Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / Solomon in Living Color Msg 26 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living

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Solomon in Living Color Msg 26 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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Speaker 1: Our Father, our God, Lord of our life and Lord
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Speaker 1: of our treasure, we bow before you just as another
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Speaker 1: reminder that we are submissive to you and to your
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Speaker 1: will in our lives. We ask you in a very
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Speaker 1: special way this evening in these quiet few moments that
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Speaker 1: are before us to search us and to see us
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Speaker 1: as we are and to ready us for the coming
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Speaker 1: opening of our own lives as we open God's word,
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Speaker 1: your word together, and also as we give out of
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Speaker 1: the treasure that you have filled for us. We do
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Speaker 1: so with a sense of delight and gratitude for all
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Speaker 1: of our lives, all we have and all we hope
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Speaker 1: to be is to be returned to you. We give
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Speaker 1: with that attitude this evening in the name of your
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Speaker 1: son who gave it all. Amen. When my family was younger,
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Speaker 1: we used to play a lot of car games to
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Speaker 1: make the time go by faster. I'm sure that you
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Speaker 1: have done that name game, fill in the blank game,
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Speaker 1: letter game, number game, any game to make the miles
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Speaker 1: go by as you were taking a long trip. You
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Speaker 1: remember those times? Every once in a while, I would
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Speaker 1: really persuade them to get into the Bible, and we
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Speaker 1: would do Bible games. And it was amazing how many
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Speaker 1: of those Bible characters have become analogous to, well, to
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Speaker 1: little sayings that we have today. Now I want you
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Speaker 1: to be a part of this for the next few moments.
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Speaker 1: And let's see if you can't follow right along with it.
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Speaker 1: For example, we have the expression, the patience of, not bad,
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Speaker 1: really not bad. How about as old as Methuselah, right?
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Speaker 1: Dare to be a Daniel, as strong as, well, somebody
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Speaker 1: said an ox and somebody said Samson. Well, it's about
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Speaker 1: the same, so we'll go on. When you refer to
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Speaker 1: somebody who has doubts, you say he's a doubting Thomas.
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Speaker 1: We think of a whale, we think of Jonah. We
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Speaker 1: think of a flood, we think of Noah. When someone
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Speaker 1: is little, we say he is as small as, I
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Speaker 1: thought of Bildad. He's mentioned in Job. Bildad the Shuhite.
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Speaker 1: Or I could have... It's all right. I could have
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Speaker 1: mentioned Nehemiah, but that wouldn't have worked either. But I
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Speaker 1: think when we mention Solomon, and if we were in
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Speaker 1: a game together, we would immediately think of wisdom. As
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Speaker 1: wise as Solomon is. But unfortunately, that is only one
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Speaker 1: facet of Solomon's life. That's a whole door that God
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Speaker 1: opened for him and just kept filling his mind with
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Speaker 1: all sorts of wisdom. But it's only a part of
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Speaker 1: his life. He was much broader than just wisdom. And
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Speaker 1: this evening, we're going to see from this gift that
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Speaker 1: God has given us, the book of God, the Bible,
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Speaker 1: just how insightful God made Solomon. He made him to
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Speaker 1: begin with a man of God. In 2 Chronicles 1,
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Speaker 1: this person we would normally think of as simply wise
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Speaker 1: was first and foremost godly. He was a man of God.
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Speaker 1: That's the very first scene we have of this young 20,
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Speaker 1: 25-year-old monarch. He was godly. 2 Chronicles 1, I just
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Speaker 1: want to read one verse from it, the first one,
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Speaker 1: And then we're going to go to 1 Kings for
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Speaker 1: the rest of the night. 2 Chronicles 1. Now Solomon,
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Speaker 1: the son of David, established himself securely over his kingdom,
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Speaker 1: and the Lord his God was with him and exalted
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Speaker 1: him greatly. Indeed, he did. But it is important to
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Speaker 1: see before the exaltation, God was with Solomon. Solomon. We
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Speaker 1: rush to the exaltation and we forget the first part.
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Speaker 1: God gave him a heart for the Lord. And this
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Speaker 1: man deeply loved the living Lord. He walked with him.
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Speaker 1: He modeled spirituality, godliness. In 1 Kings 3 now, beginning
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Speaker 1: at verse 7 and for a few other verses in
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Speaker 1: this In this book, we want to see proof of that.
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Speaker 1: First Kings three. Verse. Seven. And now, oh, Lord, my God, obviously,
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Speaker 1: Solomon is praying. Thou hast made thy servant king in
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Speaker 1: place of my father, David. Now look at his genuine humility.
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Speaker 1: One of the marks of godliness is authentic humility. He says,
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Speaker 1: thou hast made thy servant a king in the place
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Speaker 1: of my father. Yet I am but a little child.
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Speaker 1: I do not know how to go out or come in.
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Speaker 1: A Hebrew colloquialism for carry out my job. I don't
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Speaker 1: know how to do what I'm supposed to do. I'm
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Speaker 1: a little boy. I'm just a toddler. I'm thinking Solomon
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Speaker 1: probably had himself in contrast with his father, David, who
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Speaker 1: had been seasoned in his walk with God. Solomon says
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Speaker 1: this whole thing is a brand new walk for me.
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Speaker 1: I'm like a little boy, verse 8, and thy servant
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Speaker 1: is in the midst of thy people which thou hast chosen.
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Speaker 1: He sensed a tremendous responsibility. A great people who cannot
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Speaker 1: be numbered or counted for multitude. Verse 28, last verse.
