Wed.’s Devo - The Coming Kingdom

Read: 1 Kings 9:1-10:29; Acts 8:14-40; Psalm 130:1-8; Proverbs 17:2-3 Solomon had completed his building projects and the Lord appeared to him again at Gibeon. He told Solomon that he had heard his prayer and He had set the Temple apart as holy to honor his name. He promised to be with Solomon if he followed him as David had. He would establish his throne over Israel forever. But if he or his descendants abandoned the Lord and disobeyed his commands and served other gods, He would uproot Israel from the land and reject the Temple. He would make Israel an object of mockery and ridicule and people who visited Jerusalem would be amazed at what had happened to their Temple. *** It had taken Solomon 20 years to complete his building projects and then he gave 20 towns to Hiram who had provided all the cypress timber and gold that Solomon had bought. When Hiram came to see the towns he had been given, he called them worthless - Cabul. But, he did pay Solomon 9,000 pounds of gold for them so he must not have thought they weren’t too worthless. *** Solomon married the daughter of the Pharaoh of Egypt. As a wedding gift the Pharaoh gave him back the town of Gezer that he had captured and burned down during David’s reign. Solomon had it rebuilt along with Lower Beth-horon, Baalath, and Tamar. He used non-Israelites to do his hard labor but gave Israelites the honor of being soldiers, officers, captains, and supervisors over his building projects. *** Solomon built a palace for his wife, the Pharoah’s daughter and moved her from the city of David to Jerusalem. *** Solomon’s fame reached Sheba and the queen came to visit to see if all she had heard was true. She brought caravans of spices, gold and precious jewels. She asked Solomon many questions and saw all he had built and how he ran his kingdom. When she left, Solomon sent her away loaded with gifts. *** Solomon received about 25 tons os gold from other nations. He traded with people from all over the world. He had 200 large shields of hammered gold made and hung in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon. *** Solomon had a huge throne made overlaid with gold and decorated with ivory. The throne had six steps. The seat had a rounded back and armrests on both sides. The figure of a lion stood on each sides of the throne. Twelve other lions stood on either side of the six steps. *** Solomon became richer and wiser than any other king on earth. Peopler from every nation came to console with him and hear his wisdom. He build up a huge force of chariots and horses and stationed them all around Jerusalem. *** In Acts, the apostles heard what was happening in Samaria and sent Peter and John to join Philip there. They laid hands on the new believers and prayed for them to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit. When Simon, the one who had been the magician saw this transfer of power, he tried to offer them money to buy this power. He was rebuked for wanting power for his own name’s sake. He repented and asked for Peter to pray for him. *** Peter and John fulfilled their mission in Samaria and began their journey back home to Jerusalem. They stopped and preached in many Samaritan villages along the way. An angel told Philip to go south to Gaza so he did. He met a man from Ethiopia who was the treasurer to Kandake, the queen of Ethiopia. He had been to Jerusalem to worship. He was in his carriage reading aloud from the book of the Isaiah. The Holy Spirit told Philip to walk over and listen to what he was reading. *** When he heard it he asked him if he understood what he was reading. He was reading from Isaiah 53 where it gave the description of Jesus as the suffering servant. He asked Philip to come up on his carriage and explain it to him. Philip explained that it was foretelling the coming of Jesus the Messiah who came and died for them. Philip believed and wanted to be baptized. They passed some water and Philip baptized him. When the man came out of the water, God transported Philip and he woke up in the town of Azotos north of there. He preached there until he came to Caesarea. *** Solomon’s kingdom is a picture of what is to come in the natural and what was going on in the New Testament with the apostles is a picture of what is coming in the spiritual. It is all so exciting. *** Lord, may we have our hearts right to handle the power and the wealth you want to give us to help others. May we keep in mind that it is all for your glory.