A Book is Found

157 – A Book is Found

II Kings 22:1-20 II Chronicles 34:1-32

Josiah was eight years old when he became king of Judah. He walked with the Lord from the day he became king until the day he died 31years later. He was the last great king before the people of Judah went into captivity.

When he was 26 years old, he hired men to restore the Temple. Money had been given for that purpose, so he gave it to the workmen and said, “You have proven yourselves to be men of integrity. Therefore you don’t have to keep an account of this money.”

One day, the high priest found the Book of the Law, written by Moses. He sent it to the king, who had it read out loud. When Josiah heard what was written in the book, he ripped his clothes and said, “Surely the Lord’s anger is great against us! Our ancestors made a contract with God and then broke it over and over. His judgment on us must be close at hand. Go and find someone who can ask the Lord about this.”

The priest went to a certain section of the city to the home of Huldah, a woman prophet. They asked her about what was written in the book. She said, “I have a message from God to the man who sent you here. God says, ‘The people of this land have totally turned against me. They serve idols and false gods. I’m about to fulfill the judgment written in the book you found. Disaster will soon fall on this place and everyone who lives here. Nothing can turn away the judgment that is coming.’ ”

Huldah then said, “I have another message to the king of Judah. The Lord says, ‘When you heard the words of this book, your heart was sad and you ripped your clothes and cried. You have sought me with humility, and I heard you. Therefore, you will not see the disaster I’m bringing on this place. I will wait until you die and are buried.’ ”

The priest took these words back to Josiah. When he heard them, he gathered together all the elders of Jerusalem and Judah. They in turn went and got the rest of the people. Everyone went to the Temple, where they heard the king read the Law of Moses. They heard about the agreements their nation had with God.

Once the reading of the Law was done, Josiah stood in the place reserved for the king. In front of everyone, he made those same commitments to the Lord. He vowed that he would follow God’s commandments with all of his energies and power. All the people agreed to do the same.

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Athaliah

143 – Athaliah

2 Kings 8:16-29 9:14-29 11:1-21 2 Chronicles 21:1 – 23:21

Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, wanted to establish a good relationship with the kingdom of Israel. To do that, he had his oldest son marry Athaliah, the daughter of Ahab, king of Israel. Unfortunately, Athaliah influenced her husband to follow the sinful ways of Israel.

As soon as Jehoshaphat died, his son became king and put idols all around Judah, and built a temple to Baal in Jerusalem. He killed his six brothers to make sure they wouldn’t take the kingdom away from him.

Elisha sent him a message. “You’ve caused the people to worship idols, and now you’ve killed your brothers. They were all better men than you. Therefore, all of your sons will be killed, and you’ll die a slow agonizing death.”

Immediately, Judah started losing battles. The king developed a severe stomach illness. All of his sons were killed except the youngest. The king’s illness caused him extreme pain for two years. When he finally died, no one mourned his death.

His youngest son became king, and he followed the direction of his mother Athaliah. He went to visit his uncle, the king of Israel. While he was there, Jehu killed both of them.

When she heard that her son was dead, Athaliah decided to become king, even though she was a woman. Still, she knew the people of Judah always selected their kings from the descendants of David. That meant the people could kill her and make one of her grandchildren king. Therefore, she decided to kill them. She called for the guard and told him to go to the palace and kill them all.

Athaliah’s daughter heard this and rushed to the palace. She worshiped the Lord and was married to Jehoiada, the high priest. At the palace, she took the baby Joash and his nurse and left—just before the guards got there. She hid the child in the Temple of the Lord. Meanwhile the guards killed all the other royal descendants of David.

Athaliah was confident she had killed them all. So, she became king of Judah and ruled the nation for six years.

Jehoiada hid Joash in the Temple until he was seven years old. Finally the priest knew it was time to act. He organized a meeting with trusted military leaders and the heads of various family groups. He asked them, “What would you do if you had a descendant of King David.”

“We would make him king!”

