2 Chronicles 9:13-28--Solomon's Wealth

2 Chronicles 9:13-28
English Standard Version
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Solomon's Wealth
13 Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was 666 talents of gold, 14 besides that which the explorers and merchants brought. And all the kings of Arabia and the governors of the land brought gold and silver to Solomon. 15 King Solomon made 200 large shields of beaten gold; 600 shekels of beaten gold went into each shield. 16 And he made 300 shields of beaten gold; 300 shekels of gold went into each shield; and the king put them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon. 17 The king also made a great ivory throne and overlaid it with pure gold. 18 The throne had six steps and a footstool of gold, which were attached to the throne, and on each side of the seat were armrests and two lions standing beside the armrests, 19 while twelve lions stood there, one on each end of a step on the six steps. Nothing like it was ever made for any kingdom. 20 All King Solomon's drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were of pure gold. Silver was not considered as anything in the days of Solomon. 21 For the king's ships went to Tarshish with the servants of Hiram. Once every three years the ships of Tarshish used to come bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.

22 Thus King Solomon excelled all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom. 23 And all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put into his mind. 24 Every one of them brought his present, articles of silver and of gold, garments, myrrh, spices, horses, and mules, so much year by year. 25 And Solomon had 4,000 stalls for horses and chariots, and 12,000 horsemen, whom he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem. 26 And he ruled over all the kings from the Euphrates to the land of the Philistines and to the border of Egypt. 27 And the king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stone, and he made cedar as plentiful as the sycamore of the Shephelah. 28 And horses were imported for Solomon from Egypt and from all lands.

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Solomon was probably the richest man that ever lived when we've adjusted for inflation.  Each year (remember he reigned for 40 years), he received almost 25 tons of gold in tribute and then the explorers that brought gold back from their expeditions added even more to this amount.  There was so much gold that silver became worthless, and Solomon used the gold even to make shields for his infantry (not the strongest metal for making a shield, but he knew that the LORD was providing him peace on all sides, so these shields were more for show than for any pragmatic use).  He used about 15 pounds of gold to make each of the large shields and about seven-and-a-half pounds of gold to make each of the small shields.  In all, he used about 5250 pounds of gold to make these shields.  He hung these shields in the palace called The House of the Forest of Lebanon.  This palace also had an ivory throne covered in gold with six steps leading up to the throne and a pair of gold lions on each step so that there were 12 lions in all.  No other king had a throne or palace anything like this.

Solomon not only had more wealth than anyone else, but he was wiser than anyone else, and Jesus called him the wisest man to have ever lived.  Yet even all of Solomon's wisdom and riches didn't make him happy or satisfied (see the book of Ecclesiastes where he laments spending so much time and effort "chasing after the wind" and figures out in the end that the only thing that will bring happiness and satisfaction is to have a relationship with the God who is our Creator, Ruler and Sustainer).  He had many stables and stalls for his many horses that he got from Egypt (we already talked about how this was in direct disobedience to the LORD's command) and he had many horsemen and chariots--though he never needed any of them as the LORD gave him peace on ever side.  Solomon reigned over almost all the land promised to Abraham in the Abrahamic Covenant, but not quite all of it.  Since that was the largest that the kingdom has ever been, it might beg the question when Israel will receive the fullness of the blessing promised to Abraham.  The answer is that one day Christ will reign on the throne of David from Jerusalem and Israel will have all that was promised to them and one richer and wiser than Solomon will reign and there will be true peace during His reign (until the end of his 1,000-year reign when Satan is released to lead the children born during that time in rebellion against Him).

Things we think are valuable were essentially worthless in that time because there was so much wealth in the kingdom.  Silver was as common as stone, cedar was as common as sycamore, and all the horses were the best horses that were imported from Egypt and Arabia.  However, as I mentioned before, all the money in the world or the universe for that matter cannot buy peace, joy, or contentment.  Those things only come from the LORD for those who have a relationship with Him and know they have been redeemed through the salvation that only the LORD provides (we know now that His salvation comes by way of His Son, Jesus).