Bible In One Year-Day 125 (Monday, May 5, 2014)

Commentary: 1Kings10-12. These chapters mark the peak and the fall of King Solomon’s reign. At his peak, 1Kings10, we could see the greatness of God in Solomon. He solved problems with ease, gained fame and respect beyond borders, Kings and Queens brought treasures to his door step, his wealth made silver worthless (verse21), the land was full of his wealth as much as the seas. Solomon had all anybody could desire in life. He was unrivaled in earthly (riches) and heavenly (wisdom) blessings; 1 Kings 10:23-25 “So king Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth for riches and for wisdom.And all the earth sought to Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart.And they brought every man his present, vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and garments, and armour, and spices, horses, and mules, a rate year by year.”

When God loads you with His treasures, others may occupy the same position as you, but yours will be different. There were other workers with Joseph under Pharaoh but because of God’s infilling, Joseph was unrivaled and unique. May you be relevant in your own generation in the name of Jesus Christ. I pray that you will not struggle to bear good name and represent the position you occupy. King Solomon did not struggle to get fame; neither did he struggle to represent his position amongst kings and princes. He had what it takes to defend the position given to him. His life in the hand of God was a representation of what God said in Isaiah45:1-3; “Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut; I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron:And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the LORD, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel.” Many run helter-skelter searching for the treasures of darkness and hidden riches all over the places. Beloved these great things are not inside the earth, the sea or in any physical bank, but learning from Solomon, they were inside of him. However, we need to know that God gave them to him because he bargained rightly. For you to know how to bargain for this kind of grace, carefully and prayerfully study 1Kings3:5-13. However, one thing must be clear in your mind, Solomon asked for them in order to serve the people in righteousness, i.e. not for selfish reasons. God’s endowment is for service. There are people out there in need of these treasures and when such finds them in you they will bring their wealth to your doorpost as they did to Solomon. When Pharaoh found the treasure in Joseph, he didn’t know when he created a position that was never in existence for him and, even, removed his own garment and ring and put them on him. God’s treasure in you will arrest peoples’ hearts.

Solomon’s life in the hand of God was a clear interpretation of Jesus’ word in John 7:38 “He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.” That is, a fountain that satisfies other lives’ thirst will be opened.

As a child of God, filled with the Holy Spirit, your life must represent a prophecy in the scripture because the Spirit is in you to fulfill prophecies, i.e. the Holy Spirit residing in you works on you to pattern your life after the prophetic word.

It is quite unfortunate that in chapter11, his life was fulfilling another bad condition which God warned him of in 1Kings9:4-9. A great grace was upon Solomon but the fountain of ancestral evil flow (promiscuity) in his foundation, changed the GRACE to DISGRACE; 1 Kings 11:1 “But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites;” The same weapon the enemy used to defeat Samson was what the enemy used against Solomon which is evil influence. A man symbolizes STRENGTH while a woman symbolizes INFLUENCE, but the dominating one is influence. The heart of man is deep and dark, no one can know it. God hid his treasures and riches (not as the world defines it) in the darkness of Solomon’s heart. Unfortunately, the strange women got his heart and he started using God’s blessing to hurt God Himself. His end wasn’t a good story. He became a witch like Saul, seeking to kill God’s chosen, Jeroboam; 1 Kings 11:40 “Solomon sought therefore to kill Jeroboam. And Jeroboam arose, and fled into Egypt, unto Shishak king of Egypt, and was in Egypt until the death of Solomon.”

May the Lord give us the heart of His kingdom in the name of Jesus. Our reading for today is 1Kings13-15. Keep the fire burning and alive.