Jehoiada then brought Joash before them and said, “Here is your next king.”

Together, they set a date to bring him out before the people. They organized the military, Temple activities, and crowd control. On the big day, the people of Judah went to the Temple.

Joash was brought out and put in the place reserved for the king. Jehoiada anointed him with oil and placed a crown on his head. The trumpets blew, the choir sang, and the people shouted, “Long live the king!!”

Athaliah heard all the shouting, so she went out to see what was going on. People were running through the streets, celebrating, and talking about the king. She walked into the Temple and saw Joash in the place reserved for the king, and he had a crown on his head. She ripped her clothes and screamed, “Treason! Treason!”

Jehoiada pointed at her and said, “Take that woman out, because it is not right to kill someone in the Temple.”

So they dragged Athaliah out of the Temple, and killed her at the horse corral. The people went through the city and tore down everything that had to do with Baal. The high priest once again set up the worship of the Lord in the Temple. Everyone rejoiced because Athaliah’s reign of terror was over.

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Jehu

141 – Jehu

2 Kings 9:1 – 9:29

Elisha selected one of the young prophets. He said to him, “Take this bottle of oil and go to Jehu. He’ll be with his friends, so ask to see him alone. Anoint him king of Israel. Once you’re done, open the door and run away.”

The young prophet found Jehu visiting with the other commanders of the army. The young man said to him, “I have a message for you.”

The two of them went into the house. The young prophet poured oil on Jehu’s head and said, “Here is the message from the Lord. ‘I anoint you king over Israel. You’re to kill the entire household of Ahab. Every male in his family is to die. Jezebel will be eaten by the dogs.’ ” With that, the young man opened the door and ran away.

Jehu went back to his friends. They said, “What did that crazy prophet want?”

“Oh, you know how they are. He went on and on about nothing.”

They said, “You’re not telling the truth. What did he say?”

“Oh well, he did say one interesting thing. He said, ‘I anoint you king of Israel.’ ”

The others jumped up and spread their coats down before him. They blew a ram’s horn and shouted “Jehu is king!” Immediately they started planning how they were going to overthrow Joram, king of Israel. He was the son of Ahab and Jezebel.

Joram was at his palace at Jezreel. His nephew, who was the king of Judah, had come to visit him. Jehu gathered his men and went to Jezreel.

The watchman saw him and his men coming and said to the king, “There’s a band of soldiers coming this way.”

Joram said, “Send a rider out to them to see if they’re coming in peace.”

A man rode out to Jehu and said, “The king wants to know if you’re coming in peace.”

“He knows nothing about peace. Get behind my men.”

The watchman said to the king, “The rider got there but isn’t coming back. He’s now riding behind the others.”

So the king sent another rider out. He rode up to Jehu and said, “The king wants to know if you’re coming in peace.”

“He knows nothing about peace. Get behind my men.”

The watchman said to the king, “The second rider has also joined them. My lord, I know who’s coming. It’s like a wild man is driving the lead chariot. That’s how Jehu drives a chariot.”

Joram said, “Go get our chariots!” Both kings rode out to meet the soldiers, each in his own chariot. Joram yelled, “Jehu, do you come in peace?”

He yelled back, “How can there be peace when Jezebel practices witchcraft and makes everyone worship idols?”

Joram turned his chariot around and yelled to his nephew. “Run! It’s a trap.”

Jehu shot an arrow and killed Joram, hitting him between his shoulder blades. The commander shouted, “Take his body and throw it in the field that was stolen from Naboth.”

He then chased after the young king of Judah, because he was the grandson of Ahab. Once he was in range, Jehu shot the king with an arrow.

So, in one day, Jehu killed both the king of Israel and the king of Judah.

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Four Lepers

139 – Four Lepers

2 Kings 6:24 – 7:20

The king of Syria once again invaded Israel. His army surrounded Samaria and set up camp just outside the city walls. They cut off all supplies going into the city. Eventually there was no food, and the people started to starve. It was so bad that a donkey’s head sold for two pounds of silver, and a small bowl of dove’s droppings sold for two ounces of silver.

