1 Kings 10

Discussion Questions

1. Have you had times of your life where you have depended more on someone else’s experience of Jesus than knowing Him yourself? How can we avoid settling for secondhand knowledge of Him?
2. What compromises do you need to be watchful for in your life?
3. How can you avoid feeling self-sufficient & prideful – rather than dependent upon & thankful to God?
4. How can we keep our hearts & minds on the Kingdom that is coming, instead of the fleeting pleasures of this present world?

Transcript

My name is Ryan Motta and I’m the Director of Student Ministries and Home Group Development here at the Village Chapel, and I’m excited to be with y’all this morning. We study through books of the Bible here at the Village Chapel and this Sunday is no different. So, if you would like a copy, go ahead and raise your hand and someone will be around to hand one out to you. Today we will be in First Kings 10, so you can go ahead and start to flip or scroll open to that text. And the title of my message today is simply “More Money, More Problems.” Or as the Notorious BIG said, “Mo Money, Mo Problems.” And I bet you never thought you’d hear him quoted in this church.

We have been studying the book of First Kings for several months now, and if you’re like me, it has been an absolute rollercoaster of rides. Some weeks, the text we read is deeply encouraging and some weeks the text we read is difficult, confusing, and maybe even upon first glance, boring. And you’re wondering why on earth was this included in the Holy Scriptures, right? But I’ve enjoyed reading through First Kings because it’s been a weekly reminder that Christ really is in every part of the Bible we read. Whether it’s instructions for building the temple or Solomon’s beautiful prayer in chapter eight, Jesus is the main character of all of First Kings.

And before we get into our time in the word today, I want to talk quickly about a cultural phenomenon that is extremely relevant in our day and time. And this phenomenon can be encapsulated through one acronym, which is pronounced FOMO, which simply means the fear of missing out. I’m sure many of you are aware of this term. And the fear of missing out really consists of two parts: The fear that we are excluded from a positive experience, and two, the strong impulse we have to get connected with those involved with what we are missing out on. This word first came onto the scene in the early 2000s, but it became really solidified in 2010, which coincidentally corresponds with the rise of social media in the United States. And originally, the term FOMO was used for the most part in almost a flippant way, kind of a funny way to describe your feelings. But now that word is beginning to gain a lot more weight in the world we live in. So much so that many clinics refer to FOMO as an anxiety disorder that can be treated through medication and therapy. So, whether you suffer from a deep sense of FOMO or not, we can all agree that we have this desire as human beings that prefers to be a part of something rather than simply hearing about it from another person.

Here’s an example. The other night I didn’t want to watch highlights of my Steelers beating the Titans. I wanted to stay up and watch it live. Is that too soon? Sorry about that. It was an ugly game. I’ll be honest with you guys, I don’t want to hear about the fun day my friends had. I want to be a part of the fun day with them. I don’t want to see someone else enjoying a concert on Instagram. I want to be in the crowd singing alongside of them. You see, there’s something in all of us that craves to be in the action and to experience things for ourselves.

Well, today we are going to read First Kings 10 and we are going to encounter a woman who has the same impulse. She has been hearing about the wisdom, the splendor, and the glory of Solomon. And she doesn’t want to settle for secondhand knowledge. She wants to see for herself if Solomon really is who everyone says he is. So, let’s go ahead and read First Kings 10. But before we do that, allow me to pray really quickly: Jesus, thank You for this beautiful morning, God, for the fall, for the beautiful leaves outside. But God, most of all, we thank You for Your son, Jesus. We thank You for the Word and that we can come to know You better through it. So, Jesus, today I pray that You would give us eyes to see and ears to hear, God, all that You would have for us in First Kings 10, that we would hear the Word and do the Word. To Your name I pray. Amen.

First Kings 10, starting in verse one. I’m going to read one through 13 for us. “The Queen of Sheba heard about Solomon’s fame connected with the name of the Lord and came to test him with difficult questions. She came to Jerusalem with a very large entourage, with camels bearing spices, gold in great abundance and precious stones. She came to Solomon and spoke to him about everything that was on her mind, so Solomon answered all her questions. Nothing was too difficult for the king to explain to her. When the Queen of Sheba observed all of Solomon’s wisdom, the palace he had built, the food at his table, his servants’ residence, his attendants’ service and their attire, his cup bearers, and the burnt offerings he offered at the Lord’s temple, it took her breath away.

