“Glory to the Precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ”

1 Timothy 1: 18, 19

This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, 

having faith and a good conscience, which some having rejected, concerning the faith have suffered shipwreck,

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen

We, the bride, the church should have faith with Christ and fellowship with the holy people.

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, in the portion of the Bible that we meditated upon in the past days, we meditated that we, the bride, the church in our body which is the body of Christ we should not give place for foreign decorations.

Next what we are meditating upon is that 1 Kings 9: 14 – 16 Then Hiram sent the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold.

And this is the reason for the labor force which King Solomon raised: to build the house of the Lord, his own house, the Millo, the wall of Jerusalem, Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer. 

(Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up and taken Gezer and burned it with fire, had killed the Canaanites who dwelt in the city, and had given it as a dowry to his daughter, Solomon’s wife.)

According to the above-mentioned verses, Hiram sent the king Solomon one hundred and twenty talents of gold. And this is the reason for the labor force which King Solomon raised: to build the house of the Lord, his own house, the Millo, the wall of Jerusalem, Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer. The reason for this is that Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up and taken Gezer and burned it with fire, had killed the Canaanites who dwelt in the city, and had given it as a dowry to his daughter, Solomon’s wife. Also, in 1 Kings 9: 17 – 19 And Solomon built Gezer, Lower Beth Horon, 

Baalath, and Tadmor in the wilderness, in the land of Judah, 

all the storage cities that Solomon had, cities for his chariots and cities for his cavalry, and whatever Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion.

King Solomon built the above-mentioned cities. Then in 1 Kings 9: 20, 21 All the people who were left of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, who were not of the children of Israel— 

that is, their descendants who were left in the land after them, whom the children of Israel had not been able to destroy completely—from these Solomon raised forced labour, as it is to this day.

Those who have been mentioned in these verses Solomon raised forced labour. But of the children of Israel Solomon made no forced laborers, because they were men of war and his servants: his officers, his captains, commanders of his chariots, and his cavalry. Others were chiefs of the officials who were over Solomon’s work: five hundred and fifty, who ruled over the people who did the work. But Pharaoh’s daughter came up from the City of David to her house which Solomon had built for her. Then he built the Millo. Now three times a year Solomon offered burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar which he had built for the Lord, and he burned incense with them on the altar that was before the Lord. So he finished the temple. King Solomon also built a fleet of ships at Ezion Geber, which is near Elath on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom. Then Hiram sent his servants with the fleet, seamen who knew the sea, to work with the servants of Solomon. And they went to Ophir and acquired four hundred and twenty talents of gold from there and brought it to King Solomon.

My dear people, when we read the previous verses even though God had given Solomon wisdom, we can see that he walked in a way that his mind went. Also, even though the Lord gave him guidance we can see that he is going to people. Also, he did evil things which are against the name of the Lord, and we can read that he is taking the daughter of Pharaoh as his wife. Also, in the land of Edom he built a fleet of ships at Ezion Geber along with Hiram and he acquired the gold that the servants of Hiram brought. Ships are a pattern of our life of faith. That is, Solomon joins with the Gentile Hiram and in Edom he is making ships. But our faith should be with Christ and not only that, but we must have fellowship with the holy people and worship the Lord. In this manner, with the faith we have in Christ along with the fellowship with the holy people we must submit ourselves to worship the Lord.

Let us pray. May the Lord bless you all abundantly. 

       - To be continued