Episode 3: 1 Kings 3-4: God's Wisdom
Join us for chapters 3 & 4 as the glories of God's wisdom and the rumblings of human folly are on display in the life and work of Solomon.
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What strikes you about God's wisdom given to Solomon?
How do we see this wisdom overflowing into kingdom life?
How do these chapters grow your desire for Christ, in whom are found all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge?
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This episode is sponsored by P&R Publishing
P&R are dedicated to publishing excellent books that promote biblical understanding and godly living. They have a wide range of titles that aim to serve Christ and his church.
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The following is an uncorrected transcript generated by a transcription service. Before quoting in print, please check the corresponding audio for accuracy.
Felicity: You're listening to the Two Sisters and a Cup of Tea podcast, the Bible Study podcast for everyday life. We're here for a 20 minute burst of Bible chat over a cup of tea and an English style biscuit as we make our way through a Bible book over the course of the season and drive it to our hearts. And this season, we're in the first 11 chapters of First Kings. Whether you've been listening for a while or have just found us, we're so pleased you're here.
Sarah: We're thankful to be partnering with P&R Publishing this season, particularly highlighting their series of booklets called Heart Talks, which currently contains four titles. Each one starts with What to Say When, and the aim is to equip the reader to be able to speak with sisters who are struggling in different ways. The second one is called What to Say When She Has a Chronic Illness, and delves into what it looks like to come alongside a friend who is suffering long-term. The author Christina Michael explores the different questions and emotions going through the sufferer at each point on their journey, but also then provides a wonderfully helpful selection of questions and practicalities for friends to consider as they come alongside them. There's a wealth of gentle wisdom packed into this booklet and it's already served me well as I seek to come alongside friends who are struggling with chronic illness. Grab a copy wherever you get your books. The link is in the show notes.
Felicity: Welcome to Two Sisters and a Cup of Tea. My name is Felicity. I'm over in America. I'm here as ever with my sister Sarah. She's in the UK. We're excited to be continuing our season in First Kings and this episode we're in chapters three and four and getting into God's wisdom. Sarah, good to be with you. I've got to say I've got a usual Earl Grey. I thought it was a usual Earl Grey cup of tea. It was so floral. I don't know what happened in the tin, but the floral intensity. mean, it's up to its game somehow at the bottom of the tin.
Sarah: Was it, was it, was was it loose leaf or tea bag?
Felicity: No, no, tea bagging. was at the bottom. It's like one of my final ones. It's a it's a sad moment actually because I really only like the ones that come from the UK and I'm not there.
Sarah: No, okay, you're not, no, no. So, did you manage to enjoy it or was it a bit overpowering the floral nature of it?
Felicity: I mean I got used to it but it was a little disappointing to be honest. Yeah, unsettling, that's the word, that's the word.
Sarah: A little unsettling. You have a tea habit. Oh brilliant. Alright Felicity, well before we get into these chapters we just wanted to talk a little bit about what's it going to look like to apply One Kings, First Kings as we go through and what the focus of our application should be because I think it's very tempting when we're reading any part of the Bible isn't it to kind of jump to right what does this actually mean for me right now here today but talk us through how we've kind of just to kind of help think about application as we go through.
Felicity: Hmm, well, I think we want to always be putting the Bible book that we're in into the big picture of the salvation story. So where does this come in that big picture? And at this point we're thinking very much about God's King and God fulfilling his promise that was made to David back in 2 Samuel. And so we have Solomon here being the fulfillment of that promise to a degree. He's not the complete fulfillment, because we're going to see that in Jesus. But because we have Solomon being the fulfillment of that promise, we're really seeing then how this applies in our understanding of what God is doing with his king, who his king is, how this king, how that king is gonna govern. So I found it really helpful to have that in mind because my temptation is always like, I think I'm a bit like Solomon, so I'll just jump into his shoes. And that's not quite right. Has that been similar for you? What kind of tactics have you employed?
Sarah: Yeah, and I think there's something in that, like, there will be wisdom that comes from looking at Solomon's life and there'll be things to pick out here, right there, but also just that big view of not just then God's King and Solomon, but also driving forward to Christ, that he is the subject of all of scripture. He's the object of our worship, isn’t he? So actually applying this might not mean, right today, this is what I need to go and do, or this is a specific application, but it might be, and quite often it's a, wow, my view of Christ has grown, that fuels my worship which drives me to want to serve him in the everyday. So the kind of big picture does drive home to our hearts and we then apply it but it might not look specific in the ways that we're kind of necessarily hoping in different parts of the Bible if that makes sense.