A woman saw the king walking along the top of the city wall. She asked him to help her. He said, “I don’t know if I can. What’s your problem?”

She said, “My friend won’t keep her promise. We agreed we’d eat our two sons, mine on the first day and hers on the second. So, we boiled and ate my son, but now she has hidden her son.”

When the king heard this, he ripped his clothes. He said, “I’ll get Elisha for this if it’s the last thing I do.” He sent a guard to cut off the prophet’s head.

Elisha was sitting in his house with several elders of Israel. He said, “Our murdering king has sent a guard to cut off my head. The king is right behind him.”

Just then the king walked in. He yelled at the prophet. “You said all this trouble is from God. So why should I serve him if he acts like this?”

Elisha said, “I have a message from God. He said this disaster is almost over. Tomorrow at this time, people will buy a sack of fine flour for a few coins. They’ll buy a large sack of barley for the same price.”

The king’s chief adviser said, “Impossible! We couldn’t have that much food around here even if God opened up the windows of heaven.”

The man of God said, “You’ll see it with your own eyes, but you won’t eat any of it.”

During the night, the Syrian army heard a loud noise like a large army marching toward them. The noise got louder and sounded like the army had many horses and chariots.

The Syrian soldiers thought Israel had hired other nations to come and help them. They yelled, “Let’s get out of here!” They got up and ran away, leaving everything behind.

Before light the next morning, four lepers were sitting just outside of the city gates. One said to the others, “Why are we just sitting here slowly dying of hunger?”

Another one said, “Well, it’s no better in the city. If we go in there, we’ll still die of hunger.”

“Well that’s true, but we can’t stay here. Let’s go into the Syrian camp. If they kill us—well, we’re about to die anyway. But maybe they’ll have pity on us and give us food.”

So, the four men got up and walked toward the camp, not knowing it was empty. They went into the first tent and found food, gold, silver, and expensive clothes. The first thing they did was eating the food. They then took the other things away and hid them. They came back and hid what they found in the next tent.

Finally they said, “What we’re doing isn’t right. People are dying of hunger on the other side of the wall. God will punish us if we don’t go tell them about this.”

So they went to the city gate and yelled to the gatekeeper, telling him exactly what they found. When the king heard about this, he thought it was a trap. He said, “The Syrian army is hiding out of sight, waiting for us to come out of the city.”

So he sent a few soldiers to scout out the land. The men found the route the Syrians had taken. It was full of clothes and equipment the army had thrown away so they could run faster.

The soldiers went back and told the king what they had found. With that, people flooded out of the city to raid the Syrian camp. The price of food immediately dropped.

The king gave his chief adviser the job of crowd control at the gate. Soon, he was trampled to death. All of this fulfilled what the prophet had said.

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Blind Soldiers

138 – Blind Soldiers

II Kings 6:8-23

The king of Syria invaded the land of Israel. He brought in his military leaders and told them his plans—where he was going to set up camp and how he was going to attack the Israelites. As soon as he spoke the words, Elisha went and told the king of Israel exactly what the Syrians were planning. The army of Israel made preparations and won the battle.

This happened several times until the king of Syria finally realized that the Israelites always knew exactly what he was planning. He said to his commanders, “Which one of you is a spy for Israel?”

One of them said. “My lord, we’re all loyal to you. It’s Elisha, the prophet. He is the one telling his king about your plans. He knows what you say, even when you’re in your bedroom.”

“Where does this prophet live?”

“He lives in Dothan, my lord.”

So the king sent a large army with horses and chariots to Dothan. They arrived at night and surrounded the city.

Elisha’s servant got up early and stepped outside. Suddenly he saw this massive army. Running back inside, he yelled, “The Syrian army has surrounded the city. What are we going to do?”

Elisha was surprised. “Why are you afraid? Our army is much bigger than theirs.”