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Speaker 1: When all Israel heard of the judgment which the king
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Speaker 1: had handed down, he makes a decision in the middle
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Speaker 1: of that chapter there. And when they all heard it,
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Speaker 1: they feared the king. For they saw that the wisdom
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Speaker 1: of God was in him to administer justice. The people
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Speaker 1: linked God with the leader. That's very important. Not just wisdom,
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Speaker 1: but God's wisdom. They saw in him the marks, the
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Speaker 1: genuine marks of godliness. That is what this world, that
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Speaker 1: is what your family wants to see in you. That
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Speaker 1: is the turning point. That is the unique mark or
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Speaker 1: brand that you have to offer. Godliness, not religious lifestyle,
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Speaker 1: but a godly lifestyle. And when these people saw that
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Speaker 1: he would be one who would administer justice, they linked
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Speaker 1: it with the living Lord. They saw true godliness in him.
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Speaker 1: Look at chapter 8, same book, 8, 12. He has
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Speaker 1: completed a project. We're going to look at it a
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Speaker 1: little more in detail in this study. But I wanted
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Speaker 1: you to see first the statement of Solomon following the
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Speaker 1: success of it. 8.12 Then Solomon said, The Lord has
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Speaker 1: said that he would dwell in the thick cloud. I
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Speaker 1: have surely built thee a lofty house, a place for
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Speaker 1: thy dwelling forever. Then the king faced about Now remember,
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Speaker 1: he's a priest. He's not a king. I'm sorry, he's
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Speaker 1: a king. He is not a priest. He does not
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Speaker 1: have the responsibility of ministering in the temple or what
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Speaker 1: had been there when he was brought up in the tabernacle.
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Speaker 1: He's a king. But this king faced about and blessed
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Speaker 1: all the assembly while all the assembly of Israel was standing.
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Speaker 1: He said, Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
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Speaker 1: who spoke with his mouth to my father David and
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Speaker 1: has fulfilled it with his hand. And then he reviews,
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Speaker 1: if you'll notice, for a lengthy period of time throughout
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Speaker 1: that chapter, he reviews the working of God. It's one
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Speaker 1: of the longest prayers in the Old Testament, Solomon's prayer
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Speaker 1: of dedication. As he lifts this whole structure of the
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Speaker 1: temple to God and says, it's all for your glory.
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Speaker 1: He was really a man of God. Look at the
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Speaker 1: end of the chapter, verse 59. May these words of mine,
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Speaker 1: which I have made known, supplication before the Lord, be
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Speaker 1: near to the Lord our God day and night, that
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Speaker 1: he may maintain the cause of his servant and the
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Speaker 1: cause of his people Israel as each day requires. We
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Speaker 1: don't want to lose sight of our targets, says Solomon.
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Speaker 1: So that all the peoples of the earth may know
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Speaker 1: that the Lord is God, there is no one else.
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Speaker 1: And look at him as he exhorts. Let your heart
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Speaker 1: therefore be wholly devoted to the Lord our God, to
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Speaker 1: walk in his statutes, to keep his commandments. as at
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Speaker 1: this day. Now follow this. Now the king and all
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Speaker 1: Israel with him offered sacrifice before the Lord, did they ever.
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Speaker 1: He offered for the sacrifice of peace offerings, which he
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Speaker 1: offered to the Lord, 22,000 oxen, 120,000 sheep. So the
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Speaker 1: king and all the sons of Israel dedicated the house
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Speaker 1: of the Lord. You will never be able as a
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Speaker 1: discipler to bring anyone further in his walk with God
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Speaker 1: than you are. You just cannot do it. As a
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Speaker 1: Christian faculty member, you will never be able to prompt
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Speaker 1: and to instill within your students those characteristics. that are
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Speaker 1: only theory to you. They are passed on from life
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Speaker 1: to life. Solomon, therefore, is able to say, let your
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Speaker 1: heart be wholly dedicated, completely, thoroughly. I find in him
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Speaker 1: genuine humility, personal integrity, And a real scriptural loyalty. He
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Speaker 1: followed the letter of this book in his life. He
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Speaker 1: wasn't out on a lark. And I want to say again.
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Speaker 1: It is unfair to Solomon. It is unfair to the
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Speaker 1: story in scripture. That we rush to his shipwreck. And
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Speaker 1: say alas what a failure. And not see the greatness
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Speaker 1: of this man. Who for years prompted the people in godliness.
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Speaker 1: He just was a challenge to be around. Now back
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Speaker 1: to chapter 4. We've seen him as a man of God.
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Speaker 1: He puts on another hat in chapter 4. He is
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Speaker 1: a scholar, expressing itself in his writings and in his
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Speaker 1: composition of music. 1 Kings 4, verse 29. These are
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Speaker 1: such helpful words in understanding the man. 429, and I
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Speaker 1: hope that this does encourage some who are so gifted today.
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Speaker 1: And wonder at times if there is room in the
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Speaker 1: evangelical world for you. Indeed there is. Verse 29. God
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Speaker 1: gave Solomon the very important words just like you have
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Speaker 1: been given from God certain things. Gave him wisdom and
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Speaker 1: very great discernment and breadth of mind. Breadth of mind
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Speaker 1: like the sand that is on the seashore. Rokav is
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Speaker 1: the Hebrew word and it means largeness of mind. Something
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Speaker 1: that grows wider and wider and wider. I think of
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Speaker 1: a megaphone when I say that. Something that starts smaller
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Speaker 1: and it gets larger and larger and larger. God gave
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Speaker 1: him a mind that was not satisfied with just one
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Speaker 1: or two little areas of interest. He was able, he
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Speaker 1: had the capacity to entertain vast areas of knowledge. And
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Speaker 1: the writer goes on to tell us what some of
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Speaker 1: those areas were. Follow along with me. As illustration of
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Speaker 1: this breadth of mind, verses 30 and 31. Solomon's wisdom
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Speaker 1: surpassed the wisdom of all the sons of the east
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Speaker 1: and all the wisdom of Egypt. Means nothing to us today.
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Speaker 1: But in that day, it was the ultimate in wisdom.
