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All today who feast at the table of Christ the King lack nothing, for his grace is sufficient, to cover all sin and to produce the fruits of all holiness. So the only place of true security and prosperity in this fallen world is the spiritual kingdom of the true Solomon, the Lord Jesus Christ. That is the message of the glories of Solomon’s earthly kingdom.
.
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What
Solomon’s earthly kingdom foreshadows has now come in in all is fullness, the
kingdom of heaven under the lordship of Christ. During His earthly ministry our
Lord called upon men to repent and come to Him, and He did so by declaring, “Behold,
a greater than Solomon is here.”
PENN FREE METHODIST CHURCH
1 Kings 4:20-28
The transcript of our midweek Study on 15th
April 2020.
“Judah and Israel were many, as the sand which is by
the sea in multitude, eating and
drinking, and making merry.” 1 Kings 4:20
“I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven and as
the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of
his enemies”
(Genesis
22:17).
So the Lord foretold centuries earlier to
Abraham that Israel would bring down her enemies and would then enjoy a blessed
and peaceful occupation of the land flowing with milk and honey.
Those words to Abraham were fulfilled in
the reigns of David and Solomon, David being the great warrior of Israel, and
then Solomon reigning as a prince of peace, benefiting from the fruits of the
victories that his father had won.
“Judah and Israel were … eating and drinking, and
making merry.” Verse
20
The people were experiencing the Lord’s
richest blessing, for God, in His providence, had brought upon the nation a
remarkable prosperity.
There was no danger from enemies, the
economy was thriving, and harvests were overflowing, and this all went
hand-in-hand with the people’s honouring of the one true God of all the earth.
Now this peace and prosperity is a
prophetic picture of the blessings of the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Those who belong to this kingdom possess
real security and well-being.
Here there is safety from Satan and from
the kingdom of this world.
Here there is abundant provision of the
spiritual food which sustains men unto everlasting life.
Here there are riches beyond measure, the
spiritual riches, of which earthly riches are but a faint shadow.
“The kingdom of God is … righteousness and peace and
joy in the Holy Ghost” (Romans
14:17).
Citizens of the kingdom of God, God’s true
Israel, are justified, declared righteous, by God’s grace, which act of God
makes them full of peace and joy, as the Holy Spirit within them witnesses to
their spirits that they are indeed the children of God.
“Judah and Israel were … eating and drinking, and
making merry.”
Verse 20
This, then, refers to the unspeakable joy
of those who are fed and sustained by the Lord Jesus Christ.
“Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink
his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my
blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh
is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and
drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him” (John 6:53-56).
These words of course refer not to any
physical act of eating bread and wine in the communion service, but to faith in
Christ as the Passover lamb, who bore our sins in his flesh, and who shed His
blood, paying the penalty for our sins.
“And Solomon reigned over all kingdoms from the river
unto the land of the Philistines, and unto the border of Egypt.” verse 21
Israel’s borders now extend as far as God
had promised to Abraham in Genesis 15 that they would extend.
“The LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy
seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the
river Euphrates”
(Genesis
15:18).
The river of Egypt is the River Sihor,
which formed the boundary between Egypt and Canaan.
So Solomon’s kingdom extended from Egypt in
the south-west to the Euphrates in the north east, embracing the lands of the
Philistines, along with Syria, Damascus, Moab and Ammon.
“… they brought presents, and served Solomon all the
days of his life.”
verse 21
“They
brought presents”
means that these subject territories paid annual tribute money to Israel.
So Solomon’s power even extended over
Gentile peoples, and this is a prophetic foretaste of the universal dominion of
the coming descendant of Solomon, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Whilst the Lord has a heavenly throne, and
not an earthly one, all the rulers and peoples of the world will one day have
to submit to Him, and are already subject to Him, even though they do not
realise it.
“God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name
which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of
things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that
every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the
Father”
(Philippians
2:9-11).