Then he prayed, “Lord, open this man’s eyes so he can see.” So the Lord opened his eyes. He looked out and saw that the mountain was covered with horses and chariots of fire. All of them were for Elisha.

At that point, the Syrians started moving in on the city. The prophet prayed, “Lord, please make all these men blind.” Suddenly the Lord struck them with blindness.

The prophet walked up to them and said, “Somehow you’ve gotten on the wrong road. You’re at the wrong city. I’ll guide you and take you to the right place.”

He then led them to Samaria, the capital of Israel. Once they were inside the gate, he prayed, “Lord, open the eyes of these men so they can see.” The men looked around and realized they were in Samaria.

The king of Israel saw this and said to Elisha, “Should I kill them? ”

“No. You can’t kill these men. You didn’t capture them in battle. They’re your guests. Give them food and drink, and let them go back to their master.”

So the king prepared a great feast for his guests. When everyone had had enough to eat and drink, they went back to the king of Syria. It was a long time before Syria invaded Israel again.

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Oil, Stew, Bread, and Ax

134 – Oil, Stew, Bread, and Ax

II Kings 4:1-4 38-44 6:1-7

Elisha was in charge of the school of the prophets. There are several miracles associated with that group of young men:

One of the prophets died. His wife came to Elisha and said, “You know my husband followed the Lord and honored him. When he died, he owed a man some money. Now that man is coming to collect. He is going to take my two sons and sell them as slaves.”

The prophet said, “Let me think. Surely I can help you. Tell me, do you have anything in your house that is valuable?”

She said, “No, I don’t have anything of value in the house. Well, I do have a small jar of oil.”

Elisha said, “Go to all of your neighbors and borrow as many containers as they have. Don’t stop with just a few. Once you have them, go into your house with your sons and close the door. Pour oil into all those containers. Each time one is full, set it aside and fill the next one.”

She and her sons went to every house and borrowed as many jars as they could. They took them into their house and closed the door. She then started pouring the oil into each jar. Her sons kept bringing her the empty ones. When they were all full, she turned and said, “Son, bring me another container.”

He said, “Mother, there are no more.” With that, the oil stopped.

She ran and told the man of God what had happened. He said, “Go and sell the oil. Pay your debt and live on what is left over.”

At another time, there was a famine so severe that there was very little to eat. When Elisha returned from a trip, the prophets gathered around to listen to him teach. He said to a servant, “Fix a large pot of stew for these men.”

One of the young men went into the forest to get some herbs for the stew. He found a vine of wild gourds and didn’t know they were poisonous. He gathered as many as he could carry, cut them up, and put them in the stew.

Once it was ready, some men tasted it and realized what had happened. They yelled, “Man of God. Watch out. There is death in the pot. Don’t eat it.”

Elisha said, “Bring me some flour.” They gave him the flour and he threw it in the pot.

He then said, “Come, eat.” Everyone ate, and there was nothing wrong with the stew.

Once a man came to Elisha with 20 small loaves of barley bread. It was the first bread from the harvest. The man of God said, “Serve this to the prophets so they can enjoy it.”

“Sir, there are 100 men, and we only have 20 loaves of bread. There isn’t enough for everyone.”

Elisha said, “Give it to them. The Lord says there will be enough, and we’ll have some left over.”

So the bread was served to the men, and it was just like the Lord promised. There was enough for everyone, with some left over.

There came a time when the prophets realized their facilities were too small for them. Elisha gave them permission to go to the Jordan River and cut some logs for a new building. He even agreed to go with them.

One of the men borrowed an iron ax and was using it to cut down a tree. Suddenly the ax head fell off and went into the water. The man yelled, “Master! I borrowed that ax and now it’s ruined.

Elisha said, “Where did it fall into the water?”

The man pointed to the spot. Elisha then cut a stick and threw it in the water at the spot the man showed him. The ax head floated to the surface. The man got it and fixed the ax.

