1 Kings 4:20

The promise God made to Abraham after he offered his son on the altar was now kept (Gen. 22:17), at least in part, for his offspring was to be "as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore." Only in Christ's thousand-year reign will it come true in full… Here the people are as many as the sand by the sea — holding back the surrounding nations and keeping them within their limits. Solomon's subjects ate and drank and made merry. They had plenty; every need was met. Joy filled their hearts; they were safe everywhere.

Solomon pleaded that Israel was "so great." How could he carry the responsibility of guiding such a nation? Now compare verses 20 and 29 of 1 Kings 4: "Judah and Israel were as many as the sand by the sea"; "God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding beyond measure, and breadth of mind like the sand on the seashore." Wisdom to match the need!

The people's prosperity and peace were as remarkable as the glory and power of the king… This fulfilled the word of Jehovah in Leviticus 26:5: "Your threshing shall last to the time of the grape harvest, and the grape harvest shall last to the time for sowing. And you shall eat your bread to the full and dwell in your land securely. And I will give peace in the land, and you shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid." The people, as well as the king, were the head of the nations, not the tail; and they lent to many nations, but did not borrow.

Apart from a few faithful ones, the whole moral state is grim indeed. But millennial days were at hand. The sceptre of the King of Glory waves across the scene, and there is power in it, strange and precious power. Confusion and hatreds cease. Roots of bitterness are pulled out of the soil. The people are happy in each other's happiness. Instead of counting each other up for slaughter, Judah and Israel are many as the sand by the sea, eating, drinking and making merry. Instead of marching to the forest of Ephraim to fight again, they sit under their vines and fig trees. They call each other neighbour, and no one makes them afraid.

This is the blessed effect of the reign of the Prince of Peace, of Christ in the character of Solomon. It fulfils the words spoken of Solomon's reign in 1 Kings 4:20. It is the favour and blessing of God, and peace with one another, and, as a result in the kingdom, full earthly prosperity.

Judah and Israel were not yet divided, as they became in the reign of Solomon's son Rehoboam. The people showed a lovely unity. There were many of them, yet they rejoiced together (v. 20). This pictures the great prosperity, unity and blessing of Israel in the Millennium. But it is only a brief and fleeting picture. Such things cannot last until the true King of Israel, the Lord Jesus, reigns.