Open—R. Boulard, K. Harman
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Just like to turn to 1St Kings chapter 3.
Read a few verses there.
I just have a burden on my heart to complete the thought that I had.
Yesterday we looked at those individuals that had gone down into Egypt and how they were tainted in some way or another. They didn't even know what many of them, and it affected themselves. It affected the people of God. But here in First Kings chapter 3, we read about a king and he didn't go to Egypt.
But this is what he did first Kings chapter 3 verse one. And Solomon made affinity with the king of Pharaoh, with king Pharaoh a Pharaoh king of Egypt, and took Pharaoh's daughter and brought her into the city of David until he had made an end of building his own house and the House of the Lord and the wall of Jerusalem round about. Only the people sacrificed in high places because there was no house built under the name of the Lord. And until those days and Solomon loved the Lord.
Walking in the statutes of David's father, only he sacrificed and burnt incense in high places.
And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the great high place. 1000 burnt offerings did Solomon offer upon that altar.
And then just a little bit later on in verse 14, if thou wilt walk in my ways to keep my statutes and my commandments, as thy father David did walk, then I will lengthen my days. When Solomon awoke and behold, it was a dream, and he came to Jerusalem and stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and offered up burnt offerings and offered peace offerings, and made a feast to all his servants. And then a couple of pages passed.
We'd look at UH again in First Kings, just, uh, chapter 10.
In verse 28.
Maybe we could read verse 26, First Kings chapter 10, verse 26. And Solomon gathered together the Chariots and horsemen, and he had 1400 Chariots and 12,000 horsemen whom he bestowed in the cities for Chariots and with the king of Jerusalem. And the king made silver to be in Jerusalem as stones and Cedars.
Made he to be as the Sycamore trees that are in the Vale for abundance. And Solomon had horses brought out of Egypt and linen yarn. The King's merchants received the linen yarn at a price, and a chariot came up.
And went out of Egypt for 600 shekels of silver, and in a horse for 150. And so for all the kings of the Hittites, and for the kings of Syria. And did they bring them out by their means. But King Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomite, Zydonians, Hittites, of the nations, concerning which the Lord had said unto the children of Israel, You shall not go in unto them.
Neither shall they come in unto you, for surely they will turn your heart after their God. Solomon clave unto these in love.
Well, I think, uh, perhaps we read, we've read enough there, but just, uh, think of the love that the Lord had for Solomon. It says that, you know, in connection with Solomon at the beginning of his reign, beginning of his life, really, when he was born into David's home, says that the Lord loves Solomon. Oh, there was deep affection of God for that man, and he had been born into home. There had been sorrow.
Sin, failure, and yet God loved that man as little boy as he was born into this world. And now it says in chapter 3 verse three that Solomon loved the Lord. We find here the love is reciprocated, the affections of the heart and the whole. How the Lord delights to have our affections go out to him. And as we have read in different places of Scripture, not everyone is born into wonderful circumstances.
Many have different disadvantages and God arranges the disadvantages that we might have and the sorrows and heartaches that come into each home. And he's ordained those different circumstances and he desires that there might be the affections might flow forth to him as we realize that he is so constant. His love is so faithful towards us. And so here Solomon loved the Lord. But you know, in connection with Solomon, he didn't go down in Egypt, doesn't say, I don't think we have a record of him going down into Egypt in the scriptural record. And here he was about 17 years old, about 18 years old.
00:05:17
Young man. He lived to be approximately 58 years old.
He reigned 40 years and one of the very first things that God tells us about him when he came, his first priority, as it were, when he came to be the king of Israel, as he made an agreement with Pharaoh, king of Egypt, he said, as it were, I'm not going to go down to the world. I'm not going to live in the world. I'm going to live in the land of Israel. I'm going to live in the land of promise. And maybe, you know, I just say this.
And I said yesterday, what we say here, perhaps behind the podium, we often say to ourselves, and maybe have more deep exercise about these things ourselves than we do as we speak to our brethren, that the world has an attraction to every one of us. And in some small way, the enemy, sometimes a big way, he wants us to make an agreement just to go on in certain things.
You don't have to go down into Egypt and enjoy all the.
