12/16/2010 8:57:47 AM
SPIRITUAL DIARY
My Worship Time Focus: The administrator PT 1
Bible Reading
& Meditation Reference: 1Kings 4:1-28; 2Chron. 1:14-17
Message of the verses: This fifth main section in Dr. Wiersbe’s
commentary on 1Kings, “Be Responsible” is divided into three sub-sections and I
will take on all three this morning entitled: “Special officers.” In his beginning commentary Dr. Wiersbe
writes of good leaders saying, “A good leader chooses capable associates and
allows them to use their own gifts and thereby serve the Lord and the people.”
Special officers (verses 1Kings 4:1-6): “1 ¶
Now King Solomon was king over all Israel. 2 These were his officials: Azariah the son of
Zadok was the priest; 3 Elihoreph and
Ahijah, the sons of Shisha were secretaries; Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was
the recorder; 4 and Benaiah the son of
Jehoiada was over the army; and Zadok and Abiathar were priests; 5 and Azariah the son of Nathan was over the
deputies; and Zabud the son of Nathan, a priest, was the king’s friend; 6 and Ahishar was over the household; and
Adoniram the son of Abda was over the men subject to forced labor.”
Many
of these leaders who served under Solomon were people or sons of people who
served under his father David. The
kingdom was larger than when David first became king and therefore Solomon had
to have more leaders under his rule to accomplish the tasks at hand especially
the task of building the temple or which he used people from Israel four months
out of the year in a rotating fashion so they did not have to work all
year. The prophet Samuel warned the
people that this would happen if they chose to have a king, and yet they wanted
to be like the nations around them, thinking that a king would solve all of
their problems, when in fact some of the kings would make more problems for the
people than find cures for those problems.
Special commissioners (verses 7-19, 27-28): “7
Solomon had twelve deputies over all Israel, who provided for the king
and his household; each man had to provide for a month in the year. 8 These are their names: Ben-hur, in the hill
country of Ephraim; 9 Ben-deker in Makaz
and Shaalbim and Beth-shemesh and Elonbeth-hanan; 10 Ben-hesed, in Arubboth (Socoh was his and all
the land of Hepher); 11 Ben-abinadab, in
all the height of Dor (Taphath the daughter of Solomon was his wife); 12 Baana the son of Ahilud, in Taanach and
Megiddo, and all Beth-shean which is beside Zarethan below Jezreel, from
Beth-shean to Abel-meholah as far as the other side of Jokmeam; 13 Ben-geber, in Ramoth-gilead (the towns of
Jair, the son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead were his: the region of Argob,
which is in Bashan, sixty great cities with walls and bronze bars were his);
14 Ahinadab the son of Iddo, in
Mahanaim; 15 Ahimaaz, in Naphtali (he
also married Basemath the daughter of Solomon); 16 Baana the son of Hushai, in Asher and
Bealoth; 17 Jehoshaphat the son of
Paruah, in Issachar; 18 Shimei the son
of Ela, in Benjamin; 19 Geber the son of
Uri, in the land of Gilead, the country of Sihon king of the Amorites and of Og
king of Bashan; and he was the only deputy who was in the land.
“27 Those deputies provided for King Solomon and
all who came to King Solomon’s table, each in his month; they left nothing
lacking. 28 They also brought barley and
straw for the horses and swift steeds to the place where it should be, each
according to his charge.”
In
this section above one can see why at the death of Solomon the ten tribes to
the North came against his son, for Solomon redistricted the nation of Israel
and did not count Judah in this process, and this would have made the other
tribes jealous, for the districts had to provide food for the king’s table for
one month out of the year. The names of
the men who were in charge of each district are named in the verses above and
likely were in charge of collecting taxes and also sending the children of Israel
to work on the kings building projects too.
This shows that what Samuel told the people was correct as stated above.
Special distinctions (verses 20-28 ): “20 ¶
Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand that is on the seashore in
abundance; they were eating and drinking and rejoicing. 21 Now Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from
the River to the land of the Philistines and to the border of Egypt; they
brought tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life. 22 Solomon’s provision for one day was thirty
kors of fine flour and sixty kors of meal, 23
ten fat oxen, twenty pasture-fed oxen, a hundred sheep besides deer,
gazelles, roebucks, and fattened fowl. 24
For he had dominion over everything west of the River, from Tiphsah even
to Gaza, over all the kings west of the River; and he had peace on all sides
around about him. 25 So Judah and Israel
lived in safety, every man under his vine and his fig tree, from Dan even to
Beersheba, all the days of Solomon. 26
Solomon had 40,000 stalls of horses for his chariots, and 12,000 horsemen.
27 Those deputies provided for King
Solomon and all who came to King Solomon’s table, each in his month; they left
nothing lacking. 28 They also brought
barley and straw for the horses and swift steeds to the place where it should
be, each according to his charge.”
In
verse twenty-six it says that Solomon had 40,000 horses, but in 2Chronicles
9:25 the number is 4,000 horses, and sense he had 1200 chariots the smaller
number is probably correct. “25 Now
Solomon had 4,000 stalls for horses and chariots and 12,000 horsemen, and he
stationed them in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem.”
It
looks like all the people in Israel during King Solomon’s reign had a good
time, but at the end of his reign the kingdom split because of the high taxes
that Solomon imposed among other things.
There is now doubt that the king had great wisdom as seen in how he
handled this kingdom, but he broke many of the Laws concerning how a king in
Israel is suppose to rule and this is not something he did not know about, but
still failed to follow.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: After being sick for the better part of a
month I realize that health is much more important than money. The people who Solomon ruled over had a good
live but this is speaking in a worldly manner and not in a spiritual manner,
for it seems to me that the things that they had were plastic, they built their
house on the sand, and not on the Rock and that is what is important.
My Steps of
Faith for Today:
1.
I always need to remember that I am in a battle even
though at times the battle is not ragging, but it is still a battle and I am
always in need of having my spiritual armor on.
2.
I continue am in need of learning contentment.
3.
I trust the Lord to guide my path today.
4.
I give myself to the Lord for worship and service
today.
12/16/2010 9:56:27 AM
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