5.15.25 – 2 Chronicles 8-9

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Welcome to Add Bible, an audio daily devotion from the Ezra Project. We join Allen J. Huth as he shares Bible passages and comments from over 30 years of his personal Bible reading journals.

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Today we are in 2 Chronicles chapters 8 and 9. This is the end of the time of Solomon’s reign. So let’s listen in to our guest reader, Senator Kevin Grantham, read 2 Chronicles chapter 8, and then we’ll hear Faith Comes By Hearing’s recording of chapter 9.

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2 Chronicles 8 At the end of twenty years in which Solomon had built the house of the Lord and his own house, Solomon rebuilt the cities that Hiram had given to him and settled the people of Israel in them. And Solomon went to Hamath-Zobah and took it. He built Tadmor in the wilderness and all the store cities that he built in Hamath. He also built upper Beth Horon and lower Beth Horon, fortified cities with walls, gates, and bars, and Baalath and all the store cities that Solomon had and all the cities for his chariots and the cities for his horsemen, and whatever Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion. All the people who were left of the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, who were not of Israel, from their descendants who were left after them in the land, whom the people of Israel had not destroyed. These Solomon drafted as forced labor, and so they are to this day. But of the people of Israel Solomon made no slaves for his work. They were soldiers and his officers, the commanders of his chariots and his horsemen. And these were the chief officers of King Solomon, 250, who exercised authority over the people. Solomon brought Pharaoh’s daughter up from the city of David to the house that he had built for her. For he said, My wife shall not live in the house of David, king of Israel, for the places to which the ark of the Lord has come are holy. Then Solomon offered up burnt offerings to the Lord on the altar of the Lord that he had built before the vestibule, as the duty of each day required, offering, according to the commandment of Moses, for the Sabbaths, the new moons, and the three annual feasts, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Booths. According to the ruling of David his father, he appointed the divisions of the priests for their service, and the Levites for their offices of praise and ministry before the priests as the duty of each day required, and the gatekeepers in their divisions at each gate. for so david the man of god had commanded and they did not turn aside from what the king had commanded the priests and levites concerning any matter and concerning the treasuries thus was accomplished all the work of solomon from the day the foundation of the house of the lord was laid until it was finished So the house of the Lord was completed. Then Solomon went to Ezion-Geber and Eloth on the shore of the sea in the land of Edom. And Hiram sent to him by the hand of his servants ships and servants familiar with the sea. And they went to Ophir together with the servants of Solomon and brought from there 450 talents of gold and brought it to King Solomon.

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2 Chronicles 9 Now when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to Jerusalem to test him with hard questions, having a very great retinue and camels bearing spices and very much gold and precious stones. And when she came to Solomon, she told him all that was on her mind. And Solomon answered all her questions. There was nothing hidden from Solomon that he could not explain to her.” And when the queen of Sheba had seen the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built, the food of his table, the seating of his officials, and the attendance of his servants and their clothing, his cupbearers and their clothing, and his burnt offerings that he offered at the house of the Lord, there was no more breath in her. And she said to the king,

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The report was true that I heard in my own land of your words and of your wisdom. But I did not believe the reports until I came and my own eyes had seen it. And behold, half the greatness of your wisdom was not told me. You surpass the report that I heard. Happy are your wives. Happy are these your servants who continually stand before you and hear your wisdom.” Blessed be the Lord your God, who has delighted in you and set you on his throne as king for the Lord your God. Because your God loved Israel and would establish them forever, he has made you king over them, that you may execute justice and righteousness.

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Then she gave the king one hundred twenty talents of gold and a very great quantity of spices and precious stones. There were no spices such as those that the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon. Moreover, the servants of Hiram and the servants of Solomon, who brought gold from Ophir, brought algum wood and precious stones. And the king made from the algum wood supports for the house of the Lord and for the king’s house, lyres also, and harps for the singers.” There never was seen the like of them before in the land of Judah. And King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all that she desired, whatever she asked besides what she had brought to the king. So she turned and went back to her own land with her servants. Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was 666 talents of gold, besides that which the explorers and merchants brought. And all the kings of Arabia and the governors of the land brought gold and silver to Solomon. King Solomon made two hundred large shields of beaten gold. Six hundred shekels of beaten gold went into each shield. And he made three hundred shields of beaten gold. Three hundred shekels of gold went into each shield. And the king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon. the king also made a great ivory throne and overlaid it with pure gold the throne had six steps and a footstool of gold which were attached to the throne and on each side of the seat were armrests and two lions standing beside the armrests while twelve lions stood there, one on each end of a step on the six steps. Nothing like it was ever made for any kingdom. All King Solomon’s drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold. Silver was not considered as anything in the days of Solomon. For the king’s ships went to Tarshish with the servants of Hiram. Once every three years the ships of Tarshish used to come, bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks. Thus 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. Every one of them brought his present, articles of silver and of gold, garments, myrrh, spices, horses and mules, so much year by year. And Solomon had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, whom he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem.” And he ruled over all the kings from the Euphrates to the land of the Philistines and to the border of Egypt. And the king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stone, and he made cedar as plentiful as the sycamore of the Shephila. And horses were imported for Solomon from Egypt and from all lands. Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, from first to last, Are they not written in the history of Nathan the prophet, and in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of Iddo the seer, concerning Jeroboam the son of Nebat? Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years. And Solomon slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David his father. And Rehoboam his son reigned in his place.