Felicity: Yeah, really helpful. And I think there's a kind of element of just resting in that being wowed rather than like, I'm gonna go and do something now. Which is just true often when we're in the woods. Well, let's get into it, we, Sarah? So you're gonna read for us, we're in chapters three and four, but we're not reading all of it.
Sarah: No, so I'm going to be reading chapter 3 verses 1 to 15 and then chapter 4 verses 20 to 34. Let's go.
Solomon made an alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt and married his daughter. He brought her to the City of David until he finished building his palace and the temple of the Lord, and the wall around Jerusalem. The people, however, were still sacrificing at the high places, because a temple had not yet been built for the Name of the Lord. Solomon showed his love for the Lord by walking according to the instructions given him by his father David, except that he offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places.
The king went to Gibeon to offer sacrifices, for that was the most important high place, and Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.”
Solomon answered, “You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day.
“Now, Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?”
The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. So God said to him, “Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be. Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for—both wealth and honour—so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings. And if you walk in obedience to me and keep my decrees and commands as David your father did, I will give you a long life.” Then Solomon awoke—and he realized it had been a dream. He returned to Jerusalem, stood before the ark of the Lord’s covenant and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. Then he gave a feast for all his court.
And now to chapter four, verse 20.
The people of Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand on the seashore; they ate, they drank and they were happy. And Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates River to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt. These countries brought tribute and were Solomon’s subjects all his life. Solomon’s daily provisions were thirty cors of the finest flour and sixty cors of meal, ten head of stall-fed cattle, twenty of pasture-fed cattle and a hundred sheep and goats, as well as deer, gazelles, roebucks and choice fowl. For he ruled over all the kingdoms west of the Euphrates River, from Tiphsah to Gaza, and had peace on all sides. During Solomon’s lifetime Judah and Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, lived in safety, everyone under their own vine and under their own fig tree. Solomon had four thousand stalls for chariot horses, and twelve thousand horses. The district governors, each in his month, supplied provisions for King Solomon and all who came to the king’s table. They saw to it that nothing was lacking. They also brought to the proper place their quotas of barley and straw for the chariot horses and the other horses.
God gave Solomon wisdom and very great insight, and a breadth of understanding as measureless as the sand on the seashore. Solomon’s wisdom was greater than the wisdom of all the people of the East, and greater than all the wisdom of Egypt. He was wiser than anyone else, including Ethan the Ezrahite—wiser than Heman, Kalkol and Darda, the sons of Mahol. And his fame spread to all the surrounding nations. He spoke three thousand proverbs and his songs numbered a thousand and five. He spoke about plant life, from the cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of walls. He also spoke about animals and birds, reptiles and fish. From all nations people came to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, sent by all the kings of the world, who had heard of his wisdom.
Felicity: Thank you, Sarah. Wow. I mean, the wow is big, isn't it? Like, just these chapters, you're like, this is a beautiful picture that we have that really is fuelled by wisdom. If you were just to go through and spot the repeated words, then wisdom comes up again and again. But we've been going back and forth a little bit in our conversations, haven't we, about just Solomon and whether the wow is kind of a complete wow, whether there's any elements of just, we've talked about those major, minor notes.
Sarah: I think it's important to just to kind of start with that isn't it because actually I think that is where the author starts at the beginning of these chapters. If you remember the last phrase at the end of chapter two was the kingdom was now established in Solomon's hands and yet the very next breath, the very next sentence we read, Solomon made an alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt and married his daughter. And so we've got this ooh that doesn't sound great does it? It doesn't sound great. And then we've got this kind of sandwich and we've got Solomon in verse 3 saying showing Solomon showed his love for the Lord and you know there's only only one other place in the whole of the Old Testament that talks about someone loving the Lord like this so this is an extraordinary kind of moment but either side of that there's a however and there's an accept and there's reality that actually he's not wholeheartedly there, he's still offering sacrifices and bird incense on the high places which is a kind of, well just like there's so many connotations of idolatry and false worship there. So there's a lot of highs in this chapter, there's a lot of beauty, there's a lot of glory that we're going to unpack but the author starts by just kind of giving us a glimpse into Solomon's choices and his heart which I think just helps to kind of again just show us those themes as we continue to go through these chapters.
