God Hears from Heaven (Walk Thru the Bible Week 20)

1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:06,160
Welcome to Walk Through the Bible, Susan Michael's 12 month journey through the most exciting

2
00:00:06,160 --> 00:00:07,680
book on the planet.

3
00:00:07,680 --> 00:00:10,680
It will transform your life one page at a time.

4
00:00:10,680 --> 00:00:15,120
Be sure to subscribe for future episodes that will ignite your faith and bring your Bible

5
00:00:15,120 --> 00:00:16,120
to life.

6
00:00:16,120 --> 00:00:23,120
Now, let's join our host, Susan Michael.

7
00:00:23,120 --> 00:00:26,480
So hey there and welcome to Walk Through the Bible.

8
00:00:26,480 --> 00:00:35,920
This is week 20 and we're going to be covering today pages 603 to 639 in the Daily Bible

9
00:00:35,920 --> 00:00:43,480
or what are the dates of April 14th through the 20th in the Daily Bible.

10
00:00:43,480 --> 00:00:52,800
So we have just finished last week reading about Solomon is now king and he has built

11
00:00:52,800 --> 00:00:54,520
the temple.

12
00:00:54,520 --> 00:01:03,440
And this week we reach the pinnacle, the absolute heights of the history of Israel, of the history

13
00:01:03,440 --> 00:01:10,440
of King David and King Solomon, Israel's two greatest kings out of all history.

14
00:01:10,440 --> 00:01:13,320
And so I want you to enjoy this week.

15
00:01:13,320 --> 00:01:18,560
Enjoy the heights of the mountaintop that we're going to talk about because I hate to

16
00:01:18,560 --> 00:01:23,280
tell you it doesn't last forever.

17
00:01:23,280 --> 00:01:29,440
Now this week we read the temple has been built and so it's now time for Solomon to

18
00:01:29,440 --> 00:01:36,160
move the Ark of the Covenant into place and put it into the Holy of Holies in the temple

19
00:01:36,160 --> 00:01:42,880
and to have a dedication to the Lord to dedicate this new temple.

20
00:01:42,880 --> 00:01:45,440
So I just want to make a quick note here.

21
00:01:45,440 --> 00:01:50,840
David had brought the Ark of the Covenant up and it said that he put it in a tent.

22
00:01:50,840 --> 00:01:58,600
It doesn't tell us exactly where the Ark was and many people assume that it was on the

23
00:01:58,600 --> 00:02:04,680
temple mount because that was the threshing floor of Aruna that David purchased and he

24
00:02:04,680 --> 00:02:06,200
had built an altar there.

25
00:02:06,200 --> 00:02:12,440
He had made sacrifice and he had stopped the plague on Jerusalem.

26
00:02:12,440 --> 00:02:17,320
So it only made sense that he would when he brought the Ark of the Covenant that he would

27
00:02:17,320 --> 00:02:22,400
put it there and that there would continue to have sacrifice there in front of the Ark

28
00:02:22,400 --> 00:02:29,480
of the Covenant and perhaps the tent was not the original tabernacle but that all makes

29
00:02:29,480 --> 00:02:30,480
sense.

30
00:02:30,480 --> 00:02:34,320
But the Bible doesn't actually tell us that that's exactly where it was and I do want

31
00:02:34,320 --> 00:02:42,160
to point out that in the time of David the threshing floor of Aruna was outside the city

32
00:02:42,160 --> 00:02:43,520
walls.

33
00:02:43,520 --> 00:02:48,840
So I'm not sure how secure it was to put the Ark of the Covenant there.

34
00:02:48,840 --> 00:02:54,960
We do know from this passage that we are reading this week that it says Solomon brought the

35
00:02:54,960 --> 00:02:59,920
Ark of the Covenant up from the city of David.

36
00:02:59,920 --> 00:03:05,240
So either he moved it there in order to build the temple or it was already there in the

37
00:03:05,240 --> 00:03:12,080
city of David which would have been inside those original city walls.

38
00:03:12,080 --> 00:03:17,960
You know a note about the threshing floor of Aruna up on the hilltop which actually

39
00:03:17,960 --> 00:03:21,760
was a little bit higher than the city of David.

40
00:03:21,760 --> 00:03:27,720
And of course a threshing floor would be up on top of a hill so that the wind would be

41
00:03:27,720 --> 00:03:34,120
able to blow through there and as they were they'd toss the wheat up into the air and

42
00:03:34,120 --> 00:03:40,480
the wind would blow the chaff away and the seeds would fall down and that's how they

43
00:03:40,480 --> 00:03:44,760
separated the chaff from the wheat.

44
00:03:44,760 --> 00:03:49,920
You know living in Jerusalem I'll tell you one of the things that I learned was that

45
00:03:49,920 --> 00:04:00,040
every afternoon there was this breeze that would pick up blowing from west to east and

46
00:04:00,040 --> 00:04:02,080
like clockwork and why is that?

47
00:04:02,080 --> 00:04:08,880
Well we were told that it was because way over in the east in Arabia which is all desert

48
00:04:08,880 --> 00:04:15,400
that the heat was building up and as it got hotter and hotter in the desert in the daytime

49
00:04:15,400 --> 00:04:21,600
the heat would rise and as the air was rising over the Arabian desert it would suck the

50
00:04:21,600 --> 00:04:29,360
cooler wind off of the Mediterranean towards it and so that cooler air off the Mediterranean

51
00:04:29,360 --> 00:04:36,920
would go right through Israel, right through Jerusalem and on across Jordan into Arabia.

52
00:04:36,920 --> 00:04:39,640
So I can just picture this threshing floor there.

53
00:04:39,640 --> 00:04:46,280
They had a pretty good regular wind up there when they needed it.

54
00:04:46,280 --> 00:04:55,360
So all that to say that that area was outside of the city wall and so we don't know that

55
00:04:55,360 --> 00:05:03,360
that's where David's Tabernacle was but we do know it's where Solomon built the temple.