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Speaker 1: He was wiser than all men. And then they are
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Speaker 1: named for us. Ethan. Heman, Calco, Darda. They are the
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Speaker 1: Pulitzer Prize winners. They're the Nobel Prize winners. They were
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Speaker 1: the Einsteins of that day. And Solomon, as the writer
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Speaker 1: tells us, outstripped them all. C.F. Kyle, one of the
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Speaker 1: very keen writers of the Old Testament, an old German scholar,
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Speaker 1: says this. These men were celebrated both for their astronomy,
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Speaker 1: their astrology. All the wisdom of the Egyptians... was a
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Speaker 1: colloquialism or proverbial for maximum knowledge. It extended over the
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Speaker 1: most diverse branches of knowledge such as geometry and arithmetic
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Speaker 1: and astronomy and astrology and extensive acquaintance with medicine and
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Speaker 1: the natural sciences. Solomon proved himself very learned. And I
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Speaker 1: find it interesting how the Hebrews divided the world of
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Speaker 1: animals in the next chapter. couple or three verses. It
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Speaker 1: says that he spoke 3,000 proverbs and his songs were 1,005.
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Speaker 1: He was a songwriter. He was a writer of books.
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Speaker 1: He spoke not just of biblical things, but look, he
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Speaker 1: spoke of trees. So he was a writer in botany.
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Speaker 1: From the cedar that is in Lebanon even to the
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Speaker 1: hyssop that grows on the wall. He spoke of animals, birds,
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Speaker 1: creeping things and fish. That's how the Hebrews divided it.
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Speaker 1: His study included zoology and ornithology and the reptile world,
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Speaker 1: the world of fish. He spoke of all those things,
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Speaker 1: and I take it that he wrote of them, as
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Speaker 1: it mentions elsewhere other than here. It mentions his writings
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Speaker 1: in other books that have not become biblical books that
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Speaker 1: have been preserved. Here is a man whose mind was
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Speaker 1: broad deep and varied, and he did a job in
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Speaker 1: those areas. We think only of the Proverbs and of
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Speaker 1: his song, but there were many. One of the men
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Speaker 1: that grew up in this church went on to Cal Berkeley,
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Speaker 1: and he studied, of all things, entomology, which is the
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Speaker 1: study of insects, and he specialized in the crickets. And
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Speaker 1: one of his summers he spent up in the northern section,
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Speaker 1: northwest and up into Canada, studying a cricket that came
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Speaker 1: out at night. I found myself fascinated when I had
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Speaker 1: some time with him. He said he felt like a
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Speaker 1: nut out there. He had a little flashlight and he
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Speaker 1: would go along the railroad track and he was wondering
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Speaker 1: what people would think as they looked up. He was
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Speaker 1: looking for these little brown crickets and he got them
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Speaker 1: all together and brought them. He was just fascinated by
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Speaker 1: that little cricket. One little field of knowledge that as
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Speaker 1: he opened it up to me, I saw it was
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Speaker 1: incredibly vast. And his desire, of course, is to assist
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Speaker 1: in our agriculture and helping to solve the problem of
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Speaker 1: insects that are indeed invading. And it was a reminder
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Speaker 1: of the vast areas of knowledge that most of us
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Speaker 1: never think of. Solomon studied in those fields. You know
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Speaker 1: what I see in all of this so far? I
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Speaker 1: see a wedding of authentic godliness and academic excellence. And
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Speaker 1: they are, they can coexist. I see academic excellence, breadth
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Speaker 1: of knowledge in this great mind and I see a
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Speaker 1: walk with God You do not have one or the other.
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Speaker 1: You need not have one or the other. I am
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Speaker 1: most interested these days in some works that are going
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Speaker 1: on to interest the young intellectual. You may not be
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Speaker 1: aware of some. You may be aware of all of them.
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Speaker 1: InterVarsity Christian Fellowship is moving more into this area in
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Speaker 1: their writings. And in their work with faculty and students
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Speaker 1: on university campus. Another ministry is probe ministries out of Dallas.
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Speaker 1: With a whole body of men and women that are
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Speaker 1: reaching into the classroom. And touching people with academic excellence.
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Speaker 1: And at the same time true biblical authentic Christianity. Christian
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Speaker 1: medical society is coming into its own in our era.
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Speaker 1: Coming out of hiding. It's reaching into areas. Institute for
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Speaker 1: Christian Medicine. I should say, for creation research out of Dallas.
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Speaker 1: Henry Morris of the Whitcomb Morris writings, the Genesis Flood,
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Speaker 1: is doing a job. Labrie Fellowship in Switzerland is another
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Speaker 1: that's reaching, answering some of the questions. I'll tell you
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Speaker 1: the most effective of all is the Christian faculty member
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Speaker 1: in schools of higher learning as well as high school,
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Speaker 1: junior high school, and even the elementary schools. I don't
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Speaker 1: think that we are faithful enough to pray for those
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Speaker 1: on that cutting edge or for the schools that absolutely
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Speaker 1: struggle for existence. I was really brought to an awareness
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Speaker 1: of this when I finished the work by Paul Reinert,
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Speaker 1: a Roman Catholic writer. He is a former president of St.
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Speaker 1: Louis University, writes entitled To Turn the Tide, And his
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Speaker 1: chapter that moved me most was entitled Requiem for a System.
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Speaker 1: Listen to his words. The campus is still empty. Like
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Speaker 1: any corpse, that of a college is not pleasant to behold.
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Speaker 1: Yesterday I was very much alive. What can be more alive,
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Speaker 1: after all, than a college or university? Halls full of laughter, footsteps, hellos,
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Speaker 1: classrooms full of purpose, ideas. optimism dormitories charged with that
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Speaker 1: special wattage of the young just yesterday there flourished here
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Speaker 1: the icon of contemporary American higher education a college devoted
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Speaker 1: to academic excellence committed to academic freedom a total institution
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Speaker 1: for learning its alumni useful to society yet just yesterday
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Speaker 1: this school with its student body its faculty and its
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Speaker 1: administrators now gone but today it's over The final bell
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Speaker 1: has sounded. Administrators of independent colleges and universities like this
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Speaker 1: one throughout the land will not send to know for
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Speaker 1: whom the bell tolls. They know it tolls for them.
