And the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold,
One year's gold at Solomon's court came to 666 talents, and commentators read that line in two directions. It pictures the wealth of a kingdom still to come, and it carries a number that Scripture stamps on man at his worst.
Commentators trace this wealth back to its source, and treat the figure as a small sample of something larger.
It was clearly the Lord who gave Solomon wealth far greater than any kingdom has ever had. In this He gave some little picture of the wealth of the kingdom of the Lord Jesus when He takes His throne. The weight of only the gold that came to Solomon in a year was 666 talents (v. 13). But added to this was what merchants, traders, the kings of Arabia and governors brought in gold and silver.
The gold came in from outside. Solomon's fame had travelled, and the nations sent their best after it.
People know the power and glory of Solomon far beyond the borders of the land. His fame spreads among the nations, even to distant places. The queen of Sheba comes to bring him her tribute of admiration, and the precious things of the Gentiles. In this way they add to the splendour and glory of the place God chose, whose light had come, and on which the glory of Jehovah had risen. His wisdom drew all the kings of the earth, who each year brought their offerings and their gifts to the king who sat on the throne of Jehovah on earth.
Commentators see the same yearly pattern in prophecy of a coming kingdom.
The glory of Solomon prompted other kings to bring presents to him — articles of silver and gold, garments, armour, spices, horses and mules. They came at a set rate every year, which shows they were meant as tribute (v. 24). Compare this with Zechariah 14:16. That verse speaks of the nations recognising the authority of the King of kings in the millennium, when all are called on to give Him honour every year.
Gold keeps reappearing in this chapter. In Scripture it carries a meaning beyond its market price.
Gold in particular, that symbol of divine righteousness, came from every direction. Even the footstool of the throne was gold (2 Chron. 9:18). The king's feet rested on pure gold when he sat on the throne of his kingdom. Psalm 89:14 tells us, "Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne." But it also adds, "steadfast love and faithfulness go before you."
666 is not the only six in this record. Commentators notice the pattern, and where else it turns up.
The number six stands out in the description of Solomon's glories. His ivory throne had six steps. His import of gold in a single year was 666 talents. Each of his 200 shields took 600 shekels of gold. And "a chariot could be imported from Egypt for 600 shekels of silver." Six is the number of man, and it expresses incompleteness and imperfection. The super-man of the last days, who will excite the admiration of the world, has 666 for the number of his name (Rev. 13:18). Seven means completeness and perfection, but earth will never see it until the Man whom God chose from eternity comes forth in His might.
Neither the raised throne nor the gold kept Solomon safe. He gave his own verdict on it all.
Solomon had six steps to his great throne (1 Kings 10:19), but it was not high enough to save him from idolatry. People brought him 666 talents of gold in a year (1 Kings 10:14), yet he had to confess that all was vanity and a striving after wind.
Chronicles tells this story without Solomon's failures. Yet the same chapter that counts his gold also mentions his horses from Egypt.
The first part of Chronicles says nothing about David's sin, and this part passes over the sin and failure of Solomon. It describes his reign as unmarred by failure, a reign of undimmed glory. Such will be the reign of Him who is greater than Solomon. This chapter does point to Solomon's failure. The horses out of Egypt in verse 28, and his multiplying horses and seeking the gold of Ophir, show that he became lifted up.
The law had told Israel's kings what they were not to do.
How very remarkable! The three things the king was not to do were the very things the greatest and wisest of Israel's kings did — and did on a large scale.
- Source. The wealth was God's gift, not Solomon's doing. It previews the riches of Christ's kingdom.
- Reach. Gold came from distant nations at a set rate every year. Commentators link it to the tribute all nations will bring to the King of kings.
- Meaning. Gold pictures divine righteousness. Solomon's feet rested on gold — a throne founded on righteousness and justice.
- Limit. 666 is man's number — incomplete and imperfect. The same number marks the super-man of the last days, and completeness waits for the Man God chose.
- Result. The man who counted that gold called it all vanity, and his horses from Egypt show a heart lifted up. Only One greater than Solomon reigns without failure.
besides [what] dealers and merchants brought, and [what] all the kings of Arabia and the governors of the country brought of gold and silver to Solomon.
Verse 14 is a footnote to a ledger. After the yearly weight of gold, the writer adds what came on top of it: trade caravans, and gold and silver from the kings of Arabia and the regional governors. Why does Scripture keep accounts like this, and why did the wealth of a whole region flow toward one throne?
The totals are not a boast about Solomon's business skill. Commentators trace the money back to God:
It was clearly the Lord who gave Solomon wealth far greater than any kingdom has ever had. In this He gave a small picture of the wealth of the kingdom of the Lord Jesus when He takes His throne. The weight of the gold alone that came to Solomon in a year was 666 talents (v. 13). But on top of that, merchants, traders, the kings of Arabia and the governors brought in gold and silver.
The striking thing about the verse is direction. Gold does not leave Jerusalem. It arrives from every side, and the metal itself carries meaning:
Every treasure flows to Jerusalem, the center to which the king was drawing the riches of the entire world. "All the kings of Arabia" and the governors of various districts bring him gold, spices (which mattered so much in eastern courts), precious stones, and rare sandalwood. Gold in particular, that emblem of divine righteousness, came from all parts. Even the footstool of the throne was gold (2 Chron. 9:18).
A few verses later the same chapter says other kings brought their presents year by year. That regularity changes what the giving means, and it points ahead to Christ's own reign:
The glory of Solomon prompted other kings to bring presents to him, articles of silver and gold, garments, armor, spices, horses and mules, at a set rate every year, which shows it was meant as tribute (v. 24). Compare Zechariah 14:16. It speaks of all nations owning the authority of the King of kings in the millennium, when they are called to give Him honor every year.
So the Arabian kings and the governors of verse 14 are not simply customers. They are paying tribute to a greater throne.
Why should it matter that foreign rulers funded the splendour of Israel's capital? One writer answers that their treasures fed a glory God had chosen that city to hold:
His fame spreads among the nations, even to distant lands. The queen of Sheba comes to bring him her tribute of admiration, and the precious things of the Gentiles. In this way they add to the splendour and glory of the place God chose, whose light had come and on which the glory of Jehovah had risen. For the moment this was only a picture, but it rested on the principle of grace and on the power that will one day fulfil it, according to God's purposes.
Another writer carries the same movement forward to a day still ahead:
Just as wise men from the east came when Christ was born into the world and laid their expensive gifts at His feet, so the Gentiles will come in a future day and offer their treasures to the Lord in His temple at Jerusalem. Christ, the desire of all nations, will be the object of their homage. They will gladly bring their finest things to adorn and serve His house, and to glorify His name. In this way they will confess that the silver and the gold are His.
Commentators differ over how to weigh these riches. One writer says Chronicles keeps to the kingdom's glory on purpose:
It is the picture of the kingdom. How blessed when the Great King reigns, in Whom there is no failure, but blessing to the full! Naming Solomon's faults, like David's, was not the point here, except where it was needed.
Read alongside the parallel history, though, the piling up of gold looks less innocent. The law had set limits on Israel's kings:
God foresaw that Israel would have a king, and that king was forbidden to multiply his wives or his riches, or to go down to Egypt to multiply horses (Deut. 17:16-17). God had given Solomon his abundance of riches and honour, though Solomon had asked only for wisdom. But the king was told to study the law, and that study should have stopped him using the means he used to gain his riches. These chapters teach us that he did exactly what the law forbade.