56
00:05:03,360 --> 00:05:08,560
Now when Solomon moves the Ark of the Covenant to the temple, places it in the Holy of Holies,

57
00:05:08,560 --> 00:05:14,720
the scripture tells us very specifically that all that was in the Ark of the Covenant were

58
00:05:14,720 --> 00:05:18,560
the two tablets of the law from Mount Sinai.

59
00:05:18,560 --> 00:05:26,840
So if you remember from your previous reading, the ajar of Manna had been placed in the Ark

60
00:05:26,840 --> 00:05:34,280
and the rod of Aaron that budded indicating God's choice of the family of Aaron as the

61
00:05:34,280 --> 00:05:42,320
priest, it had been placed in the Ark of the Covenant and those two items are no longer

62
00:05:42,320 --> 00:05:43,320
in the picture.

63
00:05:43,320 --> 00:05:46,400
Of course it had been over 400 years.

64
00:05:46,400 --> 00:05:49,480
So 400 years is a long time.

65
00:05:49,480 --> 00:05:56,360
Things get moved around, they get misplaced or damaged or destroyed or whatever.

66
00:05:56,360 --> 00:06:02,880
So Solomon begins to do burnt offerings here now at the dedication of the temple and it

67
00:06:02,880 --> 00:06:11,240
says that he started round the clock praise and worship just as King David had done and

68
00:06:11,240 --> 00:06:18,840
that he did everything exactly as King David had prescribed.

69
00:06:18,840 --> 00:06:26,840
And so 2 Chronicles 6-1 also gives us another little footnote before we get into our dedication

70
00:06:26,840 --> 00:06:28,080
of the temple.

71
00:06:28,080 --> 00:06:34,360
The little footnote it gives us is the timing that this dedication of the temple, that the

72
00:06:34,360 --> 00:06:40,520
temple was built 480 years after the Exodus.

73
00:06:40,520 --> 00:06:50,320
So if that is an accurate verse of Scripture and it really does mean 480 years, then that

74
00:06:50,320 --> 00:06:56,700
means the Exodus took place around 1450 BC.

75
00:06:56,700 --> 00:07:01,640
And so in all of our previous episodes in the first quarter, if you were with us, we

76
00:07:01,640 --> 00:07:08,760
kept talking about the reason the archaeologists don't have findings that substantiate the

77
00:07:08,760 --> 00:07:15,920
Israelites in Egypt at that time, the Exodus, they're conquering the land of Canaan is because

78
00:07:15,920 --> 00:07:18,680
they're looking at the wrong time period.

79
00:07:18,680 --> 00:07:25,600
The Bible is very specific here that the Exodus was around 1450 and most of those archaeologists

80
00:07:25,600 --> 00:07:29,880
have been looking 200 years later.

81
00:07:29,880 --> 00:07:36,200
So just a note there, some people say maybe the number 480 wasn't meant to be a specific

82
00:07:36,200 --> 00:07:44,800
number, maybe it's just a rounded off number or it's to signify something else like a number

83
00:07:44,800 --> 00:07:54,480
of generations, but it says 480 years and I think it kind of lines up with the timing

84
00:07:54,480 --> 00:07:56,280
of the Exodus.

85
00:07:56,280 --> 00:08:03,240
So now let's talk about the dedication of the temple because this is an absolutely amazing

86
00:08:03,240 --> 00:08:04,240
moment.

87
00:08:04,240 --> 00:08:10,680
And for me, this is like right there at the pinnacle of the whole story that we have been

88
00:08:10,680 --> 00:08:13,640
reading up to this point.

89
00:08:13,640 --> 00:08:18,520
And this is Solomon's speech upon the completion of the work.

90
00:08:18,520 --> 00:08:23,760
And I'm not going to read you all the scriptures, but just a few.

91
00:08:23,760 --> 00:08:30,720
So here from 2 Chronicles 6 verses 4 through 6, then Solomon said,

92
00:08:30,720 --> 00:08:37,520
Praise be to the Lord the God of Israel, who with his hands has fulfilled what he promised

93
00:08:37,520 --> 00:08:40,520
with his mouth to my Father David.

94
00:08:40,520 --> 00:08:47,720
For he said, Since the day I brought my people out of Egypt, I have not chosen a city and

95
00:08:47,720 --> 00:08:53,800
any tribe of Israel to have a temple built so that my name might be there.

96
00:08:53,800 --> 00:09:03,360
Nor have I chosen anyone to be ruler over my people Israel, but now I have chosen Jerusalem

97
00:09:03,360 --> 00:09:10,920
for my name to be there and I have chosen David to rule my people Israel.

98
00:09:10,920 --> 00:09:19,320
This is an absolutely key verse where God is saying here, I have chosen Jerusalem and

99
00:09:19,320 --> 00:09:26,040
I put my name there and I have chosen David to rule over my people.

100
00:09:26,040 --> 00:09:33,880
So now the dedicatory prayer takes off from here and it's a long prayer so I'm only going

101
00:09:33,880 --> 00:09:36,080
to read a few of the verses from it.

102
00:09:36,080 --> 00:09:44,000
But beginning with 2 Chronicles 6 verses 14 through 15, Solomon says here, Lord the God

103
00:09:44,000 --> 00:09:51,440
of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven or on earth, you who keep your covenant of

104
00:09:51,440 --> 00:09:57,320
love with your servants, who continue wholeheartedly in your way.

105
00:09:57,320 --> 00:10:02,080
You have kept your promise to your servant David, my Father.

106
00:10:02,080 --> 00:10:09,900
With your mouth you have promised and with your hand you have fulfilled it as it is today.

107
00:10:09,900 --> 00:10:16,520
So Solomon is celebrating the fulfillment of God's promises to David that his son would

108
00:10:16,520 --> 00:10:22,720
build the temple and that he would establish for David an everlasting throne there in

109
00:10:22,720 --> 00:10:23,720
Jerusalem.

110
00:10:23,720 --> 00:10:31,320
But there is a very special phrase here that we read in verse 14 where Solomon refers to

111
00:10:31,320 --> 00:10:35,960
God's covenant of love with his servants.