Felicity: Yeah, I think that's exactly right. And so we've kind of got those in the back of our minds. But as we get into the chapters, I mean, there's no doubt that this is just quite astounding. I love the way that Solomon asks for this. I mean, God clearly loves the way he asks. He grants the request. even you have shown great kindness to your servant, my father, and this kind of the whole, please give me this, in order that I might serve your people. Verse eight, your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people too numerous to count or number. There's a humility, it seems, to the way that Solomon is asking for this and the idea that he needs from God a discerning heart to govern these people. And God loves that, he? Verse 10, the Lord was pleased that Solomon asked for this.
Sarah: Yeah, it is. It's a prayer rooted in humility, isn't it? Everything, acknowledging that everything comes from the Lord. It reminds me of that proverb, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. It's that, isn't it? We see that here. It's, it's, he's praying for wisdom so that he may serve others. mean, welfare of others is driving this prayer. He's praying, as you say, for discernment, for moral judgment, to be able to kind of administer justice. I just, it's just, it's just beautiful, isn't it? And then we see that kind of fleshed out so we have this picture that I didn't read, of this wise ruling between these prostitutes that come to Solomon and just to kind of, I didn't read the story but just that it's the story of these two women who are heartbroken, they're in the depths of despair about the death of a child, the kind of the heart-wrenching nature of these women as they approach Solomon and his practical and equitable wisdom to be able to speak into that situation and serve them, demonstrate how the prayer has been answered and how the wisdom has been given.
Felicity: Hmm... Yeah, just the very fact that the king would see these people, they're in the margins of society, prostitution was not approved of, wasn't a good thing, it's never been a good thing. And so that these women experience the compassion of the king in that. There's also just a slight question there, isn't there, of, these prostitutes are able to stand before the king, what's going on there, that these people can come into the court, there's a kind of little window into what Jerusalem looks like at this point, I think, through that. But not to diminish the way in which Solomon handles this and I think you kind of get into the tone and the feel of the story and there's just moments of like oh what's gonna happen because actually going back to chapter two we've seen Solomon he's pretty ruthless when it comes to dealing with his enemies isn't he so when I felt that when he says bring me a sword in verse 24 like yeah
Sarah: yeah you can feel the tension with the author don't you like oh what are you gonna do yeah it's yeah it's it is amazing though and then i really appreciate actually I really appreciate that the beginning of chapter four yes I didn't read out all the names but what we see here is that god given wisdom creates order out of chaos like there's there's order to his kingdom and I love that because that kind of images God doesn't it, in what God always sought to do as he created his world and I love just the nature of that in the way the order is kind of established in the kingdom. And then we come onto this most glorious description of what this kingdom is like as these people are sitting under this good and wise king, what does it look like to be in this kingdom? And it's just an amazing picture, isn't it? So chapter four, verse 20, they ate, they drank, and they were happy. Happiness is the kind of, is it? This is it, isn't it? The people are as numerous as the sand on the seashore. That's a kind of covenant-like fulfillment language, isn't it? That God's promise is right the way back in Genesis. They're here, they're living it out. They're in the sweet spot here. And it's just an amazing picture, isn't it, of feasting, abundance.
Felicity: I love that, yeah, I love the feasting. I think that the joy and the feasting and just verse 24 and had peace on all sides and you mentioned the language of fulfillment and this is what has been talked about isn't it? You can see from Solomon's point of view he's heard the promise being given to his father, to David, back in the day and it was kind of said when peace comes this is what's going to happen we're going to build the temple this is what's going to happen and so he must be feeling and everyone around him must be thinking this is it, this is it, the pinnacle, like glorious fulfillment of these things
Sarah: Yeah, and nothing was lacking, verse 27. All who came to the King's table, nothing was lacking. That kind of, just that, yeah, the abundance of it all. And then you kind of see that the abundance continues towards the end of the chapter when we, a kind of further description of Solomon's wisdom is given and the abundance extending not only to him and not only to the people of Israel, but also to the nations around. And this beautiful, it feels Eden-like, doesn't it? The descriptions, the way that this language is used. It feels like here is someone who's naming animals, who's talking about plant life and creation. It resonates with this is like a new Adam. This is someone who is having right and good dominion over creation. And it's a beautiful picture.