- Source — the wealth beyond the yearly gold was not Solomon's achievement. The Lord gave him riches no kingdom has matched.
- Centre — every treasure flowed inward to Jerusalem. The gold that came from all parts is an emblem of divine righteousness.
- Homage — a fixed yearly payment marks it as tribute. The kings were owning an authority, not just trading.
- Reach — Arabian kings and governors brought the precious things of the Gentiles to the place God chose. The nations will yet bring their treasures and confess that the silver and the gold are His.
- Warning — commentators differ. Chronicles shows the kingdom without naming the king's faults. The parallel history shows Solomon gathering the very riches the law forbade a king to multiply.
And king Solomon made two hundred targets of beaten gold, -- he applied six hundred [shekels] of beaten gold to one target;
Solomon had so much gold that he made shields out of it, hammered thin and hung in a hall instead of carried into battle. Two questions follow: what did all that gold say about his reign, and were such shields real strength or only show?
Before asking what Solomon did with the gold, commentators trace where it came from. One writer reads the sheer scale of it as deliberate on God's part:
It was very clearly the Lord who gave Solomon wealth far greater than any kingdom has ever had. In this He provided some little picture of the wealth of the kingdom of the Lord Jesus when He takes His throne.
Gold is not a random luxury here. It runs through every part of Solomon's reign:
Verses 14 through 22 describe the riches and the splendour of the kingdom. Gold, the emblem of divine righteousness, stands out everywhere under Solomon's reign, from the temple to the throne.
Where the shields hung matters as much as what they were made of:
Some of the gold went into 200 large shields, and 300 shields of half that weight. These went into the House of the Forest of Lebanon (v. 16). This house was not a home. It held the offices that ran the kingdom. So the shields speak of defence in the place where the interests of the kingdom were maintained.
Solomon's own throne stood in that same hall:
When Solomon was first made king, he sat on his father's throne, as David himself had ordered (1 Kings 1:35). Now we see him on his own throne, in this marvellous "house of the forest" decorated with six hundred shields of gold. There he judges in righteousness.
Commentators differ here. One writer reads Solomon's later history into these shields:
At one time in his life Solomon saw the danger of riches: "… give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me, lest I be full and deny you and say, 'Who is the LORD?'…" (Prov. 30:7-9). As we follow the history of his reign we find the love of riches growing upon Solomon. God was too kind to His frail servant, and it cost him his soul. He had fleets at sea which brought him gold and silver in abundance. Gold was so common that he made these shields of beaten gold. Surely these were not for use in war; just ornaments.
The shields did not stay in that hall. Solomon's son swapped them for a cheaper metal, and one writer sees a wider picture in the swap:
How telling it is that Rehoboam made copper shields to replace the golden ones (2 Chronicles 12:10)! Gold speaks of the glory of God, but copper pictures holiness. The same thing has happened in the professing church of God today. Instead of putting God's glory first in the church's testimony, people are content to forget His honour and to focus on personal holiness. Holiness is good, of course. But when it takes the place of God's glory, it becomes tasteless and counterfeit.
Another writer presses the same substitution on the point of pretence:
The pretence of approach to God is kept up, but the brass shields go before them instead of shields of gold, and God will not have their counterfeits.
- Given — The gold came from the Lord, as a small picture of the riches of the kingdom of the Lord Jesus when He takes His throne.
- Gold — The metal pictures divine righteousness, and it marks every part of Solomon's reign, from the temple to the throne.
- Guarded — The shields hung in the building that ran the kingdom, so they picture defence at the centre of its affairs.
- Glory — The throne stood in that same hall, and there the king judged in righteousness among six hundred golden shields.
- Given back — Rehoboam swapped gold for brass, and appearances kept up after the reality has gone are only counterfeit; but God promises gold in place of bronze when He restores His people.
and three hundred shields of beaten gold, -- he applied three hundred [shekels] of gold to one shield; and the king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon.
Gold came into Solomon's treasury in such amounts that he could beat it into shields and hang them in a hall named after a forest. Why make armour out of soft metal, and why store it in that building?
The name suggests a palace up in the mountains, but the building stood in the capital. It took its name from its materials.
The context shows that these passages do not refer to the forest at Lebanon. Solomon had a house at Jerusalem, built of the trees from Lebanon, and he called it "the house of the forest of Lebanon."
The name also points to more than the building material.
It was built of cedar wood. Inside and out it had rows of cedar columns, which may have given the house the look of an imposing forest. On the other hand, we can see in this name a beautiful image of this glorious reign. Lebanon faced Tyre and even belonged to it. Thus there was a relationship between this house and the nations in submission to the great king. It was there that Solomon sat as sovereign and judge of the nations as well as of his own people.
The location is the point. This was not where the king slept.
This house was not a dwelling. It held the offices of administration for the kingdom. So the shields speak of defense in the place where the interests of the kingdom were maintained.
The shields were gold. So was much else in Solomon's kingdom.
Verses 14 through 22 describe the riches and the splendor of the kingdom. Gold, the emblem of divine righteousness, stands out everywhere under Solomon's reign, from the temple to the throne. The throne was marvelous: "nothing like it was ever made for any kingdom." It was the throne of righteousness and of power, and it carried the emblems of both.
Commentators see in Solomon's buildings a picture of a reign still to come. The hall of the golden shields also held the throne where the king gave his verdicts.
This great building held Solomon's 300 shields of beaten gold (spoil for the Egyptians in the days of Rehoboam). "And he made the Hall of the Throne where he was to pronounce judgment, even the Hall of Judgment" (1 Kings 7:7). This suggests the righteous administration of our Lord Jesus in the great Kingdom-age.
Another writer draws the same line from these palace buildings, and adds where the nations fit in.
Here we have prefigured the glorious administration of the kingdom, when our Lord judges in righteousness. The house of the forest of Lebanon is the type of His glory among the Gentiles.
Commentators differ on what the shields were for. Some see defence and administration. Another traces them to Solomon's growing love of riches, and follows what became of them.
As we follow the history of his reign we find the love of riches growing on Solomon. He had fleets at sea which brought him gold and silver in abundance. Surely these were not for use in war; just ornaments. But Rehoboam lost these costly ornaments in war. In his vanity he made shields of brass in their place, and had them carried out on display when he went into the house of the Lord (1 Kings 14:25-28). Oh, the pitiful vanity of poor flesh; appearances must be kept up even after the reality has departed.
Solomon's son gave up the shields without a fight, and chose brass because it looked close enough.
He let the glory of the city go without protest. What did it matter? He could substitute brass for gold, and brass looks like gold, almost; peace seemed cheap at the price. And so when he went up to the house of the Lord, brass shields went up before him instead of shields of fine gold. When his religious duties were done, the guard took them into safe keeping as though they were the real thing.
- Gold: one metal ran from temple to throne to shield. It is the emblem of divine righteousness, on the kingdom's worship and on its defence.
- Place: the shields hung in the seat of government, not a bedroom. They stand for defence over the interests of the kingdom.
- Reach: the cedars of Lebanon gave the hall its name and linked the king's court to the nations under him. It sketches Christ's glory among the Gentiles.
