2 Chronicles 1
McGeeCHAPTER 1THEME: Solomon becomes king and prays for wisdom
2 Chronicles 1:1
You will remember that I made the point that Solomon was not David’s choice. He was God’s choice. I really do not think that David wanted Solomon to be the next king. I think it is obvious that his choice would have been the boy who rebelled against him, Absalom. He loved Absalom. It broke David’s heart when Absalom was slain.
It crushed him. You remember that when he sent out his army he gave specific instructions to each of his captains that Absalom was not to be hurt. David was willing to sacrifice everything for that boy. He loved him. I think that Absalom had a lot of David’s temperament. I believe in some ways he was very much like David, but he was not God’s choice.
God had chosen Solomon, and God is going to bless Solomon. God chooses the weak things of this world, and God is going to use Solomon. The strength of God is revealed in weakness. David is gone now. He had been a great man but Solomon is young and tender, a weakling. God will use Solomon and will allow Solomon to do the actual building of the temple. “Solomon the son of David was strengthened in his kingdom”; the kingdom will come to its zenith under Solomon. David put the foundation under the kingdom. “And the LORD his God was with him, and magnified him exceedingly.” How gracious God is! We will see that Solomon will disobey God. He will come to the place where God will repudiate him and tell him that He will divide the kingdom. Solomon was responsible for that division. The reason God did not divide the kingdom during the reign of Solomon was for the sake of David, not for the sake of Solomon.
2 Chronicles 1:2
You see, Solomon has a meeting of the leadership of Israel here.
2 Chronicles 1:3
The tabernacle was up there at Gibeon. We must remember that the ark was brought by David to Jerusalem, and it is there in a tent. But they couldn’t come directly and immediately to God. This is tremendous! The way to God was through that tabernacle because the brazen altar was there, and that brazen altar speaks of the Cross of Christ. They had to go there to approach God. You and I must come before God in the same way. There is an idea today that anybody, under any circumstances, can just rush into the presence of God and that God has His listening-ear out. The Bible teaches that the Lord does not always hear prayers. Listen to the words of Peter: “For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil” (1Pe_3:12). God never said He would hear the prayers of those who do evil. I believe that the only prayer the sinner can pray to God is to go to Him and accept His mercy in Christ Jesus. If you wish to approach God, you must approach Him through the Cross. This is what Solomon does. He takes the leaders and they go to Gibeon where the tabernacle and the brazen altar are. He is being smart at the beginning of his reign.
2 Chronicles 1:4
The way to God is through the brazen altar. They couldn’t go to Him through the ark. In other words, you and I don’t come immediately to God. The way of the Cross leads home. There is no other way.
2 Chronicles 1:6
They certainly are not stingy in their sacrifices. You will notice all the way through this period that there was an abundance of sacrifices during Solomon’s reign.
2 Chronicles 1:7
God has made good a promise not only to David but to Abraham: “Your offspring will be like the dust"you can’t number them.
2 Chronicles 1:10
People commend Solomon and say that he was so smart to ask for wisdom. God gave him credit for asking that. But where did he get the idea? If we turn back to chapter 22 of 1 Chronicles, we read, “And David said to Solomon, My son, as for me, it was in my mind to build an house unto the name of the LORD my God: but the word of the LORD came to me, saying, Thou hast shed blood abundantly, and hast made great wars: thou shalt not build an house unto my name, because thou hast shed much blood upon the earth in my sight …Now, my son, the LORD be with thee; and prosper thou, and build the house of the LORD thy God, as he hath said of thee. Only the LORD give thee wisdom and understanding, and give thee charge concerning Israel, that thou mayest keep the law of the LORD thy God” (1Ch_22:7-8 and 1Ch_22:11-12). At least Solomon was listening to his father.
When David had said, “The Lord give thee wisdom and understanding,” he remembered that. So when the Lord asked,“What do you want, Solomon?” he said, “I need wisdom and understanding.” God gives him credit for it, though.
2 Chronicles 1:11
God grants his request for wisdom and gives him other blessings besides. I want you to notice, though, that the request was for wisdom to rule the people. Solomon did not ask for spiritual discernment. We will see that Solomon lacked spiritual discernment in his own life. Although he was given divine wisdom to rule, he did not seem to have wisdom to order his personal life.
2 Chronicles 1:14
The sycamore tree grows over there today, but you don’t see many cedar trees. He made cedar trees as abundant as the sycamore, and silver and gold like the stones. If you have ever been in that land or even seen pictures of it, you know that there are rocks and stones everywhere. There are more rocks in that land than any place I have ever been. Imagine Solomon making silver and gold as commonplace as those stones!
2 Chronicles 1:16
You will notice that he is already getting into an area which was forbidden to him. God had told them when the day should come that they would have a king “…he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses: forasmuch as the LORD 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” (Deu_17:16-17). Solomon is amassing horses and he is becoming personally wealthy. We will find that he will also multiply wives to himself.