“She said to the king, ‘The report I heard in my own country about your words and about your wisdom is true. But I didn’t believe the reports until I came and saw with my own eyes. Indeed, I was not even told half. Your wisdom and prosperity far exceed the report I heard. How happy are your men. How happy are these servants of yours who always stand in your presence hearing your wisdom. Blessed be the Lord your God. He delighted in you and put you on the throne of Israel because of the Lord’s eternal love for Israel. He has made you king to carry out justice and righteousness.’

“Then she gave the king four and a half tons of gold, a great quantity of spices and precious stones. Never again did such a quantity of spices arrive as those the Queen of Sheba gave to Solomon. In addition, Hiram’s fleet that carried gold from Ophir, brought from Ophir a large quantity of almug wood and precious stones. The king made the almug wood into steps for the Lord’s temple and the king’s palace and into lyres and harps for the singers. Never before did such almug wood arrive and the like has not been seen again. King Solomon gave the Queen of Sheba her every desire, whatever she asked, besides what he had given her out of his royal bounty. Then she along with her servants returned to her own country.”

And we’re going to pause right there. This chapter begins by letting us know that the Queen of Sheba heard about Solomon’s fame, and she wanted to see for herself if the rumors are true. You see, the Queen of Sheba is the queen of an area called Saba, which is located in the southwestern corner of Arabia, which is where modern-day Yemen is located. And not only has this queen learned about Solomon’s wealth and wisdom, she has learned that all that he has is connected to a god named Yahweh. The name of the Lord is most likely associated with Solomon’s name because of the great temple that took him seven years to build.

Word is getting out this Solomon is great, and he built this extravagant temple to his god. So, the name of Yahweh is connected to Solomon. And after hearing about this foreign ruler named Solomon, she intends to find out if he is who everyone claims him to be. So, it says she comes, and she begins to ask him riddles to see if his wisdom is as advertised. So, she begins to make her journey to Solomon, but the queen doesn’t travel empty-handed. She travels in style. It says she comes with a large entourage consisting of camels bearing a great amount of spices, gold in great abundance and precious stones. Though she’s coming to see the splendor of Solomon, she wants to leave no doubts to anyone else about her own comparative wealth and status. It’s like when you’re going to a formal event and you wear the nicest clothes you own and you get your car washed and you buy nice shoes, nice wash, get your haircut.

You want to let people know that you belong in that setting. And so, after getting the chance to talk with Solomon and see his wisdom and kingdom for herself, the text tells us that her breath was literally taken away. She is overcome when she sees the brilliant wisdom of Solomon when he answers every one of her difficult questions. But not only that, she’s overcome by the palace that he built, which took 13 years to build, the food that he served at his table and nothing but the best, the place where his servants lived, the way that his servants served him and the guests and what they wore. His cup bearers – cup bearers are the people who tasted the food and drink to make sure that it wasn’t poisoned before the king ate it. What a job, right? …And the burnt offerings he offered at the Lord’s temple.

Solomon was not afraid to show his devotion to Yahweh even in the presence of a great queen. You see, she’s overcome with emotion because it’s not just that Solomon’s wisdom is great, it’s that everything he does is great. It’s more than just that he’s really smart. It’s that everything he touches seems to prosper, and not just for himself but for those who served him. You see, Solomon didn’t treat his servants poorly. He made their lives more comfortable than was common for any servant of a king back in the day. And in response to all that she has seen and experienced, verses six through nine tell us that she breaks out into praise for the God of Israel, Yahweh. In verses six and seven, she tells Solomon that all that she heard, all of the reports that I heard, couldn’t do justice to all that she has seen. Words simply fell short.

And then she goes on to rejoice in the happiness of his servants. And then she ends in verse nine, get this, by blessing the Lord. This gentile queen, who has most likely never heard the name of Yahweh, is so overcome with emotion that she can’t help but praise the God who has made all of this happen. She praises God for putting Solomon on the throne and even goes as far to say that Solomon is a visual representation of God’s love for the nation of Israel. And then she ends her prayer by saying that Solomon was made king by the Lord to carry out justice and righteousness. And it’s amazing that she can not only see that Solomon is great, but it’s because of the God he worships … So, notice that she’s not praising Solomon in these verses. She’s praising the God of Solomon.

