1 Kings 10:14-29
Solomon’s Great Wealth
14 The weight of gold that came to Solomon yearly was six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold, 15 besides that from the traveling merchants, from the income of traders, from all the kings of Arabia, and from the governors of the country.
16 And King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold; six hundred shekels of gold went into each shield. 17 He also made three hundred shields of hammered gold; three minas of gold went into each shield. The king put them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon.
18 Moreover the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with pure gold. 19 The throne had six steps, and the top of the throne was round at the back; there were armrests on either side of the place of the seat, and two lions stood beside the armrests. 20 Twelve lions stood there, one on each side of the six steps; nothing like this had been made for any other kingdom.
21 All King Solomon’s drinking vessels were gold, and all the vessels of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. Not one was silver, for this was accounted as nothing in the days of Solomon. 22 For the king had merchant ships at sea with the fleet of Hiram. Once every three years the merchant ships came bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and monkeys. 23 So King Solomon surpassed all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom.
24 Now all the earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart. 25 Each man brought his present: articles of silver and gold, garments, armor, spices, horses, and mules, at a set rate year by year.
26 And Solomon gathered chariots and horsemen; he had one thousand four hundred chariots and twelve thousand horsemen, whom he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king at Jerusalem. 27 The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedar trees as abundant as the sycamores which are in the lowland.
28 Also Solomon had horses imported from Egypt and Keveh; the king’s merchants bought them in Keveh at the current price. 29 Now a chariot that was imported from Egypt cost six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse one hundred and fifty; and thus, through their agents, they exported them to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Syria.
Solomon experienced God’s an abundant supply of wisdom, but also of nearly endless provision of material goods as well. He ruled in the wisdom of the LORD as he had begged God to have (2 Chronicles 1:11, 12) for his people and the LORD promised him the riches he never asked for or sought after. We who are in Christ also find that our truly fulfilling desires are not for prosperity of material wealth, but of the knowledge and wisdom of the Lord through His word and Spirit that we may serve Him and others in acceptable fear (Matthew 6:31, Philippians 4:19, 1 Peter 4:11) and awe with thankful hearts for all His grace and goodness of provision and providence. Whether we have luxury or poverty, we are rich in the wisdom and knowledge of Jesus Christ our Lord! We later see how the love of riches can corrupt with pride and sin that rot from within when our valuation of material possessions overtakes the true riches (Jeremiah 9:23, 24, Luke 12:21, 1 Timothy 6:6, 17) we possess in our great God and Savior, (Titus 2:13, 2 Peter 1:1) Jesus Christ. We find wisdom in 2 Peter 3:16, 17 to avoid false doctrines of seeking possessions over wisdom that some erroneously teach today as we choose instead to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He is our greatest gifted possession and our wealth is founded on and in His love and grace as adopted sons and daughters of the true and only wise King. May we then humbly pursue knowledge of and knowing Him as our greatest possession and reward and not allow the thorns of life to choke out our joy in following and serving Him as living sacrifices in continuous contentment amidst the calls of the world or bad teachings around us. God’s love in His abundant supply (2 Corinthians 9:8, 1 Thessalonians 4:1) is all we need.
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