solomon 
ends up in idolatry. Again, I think this is foreshadowed 
here in chapter 9. We'll see that at the end tonight. 
Notice as well, with reference to this standard, He says, if 
you walk before me as your father David walked in integrity of 
heart and in uprightness. I think that Christians have 
this idea that the Old Testament was only external. It was only 
formal. It was only exterior. In other 
words, as long as you toed the line externally, everything was 
okay. It was always a religion of the 
heart. You were never to engage in simply 
an external form. It was never to be a formal exercise 
of religion devoid of heart commitment. God stresses upon Solomon that 
if you walk before me as your father David walked, in integrity 
of heart and in uprightness. You see, those two concepts have 
never, ever, ever been removed. They were true for Solomon, they 
were true for Adam and Eve, they have been true throughout the 
ages, and they're true for us. We are not the kings over Israel, 
but we are nevertheless bound by God to walk in integrity of 
heart and in uprightness. That is to be the pursuit of 
God's people, integrity of heart. Again, when we compare ourselves 
with David, or when we look at David rather, we see it's not 
sinlessness, it's not perfectionism, it's not faultlessness, but there 
is a core integrity. There is this constant attitude 
of commitment to the living and the true God. That's what the 
Lord requires of us. And this whole idea of uprightness. 
We are to pursue those things that are pleasing to God. We 
are to resist murder. We are to resist adultery. We 
are not to steal. We are not to lie. We are not 
to covet, or break the Sabbath, or be insubordinate to those 
over us, or blaspheme, or commit idolatry. Integrity and uprightness. If it was good for the King of 
Israel, it is certainly good for the followers, for the servants 
in Israel, us as well. And then notice, to do according 
to all that I have commanded you, and if you keep my statutes 
and my judgments. So we see the emphasis on the 
heart, not a mere externalism, and then the necessity to obey 
the entirety of the law as revealed through Moses. Again, I think 
the five books of Moses, primarily the book of Deuteronomy, is at 
the forefront in this emphasis. to do according to all that I 
have commanded you. And then this moves into the 
specific assurance of verse 5. Then I will establish the throne 
of your kingdom over Israel forever, as I promised David your father, 
saying, you shall not fail to have a man on the throne of Israel. 
So the establishment of Solomon's throne would indeed be confirmed, 
it would be assured, and obedience was the means by which it would 
be achieved. If I were to ask you what text 
lay behind this particular promise, I know that in unison everybody 
would say, 2 Samuel chapter 7. That is where God promised David 
that there would be a son of David that would rise up and 
sit upon the throne. Now it was realized at least 
partially in Solomon, but he served as a type pointing forward 
to David's greater son, even our Lord Jesus Christ. And that 
brings us to the warning. Note specifically in verses 6 
to 9. The specific violation is highlighted in verse 6. It says, but if you or your sons 
at all turn from following me and do not keep my commandments 
and my statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve 
other gods and worship them. I think before we move on, we 
ought to see the heightened responsibility of leaders here. You or your 
sons. So Solomon and his dynasty is 
being addressed. The king of Israel stood in a 
very chief position. The king of Israel would set 
the example for other Israelites. And as a result, the sin of the 
king would heighten his responsibility before the living and the true 
God. We ought not to diminish that reality. James picks up 
on this in James chapter 3 with reference to the church. He says, 
let not many of you become teachers, for we shall receive a stricter 
judgment. In other words, Jesus condemns 
those religious leaders in Matthew 23 because they sit in Moses' 
seat, they command persons to do what Moses commands, but they 
themselves do not do it. Jesus calls them hypocrites. He calls them a brood of vipers. 
