God Pleasing Achievements

2 Chronicles 8:1-18 

    1 It came to pass at the end of twenty years, when Solomon had built the house of the LORD and his own house, 2 that the cities which Hiram had given to Solomon, Solomon built them; and he settled the children of Israel there. 3 And Solomon went to Hamath Zobah and seized it. 4 He also built Tadmor in the wilderness, and all the storage cities which he built in Hamath. 5 He built Upper Beth Horon and Lower Beth Horon, fortified cities with walls, gates, and bars, 6 also Baalath and all the storage cities that Solomon had, and all the chariot cities and the cities of the cavalry, and all that Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion.

    7 All the people who were left of the Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, who were not of Israel— 8 that is, their descendants who were left in the land after them, whom the children of Israel did not destroy—from these Solomon raised forced labor, as it is to this day. 9 But Solomon did not make the children of Israel servants for his work. Some were men of war, captains of his officers, captains of his chariots, and his cavalry. 10 And others were chiefs of the officials of King Solomon: two hundred and fifty, who ruled over the people.

    11 Now Solomon brought the daughter of Pharaoh up from the City of David to the house he had built for her, for he said, "My wife shall not dwell in the house of David king of Israel, because the places to which the ark of the LORD has come are holy."

    12 Then Solomon offered burnt offerings to the LORD on the altar of the LORD which he had built before the vestibule, 13 according to the daily rate, offering according to the commandment of Moses, for the Sabbaths, the New Moons, and the three appointed yearly feasts—the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Tabernacles. 14 And, according to the order of David his father, he appointed the divisions of the priests for their service, the Levites for their duties (to praise and serve before the priests) as the duty of each day required, and the gatekeepers by their divisions at each gate; for so David the man of God had commanded. 15 They did not depart from the command of the king to the priests and Levites concerning any matter or concerning the treasuries.

    16 Now all the work of Solomon was well-ordered from the day of the foundation of the house of the LORD until it was finished. So the house of the LORD was completed.

    17 Then Solomon went to Ezion Geber and Elath on the seacoast, in the land of Edom. 18 And Hiram sent him ships by the hand of his servants, and servants who knew the sea. They went with the servants of Solomon to Ophir, and acquired four hundred and fifty talents of gold from there, and brought it to King Solomon.

Solomon had many achievements which he could have been proud of, but his industriousness was overshadowed with trust in God’s sovereign work through him and the resulting humility because of that.  After finishing the construction of the house of the LORD and his own house, the king built up the cities given Israel by Syria and settled more of God’s people in those.  Other cities Solomon conquered and further expanded the kingdom as the LORD gave increase.  As to the peoples which God had commanded Israel to execute divine judgment on by elimination, but whom Israel did not, these Solomon enslaved as laborers to be servants in place of Israelites.  These would later prove to be the thorns to Israel as informed by God before they entered the promised land (Deuteronomy 11:22-23, Numbers 33:55, Joshua 23:13) if they did not eliminate them and their snares of false gods.  Solomon put his wife in a third house built just for her, as she was not of God’s people and had no place so close to the Ark of God’s covenant.  This would not stop her from leading the king into idolatry later in life, unfortunately.  She did not corrupt the holy places of the LORD by inhabiting them, but by influencing their leader away from the light.  Solomon here initially kept up all the ritual sacrifices faithfully and consistently, ordering all things well in God’s sight according to His word, especially to the point of finishing the house of the LORD.  The chapter ends with sending out ships to obtain more gold for the treasury which would later be lost because of his sinful example and Israel’s resulting unfaithfulness.  Some things we can observe and learn from these recollections include doing all (Colossians 3:17, 1 Corinthians 10:31) for God’s glory, honor, and praise to serve and worship Him and beware going after other objects of worship (Colossians 3:5).  We find that obedience is truly better than sacrifice (1 Samuel 15:22, Mark 12:33), for God looks at the heart following Him as king David and Paul the apostle have given us the examples.  It is also apparent that small compromises lead to ruin if not confesses and turned away from (repented of), which can also bring many down with us because of our bad examples.  It is far better then to follow Christ by His word and godly examples (1 Corinthians 11:1, Hebrews 13:7) with a heart set on loving obedience and constant repentance (1 John 1:9).  This is how we manage the house of God in ourselves and corporately with eternal God pleasing achievements.