That’s amazing. But she also seems to have a firm understanding of why God establishes a king: to carry out justice and righteousness. And this gentile queen from a gentile nation begins to get it. And that’s amazing. Don’t miss that. And so, the Queen of Sheba has this outburst of praise. And I think the Queen of Sheba is experiencing something that almost all of us have experienced in this life. She heard about Solomon’s greatness but was overwhelmed when she experienced that greatness for herself. It’s the difference between hearing about the Grand Canyon and standing on the rim and looking out into the vastness for yourself. It’s the difference between hearing about a musician and getting wrapped up in the music as you first hear it. It’s the difference between hearing about how big Derrick Henry is and then getting to stand next to him and realizing that this man is a literal mountain.

It’s different when you experience it. And not only do we understand it better when we experience things for ourselves, but we also feel a need to burst into expression about what we are feeling. See, C.S. Lewis says it like this. “I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment. It is its appointed consummation.”

You see, there’s something that is wired into us as human beings that so deeply wants to express ourselves when our hearts are most overwhelmed with emotion. It’s not enough to just see the Predators score a goal. I want to turn and high five my neighbor. It’s not enough to see the funny video. I have to show someone else so they can join in on the laughter with me. It’s not enough to see my wife and all of her beauty on our wedding day. I have to go up and tell her because it’s when I tell her that my joy in that moment is complete. It’s not merely the feeling, but it’s expressing that feeling to other people. This is what the Queen of Sheba is experiencing with Solomon. And let me ask you this question: When is the last time you have felt this way towards the living God?

When was the last time that you stood at the never-ending horizon of His glory and grace and were just so overwhelmed by the beauty and the majesty of God that you just erupted into praise? For some of you, that is an experience that you have, and praise be to God, but if we’re honest, many of us can’t even remember the last time we felt that way towards God. You come to church, and you sing the songs and recite the words and you hear the message, and you take communion, yet you feel that your heart is cold and stale towards the beauty of the Lord. Or if I could get really personal with you, maybe this is always how your relationship with the Lord has felt. Cold, stale, lifeless. If this is something you relate to, I want you to hold on to that thought and feeling because we will be revisiting this thought later on in the sermon.

So, verses 10 through 13, this first section ends by letting us know about what the Queen of Sheba and his other trading partner, Hiram, gave to Solomon most likely due to their political ties. It says that she, meaning the Queen of Sheba, gave the king four and a half tons of gold. That’s a good payday! …A great quantity of spices, a quantity that has never been seen again, and precious stones. In other words, the queen gives Solomon all that she had. If you remember back in verse two, what is she traveling with? Gold, spices and precious stones. She just simply gives Solomon all that she brings. And then Hiram gave Solomon a large sum of almug wood, which Solomon turned into the steps for the Lord’s temple and his royal palace and musical instruments. And then we get a similar detail. Never again has the kingdom seen such almug wood.

Now, those little details are meant to remind us of the distinctness of Solomon’s kingdom. People have seen large quantity of spices before. People have seen large amounts of almug wood before. People have seen large amounts of gold before. But never all in one place together. You see, Solomon’s kingdom is distinct, and it also tells us that Hiram gives Solomon precious stones. Solomon must have had just one heck of a rock collection, I mean, just stunning, all of these precious stones being brought to him. And in response to his interaction with the Queen of Sheba, it says that Solomon gave her whatever she asked. There was a mutual respect that built up between the two parties. And after all of this, we are told that the Queen of Sheba goes back to her own country. And if you’re like me and you are reading First Kings 10, you’re wondering why are verses 10 through 13 included in this chapter?

They seem so random; they seem so odd. Well, I think they’re there because they are an answer to Solomon’s prayer back in chapter eight. I’m going to have the words up on the screen here. Tommy taught about this a few weeks ago. In verses 41 through 43 of First Kings eight, this is Solomon’s prayer in his dedication to the temple. “Even for the foreigner who is not of your people Israel but has come from a distant land because of your name, for they will hear of your great name, strong hand and outstretched arm, and will come and pray toward this temple. May you hear in heaven your dwelling place and do according to all the foreigner asks. Then all the peoples of the earth will know your name to fear you as your people Israel do and to know that this temple I have built bears your name.”