It is a high responsibility to lead the people of God, and the 
Lord God holds them accountable. If you or your sons at all turn 
from following me." There is a general disobedience to the 
law, and as I suggested earlier, the specific violation is found 
at the end of verse 6. It says, but go and serve other 
gods and worship them. You see, this would be the problem 
for Israel. Not that Sabbath breaking, or 
murder, or adultery, or any of those other things were not important. But you need to understand something 
about the Ten Commandments. Remember last time, when we considered 
Solomon's prayer. Who comes first in Solomon's 
prayer? God, right? He first ascribes 
praise to God, and then he indicates or lists several petitions that 
he wants God to fulfill or to answer. We saw that same pattern 
in the Lord's Prayer. Jesus taught us to pray in the 
first place, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will 
be done. So God is conspicuously first. There is a priority in Solomon's 
Prayer. There is a priority in the Lord's 
Prayer. That same priority exists in 
the Ten Commandments. We see the first two deal with 
God and idolatry. You shall have no other gods 
before me. In other words, you're supposed 
to worship the true God. The second is you're supposed 
to worship the true God truly. In other words, once you've identified 
the true God of the First Commandment, you ought to worship that true 
God in a proper manner according to the Second Commandment, you 
see? We identify Yahweh, and then we worship Him as He commands. That's the specific sort of flow 
of those two commandments. But that's foundational to the 
rest of the commandments. What happens when a people rejects 
the living and the true God? Everything else goes out the 
door. In other words, a refusal to obey the first table of the 
law will inevitably lead to a desecration of the second table of the law. 
If men do not esteem, worship, and glorify the living and true 
God according to the first four commandments, they're certainly 
not going to have respect toward man according to the last six 
commandments. This is the flow. And God indicts 
them, and God puts His finger, again, anthropomorphically speaking, 
on the root problem. If you engage in idolatry, if 
you go after other gods, if you abandon the Lord Most High, then 
bad things are going to come your way. And then he indicates 
that specific curse in verse 7. It's covenantal in nature. Actually, verses 7 to 8a. They would, first of all, lose 
their land. Notice in verse 7. Then I will 
cut off Israel from the land which I have given them. Remember 
this was the blessing that was made or the promise made by God 
to Abraham and it's been achieved. It has been realized. The people 
of Israel are now in the land of promise. It is theirs. They 
have cast out the inhabitants of the land. Although, unfortunately, 
not all of them. That would prove to be at least 
contributing factor to their downfall. But they possessed 
this. This was prime real estate. This 
was God's covenantal blessing upon them. But he says, if you 
go a whoring from me, and you follow after other gods, then 
you will be dispossessed from the land. The way that the Canaanites 
were dispossessed from the land for their idolatry is the same 
sort of curse that will fall upon the Israelites. This is 
the point of the book of Judges. We see the Canaanization of Israel 
taking place at the time of the Judges. Israel was to go in and 
dispossess the land of the Canaanites. Israel was not supposed to go 
in and be conquered by the Canaanites spiritually. They were not supposed 
to become like them. They were not supposed to be 
worshippers alongside of them, and that is precisely what happened. 
So God says, if you refuse me, reject me, and rebel against 
me, you will lose your land. Secondly, they would lose their 
temple. Notice in verse 7, and this house, 
which I have consecrated for my name, I will cast out of my 
sight. So you see, on the occasion of 
the prayer of dedication, right after that, Yahweh comes to Solomon 
and says, if you reject me, I will see to it that this house is 
destroyed. God is not messing around with 
reference to this heart obedience. God is not messing around with 
reference to His demand for our integrity and for our uprightness. God does not, you know, have 
dealings with a people who continue impenitently in disobedience 
against Him. And as we trace through the rest 
of Scripture, we see that in fact this comes to pass. This 
temple that Solomon built was destroyed in 586 BC. You can read about that in 2 
Kings 25 9. Jeremiah 39 describes the invasion 
of Jerusalem by the Babylonians. So God is not making idle threats. The nation of Israel had rejected 
their God, and as a result, God sends the Babylonians in and 
destroys the temple. But it happens subsequent to 
that as well, because remember, after the Babylonian captivity, 
they spend 70 years in exile, they return to the land of Judah, 
and what is it that they take to doing? They build the temple 
again. That's the second temple. And 
we see the prophets Zechariah and Haggai are the preachers 
at that particular time to encourage the people of Israel that they 
would indeed build that temple. What happens? Israel continues 
to go a whoring from God. She continues to reject and rebel 
and resist God. It culminates when God incarnate 
comes down. The Messiah himself comes to 
the nation of Israel. and instead of bowing before 
Him and confessing Him as Lord and Savior, they crucify Him 
and nail Him to a tree. Then God brings the Romans to 
destroy the temple in A.D. 70. All of this 1 Kings 9, verses 
6-9 stipulates. In fact, I would submit that 
verses 6-9 here in 1 Kings 9 is programmatic for the rest of 
Scripture, at least with reference to Israel's history. They reject 
God, they rebel against God, what happens? They're removed 
from their land, they lose their temple. This is according to 
promise. When we get to Matthew 24, and 
the Lord Jesus there is prophesying the destruction of the temple, 
never forget 1 Kings 9, verses 6 to 9. I'm sure that I pointed 
us there in the exposition in Matthew 24. Matthew 24 and its 
application to Jerusalem in AD 70 should never surprise any 
student of the Old Testament. It should have never been like, 
wow, I can't believe that Jesus is actually speaking to his contemporaries. It is consistent with what already 
had been spoken to them time and time again. They had rebelled, 
they had rejected, they had resisted their God, and as a result, they 
would be judged. They would lose their land, they 
would lose their temple, and then thirdly, they would lose 
their status. Notice, it says at the end of 
verse 7 there, Israel will be a proverb and a byword among 
all peoples. In other words, they'll be a 
joke. You can turn to Deuteronomy chapter 28. Deuteronomy chapter 
28, to see this as a curse of the covenant promised by God 
there. I think that if you see these threads move through Scripture, 
by the time you get to Matthew 24, you have to be a preterist. 