Felicity: Yeah, I think that's right. And it's a beautiful picture, again and again, we see that this is then a display of the kingdom, isn't it? We had it back in verse 28. They saw that he had wisdom from God to administer justice. And here, his fame, verse 31, his fame spread to all the surrounding nations. And then verse 34, came to listen to Solomon's, all the nation's people came to listen to Solomon's wisdom sent by all the kings of And it's likely not all the kings of the world, but there's a kind of picture of just this is visible. Yeah, so as we see the King and the Kingdom, where does it take us Sarah? How do we then kind of sit with this? Where do the gospel connections come?
Sarah: Well it's the Sunday School answer isn't it? It's Jesus, it's Jesus! But in a really beautiful way isn't it? As Jesus says something greater than Solomon is here and everything that we're seeing here points us forward, should point us forward to Christ who is the wisdom of God himself in whom the treasure of wisdom and knowledge are found. We read in Colossians in him he's the better Adam, the second Adam. In him we've got the wise king who has rightful rule and dominion over the world. In him we have the tenderness, I think I've been struck by the tenderness of Christ, and going back to the story with the prostitutes actually the fact that we can approach the king of kings, we can approach him and yes he exposes our hearts in the way that the king exposes the hearts here in the story but with mercy and tenderness he says to us, come, come and approach me, come and approach my throne of grace. I think just, I think we've been slightly, I've been slightly overwhelmed with it. There's just so much here. There's so many kind of gospel connections that I don't really know where to land. And I think that's okay. I think just recognizing that every time we come to it, we're seeing something new, that that's okay. And that's good. And that's rich, isn't it? And being happy with not landing everything.
Felicity: I think that's right, and there's a gradual building of the picture here, isn't it? Like there's gradual in the sense that the author is slowly taking us through and kind of gradually, but also every time we read it, come back to these chapters, come back to any part of the book, we're gradually, our picture of Jesus, our desire for Jesus as a result is gradually being increased. I think that as a result of being wowed by this wise governance, the wise king, this kingdom that stems from that is fueled by that. I'm wowed again by the wisdom of God, which is most evident in Jesus. And as I'm wowed by that, I want to love him more. I want to sit under his kingship. I want to actually give my whole allegiance in the sense of, I think I want to surrender every aspect of my life more. And it's an ongoing thing to continually be surrendering our lives to him. But seeing the King like this and seeing the way in which in God's wisdom, this is what God's King is like, that inclines my heart more towards surrender in that way. In the best of ways that I might be feasting like this with no lack. That there be no shadows, no ambiguities. Like, you know, even just at the end here we get him gathering chariots and horses which, that's never a good idea in scripture. Yeah.
Sarah: that harks back to Deuteronomy 17, doesn't it? That's what we were talking about, just that actually that, that even just that phrase, gosh really, but actually the desirability of this kingdom and this king and seeing that kind of grown and kind of fulfilled in Christ. I mean yeah it's it's just really good to sit there, isn't it? And I think it's challenged me to think, am I praying? Am I praying for this kingdom to come? Am I praying? Jesus tells us to pray, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. We're seeing that fleshed out here and we know it's not the end of the story here and we know we've got that end of the story coming and so am I praying in line with his king and his kingdom?
Felicity: Yeah, yeah. Well, let's do that, Sarah. Why don't you pray for us as we wrap up?
Sarah: I’d love to. Heavenly Father we just thank you so much for all that we've seen here of this glorious wisdom, this glorious kingdom, the peace, the safety, the abundance, this glorious King at the heart of it. Lord forgive us for where we don't desire your King and your kingdom. Oh Lord please incline our hearts, re-orientate our hearts more and more to be in awe of your King, the Lord Jesus. Lord, please help us to go from here changed by what we see in this word, remembering that you are on the throne and it is a glorious thing to be part of your kingdom. Amen.
Felicity: Amen. Well, so much, so much, but so much good stuff. And we will be.
Sarah: It's so good. Do remember we have show note questions on our website to help you dig into this with someone else because obviously this is just the starter of a conversation here. You can also sign up to receive them straight into your inbox together with the latest episode and a prayer prompt as well. Do head to the links in our show notes to sign up for that if that would be helpful to you. And we will see you next time as we get into a bigger chunk of scripture chapters five to eight. Do have a read beforehand and we look forward to seeing you then.
This episode has been sponsored by P&R Publishing.
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