112
00:10:35,960 --> 00:10:43,640
You know twice in Deuteronomy the covenant that God cut with his people in Sinai, you

113
00:10:43,640 --> 00:10:50,680
know how I liken it to a marriage, it is referred to as a covenant of love.

114
00:10:50,680 --> 00:10:58,560
This was totally a unique situation of that day in the world, in the Middle East, that

115
00:10:58,560 --> 00:11:03,360
a God would have a covenant of love with his people.

116
00:11:03,360 --> 00:11:10,000
Only the God of Israel had that with his people, the children of Israel.

117
00:11:10,000 --> 00:11:17,760
Now moving on to verse 18, but will God really dwell on earth with humans?

118
00:11:17,760 --> 00:11:22,600
The heavens, even the highest of heavens cannot contain you.

119
00:11:22,600 --> 00:11:26,760
How much less this temple that I have built.

120
00:11:26,760 --> 00:11:29,680
So Solomon is very clear here.

121
00:11:29,680 --> 00:11:34,360
He's not building like a house that God's going to dwell in as though God could even

122
00:11:34,360 --> 00:11:36,720
fit into the temple.

123
00:11:36,720 --> 00:11:43,480
He is extolling here that God is greater than all the heavens or the earth.

124
00:11:43,480 --> 00:11:47,360
So how could he dwell in this house?

125
00:11:47,360 --> 00:11:54,560
But then he continues on, nevertheless, it's may your eyes be open toward this temple day

126
00:11:54,560 --> 00:12:00,160
and night, this place of which you said you would put your name there.

127
00:12:00,160 --> 00:12:06,320
May you hear the prayer your servant prays towards this place.

128
00:12:06,320 --> 00:12:11,920
Hear the supplications of your servant and of your people, Israel, when they pray toward

129
00:12:11,920 --> 00:12:13,880
this place.

130
00:12:13,880 --> 00:12:21,080
Hear from heaven your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive.

131
00:12:21,080 --> 00:12:26,800
So he's asking God, even though I know you are greater than this building, you dwell

132
00:12:26,800 --> 00:12:27,880
in heaven.

133
00:12:27,880 --> 00:12:35,160
I'm asking you that when we pray towards this place that you hear us from heaven and

134
00:12:35,160 --> 00:12:37,800
you forgive your people.

135
00:12:37,800 --> 00:12:43,480
Then Solomon begins to pray that God would hear and that he would judge in different

136
00:12:43,480 --> 00:12:48,800
situations and first in judging disputes between people.

137
00:12:48,800 --> 00:12:54,960
Then when Israel suffers defeat because they've sinned against God, that he would hear their

138
00:12:54,960 --> 00:12:57,800
prayers from this place and forgive them.

139
00:12:57,800 --> 00:13:05,080
Or in times of drought when they pray towards this place or in famine or in plagues.

140
00:13:05,080 --> 00:13:10,080
But then in verse 32, we have a section here I want to take a minute.

141
00:13:10,080 --> 00:13:14,160
And this is when he prays for you and for me.

142
00:13:14,160 --> 00:13:20,240
He prays for the strangers and the foreigner that may go there and pray.

143
00:13:20,240 --> 00:13:27,520
He said here in verse 32, as for the foreigner who does not belong to your people, Israel,

144
00:13:27,520 --> 00:13:33,800
but has come from a distant land because of your great name and your mighty hand and your

145
00:13:33,800 --> 00:13:35,960
outstretched arm.

146
00:13:35,960 --> 00:13:43,080
When they come and pray towards this temple, then hear from heaven your dwelling place.

147
00:13:43,080 --> 00:13:49,200
Do whatever the foreigner asks of you so that all the peoples of the earth may know your

148
00:13:49,200 --> 00:13:55,520
name and fear you as do your own people, Israel.

149
00:13:55,520 --> 00:14:03,640
And may know that this house I have built bears your name.

150
00:14:03,640 --> 00:14:05,920
What a beautiful prayer.

151
00:14:05,920 --> 00:14:14,000
And it just shows that God's intention all along and Solomon understood this, that God

152
00:14:14,000 --> 00:14:20,400
had this special arrangement with Israel for the sake of the nations, that God wanted to

153
00:14:20,400 --> 00:14:28,840
demonstrate to the nations what it meant to live as his people and that anybody could

154
00:14:28,840 --> 00:14:30,280
be included in this.

155
00:14:30,280 --> 00:14:37,000
So Solomon knows this and therefore he prays for the foreigners that when they come there

156
00:14:37,000 --> 00:14:42,520
because of God's great name to pray towards him, God will you hear them.

157
00:14:42,520 --> 00:14:47,960
But he uses a very, very interesting motif here in his praying.

158
00:14:47,960 --> 00:14:55,160
And he says that when they come here because of your great name and your mighty hand and

159
00:14:55,160 --> 00:14:58,720
your outstretched arm.

160
00:14:58,720 --> 00:15:05,680
So he's using the descriptive words here of God's deliverance of the children of Israel

161
00:15:05,680 --> 00:15:08,960
from bondage in Egypt.

162
00:15:08,960 --> 00:15:16,400
And that when he brought them out and we had the great exodus, it was because of his mighty

163
00:15:16,400 --> 00:15:19,280
hand and his outstretched arm.

164
00:15:19,280 --> 00:15:23,960
And here Solomon's using that very description.

165
00:15:23,960 --> 00:15:31,600
And you and I have most definitely been freed from the bondage of sin through God's mighty

166
00:15:31,600 --> 00:15:39,800
right hand and his outstretched arm as was exhibited on the cross through Jesus.

167
00:15:39,800 --> 00:15:46,720
This describes beautifully, we have been set free and therefore because we know that his

168
00:15:46,720 --> 00:15:54,000
name is there in Jerusalem, we may come there to pray at this temple.

169
00:15:54,000 --> 00:15:57,720
And he's saying God hear their prayers.

