BRAGADAYJAH 1019

BRAGADAYJAH 1019

Jeroboam promised Ten Tribes

Jeroboam’s cause against King Solomon was that Solomon had built Millo and repaired the breaches of the city of David his father. And at the time Jeroboam was a mighty man of valor, and Solomon seeing him as a young man that he was industrious made him ruler over all the charge of the house of Joseph. And it happened that at a time when Jeroboam was out of Jerusalem that the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him in the way clad in a new garment; and they were both alone in the field. And Ahijah caught the new garment that Jeroboam was wearing and tore it in twelve pieces and gave ten to him and said to him, “For thus saith the Lord God of Israel I will take the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon and give ten tribes to thee. But there shall be one tribe for my servant David’s sake and for Jerusalem’s sake the city which I have chosen out of the tribes of Israel. Because they have forsaken me and have worshipped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the children of Ammon, and have not walked in my ways to do that which is right in mine eyes and to keep my commandments, my statutes and my judgments, as David his father did. Nevertheless I will not take the whole kingdom put of his hand but I will make him prince all the days of his life for David my servant sake whom I have chosen, because he has kept my statutes and my commandments; but I will take the kingdom out of his hand and give it to thee even ten tribes. And unto his son will I give one tribe that David my servant shall have a light always before me in Jerusalem the city which I have chosen to put my name in.  

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BRAGADAYJAH 1018

BRAGADAYJAH 1018

Men began to rise up against Solomon

When Hadad and his protectors arrived in Egypt, the Pharaoh had taken them in and gave them help and protection, and also a house and land. And as Hadad grew he found great favor in the sight of the Pharaoh who gave him the sister of his own wife Tahpenes the queen to be his wife.  And Hadad’s wife bore him a son Genubath who was weaned and brought up in Pharaoh’s household. And when Hadad while still in Egypt heard that King David was dead, and that Joab the captain of the hosts was also dead, Hadad asked the Pharaoh to let him depart and return to his own country. And the Pharaoh asked him what he needed, or what he lacked, that would induce him to depart Egypt; and Hadad explained that there was nothing he lacked but, howbeit he still wanted to return to his own country. And God also stirred up another adversary to Solomon, Rezon the son of Eliadah, who had fled from his lord Hadadezer king of Zobah. And he gathered men unto him and became the captain over a band at the time that David had slain them, after which he had taken up refuge in Damascus where he remained. And he was an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon; and he hated Israel and reigned over Syria. In addition Jeroboam the son of Nebat an Ephrathite of Zereda , a widow, Solomon’s servant, even he lifted up his hand against King Solomon. 

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BRAGADAYJAH 1017

BRAGADAYJAH 1017

Solomon angers God

And Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, in the hill between Jerusalem; and for Molech, an abomination for the children of Ammon; and he did the same for all his strange wives who burnt incense and made sacrifices to their gods. And the Lord became angry with Solomon because his heart was turned away from the Lord God of Israel who appeared unto him twice, and had commanded him concerning the very thing he was doing, to wit that he should not go after other gods; so he was not doing as the Lord God commanded him. Therefore the Lord said unto Solomon, “For as much as this is done of thee, and thou hast not kept my covenants, and my statutes which I have commanded thee, I will surely rend the kingdom from thee and give it to thy servants. But I will not do it in your day, because of my servant David your father; but I will rend it out of the hand of your son. Only I will not rend all of the kingdom, but will give one tribe to your son for David your father’s sake and for Jerusalem’s sake which I have chosen.” And the Lord stirred up an adversary unto Solomon, namely Hadad the Edomite being the king’s seed of Edom. For it came to pass when David was in Edom, and Joab the captain of the host had gone up to bury the lain after he had slain every male in Edom, where he had remained for six months, that Hadad then a little child was taken away to Egypt where he remained. .   

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BRAGADAYJAH 1016

BRAGADAYJAH 1016

Solomon’s heart turned towards pagan gods.