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Jehoshaphat’s Victory

130 – Jehoshaphat’s Victory

II Chronicles 19:1 – 20:37

Jehoshaphat was 35 years old when he became king of Judah. He ruled for 25 years. He set up an educational system, established justice in the land, and reformed the legal system.

Things were going well in Judah, until suddenly the nations of Moab, Ammon, and Edom decided to unite together and fight against Jehoshaphat. A massive army moved from the east side of the Dead Sea to En-gedi, on the west side.

Jehoshaphat was afraid, so he sought the Lord’s help. He sent out a proclamation saying that everyone was to fast and seek God’s favor. The people responded, and many went to Jerusalem to be with their king and pray with him. A huge crowd went to the Temple and stood before the Lord. Men brought their wives and children, so entire families prayed together and sought God’s help.

Jehoshaphat stood before all the people and prayed to God. He said, “Oh Lord, you’re the God of heaven. You’re the one who gave this land to your friend Abraham. You control all power and might. You said we’re to trust you when we’re in trouble. Look! The Moabites and Ammonites have gathered a massive army and have come to destroy us. We have no power to fight against them. We don’t know what else to do but look to you.”

Suddenly the Spirit of God came upon a prophet. He said, “Hear what God says to you. ‘Don’t be afraid of this vast multitude. This isn’t your battle, but mine. Tomorrow, go against them. You’ll see them coming, but you don’t have to fight them. Get in position, but stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. Don’t be afraid, I am with you.’”

Jehoshaphat bowed down and put his face to the ground. All the people did the same and worshiped the Lord. Suddenly, the Levites stood up and started praising the Lord God with a loud voice.

In the morning, the men got up early and went out to face their enemies. Jehoshaphat told them, “Believe in the Lord and you’ll be successful.” He then appointed people to sing for the Lord. They went out in front of the army singing, “Give thanks to the Lord. His faithful love endures forever.”

As the people shouted and praised the Lord, suddenly their enemy became confused. The Ammonites and the Moabites turned on those from Edom and totally annihilated them. They then turned on one another and kept killing until every man was dead. When the army of Judah arrived on the battlefield, there was nothing but corpses lying on the ground. No one had escaped.

Jehoshaphat told his people to gather up anything of value from the dead bodies. They found that their enemies had carried a large amount of valuables onto the battlefield. There was so much that the people gathered for three days. Finally, they couldn’t carry any more.

They met on the fourth day, just to praise God. Then they returned to Jerusalem with Jehoshaphat at the lead. Everyone gathered at the Temple to once again praise the Lord with great rejoicing!

All the nations around Judah heard about the great victory God had given his people. They were all terrified of the Lord, and none of them attacked Jehoshaphat as long as he lived. So there was peace in the land, and all was quiet.

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Elijah on Mt Horeb

126 – Elijah on Mount Horeb

1 Kings 19:1-21

Ahab told Jezebel what Elijah had done on Mount Carmel. He told her how all the prophets of Baal had been killed. Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah. She said, “I am going to kill you! Mark my word. You’ll be dead before tomorrow night.”

This struck fear in the heart of Elijah. He ran away to save his life. He left Israel and went to the southern part of Judah. He left his servant there and went on into the wilderness. He walked for another day and finally stopped and sat under a juniper tree.

He cried, “What have I done! I’m no better than my fathers. Lord, take my life” Then he lay down and fell asleep.

After he’d slept a while, an angel touched him. “Get up and eat.” Elijah woke up and saw a jug of water and some bread baking over hot coals. He ate the bread and drank the water and fell back to sleep.

Later, the angel of the Lord woke him again and said, “Get up and eat. You have a long trip ahead of you.”

Elijah woke up and once again found bread and water. So he got up, ate the bread and drank water. He then walked 40 days and 40 nights to Horeb, the mountain of God, also called Mt. Sinai. Once there, he entered a cave and spent the night.

In the morning the Lord said to him, “Elijah, what are you doing here?”