You see, in chapter 10 verses 10 through 13, we are beginning to see how God is using the glory and prosperity of Israel to bring people from every nation to Himself. The point of Solomon’s prosperity is not so that Solomon would live a comfy cozy lifestyle. The point of Solomon’s prosperity was that people from all over the world would hear the name of Solomon connected to Yahweh and travel a long distance to see this kingdom for themselves. The point was not to bring glory to Solomon’s name. The point was to bring glory to God’s name, who is the only one who could build a kingdom as glorious as the one that we read about. And we are beginning to see God’s plan of redemption for the outsiders in these verses. Because of the glory of Israel, people are curious and they’re asking questions like: Is Solomon really that wise? Are his people really that happy? And is his God really that glorious? Does his God really need a glorious temple like the one that he built?

And when people truly seek out the answer to that third question, is God really that glorious, the answer will always be yes. This God is more glorious than you can ever imagine. You don’t even know the half of it, how glorious this God is. But the chapter doesn’t end there so let’s keep on reading verses 14 through 29. I’m going to go ahead and read all of this section for us and then we will spend some time talking about it. So, starting in verse 14: “The weight of gold that came to Solomon annually was 25 tons, besides what came from merchants, traders’ merchandise, and all of the Arabian kings and governors of the land.

“King Solomon made 200 large shields of hammered gold; 15 pounds of gold went into each shield. He made 300 small shields of hammered gold. Nearly four pounds of gold went into each shield. The king put them in the house of the Forest of Lebanon. The king also made a large ivory throne and overlaid it with fine gold. The throne had six steps. There was a rounded top at the back of the throne, armrests on either side of the seat and two lions standing beside the armrests. 12 lions were standing there on the six steps, one at each end. Nothing like it had ever been made in any other kingdom. All of King Solomon’s drinking cups were gold and all of the utensils of the house of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. There was no silver since it was considered as nothing in Solomon’s time. For the king had ships of Tarshish at sea with Hiram’s fleet, and once every three years the ships of Tarshish would arrive bearing gold, silver, ivory, apes and peacocks.

“King Solomon surpassed all of the kings of the world in riches and in wisdom. The whole world wanted an audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom that God had put in his heart. Every man would bring his annual tribute, items of silver and gold, clothing, weapons, spices, and horses and mules. Solomon accumulated 1400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen and stationed them in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem. The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedar as abundant as sycamore in the Judean foothills. Solomon’s horses were imported from Egypt and Kue. The king’s traders bought them from Kue at the going price. A chariot was imported from Egypt for 15 pounds of silver and a horse for four pounds. In the same way, they exported them all to the kings of the Hittites and to the kings of Aram through their agent.”

Don’t you love it when a text preaches itself? Yeah. So, in verses 14 and 15, we are told that the weight of gold that came to Solomon annually was 25 tons of gold. And this doesn’t even include all of the other money he gets from trading partners; doesn’t include the 401k he’s going to collect at 65. He’s just rolling in it every year, 25 tons of gold. And so, the question is, what does Solomon do with that much money? Well, that’s what 14 through 29 seeks to show us because in verses 16 through 17 we’re told that Solomon makes a whole lot of gold shields. He makes 200 large shields of hammered gold, which consists of 15 pounds for each shield. So, this is about 3,000 pounds of gold in total to make the large shields. And then it tells us that he made 300 small shields of gold that had about four pounds of gold in each of them.

So, about 1200 pounds of gold in total to make the small shields. Now, what was the purpose of all of these gold shields? Well, it was to decorate the house of the Forest of Lebanon. A modern-day comparison would be like if you had put guns, swords, or military apparel hanging up in your house. So, Solomon decided the interior design of the house of Lebanon is just going to be gold shields. You’re just going to see them everywhere you go. And so, he begins to make these gold shields, but doesn’t stop there because in verses 18 through 20, we’re told that Solomon makes himself a royal throne. This throne is made of ivory and overlaid with, you guessed it, fine gold. Lots of gold here. It had six steps with two sets of lions on each of the steps in addition to the two lions that were directly next to the throne.