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As we take a look at chapters 8 and 9 of 2 Chronicles, There’s an interesting phrase in chapter 8, verse 12. The Word of God says, Then Solomon offered up burnt offerings to the Lord on the altar of the Lord that he had built before the vestibule as the duty of each day required. If you’ve listened to AdBible for any length of time, you will understand that I am a daily Bible reader, and I encourage you Daily time in the scriptures. So that’s why I refer to a verse like this. Solomon offered burnt offerings to the Lord daily. What do you offer to the Lord daily? I encourage you to offer daily time in his word and daily time in prayer. Those would be the equivalent of your burnt offerings in our day and age. After the last couple chapters here in 2 Chronicles of the completion of the temple, when God’s glory fills the temple, is there any reason why you can’t give God a little bit of time each and every day? Let’s go on to chapter 9. What was Solomon really like? Let’s look at the Queen of Sheba’s description after she met King Solomon. Verse 3, And when the Queen of Sheba had seen the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built, the food of his table, the seating of his officials, and the attendance of his servants and their clothing, his cupbearers and their clothing, and his burnt offerings that he offered at the house of the Lord, There was no more breath in her. Wow, the extravagance, the wealth oozing from the king of Israel. She goes on to say, You surpassed the report that I heard. Happy are your wives. Happy are these your servants who continually stand before you and hear your wisdom. I just have to step aside from the passage for a moment concerning this phrase we just read. Happy are your wives. Now, fortunately, most of us only have one wife or one husband or one spouse. But are they happy? Are they happy because of their relationship with you? Chapter 9 ends with the description of the wealth of Solomon and his kingdom. I don’t think the words of this chapter can even come close to describing the wealth of Solomon and his kingdom. verse nineteen says nothing like it was ever made for any kingdom verse twenty says silver was not considered as anything in the days of solomon verse twenty two says thus 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 Verse 27 says, And the king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stone. Solomon had it all, didn’t he? Why? Because God gave it to him. Do you have it all? Do you have more than enough? Are the people around you happy because they’re around you? Are blessings like these only for people like Solomon? I don’t think so. In the scriptures, God outlines the parameters of his blessings. He will bless those who are obedient to him, who keep his laws and don’t go after other gods. Are you experiencing the blessings of God in your life? The flip side is also true. God cannot bless disobedience. He won’t bless those who choose not to walk with him. So are you walking with the Lord or walking away? Are you blessed or cursed? It can all change today after listening to this Ad Bible recording. As we saw Solomon do in a chapter before, he got down on his knees and spread his hands out and prayed to God. I encourage you to do the same today. For those of you who have right relationship with him, it might just be a prayer of worship. For those who need right relationship with Him, it may be a prayer of repentance and a seeking of forgiveness. Reach out to God and let Him bless your life. And don’t forget that daily sacrifice of spending time in His Word and in prayer with Him. Father, thank you for caring more about the relationship with us than we often care about a relationship with you. Heaven is stored up with blessings. Oh, release them today for your children who love you, serve you, and walk with you. The blessings for Solomon came from your hand. May it be the same for us, and may we be sure to give you the glory. In Jesus’ name, amen. Thanks for listening to AdBible today. After listening to AdBible, you may wish members of your family or friends would find a personal relationship with Jesus like you have. But we know most Christians have never shared their faith with anyone else. In fact, it’s about 95% of us. Maybe you want to, but you just don’t know how. I was not very good at it either, but I had a desire to get better at it. Maybe you do too. Check out our teaching on how to share your faith without a fight at EzraProject.net. Sharing our faith is not a gift some have and some don’t. It’s a command to go and make disciples. Learn how to do it, or at least give it a try. Visit EzraProject.net. Find how to share your faith without a fight. I know you’re going to enjoy it and want to share it with others.