170
00:15:57,720 --> 00:16:03,520
You know the prophets Isaiah and Zechariah, we're going to get into this in future weeks.

171
00:16:03,520 --> 00:16:05,760
They envisioned this.

172
00:16:05,760 --> 00:16:12,560
They envisioned the nations coming up to Jerusalem to worship the Lord.

173
00:16:12,560 --> 00:16:19,080
And the very name of this podcast, the Out of Zion podcast and the very scenery that

174
00:16:19,080 --> 00:16:26,000
you're seeing if you're watching this on YouTube is because through Isaiah, God promised

175
00:16:26,000 --> 00:16:33,040
that the law would go forth from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

176
00:16:33,040 --> 00:16:39,040
When the nations will come up to Jerusalem, they'll be taught his ways through the word

177
00:16:39,040 --> 00:16:41,600
and through the law.

178
00:16:41,600 --> 00:16:45,520
Here Solomon praise it.

179
00:16:45,520 --> 00:16:51,840
So then it says going on in 2 Chronicles 7, and when Solomon had finished praying, fire

180
00:16:51,840 --> 00:16:57,400
came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices.

181
00:16:57,400 --> 00:17:01,360
And the glory of the Lord filled the temple.

182
00:17:01,360 --> 00:17:07,040
The priests could not enter the temple of the Lord because the glory of the Lord filled

183
00:17:07,040 --> 00:17:08,280
it.

184
00:17:08,280 --> 00:17:14,480
When all the Israelites saw the fire coming down and the glory of the Lord above the temple,

185
00:17:14,480 --> 00:17:20,360
they knelt on the pavement with their faces to the ground and they worshiped and gave

186
00:17:20,360 --> 00:17:26,720
thanks to the Lord saying, He is good, His love endures forever.

187
00:17:26,720 --> 00:17:34,480
Then the King and all the people offered sacrifices before the Lord.

188
00:17:34,480 --> 00:17:35,480
Wow.

189
00:17:35,480 --> 00:17:37,040
Don't you wish you were there?

190
00:17:37,040 --> 00:17:44,840
How I wish I had been there and had seen the fire of God fall from heaven on the sacrifice

191
00:17:44,840 --> 00:17:49,840
and the glory of God come down and seen it above the temple.

192
00:17:49,840 --> 00:17:55,400
And of course the priests that were inside the temple saw it inside the temple.

193
00:17:55,400 --> 00:18:00,960
But the Israelites that were not priests saw it outside above the temple.

194
00:18:00,960 --> 00:18:08,080
How I wish I could have experienced that amazing moment.

195
00:18:08,080 --> 00:18:15,560
So then the Lord responds to Solomon and it says that he doesn't do it on the spot though.

196
00:18:15,560 --> 00:18:22,280
He waits and he speaks to Solomon in a dream at night.

197
00:18:22,280 --> 00:18:29,720
And the Lord appeared to him and said, and this is in verse 12, I have heard your prayer

198
00:18:29,720 --> 00:18:35,640
and have chosen this place for myself as a temple for sacrifices.

199
00:18:35,640 --> 00:18:41,600
When I shut up the heaven so that there is no rain or command locusts to devour the land

200
00:18:41,600 --> 00:18:49,600
or send a plague among my people, if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves

201
00:18:49,600 --> 00:18:58,680
and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven

202
00:18:58,680 --> 00:19:03,920
and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

203
00:19:03,920 --> 00:19:07,160
Now that is a very familiar verse.

204
00:19:07,160 --> 00:19:13,720
We quote it all the time in our prayers for our own nation, for America, for many nations

205
00:19:13,720 --> 00:19:14,720
where we live.

206
00:19:14,720 --> 00:19:19,520
We pray that God would do that and would heal our nation.

207
00:19:19,520 --> 00:19:28,880
But we need to always remember this was spoken about the people of Israel in response to

208
00:19:28,880 --> 00:19:36,120
Solomon's prayer that in the times of droughts and in the times of famines and plagues, and

209
00:19:36,120 --> 00:19:43,880
God here responds and he says, okay, when I shut the heavens so that there is no rain

210
00:19:43,880 --> 00:19:53,400
or there is plague and my people come before me in repentance, I will forgive, I will heal

211
00:19:53,400 --> 00:19:54,960
their land.

212
00:19:54,960 --> 00:20:01,800
And yes, there is a spiritual principle here and I believe that we as believers can take

213
00:20:01,800 --> 00:20:08,200
from this principle, the principle of repentance and God bringing healing and restoration.

214
00:20:08,200 --> 00:20:14,320
But always remember these words were spoken about the people of Israel and continuing

215
00:20:14,320 --> 00:20:16,280
on in verse 15.

216
00:20:16,280 --> 00:20:24,320
Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place.

217
00:20:24,320 --> 00:20:33,240
I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my name may be there forever.

218
00:20:33,240 --> 00:20:40,520
My eyes and my heart will always be there.

219
00:20:40,520 --> 00:20:47,200
As for you, if you walk with me faithfully as David your father did and do all I command

220
00:20:47,200 --> 00:20:54,040
and observe my decrees and my laws, I will establish your royal throne as I covenanted

221
00:20:54,040 --> 00:21:01,400
with David your father when I said, you shall never fail to have a successor to rule over

222
00:21:01,400 --> 00:21:02,760
Israel.

223
00:21:02,760 --> 00:21:11,080
So God has made an amazing promise here to David that even his son, his successor will

224
00:21:11,080 --> 00:21:16,680
have this everlasting throne if he walks in obedience to the Lord.

225
00:21:16,680 --> 00:21:26,480
And then here in verse 19 the Lord says, but if you turn away and forsake the decrees and

226
00:21:26,480 --> 00:21:34,040
commands I have given you and go off to serve other gods and worship them, then I will uproot

227
00:21:34,040 --> 00:21:41,520
Israel from my land which I have given them and will reject this temple I have consecrated

228
00:21:41,520 --> 00:21:43,000
for my name.

