1/19/2011 5:39:01 AM
SPIRITUAL DIARY
My Worship Time Focus: Solomon strengthens his kingdom
Bible Reading
& Meditation Reference: 1Ki. 9:15-24; 2Chron. 8:1-11
Message of the verses: “15 ¶
Now this is the account of the forced labor which King Solomon levied to
build the house of the LORD, his own house, the Millo, the wall of Jerusalem,
Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer. 16 For
Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up and captured Gezer and burned it with fire,
and killed the Canaanites who lived in the city, and had given it as a dowry to
his daughter, Solomon’s wife. 17 So
Solomon rebuilt Gezer and the lower Beth-horon 18 and Baalath and Tamar in the wilderness, in
the land of Judah, 19 and all the
storage cities which Solomon had, even the cities for his chariots and the
cities for his horsemen, and all that it pleased Solomon to build in Jerusalem,
in Lebanon, and in all the land under his rule. 20 As for all the people who were left of the Amorites,
the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, who were not of
the sons of Israel, 21 their descendants
who were left after them in the land whom the sons of Israel were unable to
destroy utterly, from them Solomon levied forced laborers, even to this day.
22 But Solomon did not make slaves of
the sons of Israel; for they were men of war, his servants, his princes, his
captains, his chariot commanders, and his horsemen. 23 These were the chief officers who were over
Solomon’s work, five hundred and fifty, who ruled over the people doing the
work. 24 As soon as Pharaoh’s daughter
came up from the city of David to her house which Solomon had built for her,
then he built the Millo.”
“1
¶ Now it came about at the end of the
twenty years in which Solomon had built the house of the LORD and his own house
2 that he built the cities which Huram
had given to him, and settled the sons of Israel there. 3 Then Solomon went to Hamath-zobah and
captured it. 4 He built Tadmor in the
wilderness and all the storage cities which he had built in Hamath. 5 He also built upper Beth-horon and lower
Beth-horon, fortified cities with walls, gates and bars; 6 and Baalath and all the storage cities that
Solomon had, and all the cities for his chariots and cities for his horsemen,
and all that it pleased Solomon to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all
the land under his rule. 7 All of the
people who were left of the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites
and the Jebusites, who were not of Israel, 8
namely, from their descendants who were left after them in the land whom
the sons of Israel had not destroyed, them Solomon raised as forced laborers to
this day. 9 But Solomon did not make
slaves for his work from the sons of Israel; they were men of war, his chief
captains and commanders of his chariots and his horsemen. 10 These were the chief officers of King
Solomon, two hundred and fifty who ruled over the people. 11 Then Solomon brought Pharaoh’s daughter up
from the city of David to the house which 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 where the ark of the LORD has entered.’”
This
section tells of a war or battle that Solomon fought, something that was rare,
for Solomon was more of a diplomat, not like his father who was a warrior. Solomon won a city north of him near Lebanon,
and by doing so he would be right on a trade route so he could collect taxes, but
this city also gave protection to Israel.
Solomon did not make any of the children of Israel slaves, but used
foreigners to build his cities and other buildings.
The
word “Millo,” means the surroundings of Jerusalem, which he filled in, in order
to protect the city.
Solomon
also built the cities that his father-in-law, the Pharaoh of Egypt captured for
a present to his daughter who married Solomon.
This would become a problem for Solomon in the future.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I like this term “Millo” and in a spiritual
sense I need to continue to do this in my life, and one of the ways is to put
on the Spiritual Armor each and every day for I am in a battle, and the enemy
of my soul is trying to break through to weaken me so I need to fill in the
places with the Word of God.
My Steps of
Faith for Today:
1.
Fill in the weak places around my but putting on the
armor, and by studying the Word of God.
2.
Trust the Lord to protect me from making wrong
decisions.
3.
Pray that Sandy will feel better, and that I will
love her as Christ loves the Church.
4.
Give myself to the Lord for worship and service.
5.
Continue to learn contentment.
1/19/2011 5:59:33 AM
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