- Loss: one generation later the gold was gone to Egypt, and Rehoboam let it go without protest.
- Brass: the copy kept the ceremony going after the reality was gone. That is the warning these shields leave.
And the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with pure gold;
Chapter 9 shows Solomon at the peak of his reign, and verse 17 stops on a single object: the seat he made for himself. Commentators read its ivory, its gold and its steps as a picture. They see a kingdom built on righteousness, and a greater King who has yet to sit.
The verse names the throne but not its place. One commentator gives the setting and what stood around it.
Solomon also had a great throne of ivory overlaid with gold (v. 17). This was in the House of the Forest of Lebanon, placed in a special Hall made for it, called the Hall of Judgment (1 Ki. 7:7). Six steps led up to the throne. A gold footstool was attached to it, and two gold lions stood beside the arm rests, one on each side. A lion also stood on each side of each of the six steps (v. 19), so 12 lions stood on the steps, no doubt representing the 12 tribes of Israel.
Gold shows up everywhere in Solomon's reign. One writer says what it stands for.
Gold, the emblem of divine righteousness, stands out everywhere under Solomon's reign, from the temple to the throne. The throne was wonderful: "Nothing like it was ever made in any kingdom." It was the throne of righteousness and of power, and it carried the emblems of both.
Another writer shows how far the gold covering reached, and whose reign it points to.
The steps and lions counted as part of the throne. Since the throne had six steps, the gold overlay covered every step and every lion. Nothing like this was true of any other kingdom. The gold speaks of the glory of God. That glory will be supreme in the glorious high throne of the Lord Jesus in His kingdom. His reign of great prosperity will be altogether for God's glory.
The carved lions carry a tribal meaning. One commentator traces it back to the family the kings came from.
Judah is the royal tribe whose ensign was a lion, and from him Messiah sprang. Lions stand for the majesty and dignity of Israel's throne. When we think about that, we begin to see the true dignity of the nation, joined as it is to the Son of David.
Solomon built the throne, but Scripture keeps calling it David's. One writer follows that detail forward.
It is worth noting that the throne is always called David's throne, not Solomon's or any other king's (1 Kings 2:12; Jer. 13:13; Jer. 29:16). Solomon made a throne (1 Kings 10:18; 2 Chr. 9:17-18). The divine record reads, "Nothing like it was ever made in any kingdom" (1 Kings 10:20)… All this has symbolic teaching and interest. It will have its fulfillment in the One who is to sit upon the throne of David in power and glory for a thousand years.
One writer reads the words about no kingdom making its like as a promise. He also separates the seat Christ holds now from the seat still to come.
Right now He sits on His Father's throne, at His right hand, according to this word: "Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool" (Ps. 110:1)… It is as though He were saying to Him: Take this supreme and glorious place, my Son, until I have prepared a throne for You. It must surpass every other throne. No throne like it will ever be made in any kingdom. None who rise up against You will be spared; they will be crushed. Your victory over them will be the first step by which You climb to the throne. The throne of the victorious Son of Man will be like no other, after the willing humiliation that brought Him lower than the worst of sinners.
Solomon was not the only king who built with ivory. One writer compares what lasted and what did not.
Solomon made a great throne of ivory, and Ahab made an ivory house, but the King of kings will have ivory palaces that will endure. No one hears of Solomon's ivory throne again after it was built, and Scripture mentions Ahab's ivory house only after he had died. But the ivory palaces of Christ will remain all through the millennium. They will reflect the glory of the Great King, show the stability of His kingdom, and display the abundance of His resources.
- Righteousness — the gold on the throne stands for divine righteousness. Solomon's seat held righteousness and power together.
- Royalty — the lion was the emblem of Judah, the royal tribe Messiah came from. It marks the majesty of Israel's throne.
- Reach — commentators take the twelve lions on the steps as the twelve tribes, the whole nation gathered under one throne.
- Unrivalled — nothing like it was ever made in any kingdom. Commentators read that as a promise: the throne prepared for the Son of Man will surpass every other.
- Enduring — Solomon's ivory throne vanishes from the record after it was built. The glory it pictured belongs to a King whose kingdom stands.
and the throne had six steps, with a footstool of gold fastened to the throne; and there were arms on each side at the place of the seat, and two lions stood beside the arms;
This verse walks around Solomon's throne piece by piece: six steps, a gold footstool, armrests, two lions. Commentators read each detail as a statement about the king who sat there, and about a greater King still to come.
Solomon's throne stood in a hall built for one job: judging.
Solomon also had a great throne of ivory overlaid with gold (v. 17). This was in the House of the Forest of Lebanon, placed in a special Hall made for it, called the Hall of Judgment (1 Ki. 7:7). Six steps ascended to the throne. A footstool of gold was fastened to the throne, and beside the arm rests were two gold lions, one on each side. On each side of the six steps a lion stood (v. 19), so 12 lions stood on the steps, no doubt representing the 12 tribes of Israel.
The hall was built so that the throne was what you saw at the end of it.
Your eye passed through the forest of cedar pillars in the central part of the building to the second porch. At its far end rose a throne of gold and ivory, wonderfully made. On that throne you could gaze at the glorious king: peaceable Solomon, Jedidiah, the beloved of the Lord, whose wisdom no one ever surpassed — the righteous king doing righteousness.
The footstool of gold belongs to a pattern. Gold covers the temple, and gold covers the throne. One writer reads the metal itself as a statement about this reign.
Gold, the emblem of divine righteousness, stands out everywhere under Solomon's reign, from the temple to the throne. The throne was amazing: nothing like it was ever made in any kingdom. It was the throne of righteousness and of power, and it carried the emblems of both.
Two lions stood where the king's hands rested. The lion was the sign of one particular tribe.
Judah is the royal tribe, and its banner carried a lion. The Messiah came from Judah. Lions stand for the majesty and dignity of Israel's throne. Once we see that, we get some sense of the nation's true dignity, joined as it is to the Son of David.
Elsewhere in Scripture the same animal ties strength to the right to rule.
The lion is called the strongest of the animals, the one that turns back from nothing (Prov. 30:30). So the lion can stand for strength, and in that sense the Lord is called the lion of the tribe of Judah. Royalty comes with that title, because Judah was the tribe that held the royal sceptre (Gen. 49:9-10; Rev. 5:5).
Six turns up again and again in the numbers around Solomon.
The number six keeps showing up in the description of Solomon's glories. His ivory throne had six steps. In a single year he brought in 666 talents of gold. Each of his 200 large shields took 600 shekels of gold... Six is the number of man, and it speaks of incompleteness and imperfection... Seven means completeness and perfection. Earth will never know that until the Man of God's eternal choice comes out in His might.
The same number is then applied to Solomon himself.
SIX. Incompleteness, imperfection (one short of the perfect number seven). Solomon had six steps to his great throne, 1 Kings 10:19; but the throne was not high enough to save him from idolatry.
The footstool at Solomon's feet comes back in a promise made to Christ.
Right now He sits on His Father's throne, at His right hand, as this word says: "Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool" (Ps. 110:1)... It is as though the Father were saying to Him: take this supreme and glorious place, my Son, until I have prepared a throne for you. It must surpass every other throne. Nothing like it will ever be made in any kingdom... Your victory over them will be the first step by which you climb to the throne.