229
00:21:43,000 --> 00:21:49,720
I will make it a byword and an object of ridicule among all peoples.

230
00:21:49,720 --> 00:21:53,760
This temple will become a heap of rubble.

231
00:21:53,760 --> 00:22:00,200
All who pass by will be appalled and say, why has the Lord done such a thing to this land

232
00:22:00,200 --> 00:22:02,280
and to this temple?

233
00:22:02,280 --> 00:22:08,000
People will answer because they have forsaken the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who

234
00:22:08,000 --> 00:22:16,440
brought them up out of Egypt and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them.

235
00:22:16,440 --> 00:22:22,240
That is why he brought all of this disaster on them.

236
00:22:22,240 --> 00:22:30,680
So my friend, remember here, God made this amazing promise to David and to his son Solomon.

237
00:22:30,680 --> 00:22:37,680
But he is very clear here, the judgment that will come if Solomon does not obey him and

238
00:22:37,680 --> 00:22:40,000
turns to other gods.

239
00:22:40,000 --> 00:22:48,200
We are going to find next week how this judgment comes about.

240
00:22:48,200 --> 00:22:51,760
But in the meantime, I want us to enjoy this week.

241
00:22:51,760 --> 00:22:56,120
Let's enjoy the mountaintop that we are on.

242
00:22:56,120 --> 00:22:59,600
This is the highlight of Israel's history.

243
00:22:59,600 --> 00:23:00,880
So let's enjoy it.

244
00:23:00,880 --> 00:23:03,560
We'll worry about the judgment next week.

245
00:23:03,560 --> 00:23:08,280
This week we're looking from the mountain and we're seeing that the kingdom of David

246
00:23:08,280 --> 00:23:12,720
which is now the kingdom of Solomon is the biggest.

247
00:23:12,720 --> 00:23:15,200
It is the most wealthy.

248
00:23:15,200 --> 00:23:23,200
And its king is at a place of such prestige and he is so full of wisdom that the nations

249
00:23:23,200 --> 00:23:25,120
are drawn to him.

250
00:23:25,120 --> 00:23:28,040
So we read about this now.

251
00:23:28,040 --> 00:23:29,600
The story goes on.

252
00:23:29,600 --> 00:23:31,480
Solomon has finished building the temple.

253
00:23:31,480 --> 00:23:33,600
He has dedicated the temple.

254
00:23:33,600 --> 00:23:36,600
And he also builds himself a palace.

255
00:23:36,600 --> 00:23:40,080
Now the palace is many times larger than the temple.

256
00:23:40,080 --> 00:23:44,840
So it does take almost twice as long to build as the temple.

257
00:23:44,840 --> 00:23:50,720
But it is also built with the help of Hiram of Tyre and the Phoenicians.

258
00:23:50,720 --> 00:23:53,800
And it is full of cedar wood.

259
00:23:53,800 --> 00:23:57,200
Cedar wood from Lebanon.

260
00:23:57,200 --> 00:24:07,200
And in 1 Kings 7, it actually says that Solomon's palace in the roof, there were 45 cedar

261
00:24:07,200 --> 00:24:11,840
beams that rested on columns.

262
00:24:11,840 --> 00:24:13,560
I want you to remember this.

263
00:24:13,560 --> 00:24:19,840
I'm going to come back to it later today at the end of today's teaching about the cedar

264
00:24:19,840 --> 00:24:21,880
beams from Lebanon.

265
00:24:21,880 --> 00:24:23,920
But let's continue our story.

266
00:24:23,920 --> 00:24:32,240
The palace also has a throne room, a hall of justice that is all cedar.

267
00:24:32,240 --> 00:24:36,040
And his palace is called the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon.

268
00:24:36,040 --> 00:24:38,360
It is so full of cedar wood.

269
00:24:38,360 --> 00:24:42,560
Now you cannot get cedar wood in the land of Israel.

270
00:24:42,560 --> 00:24:45,560
It only comes from Lebanon.

271
00:24:45,560 --> 00:24:51,680
And it was brought down by Hiram of Tyre.

272
00:24:51,680 --> 00:24:56,640
So now Solomon also built cities.

273
00:24:56,640 --> 00:25:02,480
And it tells us that he built the cities specifically, several of them, but Hatzor, he built them

274
00:25:02,480 --> 00:25:05,280
up, restored them, built them up.

275
00:25:05,280 --> 00:25:08,800
Hatzor, Megiddo, and Gezer.

276
00:25:08,800 --> 00:25:15,440
And archaeology proves that during the time of Solomon, these three cities were built

277
00:25:15,440 --> 00:25:19,400
using identical types of construction.

278
00:25:19,400 --> 00:25:24,440
So it really does back up that it was built at the same time by the same king for sort

279
00:25:24,440 --> 00:25:25,840
of the same purposes.

280
00:25:25,840 --> 00:25:27,440
Well, what is the purpose?

281
00:25:27,440 --> 00:25:30,640
Why am I mentioning these three cities?

282
00:25:30,640 --> 00:25:36,280
We haven't talked about this before, so I want to bring it up now.

283
00:25:36,280 --> 00:25:41,200
Why do you think God chose the land of Canaan?

284
00:25:41,200 --> 00:25:45,720
Why this piece of land that he gave to Abraham?

285
00:25:45,720 --> 00:25:52,600
I talked about this back in the Abrahamic Covenant a little bit, but I didn't elaborate

286
00:25:52,600 --> 00:25:56,120
on just how strategic this property was.

287
00:25:56,120 --> 00:26:04,320
That it's on this land bridge in between three continents of Europe, Asia, and Africa.

288
00:26:04,320 --> 00:26:11,080
And so we see how that because it's in this place, there are two trade routes that go

289
00:26:11,080 --> 00:26:17,880
right through the territory here that God gave to the tribes of Israel.

290
00:26:17,880 --> 00:26:25,080
One is called the International Trade Highway, and it runs from Egypt up along the coast.

