Today in God's Word—February 2023
East Tallassee Church of Christ
February 18, 2 Chronicles 8
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. - 2 Chronicles 8:4-6
“Bob the Builder” was a popular television show that premiered in Britain in 1999 and was broadcast in America on PBS. During its almost twenty year run and still today on streaming services, Bob was the lovable title character who identified a problem or need in Bobsville, designed a building project to take care of the problem and enlisted his friends to get the job done. He modeled the virtues of imagination, careful planning, teamwork and problem solving, all with a "can do" positive mental attitude. Little children, their parents and toy manufacturers all loved Bob the Builder.
Solomon’s father is remembered as David, “the psalmist of Israel” for all the praise songs, prayers and worship anthems he created. So David’s son could be called Solomon, “the builder of Israel.” He not only built the temple and his palace over a period of twenty years, he also went on to build many other royal residences (for his pagan wives) and temples (for their idols). He built cities all over Israel and Lebanon. He built and multiplied the nation's military force, equipping the troops with thousands of horses and chariots. He built ships and great wealth by controlling trade routes, mining and importing gold. Solomon was indeed Solomon the Builder. His imagination was both his inspiration for his projects and the only limitation on his building.
Solomon could not have built all the things he built by himself, or even with a large group of helpful friends and anthropomorphic machines like the ones who helped Bob the Builder. No,
both the scale and number of Solomon's projects required lots of labor, and Solomon forced the resident non-Israelites into slavery to do the work of building his projects. We already saw how over 150,000 forced laborers worked on the temple and palace projects. Imagine how many more workers and how many more years of labor it took to finish all that Solomon desired to build.
One project mentioned in this chapter was the residence outside Jerusalem for Pharaoh's daughter. Solomon married her early in his reign. During those early years, he still had respect for God’s holiness. He did not want to dishonor God by having a pagan wife and her idolatrous practices anywhere near the places sanctified by the presence of the ark of the covenant. In these early years, Solomon was still meticulous about obeying all the laws about sacrifices and offerings. He was the wealthy benefactor of the priesthood, providing what they needed to obey God's ceremonial commands.
Solomon and Israel grew richer and richer during the years of his reign. So did his reputation among neighboring nations, as the next chapter will show. But the Chronicler will not show the tragic result of Solomon's uninhibited desire and unlimited financial resources. Solomon's complete lack of restraint and the influence of many pagan wives would lead Israel's richest king away from God.
As children learn from Bob the Builder, let's learn from Solomon's example. Solomon modeled the power of imagination and hard work to solve problems. He knew it was essential to have helpers. He not only imagined and started projects, he completed them. But we must never imagine that we're so rich or so smart that we are not dependent on God. We must guard against the corrupting power of ungodly influence, and not allow it to turn us away from God.
Copyright © 2023 by Michael B. McElroy. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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