Heroes of Israel Part 36

And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there; for that was the great high place: a thousand burnt offerings did Solomon offer upon that altar. In Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night: and G.o.d said, "Ask what I shall give thee."

And Solomon said, "Thou hast showed unto thy servant David my father great kindness, according as he walked before thee in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with thee; and thou hast kept for him this great kindness, that thou hast given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day. And now, O Lord my G.o.d, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father: and I am but a little child; I know not how to go out or come in. And thy servant is in the midst of thy people which thou hast chosen, a great people, that cannot be numbered nor counted for mult.i.tude. Give thy servant therefore an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and evil; for who is able to judge this thy great people?"

And the speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing. And G.o.d said unto him, "Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thyself long life; neither hast asked riches for thyself, nor hast asked the life of thine enemies, but hast asked for thyself understanding to discern justice; behold, I have done according to thy word: lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart; so that there hath been none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee. And I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked, both riches and honor, so that there shall not be any among the kings like unto thee, all thy days. And if thou wilt walk in my ways, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as thy father David did walk, then I will lengthen thy days."

And Solomon awoke, and, behold, it was a dream: and he came to Jerusalem, and stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and offered up burnt offerings, and offered peace offerings, and made a feast to all his servants.

=--79. Solomon and the Temple= (I Kings 5:1-12; 6:1, 2, 7, 15, 16, 19, 21, 22, 38; 8:1, 6, 10, 11, 22, 23, 26, 27, 30, 54-58, 62)

A. PREPARATIONS FOR THE TEMPLE

And Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants unto Solomon; for he had heard that they had anointed him king in the room of his father: for Hiram was ever a lover of David.

And Solomon sent to Hiram, saying, "Thou knowest how that David my father could not build a house for the name of the Lord his G.o.d for the wars which were about him on every side, until the Lord put them under the soles of his feet. But now the Lord my G.o.d hath given me rest on every side, so that there is neither adversary nor evil occurrence. And, behold, I purpose to build a house for the name of the Lord my G.o.d, as the Lord spake unto David my father, saying, 'Thy son, whom I will set upon thy throne in thy room, he shall build a house for my name.' Now therefore command thou that they cut me cedar trees out of Lebanon; and my servants shall be with thy servants: and I will give thee hire for thy servants according to all that thou shalt say: for thou knowest that there is not among us any that knoweth how to cut timber like unto the Sidonians."

And it came to pa.s.s, when Hiram heard the words of Solomon, that he rejoiced greatly, and said, "Blessed be the Lord this day, which hath given unto David a wise son over this great people."

And Hiram sent to Solomon, saying, "I have heard the message which thou hast sent unto me: I will do all thy desire concerning timber of cedar, and concerning timber of fir. My servants shall bring them down from Lebanon unto the sea: and I will make them into rafts to go by sea unto the place that thou shalt appoint me, and will cause them to be broken up there, and thou shalt receive them, and thou shalt accomplish my desire, in giving food for my household."

[Ill.u.s.tration: CEDARS OF LEBANON]

So Hiram gave Solomon timber of cedar and timber of fir according to all his desire. And Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand measures of wheat for food to his household, and twenty measures of pure oil: thus gave Solomon to Hiram year by year.

And the Lord gave Solomon wisdom, as he promised him; and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon; and they two made a league together.

B. THE BUILDING OF THE TEMPLE

And it came to pa.s.s in the fourth year of Solomon's reign, in the second month, that he began to build the house of the Lord. And the house was sixty cubits in length, twenty cubits in breadth, and thirty cubits in height. And the house was built of stone made ready at the quarry; and there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house, while it was in building.

And he built the walls of the house within with boards of cedar: and he covered the floor of the house with boards of fir.

And he built an oracle, even the most holy place, in the midst of the house within, to set there the ark of the covenant of the Lord. Solomon overlaid the house within with pure gold: and he drew chains of gold across before the oracle; and he overlaid it with gold. Also the whole altar that belonged to the oracle he overlaid with gold.

And in the eleventh year, in the eighth month, was the house finished throughout all the parts thereof, and according to all the fas.h.i.+on of it. So was he seven years in building it.

C. THE DEDICATION OF THE TEMPLE

Then Solomon a.s.sembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the princes of the children of Israel, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord. And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the Lord unto its place, into the oracle of the house, to the most holy place. And it came to pa.s.s, when the priests were come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the Lord so that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud; for the glory of the Lord filled the house.

Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the a.s.sembly of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven; and he said, "O Lord, the G.o.d of Israel, who keepest covenant and lovingkindness with thy servants, that walk before thee with all their heart, let thy word, I pray thee, be verified, which thou spakest unto thy servant David my father. But will G.o.d in very deed dwell on the earth? behold heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded! Yet hearken thou to the supplication of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place: yea, hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place; and when thou hearest, forgive."