291
00:26:25,080 --> 00:26:30,440
And then when it gets up to what we call the Valley of Jezreel, which is where Megiddo

292
00:26:30,440 --> 00:26:38,000
is, it turns and it goes inland to the Sea of Galilee and then up into what is today Syria

293
00:26:38,000 --> 00:26:45,520
and Iraq, which then was Assyria or Babylon or Persia, depending on what time of history.

294
00:26:45,520 --> 00:26:48,880
So very, very significant trade highway.

295
00:26:48,880 --> 00:26:54,960
There was another one a little bit farther inland that today would go through the country

296
00:26:54,960 --> 00:26:57,440
of Jordan on the mountain range there.

297
00:26:57,440 --> 00:27:02,640
Well some of the tribes of Israel took those mountain ranges, and that was called the Kings

298
00:27:02,640 --> 00:27:03,800
Highway.

299
00:27:03,800 --> 00:27:08,760
So these two highways had tremendous amounts of trade on them.

300
00:27:08,760 --> 00:27:16,400
And Solomon builds up three cities on the International Trade Highway for what?

301
00:27:16,400 --> 00:27:23,560
To collect taxes or tribute whatever you want to call it on those doing the trade.

302
00:27:23,560 --> 00:27:28,920
They are going to benefit from the use of this trade highway going through his territory,

303
00:27:28,920 --> 00:27:35,640
so he's going to collect some kind of tax, some kind of revenue from them.

304
00:27:35,640 --> 00:27:41,840
So Solomon becomes very wealthy because of two things.

305
00:27:41,840 --> 00:27:50,160
One is the location of his kingdom in the midst of all of this international trade.

306
00:27:50,160 --> 00:27:56,640
Secondly, he gets very wealthy because of the size of his kingdom.

307
00:27:56,640 --> 00:28:03,520
And so in our reading this week, we read how that his kingdom stretched all the way from

308
00:28:03,520 --> 00:28:08,000
the river Euphrates down to the river of Egypt.

309
00:28:08,000 --> 00:28:10,560
That's very, very big.

310
00:28:10,560 --> 00:28:14,480
That would take in all of Assyria or Babylon.

311
00:28:14,480 --> 00:28:24,360
Today what is Iraq, Syria, Israel, parts of Lebanon, it would go all the way down into

312
00:28:24,360 --> 00:28:25,840
Egypt.

313
00:28:25,840 --> 00:28:31,080
And we don't really think that Solomon ruled all those areas, but what it means is there

314
00:28:31,080 --> 00:28:33,680
were different levels of control.

315
00:28:33,680 --> 00:28:37,680
And so the heart of it Solomon absolutely controlled.

316
00:28:37,680 --> 00:28:40,520
It was his country, his territory.

317
00:28:40,520 --> 00:28:48,360
But then he had some countries bordering him that were what we would call vassal states.

318
00:28:48,360 --> 00:28:54,520
So he didn't actually occupy them and take them over, but they paid tributary to King

319
00:28:54,520 --> 00:28:57,120
Solomon as vassals.

320
00:28:57,120 --> 00:29:04,720
And then beyond them, probably like Egypt in the south and Tyre up in the north, they

321
00:29:04,720 --> 00:29:07,160
were allies of Solomon.

322
00:29:07,160 --> 00:29:09,760
So they lived in peace with Solomon.

323
00:29:09,760 --> 00:29:17,600
And so therefore it could be said that his kingdom, that his rule extended beyond what

324
00:29:17,600 --> 00:29:26,960
would actually be considered the walls, say, of his immediate kingdom.

325
00:29:26,960 --> 00:29:33,840
So now there's an amazing verse I want to read for you in 1 Kings 4.

326
00:29:33,840 --> 00:29:38,480
I'm going to read verses 20 to 21 and verse 25.

327
00:29:38,480 --> 00:29:42,800
So here under Solomon, as I said, this is the view, this scripture here is the view

328
00:29:42,800 --> 00:29:48,240
from the mountaintop where we see the height of the history of Israel.

329
00:29:48,240 --> 00:29:55,480
It says, the people of Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand on the seashore.

330
00:29:55,480 --> 00:29:59,440
They ate, they drank, and they were happy.

331
00:29:59,440 --> 00:30:06,680
And Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates River to the land of the Philistines

332
00:30:06,680 --> 00:30:10,040
as far as the borders of Egypt.

333
00:30:10,040 --> 00:30:17,080
These countries brought tribute and were Solomon's subjects all his life.

334
00:30:17,080 --> 00:30:25,800
During Solomon's lifetime, Judah and Israel, from Dan to Be'er Sheva, lived in safety,

335
00:30:25,800 --> 00:30:30,760
everyone under their own vine and under their own fig tree.

336
00:30:30,760 --> 00:30:36,320
Wow, we've reached the pinnacle of the mountain.

337
00:30:36,320 --> 00:30:37,320
This is it.

338
00:30:37,320 --> 00:30:38,960
The people are at peace.

339
00:30:38,960 --> 00:30:39,960
They are numerous.

340
00:30:39,960 --> 00:30:41,440
They're expanding.

341
00:30:41,440 --> 00:30:43,000
They're prosperous.

342
00:30:43,000 --> 00:30:49,320
They're enjoying their own vine and fig tree, which is a little idiom for meaning they were

343
00:30:49,320 --> 00:30:51,360
prosperous and peaceful.

344
00:30:51,360 --> 00:30:55,440
You could say it was almost an idiom of heaven.

345
00:30:55,440 --> 00:30:56,720
That's how good it was.

346
00:30:56,720 --> 00:31:00,400
That's how good life was.

347
00:31:00,400 --> 00:31:09,000
And of course, also Solomon was given great wisdom beyond his natural ability.

348
00:31:09,000 --> 00:31:17,760
And in 2 Chronicles 9, 22 to 23, it says, King Solomon was greater in riches and wisdom

349
00:31:17,760 --> 00:31:21,880
than all the other kings of the earth.