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Speaker 1: Many of these same administrators have come from around the
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Speaker 1: country to attend the auction. No, the wake. They stand
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Speaker 1: fidgeting as final rites are performed, three classrooms at a
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Speaker 1: time by an auctioneer. The litany, what am I bid?
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Speaker 1: The college stands on the crest of a hill, the
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Speaker 1: building's deep red brick with the wood trim gleaming white,
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Speaker 1: freshly painted. Inside in the classroom, books still lie on
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Speaker 1: the desk, chalk and erasers weighted to blackboards, maps and
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Speaker 1: charts hang on the walls. Down an empty corridor to
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Speaker 1: the president's office, unopened mail on the big mahogany desk.
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Speaker 1: Further on the library, quieter now than libraries were ever
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Speaker 1: meant to be. It is as if a bell has
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Speaker 1: rung and everyone has filed out, perhaps for a fire drill.
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Speaker 1: This is what remains after the president of a college
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Speaker 1: or university calls the faculty together and announces the bills
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Speaker 1: can no longer be paid. And you're getting your last paycheck.
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Speaker 1: And he's very sorry. You grab your coat and you
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Speaker 1: run out. It will hit you later like a hammer,
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Speaker 1: but right now you have to land a job. Left
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Speaker 1: behind are papers unmarked in a drawer, a lesson chalked
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Speaker 1: on the board for no one. And then the auction.
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Speaker 1: And then it's over. A college has died. No one
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Speaker 1: will say it cannot happen to my school. These administrators
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Speaker 1: of the nation's independent colleges and universities know better. They
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Speaker 1: know that it's a tricky business, spending more than what
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Speaker 1: you take in and getting away with it until tomorrow.
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Speaker 1: In a word, association test, a layman's response to college
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Speaker 1: might be education, but to most independent college or university presidents,
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Speaker 1: the answer is deficit. written large. And for this particular
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Speaker 1: Mid-America college, one of the 30 odd which will close
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Speaker 1: its doors during this year, the condition is terminal. Those
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Speaker 1: of us who are a little beyond that age or
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Speaker 1: those of us who are younger than that time tend
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Speaker 1: to forget that. But when you're in that little squeeze
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Speaker 1: era of four, six, eight, ten years, you are very,
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Speaker 1: very aware of it. I want to say a word
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Speaker 1: for the for those schools that are doing a job,
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Speaker 1: those independent works that hang in there, committed to excellence
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Speaker 1: in the study of academics and yet not bending one
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Speaker 1: bit on the things of God. And I send out
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Speaker 1: a plea on their behalf that we give them our
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Speaker 1: personal attention, support, I don't read where Solomon got his
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Speaker 1: training at any one of them, but that's where we
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Speaker 1: get ours. I wonder if you would just be faithful
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Speaker 1: enough this week, just in application of what you're hearing tonight,
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Speaker 1: to pray for those who shape minds and are preparing
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Speaker 1: to do that this fall. And I'm thinking of the
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Speaker 1: Christian scholars right now for the sake of our study,
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Speaker 1: those men and women that carry out that assignment. Solomon
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Speaker 1: shaped lives and did it in a beautiful manner. He
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Speaker 1: wore two hats so far. He wore the hat of godliness.
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Speaker 1: He wore the hat of intellectualism. He also was quite
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Speaker 1: an administrator and quite an architect. He was a gifted
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Speaker 1: artist with people and with pen. In chapter 4 of
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Speaker 1: 1 Kings, early on, you'll see him in his finest hour.
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Speaker 1: He sets up a cabinet and then he engages in
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Speaker 1: a project. I want you to see the cabinet he
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Speaker 1: sets up. Chapter 4, verse 1, he was king over
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Speaker 1: all Israel. Well, how do you get a handle on
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Speaker 1: a nation? Well, you divide it into parts and you
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Speaker 1: put qualified men over those parts. You delegate the task.
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Speaker 1: That's exactly what he does. Verse 2, these were his
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Speaker 1: officials and they are named. Verse 7, and these are
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Speaker 1: his 12 deputies and they are named. So he had officials,
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Speaker 1: and I take this to be the cabinet, and he
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Speaker 1: had deputies, and I take these to mean governors over
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Speaker 1: big chunks of land. They are named for us. He
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Speaker 1: had a priest, verse 2. He had a secretary, verse 3.
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Speaker 1: He had a recorder, verse 3, right on down. And
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Speaker 1: then he had these deputies who were responsible, apparently, for taxation,
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Speaker 1: for the carrying out of laws, for the military forces
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Speaker 1: in Israel. Very keen administrator. Chapter 5, verse 13. King
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Speaker 1: Solomon levied forced laborers from all Israel. And it numbers
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Speaker 1: them for us right here in line. Verse 17. The
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Speaker 1: king commanded and they quarried great stones, costly stones, to
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Speaker 1: lay the foundation of the house with cut stones. So
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Speaker 1: Solomon's builders and Hiram's builders cut them, prepared the timbers
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Speaker 1: and the stones to build the house. All of this
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Speaker 1: set up as a good administrator would set it up.
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Speaker 1: He put it all in motion. He had a mind
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Speaker 1: for such things. One other thought on his administrative abilities.
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Speaker 1: Chapter 9 of this book, verse 17. He rebuilt an
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Speaker 1: area called Gazer. Areas in the wilderness, 18. I take
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Speaker 1: this to mean sort of an urban renewal project. Verse 19.
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Speaker 1: All the storage cities which he had, even the cities
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Speaker 1: for his chariots, for his horsemen. All that it pleased
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Speaker 1: Solomon to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and all the
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Speaker 1: land under his rule. And it names them for us.
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Speaker 1: As for all the people who were left, now note this.