One writer sets Solomon's ivory throne beside what Christ will own.
Solomon made a great throne of ivory, and Ahab made an ivory house, but the King of kings will have ivory palaces that will endure. The ivory throne of Solomon was never heard of after its construction... but the ivory palaces of Christ will remain throughout the millennium. They will reflect the glory of the Great King, show that His kingdom is stable, and display the abundance of His resources.
- Gold — gold covered the temple, and gold covered this throne. It marks a seat of righteousness and power.
- Lions — the lions at the armrests carry the sign of Judah, the royal tribe. They point past Solomon to the Son of David.
- Twelve — twelve lions lined the steps, read as the twelve tribes: the whole nation around one seat of judgment.
- Six — six steps, one short of seven. Man's best is still incomplete, and the height did not keep Solomon from idolatry.
- Footstool — the gold footstool points on to Christ. He now sits at God's right hand, waiting for a throne no kingdom will match.
and twelve lions stood there on the one side and on the other upon the six steps there was not the like made in any kingdom.
The record counts out twelve lions on the six steps of Solomon's throne, one at each end of every stair. Why keep such detail, and what did a throne like this say about the king who sat on it?
The throne did not stand in Solomon's home. It stood in a hall built for it, set apart for judging cases.
Solomon also had a great throne of ivory overlaid with gold (v. 17). This was in the House of the Forest of Lebanon, placed in a special Hall made for it, called the Hall of Judgment (1 Ki. 7:7). Six steps led up to the throne. A gold footstool was fixed to the throne, and beside the arm rests stood two gold lions, one on each side. A lion stood on each side of the six steps (v. 19), so there were 12 lions on the steps, no doubt standing for the 12 tribes of Israel.
The lion was not a random ornament. It was the sign of Judah, the royal tribe.
Judah is the royal tribe whose emblem was a lion, and the Messiah came from him. Lions stand for the majesty and dignity of Israel's throne. Think about that, and you get some sense of the true dignity of the nation, joined as it is to the Son of David.
So the sign of Judah stood on every step up to the king.
Gold covered the whole structure, and it carried a meaning beyond wealth.
Gold, the emblem of divine righteousness, stands out everywhere under Solomon's reign, from the temple to the throne. The throne was marvellous: "Nothing like it was ever made for any kingdom." It was the throne of righteousness and of power, and it carried the emblems of both.
Even the steps were not bare wood.
These lions counted as part of the throne. The throne had six steps, so the gold that covered it covered all those steps and lions too. No other kingdom had anything like this. The gold speaks of the glory of God, and that glory will be supreme in the great high throne of the Lord Jesus in His kingdom.
A flaw runs through the splendour. Six appears again and again in the account of Solomon's wealth.
The use of the number six in the description of Solomon's glories is noticeable. His ivory throne had six steps. In a single year he brought in 666 talents of gold. He used 600 shekels of gold for each of his 200 shields... Six is the number of man, and it speaks of incompleteness and imperfection. The super-man of the last days, who will win the world's admiration, has 666 for the number of his name (Rev. 13:18). Seven means completeness and perfection, but no one on earth can experience that until the Man of God's eternal choice comes out in His might.
Height of position could not secure the man who held it. Solomon climbed six golden stairs and still came down into idol worship.
SIX. Incompleteness, imperfection (one short of the perfect number seven). Solomon had six steps to his great throne, 1 Kings 10:19; but it was not high enough to save him from idolatry.
No kingdom ever matched this throne. Commentators point past Solomon to a greater King, who sits somewhere else for now.
At present He is seated on His Father's throne, at His right hand, according to this word: "The LORD says to my Lord: 'Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool'" (Ps. 110:1). By these words, "Sit at my right hand," God the Father expressed His complete satisfaction with the work the Son of Man had finished. It is as though He were saying to Him: Take this supreme and glorious place, my Son, until I have prepared a throne for You. It must surpass every other throne. Nothing like it will ever be made in any kingdom. None who rise up against You will be spared; they will be crushed. Your victory over them will be the first step by which You climb to the throne.
- Place — The throne stood in a hall built for it, called the Hall of Judgment. It was made for settling cases.
- Guard — Twelve lions carried the emblem of Judah, the royal tribe. They stood for the majesty and dignity of Israel's throne, one lion, it is suggested, for each tribe.
- Gold — Gold covered the throne and the steps alike. It marked out righteousness and the glory of God. This was a throne of righteousness and power together.
- Flaw — The six steps are the number of man, incomplete, one short of seven. The height of the seat never saved Solomon from idolatry.
- Fulfilment — What no kingdom could match points past Solomon to Christ. He sits now at the Father's right hand. He waits there until a throne greater than every other is ready for Him.
And all king Solomon's drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of precious gold silver was not of the least account in the days of Solomon.
Second Chronicles 9 lists Solomon's wealth detail by detail. This verse is the peak of the list: every cup gold, and silver worth nothing. Commentators read it in two ways. It pictures the kingdom Christ will one day display. It is also the high point of a wealth Solomon turned in on himself.
One writer takes the gold in these two buildings as a picture, not just a measure of wealth.
In Solomon's house all the drinking vessels were gold, and the vessels in the House of the Forest of Lebanon were gold. None were silver, for silver counted as nothing in Solomon's kingdom (v. 20). Gold pictures the glory of God, which will be the leading feature in the millennial kingdom of the Lord Jesus.
Another writer reads these chapters as one whole picture, with Solomon at its centre.
I see these chapters as a picture, giving us a full view of the world to come. No other Scriptures show this subject as plainly as they do. Solomon, who is the centre of it all, fittingly pictures our Lord Jesus Christ as the centre of the glory in the day of Kingdom display.
One writer explains what each metal stands for, and why.
SILVER is the emblem of atonement, because the redemption price that pictured it was paid in silver (Ex. 30:11-16). GOLD, the most precious of metals, seems to be the emblem of what is Divine — excellent and glorious as God is, a faint foreshadowing of the glory of God which the redeemed will share for ever. In the same way John saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem — the emblem of the Church as the Bride of the Lamb (Rev. 21:11, 18) — in a vision as "pure gold," "having the glory of God."
If gold stands for God's glory and silver for redemption, the missing silver is part of the picture too. One writer draws from it a comparison between Christ and His work.
Not only will Christ's authority be for God's glory, but the provision He makes for the people in the kingdom will also glorify God, even in regard to what they drink. Silver was not used because it is worth less. Silver speaks of the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, putting the emphasis on the great work He has accomplished for us. But Christ Himself is greater than His work.
The verse names a second building, the House of the Forest of Lebanon. One writer describes its size and what stood inside it.
Next to the Temple, Solomon's most important building was the house of the forest of Lebanon... This house was much larger than the Temple: 100 cubits long by 50 wide, against the Temple's 60 by 20... This great building held Solomon's 300 shields of beaten gold, and all the vessels in it were of pure gold. None were of silver, for silver counted as nothing in the days of Solomon (1 Kings 10:17-21). There he made the hall for the throne where he would judge — the hall of judgment (1 Kings 7:7). This points to the righteous rule of our Lord Jesus in the great Kingdom-age.
One writer measures Solomon's glory against Christ's.