And then we’re told that important detail again. There was never any throne that was made like the throne that Solomon had made for himself. So once again, there’s a distinctness to Solomon’s kingdom. And not only was his throne gold, but all of his drinking cups and utensils were gold. And the narrator then tosses in that there was so much gold that silver had lost its value. It’s like using $100 bills for everything and forgetting that the $1 bill even exists. I didn’t even know money could go that low. That’s how much gold is in the kingdom. And then the narrator also adds that Solomon received a shipment from the ships of Tarshish that delivered silver along with ivory, apes and peacocks. I don’t know about y’all, but doesn’t it just sound like this guy is just bored? What is he even doing with all of this money?

And then verses 23 through 25 act as a summary statement for all that we just read. King Solomon surpassed all of the kings of the world in riches, in wisdom. The whole world wanted an audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom for themselves. Do you see God’s plan for the nations? And this portion of chapter 10 verses 23 through 25 is letting the reader know that God was faithful to the promise that He gave to Solomon all the way back in chapter three, verse 13. If you don’t remember that, God promised Solomon that he would surpass all other kings of the world in riches and wisdom. So once again, the narrator’s cuing us in. This wealth and prosperity that we’re reading about was not Solomon’s doing. It was all because of God’s faithfulness to His own promises to His people. But even after we hear that Solomon has surpassed all of the kings of the world in riches and wisdom, we see that He continues to build up wealth because that’s the problem with abundance and excess.

When you get a lot of things, you just seem to keep wanting more of those things. And we’re told in the final three verses, verses 26 through 29, that Solomon also had an abundance of horses and chariots, which he used to defend the borders of his cities, which is wisdom. That’s him using his military power to defend his own people. But it says he actually had so many horses and chariots that he was basically buying them wholesale from Egypt and then selling them to the Hittites and to the kings of Iran. And we will see later on in First Kings that those same nations will use those chariots against Solomon. And so, in verses 14 through 29, we are told that Solomon is gaining an excess in three things. Three things we see here that he is excessively gaining.

He is gaining a lot of horses that he’s buying from Egypt. He is gaining an insane amount of gold and silver, so much so that silver was counted as nothing. And we’ll read about this next week in chapter 11. We also find out that Solomon was gaining an excess of wives, 700 wives and 300 concubines. Now, if you were reading this during the cultural moment that our text takes place in, there would be some very loud alarms going off in your head because of a passage out of Deuteronomy, chapter 17 verses 16 through 17. I’m going to have the words up here on the screen. Now, this passage is the Lord telling the people of Israel what the King of Israel should and should not do. So, this is God’s instruction for the king. I’m going to read these words starting in verse 16. “However, he,” meaning the King of Israel, “must not acquire many horses for himself or send the people back to Egypt to acquire many horses. For the Lord has told you, you are never to go back to that way again. He must not acquire many wives for himself so that his heart won’t go astray, and he must not acquire very large amounts of silver and gold for himself.”

According to Deuteronomy 17, the king should not acquire many horses specifically from Egypt. Where is Solomon buying his horses? Egypt. The king should not acquire many wives for himself so that his heart will not go astray. I don’t want to steal too much of Tommy’s thunder next week, but we’ll see that in chapter 11. And the king should not acquire large amounts of silver and gold for himself. Now, Solomon is gaining a lot of gold and silver, and he is not distributing the wealth among the people. Instead, he’s building gold shields and cool thrones for himself. Now, why does God demand this from the King of Israel?

Because the temptation of money, power, and sex can corrupt even the most wise and devoted hearts to the Lord. Even Solomon who had all of the wisdom a man could ever want begins to subtly shift his love towards the things of this world. And we will see in chapter 11 that the whole kingdom will come crashing down because of it. So, this is where our text ends today, but now I want to ask us this question: How then shall we live? How then shall we live in light of all we just read out of First Kings 10? Some of it stuck out to us. Some of it was confusing to us. How should we live differently because of all that we just read in First Kings 10? Well, there’s three things I want you to see.

So, here’s the first thing: You must seek to experience the glory of the king for yourself. I’ll say that again. You must seek to experience the glory of the king for yourself. When the Queen of Sheba heard about the wisdom of Solomon, his wealth and his glory, she didn’t want to take anyone’s word for it. Now, this was really unusual because typically a queen would never travel such a distance herself. A queen or really any ruler would send emissaries on her behalf, especially considering that where the Queen of Sheba lived was 1500 miles away from Israel. That’s one heck of a camel ride. That’s a long way. But she had a curiosity that made her want to experience the wisdom of Solomon for herself. She didn’t want to just hear about it. She wanted to experience it, so much so that she was willing to travel thousands of miles.