The Lord Jesus Christ has authority over
Satan all the evil angels, He commands to do His bidding all the good angels,
and all earthly kings and governors only hold office at His decree, coming and
going as He determines.
Just as all the surrounding nations had no
choice but to acknowledge Solomon’s greatness, so all men today will one day be
made to see the supremacy of Christ.
“For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under
his feet”
(1
Corinthians 15:25).
Many at present are under Christ’s
authority, but refuse to acknowledge it. They will be made to do so, however,
when He returns to this earth, as the Judge of all flesh.
“And Solomon’s provision for one day was thirty
measures of fine flour, and threescore measures of meal. Ten fat oxen, and
twenty oxen out of the pastures, and an hundred sheep, beside harts, and
roebucks, and fallowdeer, and fatted fowl.” verses 22-23
It has been computed that these thirty and
threescore measures of fine meal and ordinary meal added together would be
sufficient to bake each day 28,000 lbs of bread.
Similarly the 30 oxen and 100 sheep would
produce per day some 21,000 lbs of fresh meat.
Such figures indicate a wealthy, thriving
court and administration.
All the regions listed in verses 8-19
provided in their monthly turns the necessary commodities.
In this way the royal administration
furnished a great impetus to the various regional economies, adding to the
general prosperity of the nation.
All this is again a prophetic picture of the
far greater spiritual kingdom to come, that to be established by Solomon’s
descendant, the Lord Jesus Christ.
In the New Testament God calls men into His
kingdom using the language of a great feast, indeed, a wedding feast for the
King’s Son, for all who believe in the Son become the Bride of Christ, entering
into union with Him.
“The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king,
which made a marriage for his son, And sent forth his servants to call them
that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come. Again, he sent forth
other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my
dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready.” (Matthew 22:2-4)
This is the call of the Gospel, to feast at
Christ’s table, and to receive all that one needs for the good of one’s soul,
the forgiveness of sins, the fellowship of the saints, the power of the Spirit
to make us holy and to keep us safe till we enter into eternal life.
“Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that
cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never
thirst”
(John
6:35).
Physical life cannot be sustained without
bread, and all men are devoid of spiritual life, until they come to the bread
of life, the Lord Jesus Christ.
In Christ there is an abundant supply. All
may be fed who come, no matter how great their former sin and rebellion.
All things are ready for sinners to come
and be fed.
The sacrifice has been made, the Passover
Lamb has been killed, and unbelievers are now called to come to the King’s
table to eat His flesh and drink His blood, that is, to trust in Him for mercy
and be saved from their sins.
“For he had dominion over all the region on this side
the river, from Tiphsah even to Azzah, over all the kings on this side the
river.”
verse 24
Tiphsah was a city on the Euphrates, on the
northeastern boundary of Solomon’s kingdom, Azzah was Gaza, on the
south-western border, near to the Mediterranean.
Solomon’s authority extended between these
two points, as he exercised dominion over the kings of Syria and of the
Philistines, who had been subjugated by David.
“Then David put garrisons in Syria of Damascus: and the
Syrians became servants to David, and brought gifts. And the LORD preserved
David whithersoever he went.” (2 Samuel 8:6)
Solomon and his people are now prospering
under the same blessing of the Lord.
Once more, then, we are reminded of the
great extent of his kingdom, and how this in itself a prophecy of the universal
extent of Christ’s kingdom.
(The Father said to
the Son), “Ask of me, and I shall give
thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth
for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash
them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” (Psalm 2:8-9)
The risen ascended Christ exercises a
supreme kingship over all the earth from His heavenly throne.
“… and he had peace on all sides round about him. v25.
And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig
tree, from Dan even to Beersheba, all the days of Solomon.” verses 24-25
Throughout the length and breadth of the land the Israelites enjoyed
secure possession of their property, and unhindered use of the abundant produce
of their lands.
They did not have to live in closely
guarded cities surrounded by high walls.
Social stability and economic prosperity
are blessings which God gives to a nation which is honouring Him.