But we also see Him crowned with Glory and Honour, as the One greater than Solomon. No king ever had such unchallenged rule and glory as Solomon had. He became the centre of attraction for the whole earth — see the visit of the Queen of Sheba. But the record of Solomon's glory is wholly eclipsed when the glory of God in the face of the Lord Jesus Christ appears.
One writer compares how Solomon used his wealth with how his father David used his.
First of all, notice why all this was gathered. The gold and silver and ivory, the valuables and works of art, down to the apes and peacocks — Solomon collected it all for his own pleasure. He was the centre around which everything turned... David also took large sums for his own use. Even so, he still kept Jehovah's interests before him... Solomon ran on quite different lines. All that he got he heaped up for his own benefit.
- Glory pictured. Gold everywhere in the king's house stands for the glory of God. That glory will be the leading feature of Christ's kingdom.
- Glory explained. Gold is the emblem of what is divine and glorious. Silver is the emblem of atonement, because the redemption price was paid in silver.
- Glory ranked. Silver counting for nothing does not lower redemption. It lifts Christ: He Himself is greater than the work He accomplished.
- Glory administered. The gold vessels stood in the building that also held the throne of judgment. That points to the righteous rule of Christ.
- Glory misused. Solomon heaped his wealth up for himself, while David kept God's interests first. The same gold that pictures Christ's reign exposed the heart of the man who held it.
For the king's ships went to Tarshish with the servants of Huram once in three years came the ships of Tarshish, bringing gold and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks.
Solomon's wealth did not appear in Jerusalem on its own. A fleet fetched it, sailing with foreign crews and coming home once every three years, and its cargo raises two questions: where did these ships go, and why does Scripture record the list?
No one has settled where Tarshish was. The goods listed here do not match the goods linked with Tarshish elsewhere in Scripture.
Some think it refers to a Spanish city named Tartessus. That would be a suitable place to get silver, iron, tin, and lead. Jonah took a ship at Joppa to sail to Tarshish, which may also point to a place west of Palestine. But other passages say that ships of Tarshish also brought apes and peacocks, and these are linked with Ezion-geber, on the Gulf of Akaba, a branch of the Red Sea. So the ships from that port probably sailed south to some other place, which no one has identified.
Commentators differ. One argues from this very cargo that Solomon's fleet sailed somewhere far from Spain:
There may have been another place of the same name in the south east or the Indian ocean, and Solomon's ships sailed there from Ezion-Geber (compare 1 Kings 9:26, 2 Chron. 9:21). We have no ground to suppose that the route round Africa by the Cape of Good Hope was known then. And even if it was, the south of Spain could not supply ivory, asses, and peacocks. These point instead to India or Ceylon.
The Hebrew name of the last item in the list hints at where it came from:
Solomon imported these along with ivory and apes. The Hebrew word tukkiyyim is very close to tokei, the name for the peacock in the language of Ceylon. This is no doubt the bird meant.
Solomon's fleet did not sail alone. Huram's servants worked with his, and one writer sees a picture of what is still to come:
Every three years Solomon sent ships to Tarshish, enlisting the help of Huram's servants, to bring gold, silver, ivory, apes and peacocks (v. 21). So he had the help of Gentiles in this work, as will be true in the future kingdom of Israel. So Solomon surpassed all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom, though he gives only a faint picture of the greater glory of "the world kingdom" of the Lord Jesus.
In this chapter wealth and admiration move in one direction — toward the place God chose:
His fame spreads among the nations, even to distant lands. The queen of Sheba comes to bring him her tribute of admiration, and the precious things of the Gentiles. In this way the Gentiles add to the splendour and glory of the place God chose, whose light had come, and on which the glory of the Lord had risen... The report of that glory attracts the nations. But when it is seen, it surpasses all that could be said of it. One must be near it to appreciate it.
This chapter sums up a reign that ends. In the age it points to, gold is not what marks God's people:
Solomon passes away, and we get a brief summary of his riches and power (ch. 9). Pagans speak of the golden age of the world. This was surely the golden age for Israel, apart from their glorious future. The world's richest and most prized things are only common things. Yet this is only a picture of good things to come, when righteousness will mark Israel as gold marked the throne and the temple.
Not every writer reads the list as pure glory. The last two items sit oddly in the record of the wisest man on earth:
But as his kingdom grew rich, we are told that his imports were "gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks" (1 Kings 10:22). Every three years the ships of Tarshish kept up the supply of all these. "Apes and peacocks." For a man who stood above everyone on earth for wisdom, this is a fall from the sublime to the ridiculous... First he valued wisdom as more precious than rubies and fine gold; then he turned to madness and folly. Apes stand for folly, and peacocks for vanity.
- Route — The ships sailed from Ezion-geber on the Red Sea. Where they went is disputed: Spain, India or Ceylon, or a place no one has identified.
- Cargo — Gold, silver, ivory, apes and peacocks. Solomon imported them all, and the fleet brought them home only once every three years.
- Crew — Huram's Gentile servants worked with Solomon's. One writer sees in that partnership a preview of Israel and the nations in the coming kingdom.
- Destination — The precious things of the nations flowed toward the place God chose. The report of that glory drew the nations, but only those near it could take its measure.
- Limit — This was Israel's golden age, yet still only a picture. In the age it points to, righteousness will mark the people as gold marked the throne. And the apes and peacocks show the wisest man on earth falling from the sublime to the ridiculous.
And king Solomon was greater than all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom.
Second Chronicles 9 closes the record of Solomon at the peak of his power. Verse 22 is the summary line: no king on earth matched him for wealth or wisdom. Where did that double supremacy come from? What was God picturing through it? And why did the richest, wisest man alive end up calling everything vanity?
Commentators read this closing summary as the high point of Israel's history, and as a preview of something better.
Solomon passes away, and a brief summary is given of his riches and power (ch. 9). Pagans speak of a golden age of the world. This was surely the golden age for Israel (apart from their glorious future); the world's richest and most prized things are only ordinary things here. Yet this is only the image of good things to come, when righteousness will mark Israel, as gold marked the throne and the temple.
The verse names riches and wisdom together, but they did not arrive together. Solomon asked for one; God added the other.
He asked wisdom of God, and received also riches and honour beyond all (2 Chron. 1). But the house of the LORD rightly took up his attention, and the king of Tyre helped him, and all the strangers in the land served... and his fame spreads far and wide, so that Sheba's queen comes with her precious things and tests his wisdom (2 Chron. 9), as indeed all the kings of the earth acknowledged it.
Why did a king need to ask at all? The higher the position, the more visible the failure.
He asked because he needed. God uses him and sets him in a position where we can look through him, as through a glass, to the glories of the Messiah. Yet He meets him as a man in his needs, and those needs grew greater because he had been lifted so high. The foolishness of an insignificant man might pass unnoticed, but folly found in a king would be like dead flies in the perfumer's ointment.
Commentators see the supremacy of verse 22 as a sketch of a kingdom still ahead.
So Solomon surpassed all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom. Yet he gives us only a faint picture of the greater glory of "the world kingdom" of the Lord Jesus.
The same man who "exceeded all the kings of the earth" wrote Ecclesiastes. That makes his verdict on life impossible to dismiss as sour grapes.