And in Matthew chapter 12 verse 42, Jesus actually mentions the Queen of Sheba as some doubters of his are seeking for him to perform another miracle to prove his identity. And this is Jesus’ response to the doubters. He says, “The Queen of the South,” meaning the Queen of Sheba, “will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon. And look, something greater than Solomon is here.” This is what Jesus is saying. If the Queen of Sheba traveled all that way because of a snippet of information she had about the greatness of Solomon, how much more should we try and experience Jesus who is greater than Solomon ever was? When it comes to knowing Jesus, we should never settle for simply hearing about someone else’s experience of Jesus. Don’t just take my word for it. Don’t just take Jim, Matt or Tommy’s word for it. Go and experience Jesus for yourself. I promise you He’s way better than advertised. And here is the beauty of knowing Jesus: We don’t need to travel 1500 miles to experience Him. All we have to do is open His Word with a curious heart and allow the King to reveal Himself to us. All we have to do is go to Him in prayer and expectantly wait for Him to meet us. And for those of you who when I asked earlier if your heart towards God was cold and stale, could it be because you have been content with secondhand knowledge of who Jesus is? Are you content settling for secondhand knowledge of Jesus? Is your faith merely the product of hearing about what someone else’s faith looks like? Because in Psalm 34 verse eight, it says this. “Taste and see that the Lord is good.”

Do you know what that verse doesn’t say? Settle for hearing about what someone else has tasted and seen of the Lord. Brothers and sisters, you have been invited to personally partake in the person of Jesus. Why would you not take Him up on this offer? When you are physically hungry, it’s not enough to hear about how someone else ate good food. No. In order to satisfy your hunger, you must eat of the food yourself and know how good it is. Do you know that God is merciful because someone told you He’s merciful or because you have experienced His mercy in your own life? Do you know that God is compassionate because of a youth group talk that you heard as a kid or because you have experienced the nearness of God when you were at your lowest point? Do you know the grace of Jesus because of what someone has said, or have you experienced the life-altering reality that Jesus has truly paid the price for all of your sins and that you are a new creation in Christ?

Please don’t just hear about the goodness of our God. Come and see for yourselves that it’s better than you ever imagined. Our words will never do it justice. Once you see and experience Jesus for yourself, you’ll join the Queen of Sheba and have your breath taken away by the beauty and the majesty of Christ who is far more glorious, far more great, far more wise than Solomon ever was. Experience the glory of the King for yourself.

Here’s the second thing I want you to see: We must beware of the allure of affluence. Beware of the allure of affluence. It’s kind of a tongue twister but hang with me. I think this text also shows us the danger of wealth in the life of a believer. I say this because here is what we know is coming in chapter 11. Solomon’s heart is going to turn away from the Lord. Now, I want to make something really clear from the jump. Please hear me. Being rich is not a sin. I’ll say that again. Being rich is not a sin. We live in a cultural moment where the default mode seems to be that if you’re rich, then people just assume that you’re an awful egotistical maniac. This is unequivocally false. Because some of the most generous people and loving people I have met in my life have come from extreme wealth. So, it’s not a sin to be rich. But I also think we need to wake up to the reality that having a lot of money in possession opens up your heart to a whole realm of temptations that can turn your heart away from the Lord.

Listen to what Paul instructs Timothy to tell his congregation in First Timothy six, 17 through 19. Paul says this. “Instruct those who are rich in this present age, not to be arrogant or to set their hope on the uncertainty of wealth, but on God, who richly provides us with all things to enjoy. Instruct them to do what is good, to be rich in good works, to be generous, willing to share, storing up treasures for themselves as a good foundation for the coming age so that they may take hold of what is truly life.” Paul is warning Timothy’s congregation that wealth brings along the particular temptation of arrogance and idolatry. And though we may try to avoid it, our hearts have a sinful inclination to value the wealth and the things of this world more than Christ himself. Our hearts have a natural bent towards worship of the world over worship of the King.