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Speaker 1: of the Amorites and the Hittites and the Perizzites and
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Speaker 1: the Hivites and the Jebusites, who were not of the
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Speaker 1: sons of Israel, their descendants, notice verse 22, but Solomon,
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Speaker 1: Solomon did not make slaves of the sons of Israel.
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Speaker 1: He had a commitment not to enslave the people of God.
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Speaker 1: He enslaved those leftover tribes. But the people of God
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Speaker 1: became his men of war. His servants, his princes, his captains,
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Speaker 1: his chariot commanders, and his horsemen. They were his men,
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Speaker 1: his military force, his administrative cabinet. Very wise administrator, and
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Speaker 1: he didn't fudge in putting the Israelites into forced labor gangs.
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Speaker 1: He refused to do that because he held them in
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Speaker 1: high esteem. Now, chapter 6 is where I want us
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Speaker 1: to be right now. I want to put together a
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Speaker 1: few moments of time on the temples. This is what
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Speaker 1: he became known for more than anything else. It came
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Speaker 1: about in the 480th year after the sons of Israel
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Speaker 1: came out of the land of Egypt. In the fourth
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Speaker 1: year of Solomon's reign over Israel, the month of Ziv,
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Speaker 1: he began to build the house of the Lord. Now,
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Speaker 1: this is an incredible undertaking. This is what David always
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Speaker 1: wanted to build, and the Lord had said, no, that's
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Speaker 1: not for you. I'll save that for your son. And
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Speaker 1: so Solomon... Stepped into that job after he set up
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Speaker 1: the administrative system and the governmental taxing and the labor
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Speaker 1: camps and the military forces. Then he backed away and said,
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Speaker 1: now I can move into some things I really want
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Speaker 1: to do. I really want to build that temple. And
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Speaker 1: we read that he began to do it. And verse
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Speaker 1: two tells us the general sizes of the main worship center.
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Speaker 1: It was not massive. It was 90 feet long, 30
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Speaker 1: feet wide, and 45 feet high. Just a little spot.
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Speaker 1: 90 feet by 30 feet wide by 45 feet high.
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Speaker 1: There was a porch, verse 3 tells us, that stuck
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Speaker 1: out another 15 feet out front, but it was as wide,
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Speaker 1: of course, as the building. It wasn't large and didn't
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Speaker 1: take a long time to build it, but it was elegant.
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Speaker 1: It was elegant. See verse 4? For the house he made...
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Speaker 1: He made windows with artistic frames. It's just like Solomon.
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Speaker 1: Don't just frame it in, make it artistic. And so
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Speaker 1: there probably were engravings on this beautiful structure that began
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Speaker 1: to go up. He built it in a certain manner.
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Speaker 1: And while the house was being built, verse 7, look
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Speaker 1: at this. While it was being built, it was built
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Speaker 1: of stone prepared at the quarry. And there was neither hammer...
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Speaker 1: nor axe, nor any iron tool heard in the house
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Speaker 1: while it was being built. Isn't that something? You know
28:54
Speaker 1: what the workmen sounded like? Listen. There they are at work.
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Speaker 1: What does that mean? Well, it means that those stonemasons
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Speaker 1: didn't have to use their iron tools to chip and
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Speaker 1: break away because all of that was perfectly quarried There
29:12
Speaker 1: where the stonework was done. Some believe that those stones
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Speaker 1: were dovetailed into one another so that they literally slid
29:20
Speaker 1: into place. Others believe that mortar was used, in fact,
29:25
Speaker 1: but there was no cutting whatever. That's clear from this verse.
29:29
Speaker 1: If you're into construction, only you can appreciate all that
29:32
Speaker 1: that means. Incredible elegance and class. Look at verse 18.
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Speaker 1: There was cedar on the house within, carved in the
29:44
Speaker 1: shape of gourds and open flowers. All was cedar. There
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Speaker 1: was no stone seen. No stone was seen. It was
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Speaker 1: covered with cedar. 22, he overlaid the whole house with
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Speaker 1: gold until all the house was finished. The whole altar,
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Speaker 1: which was by the inner sanctuary, he overlaid with gold.
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Speaker 1: Also in the inner sanctuary, he made two cherubim of
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Speaker 1: olive wood, each 10 cubits high. And it talks about
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Speaker 1: the shape and the size and the makeup of these
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Speaker 1: cherubim Verse 28, he overlaid the cherubim with gold. He
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Speaker 1: carved all the walls of the house round about with
30:37
Speaker 1: carved engravings. Cherubim and palm trees and open flowers in
30:43
Speaker 1: the inner and outer sanctuaries. You know why they called
30:46
Speaker 1: it the sanctuary? Because that's where God dwelt. The sanctuary
30:52
Speaker 1: is the place where the living Lord dwells. That's why
30:55
Speaker 1: no building should technically ever be called a sanctuary. We
31:00
Speaker 1: have the name for it because that's what architects call
31:03
Speaker 1: it on the drawings, but the sanctuary is the person
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Speaker 1: sitting here tonight or walking the streets tomorrow in whom
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Speaker 1: God lives. The Christian is the sanctuary. You come to
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Speaker 1: this building and you bring the sanctuaries in coming. We
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Speaker 1: have a gathering of over a thousand sanctuaries in this
31:22
Speaker 1: place tonight. Now, in those days, God did not live
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Speaker 1: in the child of God. In fact, the believer did
31:30
Speaker 1: not know the permanent indwelling of God, as we do today.
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Speaker 1: And God dwelt in a house, in buildings, where there
31:39
Speaker 1: were these beautiful carvings and this incredible work of engraving.
31:47
Speaker 1: It goes on and on to describe it, and you
31:48
Speaker 1: can read it for yourself in your own study. One
31:51
Speaker 1: historian writes this, Israel experienced a sudden spurt of improvement,
31:55
Speaker 1: standard of living, and economic activity. Solomon was extravagant. He
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Speaker 1: spared no pains to turn his humble capital into a
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Speaker 1: magnificent city. He determined that only the best was good
32:06
Speaker 1: enough for God's house. Basic woods such as cedar and
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Speaker 1: cypress were purchased from Tyre and floated to a port
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Speaker 1: on the coast and then hauled by man. Up to Jerusalem.
