6th October 2022 – 1 Kings 4:22-28
1 Kings 22:28
"22 Solomon's provision for one day was thirty cors of fine flour and sixty cors of meal, 23 ten fat oxen, and twenty pasture-fed cattle, a hundred sheep, besides deer, gazelles, roebucks, and fattened fowl. 24 For he had dominion over all the region west of the Euphrates from Tiphsah to Gaza, over all the kings west of the Euphrates. And he had peace on all sides around him.25 And Judah and Israel lived in safety, from Dan even to Beersheba, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, all the days of Solomon.26 Solomon also had 40,000 stalls of horses for his chariots, and 12,000 horsemen. 27 And those officers supplied provisions for King Solomon, and for all who came to King Solomon's table, each one in his month. They let nothing be lacking. 28 Barley also and straw for the horses and swift steeds they brought to the place where it was required, each according to his duty."
We have before pointed out that Solomon stands as a type of Christ the Prince of peace, and the conditions obtaining during his reign surely are illustrative of those belonging to Christ's kingdom. The picture of peace and prosperity, indeed of well-being and rejoicing, with individual independence and fulfilment (25) is a real foretaste of what awaits us when Christ comes to reign. What the age of Solomon experienced was a fulfilment, on one level, of the divine promise made at the beginning by God. The fact that after Solomon's time declension set in and the kingdom diminished simply indicates the partial realisation of the promise and the typical character of events in the old economy. It is as if God were saying: 'Here is but one illustration of what I mean, and it will serve as a pointer to what in the fulness of the time I am going to accomplish through My Son'. Thus, in the New Testament, we see the still greater spiritual joys brought to birth through the gospel. One has only to read in Acts of the impact the message of the apostles made wherever they went to realise that it brought indeed a reign of peace and joy. Nor is this all. The best is yet to be. He Who came in humility will come again in all his glory, and only then will the full meaning of this Old Testament picture become clear. The words in the parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15) - 'they began to be merry' indicate that the blessings of the gospel here and now, great and wonderful as they are, are but the beginning of joys. As it is written, 'Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him'. Blessed be His Name!
5th October 2022 – 1 Kings 4:7-21
1 Kings 4:7-21 “7 Solomon had twelve officers over all Israel, who provided food for the king and his household. Each man had to make provision for one month in the year. 8 These were their names: Ben-hur, in the hill country…
4th October 2022 – 1 Kings 4:1-6
1 Kings 4:1-6 “4 King Solomon was king over all Israel, 2 and these were his high officials: Azariah the son of Zadok was the priest; 3 Elihoreph and Ahijah the sons of Shisha were secretaries; Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder;4 Benaiah…
3rd October 2022 – 1 Kings 3:16-28
1 Kings 3:16-28 “16 Then two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him. 17 The one woman said, “Oh, my lord, this woman and I live in the same house, and I gave birth to a child while she was…
2nd October 2022 – 1 Kings 3:4-15
1 Kings 3:4-15 “4 And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the great high place. Solomon used to offer a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. 5 At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream…
1st October 2022 – 1 Kings 3:1-3
1 Kings 3:1-3 “3 Solomon made a marriage alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt. He took Pharaoh’s daughter and brought her into the city of David until he had finished building his own house and the house of the Lord and…
30th September 2022 – 1 Kings 2:36-46
1 Kings 2:36-46 “36 Then the king sent and summoned Shimei and said to him, “Build yourself a house in Jerusalem and dwell there, and do not go out from there to any place whatever. 37 For on the day you go…
29th September 2022 – 1 Kings 2:28-35
1 Kings 2:28-35 “28 When the news came to Joab—for Joab had supported Adonijah although he had not supported Absalom—Joab fled to the tent of the Lord and caught hold of the horns of the altar. 29 And when it was told…
28th September 2022 – 1 Kings 2:26-27
1 Kings 2:26-27 “26 And to Abiathar the priest the king said, “Go to Anathoth, to your estate, for you deserve death. But I will not at this time put you to death, because you carried the ark of the Lord…
27th September 2022 – 1 Kings 2:12-25
1 Kings 2:12-25 “12 So Solomon sat on the throne of David his father, and his kingdom was firmly established. 13 Then Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon. And she said, “Do you come peacefully?” He…