D. THE BENEDICTION

And it was so, that when Solomon had made an end of praying all this prayer and supplication unto the Lord, he arose from before the altar of the Lord, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread forth toward heaven. And he stood, and blessed all the congregation of Israel with a loud voice, saying, "Blessed be the Lord, that hath given rest unto his people Israel, according to all that he promised: there hath not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised by Moses his servant. The Lord our G.o.d be with us, as he was with our fathers: let him not leave us, nor forsake us: that he may incline our hearts unto him, to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and his statutes, and his ordinances, which he commanded our fathers."

And the king, and all Israel with him, offered sacrifice before the Lord.

=--80. The Greatness of Solomon= (I Kings 10:1-10, 13, 23-25)

A. THE VISIT OF THE QUEEN OF SHEBA

And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came to prove him with hard questions.

And she came to Jerusalem with a very great train, with camels that bare spices, and very much gold, and precious stones: and when she was come to Solomon, she communed with him of all that was in her heart. And Solomon told her all her questions: there was not anything hid from the king, which he told her not.

And when the queen of Sheba had seen all Solomon's wisdom, and the house that he had built, and the food of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the attendance of his ministers, and their apparel, and his cupbearers, and his ascent by which he went up unto the house of the Lord; there was no more spirit in her. And she said to the king, "It was a true report that I heard in mine own land of thy acts and of thy wisdom. Howbeit I believed not the words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it: and, behold, the half was not told me: thy wisdom and prosperity exceed the fame which I heard. Happy are thy men, happy are these thy servants, which stand continually before thee, and that hear thy wisdom. Blessed be the Lord thy G.o.d, which delighted in thee, to set thee on the throne of Israel: because the Lord loved Israel for ever, therefore he made thee king, to do justice and righteousness."

And she gave the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold, and of spices very great store, and precious stones: there came no more such abundance of spices as these which the queen of Sheba gave to king Solomon.

And king Solomon gave unto the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatsoever she asked, besides that which Solomon gave her of his royal bounty. So she turned and went to her own country, she and her servants.

B. HIS WEALTH AND WISDOM

So king Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom. And all the earth sought the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which G.o.d had put in his heart. And they brought every man his tribute, vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and raiment, and armor and spices, horses, and mules, a rate year by year.

THE MEANING OF THE STORY

290. We are to study the story of the man whom the Hebrews loved to think of as one of their heroes, because of his great wisdom and wealth.

He was the most splendid of all their kings. To be sure he laid very heavy taxes upon the people to raise money for his magnificence, but the later ages forgot all that in admiration of his glory.

291 (--78). When David died he left a throne to his son that was secure from all enemies. The young king had a great opportunity to be a n.o.ble ruler. Read carefully the story of the young man's dream. What offer did G.o.d make to him in the dream? In what spirit did Solomon reply? When he says he is a little child he means that he is young and inexperienced.

Remember that one of the important duties of an eastern king was to hear cases, as a kind of chief justice. What quality did Solomon ask for? Why was the Lord pleased? What did he give Solomon?

292 (--78). It is often true that the young man who desires above all things to fit himself to do his duty, without thinking of honor or wealth, actually obtains those also. Was.h.i.+ngton never sought greatness, but what do we think of him? Tennyson wrote of the great Duke of Wellington,

Not once or twice in our fair island story The path of duty was the way to glory.

Learn these lines.

293 (--79A). One of David's great hopes was that he could build a n.o.ble house of wors.h.i.+p. He had been unable to do so, partly because of his many wars. Solomon therefore decided to carry out his father's plan. But the Hebrews were not skilful as artists or mechanics. They were at that time mostly farmers and shepherds. Solomon therefore decided to secure the help of the people of Phoenicia, called the Sidonians, who lived on his northwest border. Locate the country. What are its two chief cities?

Who was the king who sent to congratulate Solomon on his succession to the throne?

294 (--79A). Read carefully Solomon's message to Hiram. What proof does he give that he is able to build the temple? What trees does he ask for?

These were the n.o.ble trees that grew in the mountains of Lebanon. Locate this region to the north of Israel. What reason does Solomon give why the Sidonians (that is, the people of Sidon) should cut the trees?

295 (--79A). Read Hiram's reply. Notice the plan of getting the timber to Jerusalem. The lumbermen from Tyre and Sidon would cut it in the mountains. It would be hauled by the nearest route to the sea. Note on the map where that would be. Then how was it to be taken by sea to the port nearest to Jerusalem? This port was probably Joppa. Locate it. What then was to be done with it before it was hauled up the steep roads to Jerusalem? It was a hard job in those days when they had no railways.

How different from the way our lumber trains carry the great timbers!

What was Solomon to give Hiram in exchange? This is a very old story of trade between nations.

296 (--79B). When did Solomon begin to build? The building itself was not very large. A cubit is rather less than two feet, so the structure was about 100 feet long, 35 feet wide, and 50 feet high. Do you know any building about that size? Inside, one-third of the s.p.a.ce was part.i.tioned off for the ark. How was this room ornamented? How long did it take to finish the work?