I don't want to be mean or vicious or unkind or make you feel bad 
if you didn't agree with the exposition, but if you understand 
the curses of the covenant, specifically in Deuteronomy 28, and you follow 
the history of Israel, and then you see what the Lord Jesus does 
in Matthew 21, 22, 23, and then you get to 24 and you miss the 
significance for the Jews in AD 70, I would suggest you need 
to go back and connect some dots because it is crystal clear what 
our Lord is doing there in Matthew 24. But notice in Deuteronomy 
28 at verse 37, and you shall become an astonishment, a proverb, 
and a byword among all nations where the Lord will drive you. 
Could you imagine in Babylon? Could you imagine people saying, 
why are you here? What's up with you? Didn't you 
have your own city? Didn't you have your own temple? 
Didn't you have the one God who supposedly created the heavens 
and the earth? They would be mocked for the reality that now 
they sat languishing in a foreign land under a foreign government. Notice in Psalm 44, the same 
language is employed. Psalm 44. Verses 13 and 14, you 
make us a reproach to our neighbors, a scorn and a derision to those 
all around us. You make us a byword among the 
nations, a shaking of the head among the peoples. Ridicule, 
scorn, derision would all be cast into the lap of these Israelites 
because they defected from the living and true God. They got 
cast out of their land. they saw their temple destroyed, 
they ended up under foreign and oppressive governments. Jeremiah 
24, specifically in verse 9, the same language is used. I 
will deliver them to trouble into all the kingdoms of the 
earth for their harm, to be a reproach and a byword, a taunt and a curse 
in all places where I shall drive them. And I will send the sword, 
the famine, and the pestilence among them, till they are consumed 
from the land that I gave to them and their fathers." You 
see, there is this consistent thread throughout Scripture that 
when Israel disobeys God, when she rejects God, and it's seen 
primarily in that commandment that they shall not become idolaters, 
the Lord brings judgment to bear upon them. And then back in 1 
Kings 9, we see the divine indignation in 8b and 9. In 8, verse 8, it 
says, and as for this house, which is exalted, everyone who 
passes by it will be astonished and will hiss and say, why has 
the Lord done thus to this land and to this house? It is intriguing. They wouldn't ascribe the destruction 
of the temple to the military superiority of Babylon. They 
wouldn't describe or ascribe the destruction of the temple 
in AD 70 to the military superiority of the Romans, but they would 
ascribe it to the living God. They knew that providence was 
a reality. They didn't live in a world that 
was governed by impersonal forces or by chance. Notice verse 8, 
and as for this house which is exalted, everyone who passes 
by it will be astonished and will hiss and say, why has the 
Lord done thus to this land and to this house? That's why I emphasize, 
it's Christ at the right hand of God most high who through 
the Roman armies brings judgment to bear upon Jerusalem in the 
same manner that Yahweh, through the Babylonian armies, brought 
judgment to bear on Jerusalem in the 6th century BC. It is 
indeed the second cause, the Babylonians and the Romans, but 
the first cause and the primary reason is the Lord God Most High. 