But here is what I need you to see in First Kings. This turning of Solomon’s heart away from the Lord towards the things of this world does not happen overnight. It happens through a season of small compromises that he made that eventually leads to an outright rejection of God in chapter 11. Last week, we saw that Solomon made a sneaky business deal with Hiram. We’ve also seen multiple reports of Solomon’s forced labor. We’ve seen that Solomon spent almost double the time building his house than building the Lord’s temple. We see it once Solomon begins to marry hundreds of foreign women, most likely for political gain. Now, all of these things wouldn’t have been a huge deal back in the time that this text was written. But they are small little evidences of the changing tides of Solomon’s heart, little caution flags that are letting us know that chapter 11 won’t just be some random event.

It happens through compromises. Now, this is what these kinds of compromises can look like for you and me. We can begin to find safety from the chaos of this world with the amount of money that is in our bank account. If we have a lot of money, then we feel like we have a safe distance from all of the chaos of the world. Or it can look like this. When we feel insecure, we will tell ourselves that we are better than someone else, well, because we have more money than they do. We will begin to convince ourselves that every opportunity we have to be generous with our money isn’t really for us because hey, we earned that money, and we don’t have to share it with anybody. I worked hard for that money. Who am I to just give it away to just anybody? You see, a heart that treasures the things of this world more than Jesus usually happens because of hundreds of small compromises rather than just one big moment. You don’t just wake up one day and go, “I think I’m going to love the things of this world more than I love Christ.” You make small compromises until one day that shift has happened and you didn’t even notice it.

John Piper says it like this: “The greatest enemy of hunger for God is not poison but apple pie. It is not the banquet of the wicked that dulls our appetite for heaven, but endless nibbling at the table of the world. It is not the X-rated video, but the primetime dribble of triviality we drink in every night.” Every day the average person is exposed to 10,000 advertisements. Wrestle with that. 10,000 advertisements. This means that 10,000 times a day you have a marketer screaming at you that you don’t have enough. If you just bought these $400 shoes, then all eyes would turn on you as you walked into the room. If you just bought this certain kind of shampoo, then you would feel like a supermodel. If you just took out an auto loan that you can’t afford through us, then you can ride in your dream car.

If you want to experience luxury, you can trade in the old iPhone you just bought last week for the new iPhone that came out this week. And on and on it goes. We are constantly being told that we don’t have enough and the only way to cure our hunger is to get more things. And we would be foolish if we didn’t think that this was having an effect on our souls. Though they seem like innocent advertisements, you are being discipled daily to believe that the things of this world are the cure to your dissatisfied soul. So the question is, what is the remedy for a heart that is growing in love for the things of this world while simultaneously growing cold towards the Lord? What do we do if that’s us? Because sometimes it’s a pull that is so strong that we can see it happening and we don’t know how to stop it.

Well, there’s two things that I think if we understand, it will help us realize how to avoid this. So, here’s the first thing: We must come to grips with the reality that the things of this world are passing away. Brothers and sisters, the things of this world are passing away. There are only three things that are eternal. We say this in our youth group all the time. Three things, God, God’s Word, and God’s people. Apart from those three things, there is nothing in this world that will endure forever, which means everything that you see is fragile and temporary. So, if you decide to build your life on the wealth of this world, your life will consist of a temporary and fragile hope, and you will be an anxious mess because these things that you have built your life on could cave in on you at any time.

Listen to what Soren Kierkegaard says about riches and abundance. I’ll have this quote up on the screen. He says, “Riches and abundance come hypocritically clad in sheep’s clothing pretending to be security against anxieties.” And here’s the important part. “And they become then the object of anxiety. They secure a man against anxieties just about as well as the wolf that is put to tending the sheep.” So, the very thing that you put your hope in that you thought would shield you from the anxieties of the world actually is the very thing which causes your anxiety in the world. Brothers and sisters, the things of this world are passing away. That’s the first thing you must realize. But here is the second thing. We must not only realize the things of this world are passing away, but we must also come alive to the beauty and surpassing worth of knowing Christ.

We must understand that Christ is greater than everything this world has to offer. To believe what Paul said, that if you lose all of the things of this world, yet you still have Christ, then you are still rich beyond your wildest dreams because you have a treasure that is far more valuable than all that you have lost. A treasure that will never rust or be eaten by moths. And we must know that all of the spiritual treasures that we have in Christ are not passing away and they will be with us in eternity. Not only will they last, but they will actually satisfy your soul.