The well-being of Israel in Solomon’s day
speaks to us also of the spiritual well-being of all who are in Christ’s
kingdom through repentance and faith.
Solomon’s earthly kingdom anticipates the
better spiritual kingdom of Him who is the true Solomon.
The word ‘peace’ in Scripture means a
prosperous and secure condition, not simply materially, but rather the state of
being in communion with God, having one’s sins forgiven, no longer being at
enmity with One’s maker, and benefiting from the very presence of God by His
Spirit in one’s own heart.
Just as the very word ‘Solomon’ means
‘peaceful’, so one of the titles of the infinitely greater Solomon, the Lord
Jesus Christ, is “the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6).
Under Christ’s kingship we are at peace,
secure from the world, the flesh and the devil, and none can pluck us out of
His hand.
“And Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for
his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen.” (verse 26)
Solomon had 1400 chariots, and so these
40,000 horses, kept in special stalls, would have driven them, with replacement
teams available for each chariot and replacement individual horses for each of
the 12,000 cavalrymen.
This represents great military strength,
preventing any potential enemies from attacking. This is again a sign of God’s
blessing on a nation which is honouring Him.
“And those officers provided victual for king Solomon,
and for all that came unto king Solomon’s table, every man in his month: they
lacked nothing.”
(verse 27)
The 12 regional officers referred to in verse
7 ensured that the royal administration had all the commodities and resources
it needed.
“Barley also and straw for the horses and dromedaries
brought they unto the place where the officers were, every man according to his
charge.”
(verse 28)
‘Dromedaries’ may also be
translated ‘swift steeds,’ referring probably to a superior breed of horse.
The cavalry horses and chariot horses were
all provided with their necessary fodder with the utmost efficiency.
There were no flaws in the administration,
and, as verse 27 tells us, all Solomon’s officials who ate at his table lacked
nothing.
Likewise all today who feast at the table
of Christ the King also lack nothing, for his grace is sufficient, to cover all
sin and to produce the fruits of all holiness.
So the only place of true security and
prosperity in this fallen world is the spiritual kingdom of the true Solomon,
the Lord Jesus Christ.
That is the message of the glories of
Solomon’s earthly kingdom.
Men without Christ are starving and
insecure, but the Prince of Peace calls upon them to come and feast at his
table and to eat the bread which feeds the soul unto everlasting life.
The only way to be safe and secure from sin
and Satan and this anti-Christian world is to come into the kingdom of God.
This is to belong to God’s true Israel,
through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. What Solomon’s earthly kingdom
foreshadows has now come in in all is fullness, the kingdom of heaven under the
lordship of Christ.
During His earthly ministry our Lord called
upon men to repent and come to Him, and He did so by declaring,
“Behold, a greater than Solomon is here.” (Luke 11:31)
PENN
FREE METHODIST CHURCH
We
are an independent, conservative evangelical and Protestant church, standing
upon truth of the Bible, which is the very word of God.
We
exist to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ crucified for sinners, upholding
the complete inerrancy and historical accuracy of the Scriptures as being our
sole authority in all matters of faith and practice.
In
pursuit of this high calling of preaching Christ, the only Saviour of men, PFMC
shuns the political correctness which has become the message of so many
churches in our day. The task of churches is not to mimic the fashionable
doctrines of secular liberalism (Romans 12:2, Colossians 2:8), but to be
separate from the world and to proclaim the truths of God’s word, regardless of
whether the world likes it or not.
Modern
Britain is simply not hearing about the need for each individual to repent, nor
about the reality of God’s judgement upon sin. Instead, the message generally
passed on by the mainstream churches is the old, social-gospel heresy, which
bears little difference to atheistic Marxism.
Our
nation needs, not clichés about ‘equality and diversity’, not a trendy, green
‘save the planet’ focus, not the anaemic man-pleasing message of social
improvement (which is actually no different to the what the politicians say),
not the materialism of an ‘abolish poverty’ emphasis, but a straightforward
biblical call to repentance from sin and to faith in Christ for salvation.
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