"The weight of the gold that Solomon received yearly was 666 talents, not including the revenues from merchants and traders and from all the Arabian kings and the governors of the territories. King Solomon made two hundred shields of hammered gold; three hundred small shields of hammered gold, with three minas of gold in each shield. The king put them in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon." (1 Kings 10:14-16, 2 Chronicles 9:13-16) Solomon's yearly income was over a billion dollars in today's money! The origin of this income is not clear but I assume from taxation and from tribute money paid by nations subject to Israel. With some of the gold Solomon has five hundred shields made to decorate the walls of his palace. Just four chapters from now, during the reign of Solomon's son, we'll find Pharaoh Shishak of Egypt attacking Jerusalem and ransacking the temple and the palace, taking away with him the gold shields and many fine articles from the temple. This illustrates a Biblical principle written by King David, who said, "Though your riches increase, do not set your heart on them." (Psalm 62:10b) In other words, money can be "easy come, easy go" and a person's sense of security is to come from the Lord, not from wealth.
"Then the king made a great throne covered with ivory and overlaid with fine gold. The throne had six steps, and its back had a rounded top. On both sides of the seat were armrests, with a lion standing beside each of them. Twelve lions stood on the six steps, one at either end of each step. Nothing like it had ever been made for any other kingdom. All King Solomon's goblets were gold, and all the household articles in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. Nothing was made of silver, because silver was considered of little value in Solomon's days." (1 Kings 10:18-21, 2 Chronicles 9:17-20) I'm inserting an artist's rendering of the throne below to give us an idea of what it may have looked like.
Was this ostentatious display of wealth within the Lord's will? Many scholars don't think so and I have to admit that the information from today's text makes me think he's gotten carried away by his enormous wealth and power. When the Lord provided instructions for Israel's kings, He clearly stated that the king is not to "accumulate large amounts of silver and gold". (Deuteronomy 17:17b) The Lord wasn't talking about the amount of taxes and tribute necessary to run the government, supply the army, and supply the royal household. Collecting enough money for those things is not the same as a king overly taxing the people and accumulating large amounts of silver and gold for himself. We find Solomon accumulating large amounts of gold for himself and the gold he accumulates for himself is so much more than he needs that he can cover his walls in gold shields, drink from nothing but golden goblets, and sit on a gold-plated throne. Such a throne as Solomon had was unheard of in any nation of the world in his day. Even the great pharaohs of Egypt at the zenith of that nation's glory had nothing like it. A display of wealth like this indicates greed; greed is a form of idolatry. (Colossians 3:5) Another thing that indicates Solomon went too far in collecting all this gold is that, when his son and successor Rehoboam becomes king, the people will come to Rehoboam and ask for relief from the heavy taxation Solomon had levied against them during his reign. (1 Kings 12:4)
Next we learn of the mighty fleet of trading ships maintained by Solomon along with his ally, Hiram the king of Tyre. Among some of the items brought in by those trading ships were animals that are believed to have been put on display in what may have been one of the world's first zoos. "The king had a fleet of trading ships at sea along with the fleet of Hiram. Once every three years it returned, carrying gold, silver and ivory, and apes and baboons." (1 Kings 10:22, 2 Chronicles 9:21)
Solomon may be going astray where his love of fine things is concerned but he still has the wisdom he prayed for. This wisdom causes people to come from far and wide to seek his counsel and to repay him for his counsel with lavish gifts. "King Solomon was greater in riches and wisdom than all the other kings of the earth. The whole world sought audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom God had put in his heart. Year after year, everyone who came brought a gift---articles of silver and gold, robes, weapons and spices, and horses and mules." (1 Kings 23-25, 2 Chronicles 9:22-24) I am not sure there is anything wrong with Solomon accepting these beautiful gifts and it may be that, just as he gave the queen of Sheba many fine gifts in return, he also gave these dignitaries gifts produced in his own nation. The Lord commanded kings, however, not to accumulate large numbers of horses for himself. (Deuteronomy 17:16a) This may have been so that the king would trust in the Lord for the security of the nation instead of in horses, chariots, and soldiers. David trusted in the Lord rather than in the army or its horses, for he said, "Some trust in chariots and some trust in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God." (Psalm 20:7)
Solomon may not be able to help it that some of his royal visitors bring horses as gifts for him. But he can help violating the Lord's commandment that kings are not to make the people return to Egypt to obtain more horses for him. (Deuteronomy 17:16b) However, Solomon does violate this rule as we'll see as we conclude the remaining verses of our segment today. "Solomon accumulated chariots and horses; he had fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand horses, which he kept in the chariot cities and also with him in Jerusalem. The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar as plentiful as sycamore-fig trees in the foothills. Solomon's horses were imported from Egypt and from Kue---the royal merchants purchased them from Kue at the current price. They imported a chariot from Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for a hundred and fifty. They also exported them to all the kings of the Hittites and the Arameans." (1 Kings 10:26-29, 2 Chronicles 9:25-28)
It appears as if the kingdom of Israel no sooner reaches the apex of its glory than the king begins a spiritual decline. His spiritual decline very likely is related to the splendor of his kingdom, in my opinion, when he places more focus on wealth and luxury than on remaining true to the Lord. In tomorrow's passage we'll find him violating another of the Lord's rules for kings: the prohibition against taking many wives, for the Lord warned the kings of Israel that the taking of many wives would lead their hearts astray from Him.
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