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Speaker 1: Hold your place and look at Ecclesiastes chapter 2. As
32:24
Speaker 1: we're thinking of Solomon the architect. It's easy for us
32:27
Speaker 1: to forget that he was not just a building architect.
32:30
Speaker 1: He was a landscape architect. He was an architect of reservoirs.
32:34
Speaker 1: In fact he built three great pools that are still extant.
32:39
Speaker 1: To provide water for the city of Jerusalem. Numerous other projects.
32:42
Speaker 1: Ecclesiastes 2 verse 3. I explored with my mind, this
32:48
Speaker 1: is Solomon, how to stimulate my body with wine while
32:53
Speaker 1: my mind was guiding me wisely and how to take
32:55
Speaker 1: hold of folly. So he talks about his drifting away
32:59
Speaker 1: in the midst of his prosperity. But verse 4, I
33:02
Speaker 1: enlarged my works. I built houses for myself. I planted
33:07
Speaker 1: vineyards for myself. I made gardens and parks for myself.
33:13
Speaker 1: I planted in them all kinds of fruit trees. I
33:16
Speaker 1: made ponds of water for myself from which to irrigate
33:20
Speaker 1: a forest of growing trees. This was a man of
33:24
Speaker 1: unexcelled genius. And he testifies not in bragging, but just
33:30
Speaker 1: in the fact that he got underway and led out
33:33
Speaker 1: in all of those projects. It's amazing. Now one more thought.
33:37
Speaker 1: He's been seen as a man of God, as a
33:40
Speaker 1: brilliant composer and author, a scholar, as an architect, as
33:44
Speaker 1: an artist of the first degree, and an administrator, and
33:48
Speaker 1: now we see him as a diplomat and equestrian. Look
33:53
Speaker 1: at chapter 5 of 1 Kings. He, as all administrators do,
33:58
Speaker 1: stepped into some rather touchy fields of study. One was
34:03
Speaker 1: the relationship between David and Hiram. Chapter 5, verse 1,
34:07
Speaker 1: it required some diplomacy. Hiram, king of Tyre, had always
34:13
Speaker 1: been a friend of David, and Solomon came on the throne,
34:15
Speaker 1: and that was in question. Verse 12 of chapter 5,
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Speaker 1: the Lord gave wisdom to Solomon just as he promised,
34:22
Speaker 1: and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and the
34:26
Speaker 1: two of them made a covenant. Now, the reason I
34:29
Speaker 1: point this out is because that was Solomon's style. He
34:32
Speaker 1: would seek out individuals who were very important to the
34:35
Speaker 1: administration in Israel and he would make peace with them
34:38
Speaker 1: and sign a covenant. Sign a covenant. Sign a covenant
34:41
Speaker 1: of peace so that this man in his bilateral dealings
34:46
Speaker 1: with other large and could be vicious nations, he was
34:50
Speaker 1: at peace. That explains how he could be involved in
34:53
Speaker 1: such buildings and such projects. He maintained a diplomatic relationship
34:59
Speaker 1: with other nations. And at first, at least, he did
35:02
Speaker 1: not compromise in his stand. Now, I want you to
35:04
Speaker 1: look at chapter 9, and we'll close with chapter 10.
35:09
Speaker 1: Chapter 9, verse 26. Such unique words of this man,
35:15
Speaker 1: not found of most other people in Scripture. King Solomon
35:18
Speaker 1: built a fleet of ships. Ezion-Gaber, which is near Eloth,
35:23
Speaker 1: on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land
35:24
Speaker 1: of Edom. The fleet of ships. Chapter 9, verse 26.
35:30
Speaker 1: And Hiram, the man with whom he had built up
35:32
Speaker 1: this diplomatic relationship, sent his servants with the fleet. He
35:38
Speaker 1: picked up the knowledge of the maritime trade. Sailors who
35:42
Speaker 1: knew the sea along with servants of Solomon. So they
35:45
Speaker 1: worked in conjunction with one another. And his diplomacy brought
35:48
Speaker 1: in the expertise of Hiram and the sailors along with
35:53
Speaker 1: Solomon's servants. And they learned together. Or Solomon's men learned
35:57
Speaker 1: from Hiram's men. Chapter 10, verse 11. The ships of
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Speaker 1: Hiram which brought gold from Ophir. And these trees and
36:06
Speaker 1: precious stones. The king made of the trees supports for
36:10
Speaker 1: the house of the Lord. And he got it all
36:12
Speaker 1: to work together. See it? Lyres and harps for the singers.
36:15
Speaker 1: The trees have not come in again nor have they
36:18
Speaker 1: been seen to this day. It was a unique time
36:21
Speaker 1: in his administration. Verse 22. The king had at sea
36:26
Speaker 1: the ships of Tarshish. with the ships of Hiram once
36:30
Speaker 1: every three years, the ships of Tarshish came bringing gold
36:33
Speaker 1: and silver, ivory and apes and peacocks. And I take
36:36
Speaker 1: it that Solomon developed the first zoo for the people
36:40
Speaker 1: of Israel to enjoy. In the genius of his mind,
36:44
Speaker 1: he was able to put all of that together. Why
36:46
Speaker 1: in the world do we take this time this evening
36:48
Speaker 1: to spell out such detail? Because I want you to
36:50
Speaker 1: see how well-rounded this man of God was. How capable,
36:56
Speaker 1: how broad, how deep What a pace setter. And along
37:06
Speaker 1: with this, by the way, he was quite a horse trader.
37:10
Speaker 1: I mean that in the right sense. He loved horses.
37:14
Speaker 1: My oldest daughter would just be thrilled to hang around Solomon.