The book of Ecclesiastes, then, is of great value, and men of the world today could study it with profit. Its writer had no reason to hold a grudge against the world: as people would say, it had treated him well, granting him his place, paying him proper honour, and giving full homage to his remarkable wisdom. For "King Solomon excelled all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom. And all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put into his mind."
It matters who said it.
These are the words of the most prosperous, humanly speaking, of all the men the world has ever seen. "Vanity of vanities" — a mere breath, a vapour passing over the earth, gone quickly. Such is the recorded experience of the son of David, king in Jerusalem, and not of some things only, but of all.
Solomon began by prizing wisdom. The list of what he later imported tells another story.
In the early years of his reign Solomon valued wisdom and understanding above everything else, and God in His goodness answered the desire of his heart... But as the material prosperity of his kingdom grew, we are told that his imports were "gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks" (1 Kings 10:22)... For a man who stood out on earth for wisdom, this is a descent from the sublime to the ridiculous... Apes stand for folly, and peacocks for vanity.
None of it outlasted the conditions it rested on.
All this magnificence soon vanished. The display of glory rested on the presence of the LORD in His house. And His continuing presence there depended on Israel's obedience... the Holy Spirit in Chronicles is foreshadowing the glories and the kingdom of Christ, and not giving the history of Solomon's failures.
- Asked — Solomon asked for wisdom because he needed it; God added riches and honour beyond all others.
- Given — God put that wisdom in his heart, and kings came from everywhere to hear it.
- Displayed — his unmatched riches and wisdom made Israel's golden age, yet it is only the image of good things still to come.
- Squandered — the man who once prized wisdom above everything ended up importing apes and peacocks: folly and vanity.
- Surpassed — the splendour soon vanished; it was only a faint picture of the greater glory of the kingdom of the Lord Jesus.
And all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart.
Solomon's reign reaches its high point here. Kings from every land travel to Jerusalem just to listen to one man, and the verse tells us where his wisdom came from.
The text does not say Solomon worked his wisdom out. It says God put it there. One writer draws out the limit of what Solomon had in himself:
When God gave Solomon wisdom, it was wisdom from above. His own wisdom, great as it was, was not enough to guide him when he was directing himself. So we find "the fear of the Lord" connected with wisdom.
The kings did not just want answers. They came in person, to stand in front of the king himself:
Seeing the king's face was the supreme privilege. Anyone allowed into his presence could count himself happy. "Happy… your servants," said the queen, "who stand continually before you." To see the king's face is to be brought into his close friendship. That will be the highest honour for the nations in the future — and it is even more our privilege now!
Commentators see this gathering as a small picture of something still ahead. The kings arrived with needs and left supplied:
The first thing stated about "all the kings of the earth" is that they sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom. They needed correction, guidance and instruction. They received all of it from the one who was the centre of the kingdom seen in its glory. They also bring their presents… We know that in the world to come Christ will be "King of kings and Lord of lords."
Solomon drew a handful of kings. What he pictures draws far more:
She is only one of many, for all the kings of the earth sought Solomon's presence to hear the wisdom God had given him. But what are these kings of the earth compared with the countless numbers that heaven and earth and sea will send out? They will all sing the praise of Him who lives for ever and ever.
Jesus later pointed back to one of these visitors: the queen who came from the far south. He used her against the crowd in front of Him:
This showed her earnestness of purpose to hear the wisdom of Solomon. The wise and wealthy son of David was not the vessel of the Word of God in his ordinary speech as the Lord Jesus was: yet she came without a single miracle to attract her, without a sign to guide or confirm her, and heard the wisdom of Solomon: "and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here."
The One who outranks Solomon is still within reach:
Now He lives as greater than Solomon. He is the One we may turn to for all direction in life, the very wisdom of God for us. He can solve all our hard questions, as Solomon solved the Queen of Sheba's. And He can so captivate our hearts by His personal greatness and glory that we desire nothing apart from Him.
The man every king travelled to see also wrote the book of Ecclesiastes. One writer weighs what the world had given him:
Its writer had no reason to hold a grudge against the world. As people would say, it had treated him well. It gave him his place, paid him proper honour, and showed full respect for his remarkable wisdom. For Solomon surpassed all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom, and "all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put into his mind."
- Source. Solomon's wisdom was not his own work. God put it in him, and his own wisdom was not enough to guide him.
- Presence. The kings wanted more than answers. Seeing the king's face was the highest privilege, and it is even more our privilege now.
- Reach. They came needing correction, guidance and instruction, and found all of it at one centre. It is a small picture of the day Christ reigns as King of kings.
- Journey. The queen came a long way with no miracle and no sign to draw her. She still heard the wisdom of Solomon.
- Greater. A greater than Solomon is here. He lives now as the wisdom of God for us, and He can solve our hardest questions.
And they brought every man his present, vessels of silver and vessels of gold, and clothing, armour, and spices, horses and mules, a rate year by year.
The record of Solomon's reign ends with a list of honours, and this verse is the last item on it: kings came, left gifts, and returned the next year to do the same. What did those yearly gifts mean, and why does the list name the horses?
In the Bible a present is not always a courtesy. One writer sorts gifts by the direction they travel.
A present of this kind goes from someone lower to someone higher (2 Chronicles 9:24). It also took the form of tribute, an acknowledgement of submission. When Solomon reigned supreme, the whole earth came to him to hear his wisdom and brought presents, as the queen of Sheba did (1 Kings 10:24-25). This is a picture of Christ's kingdom set up on earth, when all nations will send presents to the Lord Jesus as willing tribute (Psalm 72:10, 15; Isaiah 60:9).
A fixed yearly rate turns a gift into a tax. One commentator finds the same yearly rhythm in the millennium — the coming reign of Christ on earth.
The glory of Solomon prompted other kings to bring presents to him: articles of silver and gold, garments, armor, spices, horses and mules. They brought them at a set rate every year, which shows it was meant as tribute (v. 24). This compares with Zechariah 14:16, which speaks of the millennium, when all nations recognise the authority of the King of kings and are called to give Him honor every year.
Of the holy city we read that the nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it (Revelation 21:24). In Chronicles this is foreshadowed. The first thing stated about "all the kings of the earth" is "They sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom." They needed correction, guidance and instruction, and they received all from the one who was the centre of the kingdom seen in its glory. Moreover, they bring their presents... We know that in the world to come Christ will be "King of kings, and Lord of lords," 1 Timothy 6:15; Revelation 19:16.
One writer sets the queen of Sheba at the head of a crowd, then measures that crowd against what is still to come.
The fame of Solomon's wisdom had brought the queen of Sheba to hear it and test it. She is astonished and overcome. But what will the outshining of Him be, of Whom the brightest days of Solomon were only a faint resemblance? She is only one of many, for "all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart." But what are these kings of the earth next to the crowds still to come? Heaven and earth and sea will send out countless numbers to sing the praise of Him who lives for ever and ever.
The same king who received this yearly homage wrote a book about it. One writer puts the two side by side, and notes that nothing in Solomon's circumstances explains the verdict he reached.
The Book of Ecclesiastes then is of great value, and might profitably be studied by men of the world in our day. Its writer had no reason to bear a grudge against the world: as men would say, it had used him well, conceding him his place, paying him due honour, and rendering full homage to his marvellous wisdom.
Yet his own summary of it all was that everything is vanity — a breath, a vapour passing over the earth.