He said, “Lord, I’ve worked for you with all my heart. But Israel has forgotten their agreement with you. They’ve torn down your altars. They killed your prophets. I’m the last one, and they’re trying to kill me.”

The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain.” Suddenly, a powerful wind hit the mountains and shattered rocks. But the Lord wasn’t in the wind.

Then there was an earthquake. But the Lord wasn’t in the earthquake.

After that, there was a blast of fire. But the Lord wasn’t in the fire.

Then Elijah heard a soft whisper. He wrapped his mantle around his face and went out of the cave and stood at the entrance.The voice said to him, “Elijah, what are you doing here?”

“Lord, I’ve worked for you with all my heart. But Israel has forgotten their agreement with you. They’ve torn down your altars, and killed your prophets. I’m the last one, and they’re trying to kill me.”

The Lord said, “Oh Elijah, go back home. I have 7,000 men in Israel who haven’t bowed to Baal.” He then gave the prophet detailed instructions of what he was to do, which included anointing Elisha to replace him and selecting a new king for Israel.

Elijah went back to Israel where he found Elisha plowing a field. The prophet walked up to him and threw his mantle over him and walked on. Elisha left the oxen and ran to catch up with the prophet. He said, “Please, let me say good-bye to my father and mother. Then I’ll follow you.”

Elijah turned and said, “You may go back, but don’t forget the calling that is now yours.”

With that, Elisha took the wooden yoke and plow and built a fire. He killed the oxen and made a meal for his family. When they were done eating, he left them and followed Elijah.

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Elijah on Mount Carmel

125 – Elijah on Mount Carmel

1 Kings 18:1-46

The famine in Israel was severe and lasted for three years. Finally, the Lord said to Elijah, “Go tell King Ahab that I am going to send rain to the land.”

The person in charge of Ahab’s courts was a man named Obadiah. He was faithful to God, and even hid 100 prophets of the LORD when Jezebel was trying to hunt them down.

He and the king went out to find grass for the palace livestock. They went different directions so they could search more land.

As Obadiah went along, Elijah suddenly walked up to him. Obadiah immediately fell to the ground and said, “Oh, my lord Elijah.”

The prophet said, “Go tell the king that I’m here.”

Obadiah was shocked. He said, “What have I done that you want me killed? The king has looked for you all across the nation, and even in other countries. As soon as I tell him that you’re here, the Lord will carry you off to some other place. Then Ahab will kill me when he comes and finds that you’re not here. Please don’t do this to me.”

The prophet said, “Don’t worry. As the Lord lives, I’ll meet with Ahab today.”

So Obadiah went and told Ahab. As soon as the king saw Elijah, he said, “So, there is the man who’s destroyed Israel.”

Elijah said, “No, it’s not me, but you who has destroyed Israel. You’ve turned your back on the Lord and are serving Baal. Tell Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel. Bring the prophets of Baal and Asherah, the ones who eat at Jezebel’s table.”

So Ahab told the Israelites to gather at Mount Carmel, along with the prophets. Once everyone was there, Elijah said to the people, “How long will you go back and forth? If the Lord is God, follow Him. If Baal is God, follow him.” The people didn’t say anything, but just looked at the prophet.

He said. “I stand here as only one prophet of the Lord, but look, there are 450 prophets of Baal. Give us two bulls. They’ll take one, prepare it for sacrifice, and put it on top of the wood. But they won’t put fire on the wood. I’ll do the same. They will call on the name of their god, and I will call on the name of the Lord. The God who lights the fire, He is God.”

The people said. “Yes. That sounds fair.”

Elijah said to the prophets of Baal. “You go first.”

So they prepared the bull, and called on the name of Baal. They prayed all morning until noon. They danced around the altar, but nothing happened.

Elijah started mocking them. “Maybe you should shout louder! Your god might be sleeping, and you need to wake him up! Maybe he’s gone to the toilet.” They shouted loudly, and cut themselves, until blood gushed out. They kept this up all afternoon, but nothing happened.

