03.03. 1 Kings 3

1 Kings 3:1-28 1 Kings 3:1-3 - Pharaoh’s Daughter

"And Solomon made affinity with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and took Pharaoh’s daughter, and brought her into the city of David, until he had made an end of building his own house, and the house of the Lord, and the wall of Jerusalem round about" (1 Kings 3:1). The mention of the establishment of the kingdom under Solomon’s hand (1 Kings 2:12) is followed in 1 Kings 2:1-46 by the account of judgment which purifies the kingdom from all that had risen up against David. The repetition of the mention of this establishment (1 Kings 2:46) is followed in 1 Kings 3:1-28 by Solomon’s alliance by marriage with the king of Egypt. He brings into his alliance the very nation which had formerly enslaved his own people - a most intimate union, for he takes his wife from Egypt. This union recalls that of Joseph with an Egyptian bride, the daughter of the priest of On, but their typical meanings differ. Joseph, rejected by his brothers, before making himself known to them, finds a wife and sons in Egypt among the nations according to that which is said of Christ in Isaiah 49:5-6 : "Though Israel be not gathered . . . I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth." Joseph’s marriage typifies the relationship of a rejected Christ with the Church, and it brings before us the posterity which He acquires outside the promised land before taking up his relationship with His own people again.

Solomon’s marriage to Pharaoh’s daughter, contracted in different circumstances, does not have the same meaning. The kingdom is established in the king’s hand; the period of the rejection of the Lord’s anointed in the person of David is over; Solomon is established as king of righteousness (he proves this in executing judgment) over Israel, his people. Then, and only then, does he make affinity with Pharaoh and take his daughter to wife according as it is written in Isaiah 19:21-25 : "And the Lord shall be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know the Lord in that day, and shall do sacrifice and oblation; yea, they shall vow a vow unto the Lord, and perform it . . . In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, even a blessing in the midst of the land: Whom the Lord of hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance."

Solomon brings his Egyptian wife into the city of David. Thus at the beginning of the millennial reign the nations shall first be put under the safeguard of the alliance made with Israel and represented by the ark established on Mount Zion (2 Samuel 6:12). Afterwards they shall have their distinct place of blessing, just as Solomon later builds a house for his Gentile wife outside the city of David, "For he said, My wife shall not dwell in the house of David king of Israel, because the places are holy, whereunto the ark of the Lord hath come" (2 Chronicles 8:11; 1 Kings 9:24).

Up to this moment Pharaoh’s daughter is established in the blessings - not in the relationship - of which the ark of the covenant is the type. Wherever this ark was found, whether in the house of Obed-edom (2 Samuel 6:11; 2 Samuel 6:18; 2 Samuel 6:20), or in the city of Zion, it brought blessing with it. During the Millennium the nations will take account of this privilege: "Yea, many people and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the Lord . . . In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you" (Zechariah 8:22-23).

1 Kings 3:4-15 - Gibeon In 1 Kings 3:2-3 we see clearly that the order of things was not the ultimate at the beginning of Solomon’s reign. The ark of the Lord abode under curtains; it remained to David’s son to build the house of the Lord. At that time the tabernacle and the altar were at the high place at Gibeon and the ark, which David had brought back, was at Jerusalem. How David had this ark of the covenant, the throne of the Lord, the sign of His personal presence in the midst of His people, in his affections (Psalms 132:1-18)! From the moment he brought it back to Zion we do not see in his history that he personally ever sought another place of worship, though he was not unmindful of Gibeon. When the ark was being carried to Jerusalem he took care to link worship before the ark with the sacrifices upon the altar at Gibeon (1 Chronicles 16:37-43), maintaining in this way the unity of worship. Each day service was performed before the ark and before the altar at Gibeon, so that at the same moment and "continually" these two parts of worship were carried on together, though separated geographically.

Later, according to the commandment of the Lord, David built an altar on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite, and there he offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. His God did not long deprive him of an altar in relation to the ark. In this way Gibeon lost its value and meaning.

Solomon does not appear to have thought of this unity at the beginning of his reign. Doubtless God bears him a lovely testimony: "And Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of David his father" (1 Kings 3:3), but this testimony is qualified: "only he sacrificed and burnt incense in high places. " In so doing he accommodated himself to the religious practices of his people, of whom it is said in 1 Kings 3:2 : "Only the people sacrificed in high places."