37:17
Speaker 1: She'd think that's the greatest thing, sliced bread. Chapter 10,
37:20
Speaker 1: verse 26, Solomon gathered chariots and horsemen. Look at this.
37:25
Speaker 1: And he had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen, and he
37:28
Speaker 1: stationed them in the chariot cities. Remember that. That's important.
37:32
Speaker 1: The chariot cities with the king in Jerusalem. The king
37:36
Speaker 1: made silver as common as stones in Jerusalem. And verse 28,
37:40
Speaker 1: his import of horses was from Egypt, and Q, the
37:43
Speaker 1: king's merchants, procured them from Q for a price, and
37:47
Speaker 1: he had a chariot that was imported from Egypt. It
37:49
Speaker 1: was big on chariots. McNeely's done a good job in
37:54
Speaker 1: his book, First and Second Kings. He writes this about
37:56
Speaker 1: the chariots, very insightful. In Solomon's day, chariots were the
38:00
Speaker 1: most feared of all forces that could be assembled on
38:03
Speaker 1: a battlefield. The speed with which they moved, as well
38:10
Speaker 1: as the advanced weaponry used for their platforms, made them
38:14
Speaker 1: the armored divisions of the ancient world. The tank battles
38:19
Speaker 1: of the Yom Kippur War were modern-day counterparts to the
38:22
Speaker 1: ancient use of chariots. Until Solomon's time, Israel's military force
38:27
Speaker 1: had consisted of infantry only. But Solomon modernized his armies.
38:32
Speaker 1: By introducing the use of chariots and placing chariot forces
38:36
Speaker 1: strategically throughout the land. Wise of him to do that.
38:41
Speaker 1: Protecting the land with this new weaponry. Along with all
38:46
Speaker 1: the fleet of ships and the chariots came the taxation
38:49
Speaker 1: of people that used the waterways. Solomon owned them. And
38:54
Speaker 1: as they came and as they left and as they
38:56
Speaker 1: brought trade and as export was involved, he dipped over
38:59
Speaker 1: into Africa, the Africa coast. and some of these rich
39:03
Speaker 1: countries around, including the Arab countries. But when you think
39:08
Speaker 1: of Solomon, you think of the man who was wise,
39:11
Speaker 1: but that's only part of the story. He was godly.
39:14
Speaker 1: He was a man of great administrative skills. He was
39:16
Speaker 1: an artist. He was an architect. He was a diplomat.
39:21
Speaker 1: He was a lover of animals, a lover of many studies.
39:29
Speaker 1: Look at chapter 4. of the book of James. I
39:34
Speaker 1: want to close talking about you tonight. And I want
39:39
Speaker 1: to stretch you this evening. Would to God He could
39:45
Speaker 1: raise up and would raise up some who would... Delve
39:52
Speaker 1: into fields that are beyond your present thought right now.
39:57
Speaker 1: James 4, we often use for a reproof. I want
40:00
Speaker 1: to use it for an encouragement. Verse 13, James 4, 13.
40:05
Speaker 1: Come now, you who say, today or tomorrow, we shall
40:09
Speaker 1: go to such and such a city and spend a
40:11
Speaker 1: year there and engage in business and make a profit.
40:13
Speaker 1: It's a picture of a very presumptuous person. Says, I'm
40:17
Speaker 1: going to do this and this and that, and it's
40:18
Speaker 1: going to work like this and that, and I've got
40:20
Speaker 1: it all planned. But applying it now to an individual
40:24
Speaker 1: who does want to count for Christ, verse 14, yet
40:28
Speaker 1: you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow.
40:32
Speaker 1: You are just a vapor that appears for a little
40:37
Speaker 1: while and then vanishes away. Just a vapor. And instead
40:46
Speaker 1: of all that presumption in verse 13, you ought to say,
40:50
Speaker 1: if the Lord wills, We shall live and do this
40:56
Speaker 1: or that. What is the this or that of your life?
41:03
Speaker 1: Before you close your Bible tonight and call it the
41:05
Speaker 1: end of the study, wait a minute. Think. What is
41:07
Speaker 1: your this or that? Now, to be sure, there isn't
41:13
Speaker 1: a Solomon in the place. His mold was broken and
41:17
Speaker 1: destroyed at the end of his life. But just take
41:20
Speaker 1: one field or one contribution that is yours to make.
41:24
Speaker 1: What is that? I often hear those getting a little
41:32
Speaker 1: older saying, it's just too late. You could have seen
41:37
Speaker 1: me 20 years ago. It would have been different and
41:39
Speaker 1: you could get my attention, but it's too late. It's
41:41
Speaker 1: almost a mockery. That isn't true. It is never too late.
41:50
Speaker 1: I love reading the works of J. Oswald Sanders and
41:53
Speaker 1: in his book, Robust in Faith, which is now called
41:55
Speaker 1: Spiritual Manpower. He talks about that very subject of never
41:59
Speaker 1: being too late. Cannon Nash was who founded the Melbourne
42:03
Speaker 1: Bible Institute and trained a thousand young men and women
42:07
Speaker 1: for Christian service, retired from his principalship at the age
42:10
Speaker 1: of 70. At 80, he received assurance from the Lord
42:16
Speaker 1: that a further fruitful ministry of 10 years lay ahead
42:19
Speaker 1: of him. This is when he was 80. This assurance
42:23
Speaker 1: was abundantly fulfilled. During those years, he was uniquely blessed
42:26
Speaker 1: in a ministry of Bible teaching to a key group
42:29
Speaker 1: of clergy and laymen. Probably the most fruitful years of
42:32
Speaker 1: his life. When he was nearly 90, this author found
42:36
Speaker 1: him completing the reading of volume 6 of Toynbee's Monumental
42:40
Speaker 1: History as a mental exercise. Like Caleb, he defied the
42:45
Speaker 1: natural order. If you think that's great, listen to this. Man.