- Upward — A present like this travels from a lesser to a greater. It is tribute, an acknowledgement of submission.
- Yearly — The fixed yearly rate marks it as tribute. Nations will bring that same yearly honour to the King of kings.
- Wisdom first — The kings came to hear before they came to pay. They needed correction and guidance, and got both at the centre of the kingdom.
- Horses — The same list that honours Solomon names horses. He did exactly what the law forbade a king to do.
- Faint — Solomon's brightest days are only a faint resemblance of Christ. His visiting kings are a handful beside the crowds who will praise Him.
And Solomon had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen; and he placed them in the chariot-cities, and with the king at Jerusalem.
Chapter 9 closes Solomon's reign at its height — gold, tribute, an ivory throne. Then it stops to count his stables and his cavalry. Is that military strength part of the glory God promised, or the first crack in it?
Solomon fought no wars, yet the chapter ends with a standing army. One writer reads this as readiness, and as a picture of the protection Israel will know under Christ:
Though Solomon had no wars, he was fully prepared in case war should rise against him. He had 4000 stalls for horses and chariots, stationed in appointed chariot cities and in Jerusalem. This reminds us that the Lord Jesus will provide complete protection for Israel in the millennium.
Chronicles counts Solomon's horses but never calls them a fault. That silence reflects what each book sets out to show:
We knew very well that these horses, and above all his many wives, became a great snare to Solomon. But Chronicles is not written to record the king's responsibility and the ways he broke down. It is written above all to show that he was the witness of God's purpose. In Kings, as I have already shown, the question is responsibility. In Chronicles, it is divine counsel. That is the difference between the two books.
The same short paragraph reports two things at once — a promise kept and a command broken:
After the vision and the Lord's promise, "I will give you riches and wealth and honor," we hear of Solomon's horses, horsemen and chariots… Solomon seems to have built up a great trade. This showed the promise fulfilled, since the Lord gave him riches and wealth. But it also showed an unlawful desire for increase, which was forbidden (Deut. 17:16).
Solomon's problem was not ignorance. One writer puts it plainly:
David won his great victories without horses, because God was with him. Solomon had horses, and from that point Israel began to say goodbye to victory. He multiplied horses, wives and riches. He did the three things the king was told not to do, and did them flagrantly… Solomon did not act in ignorance of God's Word. It was staring him in the face, and so he did it outrageously.
If Solomon's reign is a picture — a type — of the reign of Christ, the chariot cities are where that picture breaks down. Real peace will not need chariots:
But Solomon was no believer in disarmament. Twice we read that Solomon gathered chariots and horsemen. He had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen, stationed in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem. Every type fails! One day He who is "greater than Solomon" will reign in Jerusalem. Then men "shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore" (Isa. 2:4).
This verse says four thousand stalls; 1 Kings 4:26 says forty thousand. One writer treats the larger number as a copying mistake:
Solomon had also great stables full of horses and many chariots. He had 4000 horses. The number 40,000 in 1 Kings 4:26 is clearly the error of a copyist. (See 2 Chron. 9:25.)
A scribe can copy a number wrong, one writer notes, "but this is the inaccuracy of copyists, not of scripture" (William Kelly).
The horses failed at the one moment the kingdom needed holding together:
A warning is given to any king who might arise: he was not to multiply horses, or send his people to Egypt to bring horses back. Of course people thought war horses were necessary to protect the kingdom. But could faith not depend on God for that protection instead of on horses?… Despite this warning, Solomon, rich king as he was, "had horses imported from Egypt," and chariots too… They did not stop the kingdom from splitting soon after Solomon died (1 Ki. 12). Depending on these things is not depending on God.
- Promise — God pledged Solomon riches, wealth and honor. The stables and chariots show He kept His word.
- Picture — Solomon was at peace and still fully guarded. That points ahead to the safety Israel will know under Christ.
- Silence — Chronicles records the horses but not the sin. It traces God's purpose; Kings traces the king's responsibility.
- Breach — Solomon knew the rule about horses. The warning stared him in the face, and he went past it anyway.
- Collapse — Twelve thousand horsemen could not hold the kingdom together after Solomon died. Leaning on such strength is not leaning on God.
And he ruled over all the kings from the river as far as the land of the Philistines, and up to the border of Egypt.
Chronicles closes its account of Solomon by measuring his kingdom, from the Euphrates in the north to the edge of Egypt in the south. Two questions follow: were these the borders God had promised, and why does Scripture record them?
Solomon did not pick these boundaries himself. One writer explains both how he held such a wide peace and where the line came from.
Solomon's chariots and horses did not break the law of Moses (Deuteronomy 17:16). They were a means of keeping his reign of peace over all the nations. These limits of Solomon's kingdom in Israel match the limits God had planned for His people in Joshua 1:4. Israel had never reached them before, and has never reached them since. Only the future reign of Christ will make them real, and then on an even greater scale.
The Euphrates marked the far edge. One writer says that outer limit is still waiting.
When the word was given to Joshua at the start, the Euphrates was the outer boundary. The Jordan was the proper one. Some of the tribes wanted what lay on the other side, and it went badly for them. They did not gain by it; they lost. But the Euphrates is the extreme limit, and that awaits the Lord Jesus.
He ruled over the kings, and that is not the same as owning their land. The peoples inside that span kept their own identity and paid what they owed.
This foreshadows the blessing of Israel in the Millennium, but it does not mean that all in that area were Solomon's people. Separate kingdoms still existed alongside Israel. Solomon had brought them under his control, and they paid him tribute for as long as he lived. Even the Philistines were still a distinct people.
The reach was wide. One writer measures it against an older promise.
The land Solomon ruled was not all the land God promised to Abraham (Genesis 15:18-21). Only the kingdom of the Lord Jesus will bring that about.
Solomon's land had edges. His wisdom did not.
Solomon's rule was only a weak picture of Christ's rule. Christ will have "the ends of the earth" (Psalm 2:8) as His possession... but his wisdom went far beyond the limits of his land. All people came to hear him. All the kings of the earth came to seek his advice. In him we see a picture of what is said of Christ: "I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth."
Kings came to Solomon, listened to him, and brought him gifts. One writer traces that pattern forward.
Of the holy city we read, "By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it" (Revelation 21:24). Chronicles pictures this in advance. The first thing said about "all the kings of the earth" is that "they sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom." They needed correction, guidance and teaching, and they got it all from the one who stood at the centre of the kingdom in its glory. Moreover, they bring their presents... We know that in the world to come Christ will be "King of kings, and Lord of lords" (1 Timothy 6:15; Revelation 19:16). He is Lord in relation to the heavenly side of the kingdom, and King in relation to the earthly side... Heaven and earth will be united under His kind rule, and He will fill all with the glory of God.
- Border given. The line from the Euphrates to Egypt was God's measurement, not Solomon's ambition. It matched the boundary set for Joshua.
- Border reached. Israel reached those limits once, under Solomon. Never before, and never since.
- Border respected. He ruled over kings whose peoples stayed distinct. They paid tribute, and only while he lived.
- Border exceeded. His land stopped at Egypt. His wisdom did not: all the kings of the earth came to hear him. That wider reach points to Christ.