It was not a positive sin against the Lord, as was the case later on with certain pious kings of Judah, when the building of the temple had removed every plea for such practices. If they still continued then, it was to the Lord’s great displeasure, for they must needs lead to idolatrous practices.* In these days of blessing and power under young King Solomon it was not at all so, but "he sacrificed and burnt incense in high places," and not only at Gibeon, "for that was the great high place" (1 Kings 3:3-4) where the brazen altar was still found, the tabernacle and all its furniture. At any rate, this practice served to disperse worship in Israel. And so the unity of worship was lost, for the altar was, among its other attributes, the expression of this unity, just as the Lord’s Table is today for Christians. In former days under Joshua with regard to the altar Ed (Joshua 22:1-34), Israel had understood this and had risen up in zealous energy against sacrifices offered on an altar other than that of the tabernacle.

{*See 1 Kings 14:23; 1 Kings 15:14; 1 Kings 22:44; 2 Kings 12:3; 2 Chronicles 20:33, where the people do not seem to have acted otherwise than they had at the opening of Solomon’s reign. But we see idolatry allied to the high places under Hezekiah (2 Kings 18:4; 2 Chronicles 31:1). Wicked Manasseh rebuilt them and raised altars to Baal (2 Kings 21:3). When he repented, "the people did sacrifice still in the high places, yet unto the Lord their God only" (2 Chronicles 33:17). This proves what we are saying, that is, that these high places at certain periods in Israel’s history are not necessarily connected with idol worship, though they led to this. From the moment that worship no longer has Christ as its centre, as the ark at Zion but finds place only for blessings received, even though they be the blessings of salvation, it has deviated from its purpose and become an instrument in Satan’s hands to finally replace Christ with false gods. Josiah entirely abolished the high places together with all idolatry in Judah and in Israel (2 Kings 23:8).}

God bore with this state of things as long as the full manifestation of His will concerning worship had not yet been given by the consecration of the temple. Nevertheless it was a weakness in this great king. How much more intelligent was David’s worship, even before Moriah, than Solomon’s! The ark was everything for David; for him it was the Lord, the mighty God of Jacob (Psalms 132:5), whose worship was there where the ark was found. Solomon did not rise to the height of these blessings and did not enjoy the intimacy of this relationship with God. He did not go beyond the common level of religion of his people. Do we not find in our own day the same weakness, the same lack of intelligence, even there where the desire to worship is present? Everyone chooses his own high place without troubling himself about the presence of the ark - of Christ. Everyone builds his own altar without even dreaming that since the cross, as in old times after Moriah, there could be but one symbol of unity for the people of God.

Solomon went to Gibeon, but he loved the Lord, and the Lord always takes account of our affection for Him. There it was that He appeared to him in a dream (1 Kings 3:5). This fact, as others have remarked, has its importance. In a dream one is unable to disguise the true state of one’s heart; one is not controlled by either his reason or his will to repress the manifestation of what is in his heart. In a dream the soul is laid bare before the Lord. What then were the thoughts harbored in this young king’s heart when God said to him, "Ask what I shall give thee" (1 Kings 3:5)? What the divine word finds in the first place in this heart is gratitude for the great mercy of the Lord towards David: "Thou hast showed unto thy servant David my father great mercy," and at the same time the high esteem he held this latter in (1 Kings 3:6) because of his walk of truth, of righteousness, and of uprightness which had proved that David feared the Lord (Proverbs 14:2). Next there is thankfulness for the mercy of God towards himself, David’s son; "Thou hast kept for him this great kindness, that thou hast given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day" (1 Kings 3:6). Lastly, there is the consciousness of his youth, of his ignorance, of his incapacity. "And I am but a little child: I know not how to go out or come in." Such a state of soul promises abundant blessing; it is summed up in this: Fear the Lord, have the consciousness of His grace, esteem others better than yourself, and count yourself as nothing.*

{*All this is reflected later on in the Proverbs, counsels of the wisdom of the king. See, for example, Proverbs 3:7; Proverbs 4:7; etc.}

Solomon was there before God with an undivided heart and he was seeking but one thing: to serve the Lord in the circumstances in which He had placed him as leader of the people. He asks the Lord for "an understanding heart,"* for hearing is the door to discernment and intelligence. In order to be wise one must begin by listening to wisdom: "Blessed is the man that heareth me" (Proverbs 8:34). All true service starts with hearing. Solomon did not know how to "go out or come in"; he could not learn this except by listening. He who does not begin by enrolling himself in the school of wisdom will never be a true servant. Such was the pathway of service of Christ Himself as man. "He wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned" (Isaiah 50:4).