He uses means, specifically Babylonians and Romans, but the cause or 
the indignation is His. And then note the answer to that 
question in verse 9. Then they will answer, because 
they forsook the Lord their God, who brought their fathers out 
of the land of Egypt, the God of the Exodus, the God who delivered 
them from bondage, the God who brought them out of slavery, 
and they have embraced other gods and worshiped them and served 
them, therefore the Lord has brought all this calamity on 
them. Again, persons struggle with 
the idea of God's comprehensive sovereignty. We need to come 
to grips with the fact that the Lord brought this calamity on 
Israel. The Lord brought this judgment 
upon Israel, both by Babylon and by the Roman armies. And 
this is precisely what Christ is speaking to in the Olivet 
Discourse. So the destruction of the first 
and the second temples was not due to the superior armies of 
Babylon or Rome. It was due to the hand and the 
power and the majesty of God in accordance with the covenant 
curses spoken by God in Deuteronomy 28 against his faithless people. Now, I would suggest this is 
an act of mercy and an act of kindness, not the destruction 
of the temple necessarily, but the fact that Yahweh warns them 
The fact that God takes pains to exhort Solomon to faithful 
living in light of the law of Moses. In other words, God takes 
the effort or makes the effort to tell Solomon what will be 
the event or the eventuality of faithlessness and Israel. 
And I suggest that we ought to read the New Testament in that 
same light. There are several warning passages 
in the New Testament. We are to take them seriously. 
We are to heed what God says. We are to understand that if 
we perpetuate the same sorts of sins that we see in the Old 
Testament Scriptures, then God will in fact deal severely with 
us. And those warning passages are 
an act of God's mercy. It's a blessing when we tell 
our children not to lick their fingers and put them into electrical 
sockets. Even if we have to yell at them 
to do that, it's a mercy and a kindness that we warn them 
because we know the danger that lie ahead. And the same thing 
is true of the warning passages in the New Testament. Praise 
God that He made the effort to tell us not to go after harlots. Praise God that he gives us that 
example or that long detailed description of idolatry in Romans 
chapter 1. Praise God that 1 John ends on 
this particular note, my little children keep yourselves from 
idols. Praise God for the warning passages 
that are used by Him to keep us in line so that we may walk 
in integrity and in uprightness. You see, the Lord has His means 
to produce and promote holiness in His people. And part of the 
means, or one of the means, is His Word. The warnings, the promises, 
the blessings, the encouragements, all of those things ought to 
function in such a way as to move our souls to this integrity 
and to this uprightness. If we are not reading our Bibles, 
we're not attending Bible study, we're not listening to the Scriptures 
preached, then we are rejecting one of the means that God has 
employed or given for the good of our souls. I can't believe 
that somebody is going to be the man described by God in terms 
of the Davidic standard, walking in integrity and in uprightness, 
a man who is very unfamiliar with the Scriptures is probably 
not going to be the holiest brother in the church. This is what the 
Lord says, and we need to take it to heart, we need to understand, 
and we need to look at the reality that faithlessness will always 
bring down God's wrath and indignation upon us. So that's the exhortation 
to maintain faithfulness. The latter part of the chapter 
is a description of ongoing political pursuits. And we ought to view 
these ongoing political pursuits through the lens provided by 
God here in this warning passage. In other words, is Solomon functioning 
as a man of integrity? Is he functioning as a man who 
is pursuing uprightness? Is he functioning in a godly 
way? And I would break this section 
down into four particulars. First of all, foreign affairs, 
verses 10 to 15. Secondly, defense, verses 15 
to 24. Thirdly, worship, verse 25. And fourthly, trade, in verses 
26 to 28. Note his foreign affairs. He's 
not the sweetest guy to Hiram. Now, I'm not suggesting this 
is indicative of the fact that he is lacking integrity and he 
is lacking uprightness. But he gives, which in and of 
itself is suggestive of some problems. Why would the king 
of Israel give covenanted land to a pagan? That doesn't sound 
right, does it? Now, these may not have been 
the best cities, as Hiram says, but they were nevertheless God's 
covenanted promised blessing to Israel. Still, Ralph Davis 
says, it's not kosher for Solomon to give covenantal land to Gentiles, 
right? So as he deals here, we see, 
again, something that is at least suggestive of things that ought 
not to be. Now, Hiram does not discontinue 
his relationship. And I think that's for two reasons. 
One, I don't think he could have. I don't know how much of a partnership 
they had. I think it was more that Solomon 
was in charge and Hiram basically towed the line. But as well, 
Hiram towed the line because it was profitable for Hiram. 