350
00:31:21,880 --> 00:31:28,960
All the kings of the earth sought audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom God had put

351
00:31:28,960 --> 00:31:31,200
in his heart.

352
00:31:31,200 --> 00:31:40,400
You know, it said that Solomon had spoken 3,000 proverbs and over a thousand songs.

353
00:31:40,400 --> 00:31:46,400
And here we're reading that kings of the earth, from, I say all the kings of the earth, came

354
00:31:46,400 --> 00:31:49,240
to him to hear his wisdom.

355
00:31:49,240 --> 00:31:56,520
I believe, my friends, this is why God placed the children of Israel along the king's highway

356
00:31:56,520 --> 00:32:07,200
because he wanted the world going to and fro to see his people serving him, living at peace.

357
00:32:07,200 --> 00:32:08,800
They're prosperous.

358
00:32:08,800 --> 00:32:10,160
They're strong.

359
00:32:10,160 --> 00:32:15,560
And they have a king who is the most wisest of the whole earth.

360
00:32:15,560 --> 00:32:16,760
This is what he wanted.

361
00:32:16,760 --> 00:32:22,400
He wanted Israel to be a light to the nations.

362
00:32:22,400 --> 00:32:24,920
And here they are.

363
00:32:24,920 --> 00:32:28,600
They are being a light to the nations.

364
00:32:28,600 --> 00:32:34,240
And then we have a special story of the Queen of Sheba who comes to visit.

365
00:32:34,240 --> 00:32:38,280
And I wish we had more time to talk about the story.

366
00:32:38,280 --> 00:32:42,480
I think that we might try to do something separate on it.

367
00:32:42,480 --> 00:32:47,680
But the Queen of Sheba, some say that she came from what is today Yemen.

368
00:32:47,680 --> 00:32:49,360
It was southern Arabia.

369
00:32:49,360 --> 00:32:52,200
That's where the sub-Ians were.

370
00:32:52,200 --> 00:32:57,600
But some of the sub-Ians were also across the water in Africa.

371
00:32:57,600 --> 00:33:05,240
And so the Ethiopians have a very long tradition that the Queen of Sheba was from their people

372
00:33:05,240 --> 00:33:07,120
and their area.

373
00:33:07,120 --> 00:33:10,040
And it is very, very likely.

374
00:33:10,040 --> 00:33:18,120
And that she went to Solomon and she learned from him and she saw his wealth.

375
00:33:18,120 --> 00:33:19,880
And there is a tradition.

376
00:33:19,880 --> 00:33:25,160
It's not from the Bible, but a tradition that she and Solomon had a child.

377
00:33:25,160 --> 00:33:31,120
And she brings this child back and that from this child is the beginning of the Ethiopian

378
00:33:31,120 --> 00:33:34,200
Jewish community.

379
00:33:34,200 --> 00:33:41,000
We don't know that that's really what happened, but there are a couple other theories to explain

380
00:33:41,000 --> 00:33:44,600
the roots of the Jews of Ethiopia.

381
00:33:44,600 --> 00:33:51,560
One is that maybe when the Israelites were in Egypt, that during the Exodus time with

382
00:33:51,560 --> 00:33:57,360
Moses, some of them may have actually gone south and ended up there.

383
00:33:57,360 --> 00:34:04,880
But the more accepted tradition is that it was during the time of the First Exile that

384
00:34:04,880 --> 00:34:12,920
the tribe of Dan fled south to get away from the Assyrians and that they began the community

385
00:34:12,920 --> 00:34:16,200
of Jews in Ethiopia.

386
00:34:16,200 --> 00:34:26,880
Whatever story may be the true one, it is for sure that there were centuries of Jews

387
00:34:26,880 --> 00:34:28,440
in Ethiopia.

388
00:34:28,440 --> 00:34:30,480
They were black skinned.

389
00:34:30,480 --> 00:34:37,480
They lived in Ethiopia for 2,000, 2,500 years.

390
00:34:37,480 --> 00:34:45,240
If the tribe of Dan went there, it was during the fall of the First Temple, Solomon's temple.

391
00:34:45,240 --> 00:34:51,960
And therefore that explains perfectly why the Jews of Ethiopia, who had their own language,

392
00:34:51,960 --> 00:34:59,280
who were sort of cut off from the world, observed Judaism based on its practices at the time

393
00:34:59,280 --> 00:35:01,560
of the First Temple.

394
00:35:01,560 --> 00:35:12,560
Now 2,500 years later, when the Ethiopian Jews then finally make their way back to Jerusalem,

395
00:35:12,560 --> 00:35:14,960
they knew they originated from Jerusalem.

396
00:35:14,960 --> 00:35:19,200
They always held the desire to go back to Jerusalem.

397
00:35:19,200 --> 00:35:24,560
Now because of the existence of the State of Israel, they were allowed to come back.

398
00:35:24,560 --> 00:35:30,440
And we have an amazing saga of the return of the Ethiopian Jews to Israel.

399
00:35:30,440 --> 00:35:37,760
They came into confrontation there with rabbinic Judaism, the developments in the law and the

400
00:35:37,760 --> 00:35:44,120
traditions and the teaching of the rabbis that had taken place for 2,500 years.

401
00:35:44,120 --> 00:35:50,040
And so there was a little bit of a clash, not just of cultures, but even of the observance

402
00:35:50,040 --> 00:35:52,320
of the Jewish religion.

403
00:35:52,320 --> 00:35:58,640
And we as an organization in Israel have had the privilege of helping bring home the Ethiopian

404
00:35:58,640 --> 00:36:04,800
Jews, and we still are today, and of also helping them become integrated into Israeli

405
00:36:04,800 --> 00:36:09,480
society because it's been a very, very hard road for them.

406
00:36:09,480 --> 00:36:16,120
And if you would like more information on this and how to maybe even support this project

407
00:36:16,120 --> 00:36:22,920
of helping bring home the Ethiopian Jews and help integrate them in Israel, we put a link

408
00:36:22,920 --> 00:36:28,360
in today's show notes how that you can make a donation towards this.