Finally, Elijah built an altar with twelve stones, one for each tribe of Israel. He dug a trench around the altar, and put the wood on it. He then placed the bull on top of the wood.

He said to the people, “Go get some water and pour it on the sacrifice.” Once they had done this, he told them to do it again. After they had done it a second time, he told them to do it a third time. Once they were done, the altar was totally wet, and the trench was full of water.

Elijah then walked up to the altar and prayed. “Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Let everyone know that you are God, and I’m your servant. Answer me so these people will turn back to you!”

Suddenly, fire fell down from heaven and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, and the twelve stones. It even licked up the water that was in the trench. The people fell down and shouted, “The Lord, he is God! The Lord, he is God!”

Elijah ordered, “Grab the prophets of Baal! Don’t let any of them escape.” The people grabbed the prophets of Baal, and Elijah killed all of them.

He turned to Ahab and said, “Eat something. There’s a rainstorm coming.”

He then went up to the top of the mountain to pray. He said to his servant, “Look toward the sea. What do you see?”

The servant said, “I don’t see anything.”

Seven times Elijah told him to go and look. Finally, the seventh time, his servant told him, “I see a small cloud, about the size of a man’s hand, coming from the sea.”

Elijah said, “Quick, go tell Ahab, ‘Rush home as fast as you can so the rain doesn’t stop you.’” Ahab got in his chariot and rushed toward home.

In a short time, the sky grew dark and the wind started to blow. Suddenly there was a downpour of rain. The power of God came over Elijah, and he ran faster than Ahab’s chariot, and arrived in Jezreel before him.

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Queen of Sheba

118 – Queen of Sheba

I Kings 10:1 – 11:25; 11:42-43 II Chronicles 9:1-31

The queen of Sheba heard about the great wisdom of King Solomon. She couldn’t believe it was true. So she decided to go and test him with a list of hard questions. She organized a large band of servants to travel with her and selected presents to present to the king. She arrived in Jerusalem with a great caravan of camels loaded with gold, jewels, and spices.

She met with the king and asked him her list of questions. He was able to answer every single question. None of them was too difficult for him to explain to her. She was amazed to see the palace he had built, the variety of food at every meal, the way his servants were dressed, and the burnt offerings he made at the Temple. She said, “Everything I heard about you is true, but I couldn’t believe it until I saw it with my own eyes. Now I find that I wasn’t told half of what is true about you. May your God continue to bless you as you carry out justice and righteousness.”

She gave him a half a ton of gold, and more spices than had ever come to Jerusalem. Solomon also gave her many gifts before she and her servants returned home.

Every year, Solomon received 25 tons of gold in addition to normal trade. Because of this, he covered many things with gold—ornaments, drinking cups, dishes, and his throne. He didn’t use silver because he didn’t think it was valuable.

Solomon crafted 200 large shields, each made with 15 pounds of hammered gold. He also made 300 smaller shields with 4 pounds of gold in each one. No other king in the world was as rich and wise as Solomon.

He accumulated a large herd of horses for his military. These were imported from many countries around that part of the world.

Unfortunately, Solomon also accumulated many women, which was a direct violation of God’s law. He had 700 wives, all daughters of kings. Each one worshiped the gods of her country. He also had 300 concubines.

When Solomon got old, these women convinced him to build a shrine for each of their gods. Eventually, every hill around Jerusalem had a shrine on it, honoring their many gods. Solomon started burning incense at these places and offering sacrifices. Finally, he departed from worshiping the Lord and joined his wives in worshiping their gods. Wickedness filled his heart.

God was angry with Solomon because he departed from following the ways of David. The Lord said, “I’m going to tear your kingdom in two, and give one part to a servant of yours. But I won’t do this in your lifetime because of my promise to David. Your son will lose most of your kingdom.”

Then God allowed the enemies of Solomon to organize against him, so there was no longer peace in the land. Finally, Solomon died. He had been king of Israel for forty years.