Umm, bad parts of Egypt and bad parts of the culture of Egypt and the sins of Egypt and the all those things. But, uh.
Make an agreement with Egypt. Brother Jim brought before us yesterday the thought that the son of Pharaoh's daughter is really the thought of the nice part, the cultured part of Egypt and umm, going to the Philharmonic Orchestra, going, uh, enjoying the finer things of life, the culture and the nicer parts of what this world has. It's not all bad, it's good.
Well, it's not all good. It has been tainted with sin and is a part of the world system that crucified the Lord Jesus and umm hates him and continues to hate him and we live in this scene. And So what a solemn thing it was for Solomon as a young man to make an agreement with Egypt, to make an agreement with the world and not to go right into the world to enjoy all the pleasures of sin for a season, but to just make an agreement and.
Make a tie and relationship cement that bond.
By marrying an Egyptian.
Now those of us that have wives know what it is to have a Christian wife. Not only a Christian wife, but it says Paul says to the Corinthians, he says only let her be married in the Lord.
Isn't that nice that there would be a man, young brother here perhaps this afternoon, young sister, it's nice to be married to a Christian, that I would guarantee that that's the best. But to be married to a sister and the Lord that desires to walk in the lordship of Christ and own the lordship of Christ and have a home that's open to the Saints.
And a home where the husband and the wife can serve together, serve the Saints of God. I tell you, there is no higher feeling of privilege and blessing that I have ever experienced in my own life before I was married. It wasn't a part of my life. But after we were married, I married a wife that is given the hospitality and helps and she spurs me on as it were. But isn't it nice as we see different brethren and how their homes are open to the Saints of God? Well, Solomon.
I believe miss some of the portion that God would have had for him in this way, and he married.
Pharaoh's daughter, he cemented that bond, that agreement with the world, and he married Pharaoh's daughter. Well, we read yesterday of, uh, Joseph, he married a wife, but he was given a wife and it's a type of Gentile bride given to the Lord Jesus. Joseph is a type of Christ, and he was given a bride.
Did he get the best bride that he could have got? I believe Joseph got the best bride that he could have ever had. God gave him a wife and he waited till he was 30 years old and his wife was presented to him.
I'm sure it was a she was a delight to his heart. We're not told much about household, but we are told about Solomon's household. Well, Solomon loved the Lord, The Lord loved Solomon, and there was in connection with the sacrifices. We know that he went to this place in Gibeon where there was a high place, a great high place, and that's where the Tabernacle had been set up, but the ark wasn't there.
00:10:08
And so it looked like the real thing, but it wasn't. It was an imitation, if you could put it that way. The ark of the Lord wasn't there. It was in another place. And the Lord here appeared to Solomon. He awoke in verse 15 and he went to Jerusalem and in communion with the Lord he went to stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord and offered up burnt offerings and offered peace offerings. That speaks of communion with the Lord Jesus and made a feast all his Saints, all of his servants.
Oh, it's a feast to the Lord. It's a feast to the Saints of God if we walk in communion with the Lord and if we go to be with him in his presence. And that's what the Ark of the Covenant spoke of. I don't want to follow that line of things this afternoon, but to turn farther on here in connection with this man, because you know, chapter 10 verse, let's look at verse 26, how your home is ordered.
How your home, young people, younger brethren, if I could address you, protect it specifically all of us too, that how your home is ordered will affect the Assembly, will affect the health of the assembly.
Will affect the blessing of God in the assembly.
And, umm, if it's a home that's in disorder, if it's a home in which the Saints aren't welcome, if it's if there's a home where there's any hindrance to the free flow of fellowship among the Saints.
Or if there's a home where there's something in the home that you don't want the Saints to come in at.
There's going to be a loss in the assembly, there's going to be a loss in your own soul and all how the Lord delights to bless the Saints when they come together and to come together in the home. Well, we know that we don't have a little picture, We really don't have a picture of Solomon's home given to us in the scriptures that I know of. But we do have his prosperity and the what he had amassed as far as wealth, we find that he had 12,000 umm horsemen he had.
400 Chariots. You know, the kings of Israel were told not to multiply wives and not to multiply horses.
Two things. Why weren't they to multiply horses?
I thought about myself, you know, because I I mean Brother Wayne Coleman and others perhaps could.