{*Literally, "a heart that hears."}

Let us remark that Solomon asks the Lord for "an understanding heart." One does not truly learn to know the mind of God except with the heart - not with the intelligence. True intelligence is produced by affection for Christ. The heart listens and when it has received the lessons it needs, it is made wise, capable of discerning between good and evil and of governing the people of God. That which makes the role of the heart so important in service is that no judgment can be according to God if it does not have love as its starting point. We experience this in cases of discipline, in guiding souls, and in caring for saints and assemblies.

Solomon’s answer "pleased the Lord" (1 Kings 3:10). What grace to have His approval on all that we ask of Him and to receive His testimony that we have been pleasing to Him! The Lord grants Solomon his request and is pleased to add that which Solomon had not requested. He grants him the first place in wisdom, "so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee. " Moreover, He gives him "both riches, and honour: so that there shall not be any among the kings like unto thee all thy days" (1 Kings 3:12-13). Solomon’s humble dependence put him in first place, according as it is written: "Whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; and whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant." It was so with Christ: "For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many" (Mark 10:43-45). In every respect there is none like Him! Wisdom, power, wealth, the crown of glory and honour - all things shall be His in "the day which the Lord shall make," and even the greatest, most magnificent things will only serve as His footstool! In 1 Kings 3:14, as in all the books we are studying, the question of the king’s responsibility is brought up. "If thou wilt walk in my ways, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as thy father David did walk, then I will lengthen thy days." It is this if that Solomon could not come up to and which led to his ruin and to the division of his kingdom.

Having received these blessings, Solomon leaves Gibeon to come to Jerusalem, where he "stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord" - the act of a submissive heart which understands the mind of God, the first manifestation of the wisdom which he has just received. He leaves the forms to take hold of the reality; he leaves the external display of his religion to come to seek the presence of God represented by the ark - Christ in figure. The altar of Gibeon is no longer sufficient for him; this place is abandoned and no longer plays a role in Solomon’s religious life. Later the Lord reveals Himself to him again (1 Kings 9:2), but no more at Gibeon.

Before the ark Solomon offers up "burnt offerings" and "peace offerings" and makes "a feast to all his servants" (1 Kings 3:15).

There is more joy before the ark than at Gibeon, though the king had probably offered up many more sacrifices at Gibeon (2 Chronicles 1:6) than here; but before the ark we find peace offerings, the true sacrifices of communion, and at the same time a feast for all the servants of the king.

1 Kings 3:16-28 - Righteous Judgment

After the understanding to worship before the ark, the first manifestation of his wisdom, we find in Solomon "the wisdom of God . . . to do judgment" (1 Kings 3:28). Though it concern harlots, nothing changes this judgment. Men ever allow themselves to be influenced in their judgments by the character of those who speak to them; it is not so with God. What is important for Him is the heart, not the outward character. Solomon’s judgment is based on the affections manifested by the heart. Affirmations or denials were of equal value in this case, and judgment could not be based upon them (1 Kings 3:22). That which could establish judgment was the manifestation of the heart. Neither was the question which of the two women was the more worthy - both were harlots; nor whether the actions objected to were probable or had taken place - there had been no witness to it; nor whether the true mother could recognize her child by certain outward signs - there were none. The only testimony was that one of these women said that she did not recognize her son in the dead child. It was a matter therefore of judging the state of her heart, and this could only be judged by the affections manifested. One of these women had an object she loved. Which of the two had this object? For there where true ties of love exist, we seek to safeguard at any cost that which is dear to us, even at the risk of losing it for ourselves. That is the character of love. Love is not selfish: it sacrifices itself for the object loved. The love of Christ has done that for us and we can do that for Him in return: "For thy sake we are killed all the day long" (Romans 8:36). When the true mother saw the sword lifted over her child, "her bowels yearned upon her son." The object loved is more to us than our love for it. This is how one distinguishes reality, the true mother. In the Christian profession he who has not found an object for his heart and bowels betrays himself quickly. "Divide it," says the one who is not the mother, yielding to her resentment. One quickly sacrifices Christ when it is a matter of satisfying one’s own passions. Only divine wisdom is able to discern the reality of profession by the state of the heart. How frequently there is profession without reality! Where are the affections for Christ? Where the devotion which sacrifices even its legitimate advantages and rights for Him? In this passage, it is not a question of natural goodness nor of nobleness of heart, for, we repeat, we are dealing with two harlots. It is a question of ties created by God, of an object given by Him which the soul appreciates. God will never take it away from us; to the contrary, in the trial we shall receive it afresh from His own hand. "Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it: she is the mother thereof."