Later on in the chapter, Hiram is right there along in the trade. In fact, it's Hiram's men that 
navigate Solomon's ships in order to go to Ophir and collect gold. 
Certainly, Hiram would be a benefactor of that particular situation. 
So with reference to foreign affairs, we see Solomon going 
on in this particular situation. Now, verse 14 probably is prior 
to the building of the temple. Verse 14, rendered by the new 
king James, says, Then Hiram sent the king 120 talents of 
gold. It seems a bit odd. He's been 
given these 20 cities he's not really a big fan of. In fact, 
if you notice how Hiram does this in verse 13. So he said, 
what kind of cities are these which you have given me? My brother. He complains, but he greases 
the wheel with my brother. He doesn't want to complain too 
loudly or too bitterly. And then it says he gave him 
this 120 talents of gold. excuse me, the NIV probably gets 
it right. It's called the pluperfect tense. 
It probably means he had given him this prior or previously. So I doubt it was the case that 
he reflects on these terrible cities that he just received 
and said, well, I know, I'll give him 120 talents of gold. That's a lot of gold. This probably 
precedes the building of the temple. The next section deals 
with defense. The emphasis is on military defense. Now, there's nothing wrong with 
having a military. There's nothing wrong with having 
a standing army. There's nothing wrong with Solomon 
doing what he's doing here, at least to some degree. Now, we 
need to remember, and I'll suggest this later on in our study, as 
we look at the foreshadowing that this chapter may indicate 
concerning Solomon's downfall. The strictures of Deuteronomy 
17. The king of Israel was not to multiply wealth, women, or 
weapons. Didn't mean he couldn't have 
wealth, didn't mean he couldn't have a woman, and it didn't mean 
he couldn't have weapons. It just meant he couldn't multiply 
them in such a way that that became his focus rather than 
God. In other words, if he's trusting 
in his weapons, he's trusting in his wealth, or in Solomon's 
case, his wives take his heart away from the living and true 
God, that's a problem. Again, wealth in and of itself, 
for the king of Israel, is not a bad thing. Weapons are not 
a bad thing. In fact, they're a very excellent 
thing, especially when, you know, these nasty items are running 
over, trying to get over our wall and invade our city. Weapons 
are a most blessed thing at that time. Of course, a good wife 
is always a blessing, a gift from Yahweh. But notice, the 
emphasis on military defense in verses 15 to 19, the forced 
labor of the Gentiles remaining in the land, verses 20 and 21. 
Just back up for a moment to verse 16. We don't have a lot 
of time to go through all these things in detail, but notice 
in verse 16, Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up and taken Gethsemane 
and burned it with fire, had killed the Canaanites who dwelt 
in the city, and had given it as a dowry to his daughter, Solomon's 
wife. Verse 20, all the people who 
were left of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, 
who were not of the children of Israel, that is, their descendants 
who were left in the land after them, whom the children of Israel 
had not been able to destroy completely. Why not? How come? If Pharaoh was able to go into 
Gethsemane and take out all the Canaanites that were still in 
Gethsemane, why didn't the Israelites get rid of all the Canaanites 
that were still in the land? Well, it might be suggestive 
of the reality that Solomon liked that forced labor. Now, I'm not 
suggesting if I was a king, I wouldn't like forced labor, too. I mean, 
a king doesn't want to go out there and move boulders. He wants 
Canaanites to do that for him. But the demands of Deuteronomy 
7 were not take them prisoners and make them boulder carriers. 
The demands of Deuteronomy 7, in terms of holy war, was to 
dispossess the land of the Canaanites. So if Pharaoh, king of Egypt, 
was able to go into Gezer and burn it with fire and kill any 
Canaanites who dwelt in the city, I think when we read verse 20, 
we might just ask the question, why couldn't the Israelites? 
especially in the golden era of Solomon, when the boundaries 
and territory had expanded, when the dominion of Solomon was extensive, 
and when Israel was in a very blessed position. Again, just 
suggestive that things may not be as wonderful as it appears, 
or at least this transition is in view here. And then notice 
the seasonal labor of the Israelites in verse 22. We're reminded, 
something that chapter 5 indicated, of the children of Israel, Solomon 
made no forced laborers because they were men of war and his 
servants, his officers, his captains, commanders of his chariots, and 
his cavalry. And then we've got officials 
or leaders in verse 23, and then Pharaoh's daughter. Pharaoh's 
daughter in verse 24. Now, Pharaoh's daughter was, 
of course, Solomon's wife, and she had her own house. But here 
she's being moved. Pharaoh's daughter came up from 
the city of David to her house, which Solomon had built for her. 