Sympathize with my feelings having been in the automotive industry for years, 25 years. I worked in the automotive industry and I I know a lot about cars and I'd love to have a full stable, but I don't have a full stable. My wife has a vehicle now I have a vehicle and I just wish I had another horse, but I so I sympathize in connection with these thoughts that Solomon had, but you know, the Spirit of God records here.
Then he had horses brought out of Egypt.
The object shows us had fine horses.
And Solomon lived in a time of prosperity. He could afford any horse he wanted.
Is that all right to have any horse you want?
You know, when I was a young man.
First came into fellowship, gathered to the Lord's name, the Little assembly in Pine Grove, Ontario. There were those there that were very wealthy and it struck me, it struck a deep chord within my heart as I saw those wealthy men. Dr. Chevrolets.
I saw them Dr. Chevrolets, they were nicely done up and so on, but none of them drove a luxury vehicle.
And none of them had really was going on and publicly displaying their their wealth. Solomon had horses brought out of Egypt. He had the very best of Egypt. He had the very best of what they had. And it speaks of power and the ability to make war without dependence upon the Lord.
And Israel ought to have been totally dependent upon the Lord, and you and I are made to be dependent upon the Lord, even in connection with our vehicles, if I could put it this way. Well, you know.
I'm not a mathematician or anything, but I wondered about the price of some of these things. A chariot came up and went out of Egypt for 600 shekels of silver. You know the in 2010 the US dollar was approximately equivalent to $104.00 US to 1 silver shekel. I mean, there's different variables you could look at, but this is a chariot for $62,500.
00:15:12
Now that was a very fine chariot. He had quite a few of them.
He had the best Chariots.
Had an Egyptian wife.
He had Egyptian horses. The horse only cost $15,600. He had a few of those.
But instead of walking independence upon the blessed Savior, instead of depending upon Him for what He needed.
Why he paid the same price for his horses and cherries as those other kings did, It says in verse 29. So for all the kings of the Hittites and for the kings of Syria, did they bring them out of their by their means? So he's paying the going rate for horses and the going rate for Chariots.
When he has an Egyptian wife instead of enjoying things of God in the home, instead of really walking in a simple humble way before the Lord, why there there's all you have this picture of prosperity and not anyway withholding anything from himself in natural things and in connection with the Kingdom. Oh how often we need to exercise self judgment and what we allow ourselves to have.
I'm as guilty as any.
I just the thing that brought this portion to my heart.
Is that recently got another vehicle, it's almost five years old, but still I got another vehicle. My daughter needed a vehicle so we were going to give her our old vehicle and so we went looking for another vehicle and we spied this couple of different Honda vans with my wife wanted a Honda van. So we got a couple of on our radar screen white ones and one had it was a little bit newer, but it was a little more beat up and I had a very hard time driving a beat up vehicle so.
I saw this nice vehicle that had 30,000 miles on it and obvious that the individual that owned it before had taken very good care of it. Had never been through uh, one of these brushed car washes or anything like that just.
Very good wheels were good and everything, but it had this little badge on it and Wayne will not understand what it means that it says touring on it has all the bells and whistles.
I thought about this scripture after I drove it home.
I have one of these Egyptian Chariots.
It's a little easier to get an Egyptian chariot than it is to get rid of an Egyptian chariot.
But I just say this, dear brethren, I say it to myself, We ought to judge ourselves in connection with what we allow in our lives as to what we make, what agreement we make, as it were with Egypt that there should be no agreement. Egypt crucified the Savior. We cannot make an agreement and go part way with the world. And my dear, dear ones, dear young ones, never, never marry an unbeliever, never marry a daughter.
Of Pharaoh. You know what it says? I'm going to read it in First Corinthians or Second Corinthians chapter 6. We need to be reminded of these things because each one of us has a tendency.
To want to make an agreement with Egypt in a different way, am I right? Everyone of us think in a different way and Egypt rubs off on us.
And so Second Corinthians chapter 6, verse 14 be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness, and what communion?
Hath light with darkness? And what Concorde hath Christ with Belial? Or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For ye are the temple of the living God.
As God has said, I will dwell in them and walk in them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing. I will receive you.