409
00:36:28,360 --> 00:36:35,280
But the Queen of Sheba in this week's reading is a very, very important part of this story.

410
00:36:35,280 --> 00:36:37,920
And so I wanted to bring it out now.

411
00:36:37,920 --> 00:36:44,160
As we close today, then we know that we had a large section of the proverbs that we're

412
00:36:44,160 --> 00:36:46,280
reading through this week.

413
00:36:46,280 --> 00:36:52,360
Yes, Solomon wrote and it said that he recited 3,000 proverbs.

414
00:36:52,360 --> 00:36:57,760
A lot of these proverbs are written by Solomon, but some of them are written by other people.

415
00:36:57,760 --> 00:37:04,000
But this is the book that really gives us key to living life.

416
00:37:04,000 --> 00:37:09,600
And we'll talk more about it next week after you've read through some of them.

417
00:37:09,600 --> 00:37:14,520
I want to tell you about two resources now and I want to come back to those cedar beams.

418
00:37:14,520 --> 00:37:17,400
Okay, so stay with me.

419
00:37:17,400 --> 00:37:23,240
We have a resource that we're not selling or it's not a purchase, but it's a video

420
00:37:23,240 --> 00:37:28,280
that we link to in the show notes that you can click on and watch it.

421
00:37:28,280 --> 00:37:30,720
It's a YouTube video of a couple.

422
00:37:30,720 --> 00:37:37,080
I don't know them, but they do videos of sites in Israel and they've got a number of them

423
00:37:37,080 --> 00:37:38,080
that are interesting.

424
00:37:38,080 --> 00:37:43,400
But I watched their little video on the Temple Mount and they go up and they're able to

425
00:37:43,400 --> 00:37:48,840
film it with their cell phone and they show you exactly what it's like visiting the Temple

426
00:37:48,840 --> 00:37:49,840
Mount.

427
00:37:49,840 --> 00:37:55,000
They show you the restrictions, they show you the tensions, but then in their video they

428
00:37:55,000 --> 00:38:01,840
show you some historical footage of the Temple Mount, things that have been found there,

429
00:38:01,840 --> 00:38:02,840
they explain it.

430
00:38:02,840 --> 00:38:05,240
It's really a great and short little video.

431
00:38:05,240 --> 00:38:07,680
I encourage you to watch it.

432
00:38:07,680 --> 00:38:15,760
But they show you how that back in the early 1900s, there was an earthquake and it destroyed

433
00:38:15,760 --> 00:38:20,480
the roof of the Al Aqsa Mosque which is on the Temple Mount.

434
00:38:20,480 --> 00:38:23,960
Today there are two Muslim shrines there.

435
00:38:23,960 --> 00:38:28,920
One is a shrine called the Dome of the Rock, the other is a mosque, a place where they

436
00:38:28,920 --> 00:38:36,840
go into pray, and the Al Aqsa Mosque which has been there for hundreds of years, it was

437
00:38:36,840 --> 00:38:41,280
destroyed in this earthquake and the roof fell in.

438
00:38:41,280 --> 00:38:48,960
And they show video footage that the British took back when the Al Aqsa Mosque was being

439
00:38:48,960 --> 00:38:58,080
rebuilt and they showed all of these ancient cedar beams that were holding up the roof

440
00:38:58,080 --> 00:39:04,640
of the Al Aqsa Mosque which I assume are still in place and they're holding up the new roof.

441
00:39:04,640 --> 00:39:08,960
Yes, would these be cedar beams from Solomon's Temple?

442
00:39:08,960 --> 00:39:12,800
And the answer is absolutely yes.

443
00:39:12,800 --> 00:39:14,360
That's where the cedar came from.

444
00:39:14,360 --> 00:39:16,240
They are that old.

445
00:39:16,240 --> 00:39:22,000
And I have a picture which I've also linked to in today's show notes.

446
00:39:22,000 --> 00:39:28,880
This picture is of a door, one of the entrances to the Temple Mount as we were leaving.

447
00:39:28,880 --> 00:39:35,080
Our tour guide pointed to one of the doors and they said that is made out of ancient

448
00:39:35,080 --> 00:39:38,720
cedar that was found here on the Temple Mount.

449
00:39:38,720 --> 00:39:41,800
And so I'll also show you a picture of that.

450
00:39:41,800 --> 00:39:47,360
This is proof, my friends, that the Bible is right and that this high room of tire brought

451
00:39:47,360 --> 00:39:54,160
cedar from Lebanon and built the first Temple and he built Solomon's Palace and helped

452
00:39:54,160 --> 00:39:56,080
build David's Palace.

453
00:39:56,080 --> 00:40:03,720
So there was plenty of cedar wood around that has been reused over the years.

454
00:40:03,720 --> 00:40:05,920
So isn't that exciting?

455
00:40:05,920 --> 00:40:08,680
I hope you enjoy that little video.

456
00:40:08,680 --> 00:40:13,520
Please consider making a donation towards the Ethiopian Jews and their return to their

457
00:40:13,520 --> 00:40:15,000
homeland.

458
00:40:15,000 --> 00:40:16,880
We've got all that in our show notes.

459
00:40:16,880 --> 00:40:23,640
Enjoy reading the Proverbs this week and I'll see you back here next week as we talk about

460
00:40:23,640 --> 00:40:26,920
the wisdom of Solomon.

461
00:40:26,920 --> 00:40:27,920
See you then.

462
00:40:27,920 --> 00:40:31,800
Until then, God bless.

463
00:40:31,800 --> 00:40:35,680
We hope you have enjoyed this episode of Out of Zion with Susan Michael.

464
00:40:35,680 --> 00:40:42,160
Be sure to subscribe to Out of Zion now on Apple Podcasts, cpnshows.com, YouTube, or

465
00:40:42,160 --> 00:40:44,280
wherever you like to listen and learn.

466
00:40:44,280 --> 00:41:06,560
Out of Zion with Susan Michael is a production of ICEJ USA All Rights Reserved.