Then he built the Milo. A parallel passage in 2 Chronicles 
8, 11 basically tells us that she was removed from the complex 
of where the Lord's house stood, probably because she was a pagan 
and she wasn't supposed to be there. Again, probably a political 
alliance was forged by Solomon when he married this particular 
woman, but she was indeed a pagan. And it does foreshadow what happens 
in chapter 11. He marries a great multitude 
of pagan women. the slippery slope that led to 
an unfortunate reality for Solomon. And then notice this whole idea 
of worship in verse 25. This is a positive statement. 
This is a good thing. Again, as we're just pointing 
out some things that may indicate that what we find with reference 
to Solomon at least will foreshadow some later things in his career. 
It doesn't mean everything is bad. Solomon did a lot of great 
things. Notice in verse 25, three times 
a year, Solomon offered burnt offerings and peace offerings 
on the altar, which he had built for the Lord. And he burned incense 
with them on the altar that was before the Lord. So he finished 
the temple. Now, the specific feasts in view, 
according to the parallel in 2 Chronicles, the feast of unleavened 
bread, the feast of weeks and the feast of tabernacles. Now, 
when it says that the temple was finished, we saw that in 
chapter 7. Are we suggesting or are we saying 
here that now the temple is finished? Again, the NIV actually gets 
two things right in chapter nine. But the NIV, I think, translates 
it properly. It says where we are and so fulfilled 
the temple obligations. In other words, once these things 
occurred or once these things transpired, it fulfilled the 
temple obligations. Not that the temple was finished, 
but that the purpose for which the temple stood in terms of 
this sacrifice, and this observance of these feasts, these obligations 
were fulfilled. And then finally, trade. Verses 
26 to 28, the ships were built by Solomon. They were utilized 
by Hiram's servants who knew the sea. And what did they do? They went to Ophir and took gold, 
420 talents of gold from there and brought it to King Solomon. 
So in conclusion, just a few lessons that I think we need 
to reiterate. First, the necessity of obedience 
to the law. God is not secret when it comes 
to what he wants from us. I mean, there's no secret. No 
one should ever say, I really don't know what God wants me 
to do. Certainly you do. You know that he doesn't want 
you to worship other gods. He doesn't want you to blaspheme. 
He doesn't want you to Sabbath pray. He doesn't want you to 
be insubordinate. He doesn't want you to murder, adult, commit 
adultery, steal, lie, or covet. God's will, as revealed in Scripture, 
is perfectly clear for us. And it was so for Solomon and 
for subsequent kings. The entirety of the law, the 
entirety of the man, especially the heart, is to obey. The necessity of obedience is 
conspicuous in 1 Kings chapter 9. Secondly, the necessity of 
faithfulness on the part of Israel's king. faithfulness on the part 
of Israel's king. Verse six, if you or your sons 
at all turn from following me. One of the commentators, Paul 
House says Solomon's dynasty could have weathered foreign, 
domestic and economic challenges, but idolatry makes the Lord an 
enemy. David weathered a whole host 
of things, didn't he? I mean, when you watch or you 
trace the career of David, he had nothing but problems, and 
yet the dynasty marched onward under David. Why? Because the 
Lord wasn't his enemy. The Lord was his friend. The 
Lord was on his side. I think Hauss is absolutely right. 
Solomon's dynasty could have weathered foreign, domestic, 
and economic challenges, but idolatry makes the Lord an enemy. Davis makes this comment. Yahweh's 
second advent, the second appearance, to Solomon is sobering. Over half of his words constitute 
warning. Yahweh wants to impress Solomon 
with the high cost of apostasy. Infidelity will bring the loss 
of turf, temple, and throne. I think that's a good way to 
sort of remember that section, the three T's, turf, temple, 
and throne will be forfeited if Israel is disobedient to God. The first involves the loss of 
the land and the eclipse of the Abrahamic covenant. The second 
involves the loss of the sanctuary and the visible means of grace 
just climaxed under Solomon's regime. And the third, implicitly 
from verses four and five, will entail the loss of kingship and 
the eclipse of the Davidic covenant. Only a fool would flirt with 
faithlessness. Now, it's easy for us to go, 
wow, that's true. Solomon, how dare you? We leave 
chapter 9, the queen of Sheba comes and marvels at your kingdom 
in chapter 10, and in chapter 11, it is an absolute mess. It's easy for us to see that 
in the life of Solomon, but it's not so easy for us to see it 
in our own lives, is it? It's not so easy for us to see 
our own faithlessness, or our own cutting the corners, or our 
own compromise or our own relaxing when it comes to spiritual earnestness 
or fervor or integrity or uprightness. You know, it's one thing to Monday 
morning quarterback Solomon and, you know, sort of pick on him. 