- Border fulfilled. The map falls short of the land promised to Abraham. The full extent belongs to Christ, King of kings, who will unite heaven and earth under His rule.
And the king made silver in Jerusalem as stones, and cedars made he as the sycamores that are in the lowland for abundance.
Chronicles ends its account of Solomon by measuring his wealth in an odd way. It does not count it: silver became as cheap as stone, and imported cedar as common as an everyday local tree — and the question is what that surplus pictures.
The verse is not saying Solomon had a lot of silver. It is saying silver stopped being precious.
And what riches and glory the king had! Everything was of gold. Silver dropped in value in his days; it was worth next to nothing. Compare this with what will take place in the coming kingdom of our Lord. "Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress; instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle" (Is. 55:13). "Instead of bronze I will bring gold, and instead of iron I will bring silver; instead of wood, bronze, instead of stones, iron" (Isa. 60:17).
Another writer notes that gold, not silver, filled the king's houses, and links gold to the glory of the kingdom still to come:
In Solomon's house all the drinking vessels were gold, and the vessels in the House of the Forest of Lebanon were gold. None were silver, for silver was accounted as nothing in Solomon's kingdom. Gold symbolizes the glory of God, which will be predominant in the millennial kingdom of the Lord Jesus.
The second half of the verse does the same with timber.
Cedar trees became as common as the sycamores. The cedars were imported from Lebanon.
The comparison only works if you know the second tree, the one Zacchaeus climbed:
This is a tree large enough for a man to rest in its branches, as Zacchaeus did. Luke 19:4. It was known in Egypt, and was plentiful in Palestine. Amos was a "gatherer of sycamore fruit." David had a special overseer of such trees.
One writer reads the verse with what comes just before it: the queen's gift, the king's greater generosity, and his fleets of ships.
The queen of Sheba gives the king a royal present suited to her rank and her means. The king, I need not say, was not to be outdone in generosity. The greatness of his throne is described, and the vastness of his shipping as well — and the abundance that resulted for all the people.
Solomon's abundance came by trade. One writer sets it beside a greater abundance, when God's own glory rises on Zion:
When the glory of Jehovah rises upon Zion, she will shine in full beauty. Every land will adorn her: gold from Sheba, and incense, the treasures of Midian and Kedar, and the glory of Lebanon will be there.
One writer states plainly what Solomon pictures:
Solomon was a type of the Lord Jesus Christ when He will reign as King with all enemies put under His feet.
Solomon's reign was the brightest earth has seen. The same writer sets it beside the book of Ecclesiastes:
But oh, what a vast difference between even the brightest days this earth has ever seen and the days we have just been describing! Read the Book of Ecclesiastes and note its emptiness and frustration of spirit: "What is crooked cannot be made straight, and what is lacking cannot be counted" (Ecc. 1:15). "I saw under the sun that in the place of justice there was wickedness, and in the place of righteousness there was wickedness" (3:16).
One writer notes why the Lord Jesus used Solomon as a comparison, and what the king's clothing lacked:
What a wonderful wealth there was in Solomon's reign! Silver was like stones, we are told. The Queen of Sheba fainted at the sight, it so far exceeded her expectations, so we can see why the Lord here selects Solomon. However grand and beautiful his clothing was, it was only artificial. The other was of God.
- Cheap — Silver did not just grow plentiful; it lost its worth. It was "accounted as nothing," and gold filled the king's house instead.
- Common — Cedar shipped in from Lebanon became as ordinary as the sycamore, a tree already plentiful in the land.
- Shared — The king's generosity and shipping produced abundance for all the people, not a private treasury.
- Coming — Isaiah promises the same exchange on a larger scale — gold for bronze, silver for iron — when God's glory rises on Zion.
- Short — The brightest reign earth has seen still produced Ecclesiastes, and even the king's finest clothing was only artificial. The reign Solomon pictures is Christ's.
And they brought to Solomon horses out of Egypt, and out of all lands.
This one line of trade closes the account of Solomon's splendour. Horses arrive from Egypt and from every other land, and the record adds no comment. So why does Chronicles report the trade without blame, when the same act marks the start of a king's ruin?
One writer points out what Chronicles leaves out, and why.
In fact, in this trade with Egypt Solomon was disobeying God. Yet God used even this disobedience for His own glory, for Chronicles says nothing about this matter being disobedience. The emphasis is instead on something else. Solomon's wealth, increased as it was by trade with the nations, is a picture of the greater wealth and splendour of the millennial reign of the Lord Jesus. Tribute from the whole world will increase His glory, and Egypt pictures that world.
God had already set limits for any king of Israel. One of them named this exact trade.
But God gave a warning to any king who might arise. He was not to multiply horses, or send his people to Egypt to bring horses back. Of course war horses were considered necessary for the protection of the kingdom. Could faith not depend on God for such protection rather than on horses? ... These things did not protect the kingdom from division soon after Solomon died. Depending on these things is not depending on God.
Before Solomon, horses barely appear in Israel's story. One writer names the few exceptions, and the command Solomon broke.
Note that there is no mention of a horse in Israel up to the days of Solomon. The only exceptions are the few that David captured and kept, according to 2 Samuel 8:4, and Absalom, who prepared chariots and horses when making his bid for the kingdom. This first command, then, Solomon flagrantly disobeyed.
The same writer adds that the step looked natural. Solomon's wife came out of Egypt, and she "was not likely to be content with humble donkeys or mules."
Solomon had himself written the sentence that ruled out this policy. That is what gives the verse its sting.
Solomon himself tells us in Proverbs 21:31 that "the horse is made ready for the day of battle." Then he adds the words he later quite forgot: "but the victory belongs to the LORD." ... but David wrote before Solomon began to reign, "The war horse is a vain hope for salvation, and by its great might it cannot rescue" (Psalm 33:17). In days of danger the Lord is worth more to His people than regiments of cavalry.
The horses did not stay in Israel. The next verse shows them sold on, and this turned a private failure into a public one.
Solomon appears to have established a considerable business in horse-dealing. ... The next verse tells us that he sold horses to the kings of the Hittites and of Syria. This trading may have been profitable, but the Lord was not pleased with His servant for it. What a testimony to the nations around him! They should have learned from him that trusting God is better than trusting horses.
David won his wars without horses. One writer traces what Solomon's horses cost him.
David won his great victories without horses, since God was with him. Solomon had horses, and from that point Israel began to say goodbye to victory. He multiplied horses and wives and riches. He did the three things God told the king not to do, and he did them in the most flagrant way. The consequence of all this self-promotion is solemn. This idea — that the way of life is to get everything possible for self-gratification — traps you into disobedience, and you forfeit the support of God. Solomon did not act in ignorance of God's Word — it was simply staring him in the face.
- Gift. Chronicles reports the horses without blame. It reads Solomon's wealth as a picture of the reign of the Lord Jesus, when tribute comes to Him from the whole world.
- Limit. God told Israel's king not to multiply horses or fetch them from Egypt. Faith was to depend on Him for protection, not on horses.
- Direction. Horses were almost unknown in Israel before Solomon. Buying them from Egypt was the one route God had forbidden His king.
- Blindness. Solomon wrote that the victory belongs to the Lord, then forgot it. Knowing the right sentence does not keep anyone.
- Loss. The horses never saved the kingdom. It split soon after Solomon died.