King James Bible Study – [And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. – Mark 8:34]
Date: Sunday, June 15, 2025
Chapters: I Kings 9, II Chronicles 8
Message: I Kings/II Chronicles: God Answers Solomon
Hello My Friend,
I just realized that it is Father’s Day, so, Happy Father’s Day to You Father God, to my dad up in heaven, and to all father’s. A father is not always the one who is biologically connected to us, he is just faithful and never gives up on us, which is probably why God made them something like Him.
[Matthew 7:11-14 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him? 12 Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets. 13 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: 14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.]
Wow! This was actually not the passage I was looking for, but it makes perfect sense. As the world gets more corrupt by the day it is comforting to see some morally sound parents out there. That also makes it imperative that morally sound parents know who Christ is and raise their children to love Christ. And this is exactly why Jesus has His faithful out in the world so that Jesus can complete them, [Romans 2:13-15 (For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified. 14 For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: 15 Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;)]
It is strange the things that God points out to you whenever you open your heart to His Word. As we continue in the reading of II Chronicles and return to I Kings we learn that God does hear and answer every prayer of His people, but how He proceeds with His answer to them is determined by our own faith and faithfulness to His Word, [1 John 2:4-5 He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5 But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.]
Anyone can pray to God, but that does not mean that one; He hears them, and two; they are His Father. First of all, in order for God to hear our prayers we must be saved, meaning that we have heard the Gospel of Christ and accepted Him as their Saviour. Yesterday, we learned about Solomon’s one thousand word prayer to God and His response to the prayer. Today, further account is given to His response to Solomon.
[1 Kings 9:1-5 And it came to pass, when Solomon had finished the building of the house of the LORD, and the king’s house, and all Solomon’s desire which he was pleased to do, 2 That the LORD appeared to Solomon the second time, as he had appeared unto him at Gibeon. 3 And the LORD said unto him, I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, that thou hast made before me: I have hallowed this house, which thou hast built, to put my name there for ever; and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually. 4 And if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, in integrity of heart, and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded thee, and wilt keep my statutes and my judgments: 5 Then I will establish the throne of thy kingdom upon Israel for ever, as I promised to David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man upon the throne of Israel.]
Notice that it says that God appeared to him as He did when he was in Gibeon, which means that He answered him in a dream. So, when we learned of the fire that came down from heaven that was not necessarily when God had spoke to him. God, Himself consecrated and set the temple aside for His use, and vowed to put His name there and answer Solomon’s prayer as he prayed it, but there was one condition.
[1 Kings 9:6-9 But if ye shall at all turn from following me, ye or your children, and will not keep my commandments and my statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods, and worship them: 7 Then will I cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them; and this house, which I have hallowed for my name, will I cast out of my sight; and Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all people: 8 And at this house, which is high, every one that passeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss; and they shall say, Why hath the LORD done thus unto this land, and to this house? 9 And they shall answer, Because they forsook the LORD their God, who brought forth their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and have taken hold upon other gods, and have worshipped them, and served them: therefore hath the LORD brought upon them all this evil.]
God, promises to be there for us through thick and thin, He will hear and answer every prayer, including establishing us in His kingdom, but we must first listen to Him. Do you think that God enjoys watching His children living more corrupt that the world? Although the world is truly getting out of control, many saved, born again Christians are following similar paths and He will cast them out of His sight, [Matthew 5:13 Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.]
Let me tell you, as wretched and sinful as I am, there are some things that God keeps from me so that I do not fall into them, and has stopped me in my tracks. However, that too is under one condition too, our heart must be right and if it is not, then we have no one, but ourselves to blame for our fall. He will step back and allow us to fend for ourselves for a while until we repent, [James 1:13-14 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: 14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.]
Now, it had been twenty years since Solomon built the temple for God, and it has been a successful and prosperous twenty years too. After the temple was built he accomplished several more things with the help of Hiram. However, he made one bad move that would put a strain not only on his relationship with Hiram, but on the kingdom as well. In order to pay Hiram for his services Solomon gave him some land, it was actually land that none of the Jews dwelt on, but the Canaanites. However, Hiram was not pleased at all with what he got so he Solomon bought the land back, then proceeded to tax the people to pay for it.
