Day 18

Solomon told Hiram of Tyre he wanted to build a temple following the promise God gave to his father, David. He asked Hiram to give orders for cedar trees to be cut down in the Lebanon forest. His loggers would work beside Hiram's men, they would all get paid with a workforce of 30,000 men from Israel. Ten thousand of them went monthly to the forest. They'd work for a month and then be off 2 months. Seventy thousand men were unskilled laborers and another 80,000 were stone cutters. There were 3,300 project managers.

The temple was started in Solomon's 4th year of reigning over all of Israel. It was 90 ft. long, 30 ft. wide, 45 ft. high with a 15 ft. porch. God's words came to Solomon saying it was important for him to live the way God set out for him and follow His instructions carefully and obediently. God must've known Solomon needed that reminder, I know I do! The inner sanctuary housed the Chest of the Covenant of God and was a 30x30 ft cube. The walls were gold plated. The cedar altar was also gold plated. I've got to get the name of their decorator! :) The cherubim on the chest were made of olive wood and stood 15 ft. high. Their wingspan was also 15 ft. Solomon carved palm trees and flower blossoms on the walls of the inner and main sanctuary. All the floors were gold plated. The doors to the inner sanctuary were engraved with palm trees and flower blossoms and covered in gold leaf. The main doors were identical. It took Solomon 7 years to complete God's Temple. Thirteen yeras after that, he finished his palace complex. The palace was located in the forest of Lebanon.

All the leaders of Israel were summoned by Solomon to bring the chest of the Covenant of God to Jerusalem for the autumn festival. Solomon and the leaders were there as the priests carried the chest and the Tent of Meeting. Huge amounts of sheep and cattle were sacrificed as they worshiped. The priests brought the chest to the inner sanctuary. A cloud filled the temple when the priests left the Holy of Holies. Solomon said, "God has told us that he lives in the dark where no one can see him; I've built this splendid temple, O God, mark your invisible presence forever." Solomon prayed to God and blessed the people. He offered peace offerings sacrificing 22,000 cattle and 220,000 sheep. Solomon set apart the central part of the courtyard in front of the temple and sacrificed whole burnt offerings, grain offerings, and fat from the peace offering. They feasted for 14 days! God appeared to Solomon again saying,"I've listened to and received all your prayers, your ever so passionate prayers. I've sanctified this temple that you have built; My Name is stamped on it forever; my eyes are on it and my heart in it always...But if you or your sons betray me, ignoring my guidance and judgments, taking up alien gods by serving and worshiping them, then the guarantee is off; I'll wipe Israel off the map and repudiate this temple I've just sanctified to honor my Name..." At the end of 20 years, Solomon gave Hiram 20 villages in the district of Galilee. This is all he got in exchange of 4.5 tons of gold and he was displeased.

Pharoah came and captured Gezer, killing all the Canaanites. He gave it as a wedding gift to his daughter who married Solomon. Solomon then rebuilt Gezer. He also built Lower Beth Horon, Baalath, and Tamar and classified them as country storehouse villages and villages for chariots and horses. Solomon's slave laborers consisted of Ammorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. They people of Israel were used in the army, the government, and commanders of chariots. They managed projects and 550 of them were in charge of the workforce. Hiram sent sailors to assist Solomon's fleets. The sailors went to Ophir and brought back 16 tons of gold for king Solomon. They also brought fragrant sandelwood and gems.

The Queen of Sheba heard of Solomon and wanted to challenge his great reputation. Her entrance was a huge production with camels carrying spices, a huge amount of gold, and gems. Solomon answered all her questions and she was impressed saying, "It's all true! Your reputation for accomplishment and wisdom that reached all the way to my country is confirmed. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it for myself; they didn't exaggerate! Such wisdom and elegance-far more than I could ever have imaged..." The queen gave King Solomon her gold, spices, and gems. He used the sandelwood from Ophir for fine cabinetry in the Temple of God and his palace. Solomon also made harps and dulcimers for musicians. The Queen of Sheba got whatever she wanted and they parted ways.

Every 3 years, the fleet of ships would bring back gold/silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks. King Solomon collected 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horses. A chariot cost 15 lbs of silver and a horse was worth 3 3/4 lbs of silver.

Women were King Solomon's downfall. He was obsessed with them! Pharoah's daughter was first of a lot of foreign women he loved. He took women from surrounding pagan countries consisting of Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidionians, and Hittites. God clearly warned Israel's men back in the day not marry women from these countries. The women would seduce the men into infatuations with their gods. King Solomon refused to give his women up. He had 700 royal wives and 300 concubines. Talk about excessive. God was right, they did seduce him away from Him. It probably happened b/c he couldn't keep it in his robe and was trying to keep up with 1,000 women!!! That's a LOT of drama!! You wouldn't have time for anything else! King Solomon took up Ashtoreth, the whore goddess of the Sidonians and Molech, the horrible god of the Ammonites. He built a shrine to Molech and Chemosh, the horrible god of Moab on a hill east of Jerusalem. The countryside was polluted with all the smoke and stench from their sacrifices to false gods. As you can imagine, God was furious with Solomon. He told Solomon He was going to rip the kingdom from him and give it to someone else. Solomon's son was going to pay for this sin. God would leave him one tribe out of the 12 tribes of Israel in honor of David and Jerusalem.

Hadad, a descendant of the king of Edom, took hostile actions against Solomon. During David's reign, Edom was massacred. Hadad was just a boy at the time, but escaped with some of the people who worked for his father. They picked up some men in Paran and went to the Pharoah in Egypt. The Pharoah found favor in Hadad and gave him a house, food, and land. He also gave him his sister, Queen Tahpenes, to him to be his wife. They had Genubath, who was raised as if he were part of the royal family. After hearing about the death of David and Joab, Hadad got Pharoah's blessing to go back to his homeland.

Rezon was also pitted against Solomon. He collected outlaws after David slaughtered the Arameans. They settled in Damascus and Rezon became king. Jeroboam rebelled against Solomon as well even though Solomon noticed he was a good worker and put him in charge of the workforce of the tribe of Joseph. Ahijah, the prophet of Shiloh, met Jeroboam on the road one day. Ahijah took off his new cloak and ripped it into 12 pieces. Jeroboam was instructed to take 10 pieces for himself for it was God's order. God was showing that He was ripping the kingdom away from Solomon. Jeroboam was to succeed Solomon as king of Israel and rule to his heart's content. God said He would stick by him if he obeyed him. Solomon ordered the assassination of Jeroboam, but he fled to Egypt and stayed with king Shishak. He stayed there until Solomon died. King Solomon ruled a total of 40 years and was buried in Jerusalem. Rehoboam, his son, was the next king.