And will be a father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. You know this is the only time in the New Testament that this term is used, this name of the Lord.
Lord Almighty, and the Lord is mighty upon in the.
Cause of his own, those that are daughters and sons and to walk in fellowship and communion with the Lord is not what your heart desires. I know as I look into your faces and you know the Lord Jesus as Savior.
00:20:08
But the pole of Egypt is there. I know that what you yearn for is to walk in communion with the Lord, and you yearn for it. You have a new nature. You have a life, the very life of Christ. You're indwelled with the Spirit of God, and you have a nature that wants to walk in communion with the Lord. And oh, how he longs that you will allow that and not link yourself up with something that will really come in and divide the heart. Well, I don't have a stomach to read the rest of Solomon's story. We know it's a sad story.
He ended up fighting against the prophets of God. He ended up really, he could have had a long life. God said he promised him.
But he lived to be about 58 years old. It was really a short life.
And oh, how the Lord loved them, wanted them to go on. And so I just thought we might read these portions of scripture and it might just say that, uh, if we.
Might have that exercise of heart, not to go directly into Egypt, not to go directly into the world, not to go to the movie theater Maybe. But maybe we have this agreement and we just bring the movies and we, we, we look at them in the room or something like that. Don't make an agreement with Egypt.
Especially in the youth don't make an agreement with Egypt. He that is a friend of the world is an enemy of God. I'm not recording that right. Will you give me the patience of just looking at it in James?
James Chapter 4.
He's using this in verse 4.
The adulterers and adulterers. Adulterers. No ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God. Whosoever, therefore, will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. So it's not that we're to live in umm, in a reclusive way. We are in the world, but we're not of it. And the Lord desires that we would be ambassadors for Christ in this scene, that there would be that love for souls, a desire for their salvation, and a desire for their blessing.
Practically, but that we don't make an agreement, make affinity with Egypt and just allow some of the painting aspects of it into our lives or into our homes. May God give us the courage and the desire for it to please Him in this way and to go on in communion and walking in the light in the day that we live in.
So I can make a comment on what you mentioned there, Robert. There was a brother that, uh, spoke to the young people.
Uh, many years ago some of you would know him. He was killed in a car accident. His name was Lyle.
And he spoke to the young people, One of the comments he made, and I'll just add this to what Robert has said here, uh, brought, brought it to mind. And he was speaking to young people. And he, one of the things that, that he said that really stuck with me. He's, he said to the young people.
How close to the edge of the world do you want to walk?
Sometimes it's.
We we would like to have a little bit of the clean world and think that we're safe. So he's, he, he just put this challenge to them. How close to the edge of the world do you want to walk?
I'll just leave that thought for you to entertain because there was a challenge to my own soul. Because you know, no matter how old we get, it's not just the young people, it's the older ones too.
Umm, that, uh, the world is not.
The the world still has a certain amount of charm if we allow the flesh to be activated. And so I say that challenge to every one of us, older or young. But the tendency, I say is quite often with the young. I was young months too, and I had the same tendency as Robert was talking about. I won't go into that, but there is that challenge now Robert was bringing before us about the the.
The world, the world is signed, but you know, there's the other side of it too. And that is the ecclesiastical sign that is a religious side, because the devil is the God and Prince of this world. He's the God of this world religiously and the Prince of it politically. And so he would have us to, to be concerned about both of them and to be involved in both of them. And you know, one when it, when it come, when we get God's thoughts about these things, one is as bad as the other.
00:25:23
Because it displaces God.
And it's just it, it displaces what his purpose is for us. So I would like to just go on, if you don't mind, in that second first Book of Kings, just a little further.
And perhaps we can address this that I had before me. We know that, Solomon.
Solomon lost his his Kingdom, as it were, and God told him that he was going to lose it and so.
It says in in the second in the first Kings Chapter 11.
Umm.
There's this man, Jeroboam.
That brought God brought on the scene.
And he was a very powerful man, and God was going to give him.
Part of the Kingdom.
So yet in verse 31, and he said to Jeroboam, take the take the 10 pieces. For thus saith the Lord the God of Israel, behold, I will rend the Kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and he will give 10 tribes to thee. But he shall give, he shall have one tribe for my servant David's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of.