Without a doubt Solomon had more than any man could hope for.  He had wisdom and riches of gold and silver, precious stones and an abundance of woods and spices.  In addition to his great wealth, more wealth was piled upon him. Horses were brought out of Egypt laden with linen yarn and spices. Besides, chariots came out of Egypt laden with hundreds of shekels of silver and other valuable from the Hittites and the Kings of Syria among others.  But in spite of all the wisdom, and all the riches, Solomon was not satisfied; for he turned his attention towards and loved foreign women together with the daughters of the Pharaoh as well as women of the Moabites, Ammonites the Edomites, the Zidonians and the Hittites, nations which the Lord forbade them His people Israel to marry, lest they turned their hearts away from the Lord.  But Solomon ignored the Lord’s prohibition and loved these women nonetheless. And he had seven hundred wives, besides princesses and 300 concubines and these women turned away his heart to seek other gods.  So that by the time Solomon was old, his heart was turned away and his heart was not in the right place as was his father David’s. And he sought after other gods such as Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. So as the Lord God warned, Solomon’s heart was turned away and his heart was no longer fully turned unto the Lord as was his father David’s.

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BRAGADAYJAH 1015

BRAGADAYJAH 1015

Solomon’s Riches and Wisdom

As described before, King Solomon did not just store up the gold and left it in his coffers. He turned it to making objects of beautification as well as armour. He made two hundred targets of beaten gold and each target consisting of six hundred shekels of gold. He also made three hundred shields of beaten gold each shield containing three pounds of gold; the targets and the shields were then placed in a house in the forest of Lebanon.  And the king made a great throne of ivory and overlaid it with the best gold. The throne had six steps, and the top of the throne was round behind, and there were stays on either side on the place of the seat with two lions beside the stays. And twelve lions stood there on each side of each of the steps.  And the king made drinking vessels of gold and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were made of pure gold, and none of those was made of silver. For the king had at sea a navy of ships at Tharshish, as well as the navy of Hiram bringing to him gold and silver and birds and other animals from afar. So King Solomon was then the richest and wisest king on earth. And everyone was keen to visit Solomon to see his riches and to hear his wisdom which God had given him.  And all the visitors when they came to Solomon brought him gold and silver and vessels of gold and garments and armour year after year.

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BRAGADAYJAH 1014

BRAGADAYJAH 1014

King Solomon acquired much gold.

And also the king’s navy returned from the Ophir laden with gold and of almug trees and precious stones. And the king used the almug wood to make pillars for the house of the Lord and his own house, and also musical instruments such as harps, and psalteries for singers. And King Solomon gave to the Queen of Sheba all that her heart desired, whatever she asked and also of his own desire according to all his bounty; and eventually the Queen and her retinue returned to her own country. In one year alone, King Solomon received six hundred and sixty six talents of gold, in addition to what he received from the merchantmen, and the spice merchants, and from kings and rulers and governors from all over the world.. According to modern calculations 666 talents of gold would be approximately 50,000 lbs. or 22,000 kg., equivalent to 800,000 ounces of gold valued on today’s market at approximately over a billion dollars. The king of course did not just put this gold in a vault and store it away. He used it to make items to adorn the temple dedicated to the worship of the Lord as well as other uses, as we shall see shortly.     

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BRAGADAYJAH 1013

BRAGADAYJAH 1013

Solomon and he Queen of Sheba

When the Queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she visited Solomon intending to ask him difficult questions in order to test his famed wisdom. She arrived at Jerusalem with a large company consisting of camels loaded with spices, and gold and precious stones; and when she came to Solomon she asked him all the questions that she had purposed in her heart to ask him.  And Solomon amazed her with his answers to her many questions.  And when the Queen of Sheba saw all the things that Solomon had built and his great wisdom, including the meat of his table and the dispositions of his servants, the attentions of his ministers, their dress, the demeanour of his cup-bearers, and the ascent by which he went up to the house of the Lord, she was much overwhelmed, and she had no more questions.  And she said to the king, “It was a true report that I heard concerning you when I was in my own land.  Nevertheless, I had doubts about some of the things I heard.  But now I have come and I have seen and now I believed. Your wisdom and your prosperity exceed everything I have heard. Happy are your men, happy are these your servants who are continually before you, and. blessed be the Lord your God, who delight in you, to set you on the throne of Israel, because the Lord loves Israel forever. Therefore he made you king to do judgment and justice.”  And she gave the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold and a very large store of spices and of precious stones which was the largest gift given to the king by any one person so far.     

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