So, we must realize the vanity of this world and simultaneously wake up to the beauty of Christ who is the most firm foundation that you can build your life on. And here’s what’s awesome about this: When you put your hope in Christ, it actually frees you up to enjoy the good gifts that God has given us in this world. I can now be generous with my money because I know that my refuge is in Christ, not in my finances. I’m freed up and I don’t need to buy the most expensive clothing anymore because I am justified in Christ, and I don’t need to prove my worth to others. I’m free to love and be patient with my wife because I’m not putting all of the pressure of my hope on her. When our priorities are properly placed, it frees us up to enjoy the things of this world without putting our hope in them.

In Second Timothy, Paul is writing another letter to his young protege Timothy and in chapter four, Paul is describing the recent heartbreaks he has had in ministry. Paul is being deserted by ministry partners that he loved and trusted and included in this list is a man named Demas. And he says this about him in Second Timothy 4:10, this is a heartbreaking verse: “Demas has deserted me since he loved this present world and has gone to Thessalonica.” Brothers and sisters, please don’t let this be the tragic ending to your life. Insert your name has abandoned the faith because they fell in love with this present world. Don’t buy the lie that the things of this world can satisfy your deepest longing. Christ is our supreme treasure, and He is far more valuable than everything in this world. Live in accordance with this truth. Beware of the allure of affluence.

And here’s the last thing I want us to see: First Kings 10 reminds us that there is a greater kingdom that is coming. Today we read about a kingdom that was about as glorious and prosperous as any earthly kingdom could be. And in some ways, First Kings 10 is a prophetic reminder to us that one day there is a kingdom coming that will be far greater than Solomon’s kingdom ever was. But remember that this kingdom that we read about, the original reader of First Kings 10 would have seen this kingdom fall. Babylon comes in and burns down the temple and destroys Solomon’s palace. And in regard to an earthly kingdom that looked like it would last forever, this surely would have felt like a safe and secure place. This kingdom had a wise and powerful king. This kingdom had military power. This kingdom had strong political alliances and extraordinary wealth.

This kingdom had people from every nation coming to pay homage to this king. Yet this is the trouble with all earthly kingdoms. They cannot stand the test of time. They have their moments, but they also have their ends. But church, there is a day coming when God is going to return and establish a kingdom that will have no end. The glory of Solomon’s kingdom is only a hint of the glory of this future kingdom that is coming. And this kingdom that’s coming will have a king that will never stumble or ever falter. In Revelation, we see that this coming kingdom will consist of people of every tribe, every tongue, and every nation. This kingdom will need no military power because all evil will be wiped away. This kingdom will possess riches beyond your wildest dreams, not because everything is laced in gold, but because Christ, our most valuable and precious treasure, will fully dwell among His people and He will be our God and we will be His people.

When we read about the glory of the Israelite kingdom in First Kings 10, we shouldn’t read it as a tourist appreciating, oh, what that kingdom used to be like. We should see it as a foreshadow of the future inheritance we will get to share in with Christ. That this kingdom that is coming is one that you and I will get to play a part in because Christ has made it possible to be reconciled to Him. Do you know that this is the center of our Christian hope that this kingdom that is coming will far outweigh kingdoms of this world? It’ll be far greater because the king that is coming is far greater than any earthly kingdom.

I want to end by reading you these words that John Newton penned in a hymn titled “Glorious Things of Thee are Spoken.” And in these words, he’s talking about the contrast between earthly possessions and heavenly glory. And he says this: “Fading is the worldling’s pleasure, all his boasted pomp and show.” This is awesome. “Solid joys and lasting treasure, none but Zion’s children know.” Church, let’s pray:

Jesus, thank You for this day. And God, thank You for Your kingdom. God, I pray for our hearts right now, Jesus, that if anybody in this room has not experienced the glory of the King for themself, that today would be a landmark moment in their life. Jesus, reveal Yourself to them. Show Yourself to them, God. But I also pray for anybody’s heart who is entrapped in the snare of worldly pleasures. Jesus, free us. Give us eyes to see that Your surpassing glory is worth more than the things of this world. And lastly, God, give us hope. Hope in this future kingdom that is coming. God, that First Kings 10 would be a reminder to us that the glory that we see in Solomon’s kingdom is nothing compared to the glory that is to come. God, we lift all this up in Your precious name. Amen.