[1 Kings 9:12-16 And Hiram came out from Tyre to see the cities which Solomon had given him; and they pleased him not. 13 And he said, What cities are these which thou hast given me, my brother? And he called them the land of Cabul unto this day. 14 And Hiram sent to the king sixscore talents of gold. 15 And this is the reason of the levy which king Solomon raised; for to build the house of the LORD, and his own house, and Millo, and the wall of Jerusalem, and Hazor, and Megiddo, and Gezer. 16 For Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up, and taken Gezer, and burnt it with fire, and slain the Canaanites that dwelt in the city, and given it for a present unto his daughter, Solomon’s wife.]
Can you see why Hiram was not happy with the land in the first place? Christians need to be just as, if not more, faithful in their dealings with the world as they are with other Christians. Jesus, said it this way, [Luke 16:9-13 And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations. 10 He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. 11 If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? 12 And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man’s, who shall give you that which is your own? 13 No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.]
Every time I read this passage it saddens me because I want God to trust me with everything and somehow I always fall short.
At the time, Solomon, was very religious, deeply involved in all the worship services at the temple and even had an altar built at his home where he offered burnt offerings daily. Not all of the women he married were ones out of love, he also did so out of treaties and since he knew that his wife did not worship God he built a house for her out of the palace.
[2 Chronicles 8:1-2,7-8,11 And it came to pass at the end of twenty years, wherein Solomon had built the house of the LORD, and his own house, 2 That the cities which Huram had restored to Solomon, Solomon built them, and caused the children of Israel to dwell there. 7 As for all the people that were left of the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which were not of Israel, 8 But of their children, who were left after them in the land, whom the children of Israel consumed not, them did Solomon make to pay tribute until this day. 11 And Solomon brought up the daughter of Pharaoh out of the city of David unto the house that he had built for her: for he said, My wife shall not dwell in the house of David king of Israel, because the places are holy, whereunto the ark of the LORD hath come.]
Doing business with the world is one thing, getting involved with them is another thing. It is important that we do not get involved with people who are not like minded in our faith, including some born again Christians. Sometimes it requires more wisdom to raise a family, do business, or associate with anyone who are Christians than it does with those in the world. The difficulty comes when hindrances lead them away from what God wants them to do. Nevertheless, Solomon, and the kingdom remained prosperous as long as he remained faithful to God ans separated himself from those who were not.
[2 Chronicles 8:13-16 Even after a certain rate every day, offering according to the commandment of Moses, on the sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the solemn feasts, three times in the year, even in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles. 14 And he appointed, according to the order of David his father, the courses of the priests to their service, and the Levites to their charges, to praise and minister before the priests, as the duty of every day required: the porters also by their courses at every gate: for so had David the man of God commanded. 15 And they departed not from the commandment of the king unto the priests and Levites concerning any matter, or concerning the treasures. 16 Now all the work of Solomon was prepared unto the day of the foundation of the house of the LORD, and until it was finished. So the house of the LORD was perfected.]
God, does not expect us to be perfect as we are actually perfect in Christ, however, what He does expect is faithfulness. Those who are faithful will fail God more times than they can count, and they will fall a time or two, but they remain faithful and that means a lot to Him, [1 John 2:1-2 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: 2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.]
Today’s Prayer: Jesus, It truly is amazing what You have done in my life since the day I got baptized and dedicated my life to You. The walk has not always been easy, I have been tempted and tried, and even walked into some dangerous territory, but You have always kept me from falling completely, even pulling me out of the fire more times that I care to admit. Lord, let me never lose sight of Your faithfulness to me, and Your willingness to give me the things I need and desire through my faithfulness to Your Word. You are my strength, my guide, my comfort, my hope, and my foundation, I am nothing without You, and never want a day without You. I love You Lord, and pray this in Your name, Jesus, Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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