And I'm hoping that I'm not coming across that way. I'm just trying 
to point out some things in the narrative that sort of foreshadow 
his downfall in a couple of chapters. But it's easy to see the faults 
of these particular brothers and not always see our own faults. 
It's easy to see the faults of other brothers that are near 
and dear to us and yet not see our own. I just don't know how 
that can be. Well, I know how it can be. We're 
sinners, right? And we're prejudiced, and we 
have this narcissistic tendency. It's not just the selfie generation 
out there posting everything they do on Instagram. It's us. We're all narcissistic. We all 
got that strain in us. We all tend to minimize our shortcomings 
while maximizing the shortcomings of others. Let us not look at 
Solomon and say, how dare you, Solomon, be this faithless wretch. 
Well, brethren, we're not ruling over an empire. We have to rule 
over eight hours a day and a job and a few hours at night and 
a home. And we still are faithless in 
a whole host of ways. So let's not be too hard on Solomon 
and not be so soft on ourselves. And then, as I mentioned, the 
foreshadowing. The commandment with reference 
to Israel's king, Deuteronomy 17, 16, and 17, do not multiply 
weapons, women, or wealth. Now, there are two references 
to Solomon acquiring gold in chapter 9. In chapter 10, that 
seems to be all he's doing is acquiring gold. I mean, gold, 
gold, gold, gold, lots of gold. Again, it's not wrong to have 
wealth. And we need to be very careful because it's easy to 
say, well, that much and no more. You know, we want to be the arbitrators 
of what our brethren can have. Well, you've got enough gold, 
you shouldn't have any more. That's not our call to make. 
But when we hear Deuteronomy 17 say, don't multiply wealth, 
and we see Solomon with two arms open and gold coming to him, 
you know, from various avenues. I mean, chapter 10 has that over 
and over again, lots of gold going on. And it's, at that point, 
not just for the house of the Lord. It's not for the hinges 
on the door that separates the holy place from the holy of holies. It's not anymore the Lord's house. It's just about everything Solomon 
has. So there seems to be this subtle 
shift by the narrator to show us, with Deuteronomy 17 in mind, 
that things aren't as good as they may appear. So again, we 
don't want to judge Solomon for having too much gold, but we 
want to observe that in light of Deuteronomy 17, maybe he should 
be putting the brakes on some of that gold acquisition. But 
we ought to really not be so judgy of others. Well, you know, 
they got a brand new car last year. Why did they get in? That 
ain't your business. Brethren, if God in his mercy 
wants them to have a new car, they're getting a new car. That's 
between them and the Lord. If they're ready to stand before 
God and give an account for the new car they bought, why is it 
that we have that? Well, I got a new car and I didn't. 
That's not right. That's too ritzy. That's not 
our business. That is not what I'm trying to 
do here with reference to picket on Solomon and his acquisition 
of gold. Just Deuteronomy 17 and this 
whole prohibition against too much wealth. Solomon ought to 
be careful as he's got two arms open. the acquisition of a foreign 
woman. Again, this does not bode well, 
especially in light of Chapter 11. If we didn't have Chapter 
11 and the subsequent devastation in Chapters 12 and following, 
this would be nothing but great, wonderful. But we can't read 
Chapter 9 in isolation from Chapter 11. We've got to hear the text 
and perhaps the narrator, I don't think perhaps, I think the narrator 
is carefully weaving this story to show us the golden era is 
going to decline into a not so golden era. Then that whole observation 
with reference to the failure to rid the land of the Canaanites. 