42:50
Speaker 1: Benjamin Ryrie retired as a missionary from the China Inland
42:53
Speaker 1: Mission at the age of 70. When he was 80,
42:56
Speaker 1: he decided to learn New Testament Greek. As he had
43:01
Speaker 1: not had the opportunity when he was younger, he became
43:03
Speaker 1: proficient in reading the Greek New Testament. At 90, he
43:07
Speaker 1: attended a refresher course Can you imagine all the guys
43:12
Speaker 1: in class, 18, 19, 20-year-old guys? There's this 90-year-old fellow
43:16
Speaker 1: coming in, big New Testament Greek Bible under his arm.
43:19
Speaker 1: At 90, he attended a refresher course in the New
43:22
Speaker 1: Testament Greek at a Toronto theological seminary. When he was
43:26
Speaker 1: 100 years old, he was present at a meeting at
43:29
Speaker 1: which the author was speaking. In his pocket was a small,
43:32
Speaker 1: well-worn Greek lexicon, which he used to brush up on
43:36
Speaker 1: Greek while traveling by public transport. It is too late
43:41
Speaker 1: writes Longfellow, ah, nothing is too late. Cato learned Greek
43:45
Speaker 1: at 80. Sophocles wrote his grand Oedipus, and Simonides bore
43:49
Speaker 1: off the prize of verse from his compeers, which each
43:53
Speaker 1: had numbered more than four score years. Theophrastus at four
44:00
Speaker 1: score and ten had begun his characters of men. Chaucer
44:04
Speaker 1: at Woodstock with his nightingales at 60 wrote the Canterbury Tales.
44:09
Speaker 1: Goethe at Weimar, toiling to the last, completed Faust when
44:13
Speaker 1: 80 years were past. What then shall we sit idly
44:17
Speaker 1: down and say, the night has come, it is no
44:19
Speaker 1: longer day. For age is opportunity no less than youth itself,
44:25
Speaker 1: though in another dress. And as the evening twilight fades away,
44:30
Speaker 1: the sky is filled with stars invisible by day. I
44:36
Speaker 1: think some of you are just about to give up.
44:39
Speaker 1: Surrounded by the young, intimidated by the times, you felt, well,
44:45
Speaker 1: mediocrity will be my best input. Learn a lesson from
44:51
Speaker 1: Solomon this evening. Maybe you don't have all of those gifts,
44:54
Speaker 1: but you have one. You have life. If God were finished,
45:01
Speaker 1: he'd take you. So if you wonder if God is true,
45:05
Speaker 1: when you get home tonight, stand real close to a
45:07
Speaker 1: mirror and go, If something happens on the mirror, then
45:13
Speaker 1: you're still got purpose in life. If nothing happens, call me. Oh, shoot. Well,
45:32
Speaker 1: you're not through till we put you away. And I
45:37
Speaker 1: haven't gotten any calls from you lately, so... Get at it.
45:43
Speaker 1: Get at it. Take the shackles off. Entertain some possibilities.
45:49
Speaker 1: Pay the price and get at it. And if you're
45:54
Speaker 1: among the young and you've begun to question, should you
45:56
Speaker 1: get at it? There's your answer. Do it. I love
46:01
Speaker 1: Lauren Sandy's words. He said he could take his father's
46:03
Speaker 1: counsel and wrap it up in three words. Get with it.
46:09
Speaker 1: That's my counsel to you. Get with it. Let's bow together.
46:21
Speaker 1: Maybe this is a perfect time to bring a charge
46:23
Speaker 1: to you tonight. Some of you have put your minds
46:29
Speaker 1: in neutral and they've been there for a while. The
46:31
Speaker 1: dust has settled and you've thought, well, that's it for me.
46:37
Speaker 1: It's never it. Until you declare it so. His faithfulness
46:46
Speaker 1: is new every morning. The rising of the sun on
46:50
Speaker 1: Monday morning tells you God is there as a purpose.
46:57
Speaker 1: Maybe to take that course or to step into that
47:00
Speaker 1: new field or to go back for that master's or
47:04
Speaker 1: try that new career or make that move or branch
47:11
Speaker 1: out into that ministry or open your door To the hungry.
47:22
Speaker 1: Or investing something in your family you've never done before.
47:27
Speaker 1: What is your life? It is a vapor. It appears
47:32
Speaker 1: and vanishes. Father, this evening we've seen ourselves in a
47:46
Speaker 1: mirror of another man's life. It's easy to be intimidated
47:53
Speaker 1: around Solomon. Everything he touched turned to gold. And none
48:02
Speaker 1: of us have known that experience. It's easy to hear
48:07
Speaker 1: the enemy's voice shouting, you'll fail. It isn't worth it.
48:14
Speaker 1: Just quit. The odds are against you. Nobody's ever done
48:21
Speaker 1: that at your age. On and on. When in reality
48:26
Speaker 1: you're never finished until life is ended. And then we
48:30
Speaker 1: really have the commencement into what life was all about.
48:35
Speaker 1: I thank you tonight for the encouragement that your word
48:38
Speaker 1: never fails to bring. I remember what Paul has said.
48:42
Speaker 1: Oh the depth of the riches. Both of the wisdom
48:46
Speaker 1: and the knowledge of God. How unsearchable are his judgments
48:51
Speaker 1: and unfathomable his ways. Stimulate, strengthen, encourage us. Set us
49:03
Speaker 1: on a new course, Lord, some who have felt they
49:06
Speaker 1: have been sidelined. Get them back on the track in
49:09
Speaker 1: your way with a real burst of encouragement, Father. I
49:17
Speaker 1: ask this through Jesus. Christ.
49:20
Speaker 2: Our Lord.
49:21
Speaker 1: Amen.
49:25
Speaker 2: The preceding message, Solomon in Living Color, was copyrighted in 1978, 1980, 1982, 1987, 1995, 2008,
49:40
Speaker 2: And the sound recording was copyrighted in 2024 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc.
49:47
Speaker 2: All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for
49:52
Speaker 2: commercial use is strictly prohibited.