Fri.’s Devo - God’s Goodness -

Read: 1 Kings 9:1-10:29; Acts 8:14-40; Psalm 130:1-8; Proverbs 17:2-3 God appeared to Solomon again and told him that He had heard Solomon’s prayer over the Temple he had built. God promised that as long as he walked uprightly with Him and obeyed his laws and commandments, he would be with him and his posterity would sit on the throne. But, if he or his children rebelled and began to worships false gods, then God would cut off Israel from the land he had given them and the house that he had built Him would become a heap of ruins. *** In 20 years, Solomon had finished building his two houses, the Temple and the king’s house. Hiram had supplied Solomon with as much cedar and cypress and gold as he desired, so Solomon gave Hiram 20 cities in the land of Galilee. When Hiram came to see the cities that Solomon had given him he said he was disappointed and called them “Cabul” which means “good for nothing.” *** Solomon used his forced labor to build many cities. The pharaoh of Egypt had given Solomon the Canaanite city of Gezer as a wedding gift when Solomon married his daughter. The Pharaoh had captured it and burned it down. Solomon used his forced labor group to rebuild it. He also built many other cities to store his treasures and horses and chariots throughout the land. Solomon had the resources to do whatever he wanted to do. But, Solomon didn’t make slaves of the Israelites. They were his officers and commanders. *** Solomon built the Millo which was a fortification or wall to the north that protected Israel from invasions. Three times a year Solomon offered up sacrifices and offerings to the Lord. *** Solomon had a fleet of ships built so he could bring in gold from Ophir. *** The queen of Sheba heard about Solomon and his great wealth and wisdom and came for a visit. She brought with her spices and gold and precious stones from her country. She sat with Solomon and asked him hard questions and Solomon freely shared with her everything he knew and showed her how his kingdom ran. She was overwhelmed and gave praise to God for all she saw and heard. Solomon gave the queen anything she desired and sent her home with a bounty. *** Solomon received much gold every year. He made 600 gold shields to hang in the House of the Forest of Lebanon. He also had a great throne with 12 lions on the steps leading to the throne and lions as his armrests. They were all covered with gold. *** His fleet of ships brought in gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks. King Solomon was the richest and wisest king in all the earth. Everyone came from far and wide to hear his wisdom and bring him presents. The whole land was wealthy and prosperous. He imported chariots and horses from Egypt. Dueteronomy 17:16 says about the king, “Only he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he may multiply horses; forasmuch as Jehovah hath said unto you, Ye shall henceforth return no more that way. Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold.” Solomon did all these things. *** In Acts, the apostles at Jerusalem heard about all Philip was doing in Samaria and how many there were receiving Jesus as their Lord. Peter and John went there to pray for them to receive the Holy Spirit. When Simon, the man who had been a magician, saw them laying their hands of the people to receive the Holy Spirit he offered them money to be able to do this. Peter rebuked him and told him the things of God couldn’t be bought with money. He told him to repent and pray for forgiveness. Simon asked them to pray for him. *** Peter and John returned to Jerusalem, preaching throughout Samaria along the way. *** An angel came to Philip and told him to go south to the road that leads to Jerusalem. As he went, he met an Ethiopian eunuch who was a court official to Candace, the queen of the Ethiopians. He was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship and was on his way home. He was reading Chapter 53 of the book of Isaiah and the Spirit of God told Philip to go and listen. *** When Philip heard what he was reading, he asked him if he understood what he was reading. He didn’t and asked Philip to join him and teach him. He explained that the sheep that was lead to slaughter was Jesus. He told him the good news of the gospel. The Ethiopian received the word and saw some water and asked Philip to baptize him in it. Philip baptized him and when the came out of the water, Philip was translated to Azotus where he preached the gospel to the towns there. The Ethiopian went his way rejoicing. *** The queen of Sheba and the Ethiopian eunuch were both from the same region of the world. Both came seeking something from Israel and both left filled. The queen of Sheba left with wisdom and riches, but the Ethiopian eunuch left with eternal life. Both went home and shared their wealth with their country. *** Lord, your desire to get the Good News out to the world is great. May we do our part in sharing who Jesus is and what he came to do. Thank you for saving us.