Again, they may have been worse than the various cities that 
Israel had to contend with, but Pharaoh and Getzer didn't have 
too much problem getting rid of Canaanites there. I don't 
know why if you have military superiority, you're the rulers 
in the land. I mean, come on, why make them 
force labor? You were supposed to dispossess 
them. You were supposed to destroy 
them. Maybe Solomon had a heart of compassion and didn't want 
to kill poor Canaanites, but that was disobedience to Deuteronomy 
7. They were supposed to go and destroy Canaanites. So, the theological 
function, the Golden Era, chapters 5 to 8, the decline of Solomon, 
chapters 10 to 11, this is a theological hinge of sorts, which Ian Proven 
says, the temple is no sooner built than we hear of its inevitable 
end. The empire is no sooner created 
than we hear of its inevitable destruction. And even if we're 
completely wrong in terms of this isn't foreshadowing, isn't 
it intriguing? The prayer dedication, God answers 
and says, if you sin, I'm going to take this temple away from 
you. It's kind of how we are, aren't we? We give our children 
a present. Now, if you disobey me, I'm going 
to take that away from you. Right? There's a warning appended 
to it. There's a warning attached to 
it, and it comes right on the heels of this dedication, when 
all Israel is glad. You can't miss the contrast between 
866, when everybody goes home to their tents, joyful and glad 
of heart, to the beginning of 1 Kings chapter 12. What happens 
in 1 Kings chapter 12? The northerners are upset. They 
don't like the way Solomon has run his regime. And they don't 
like the fact that Rehoboam, his son, is probably going to 
do much the same. So Jeroboam leads the revolt in this particular 
situation. There's a definitive contrast 
between the end of chapter 8, when everybody's happy and glad 
and going joyfully to their tents, and 1 Kings chapter 12, when 
you see the division of the kingdom. But we ought to end on the covenantal 
faithfulness of God. The eclipse of the Abrahamic 
covenant is righted by the Lord Jesus. See, never forget that 
the Lord Jesus ultimately fulfills the Abrahamic covenant. That 
promise of land? Romans 4.13 tells us that Abraham 
would inherit the world. When Abraham looked north, he 
looked south, he looked east, he looked west. That was the 
entirety of the earth acquired by the seed of Abraham. So what was lost in terms of 
the old covenant is gained anew by our Lord Jesus. The loss of 
the temple is righted by the Lord Jesus. The temple was lost, 
wasn't it? But what's the temple in the 
New Covenant? It's the Lord Jesus Christ. I wrote a book this recently, 
and the comment that this brother made on John 2, you know that 
passage where Jesus goes in and he cleanses the temple, and then 
he says, then his disciples remember that it was written, zeal for 
your house has eaten me up. Zeal for your house has eaten 
me up. That's why he goes into the temple and he drives out 
the money changers, because zeal for the house of God has eaten 
me up. And the author makes the application 
to the passion narrative. You see, the house of God in 
the New Covenant era is Jesus Christ, isn't it? Isn't he the 
temple of God? Because John goes on to say, 
Or John's gospel goes on to say, but he was speaking of the temple 
of his body. Therefore, when he had risen 
from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this 
to them, and they believed the scripture and the word which 
Jesus had said. So zeal for God's house has eaten 
me up. in terms of the earthly temple 
in John 2 that he goes in and he cleanses. But as that temple 
is now realized in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, zeal 
for your house has consumed me. literally in the death pangs 
at Calvary. It had indeed eaten him up. In 
fact, Bates says, zeal for God's house quite literally has consumed 
Jesus since his zeal has led him to cast his own body, the 
true house of God, into the insatiable gaping mouth of death for the 
sake of the Father. Beautiful concept there. I thought 
that was just amazing. Anyways, the loss of the king, 
thirdly, is righted by the Lord Jesus. Isn't it? When God says, 
if you are your sons, you're going to lose your land, you're 
going to lose your temple, and you're going to lose the dynasty. 
It is righted by the Lord Christ, Luke chapter 1, verses 31 to 
33. So the unfaithfulness of King 
Solomon is righted by the obedience of the Lord Jesus, who's identified 
by himself as a greater than Solomon. Well, let us pray. Father, 
we thank you for your word, and we thank you for the warnings 
that you do give us in Scripture, give us ears to hear and hearts 
to receive these things, and the grace and the power of the 
Holy Spirit to put them into practice. We thank you, God, 
for Jesus. We thank you that in him we have 
the land, we have the temple, we have a king, we have all spiritual 
blessings in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus our Lord. We 
ask that you would go with us, watch over us, bring us together 
on the Lord's day that we may worship you. We pray through 
Christ our Lord. Amen.