2 Chronicles 1:14-17--Solomon Given Wealth

2 Chronicles 1:14-17
English Standard Version
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Solomon Given Wealth
14 Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen. He had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen, whom he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem. 15 And the king made silver and gold as common in Jerusalem as stone, and he made cedar as plentiful as the sycamore of the Shephelah. 16 And Solomon's import of horses was from Egypt and Kue, and the king's traders would buy them from Kue for a price. 17 They imported a chariot from Egypt for 600 shekels of silver, and a horse for 150. Likewise through them these were exported to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Syria.

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I know we like to read this passage right after the last one and say, "Oh, look, the LORD is making good on His promise to give Solomon wealth."  However, let's see how well Solomon is following the book of the Law that both his father David and the LORD told Solomon to uphold if he wanted to have a successful and prosperous reign.


Deuteronomy 17:14-20
English Standard Version

Laws Concerning Israel's Kings
14 “When you come to the land that the LORD your God is giving you, and you possess it and dwell in it and then say, ‘I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are around me,’ 15 you may indeed set a king over you whom the LORD your God will choose. One from among your brothers you shall set as king over you. You may not put a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. 16 Only he must not acquire many horses for himself or cause the people to return to Egypt in order to acquire many horses, since the LORD has said to you, ‘You shall never return that way again.’ 17 And he shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away, nor shall he acquire for himself excessive silver and gold.

18 “And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law, approved by the Levitical priests. 19 And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them, 20 that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, either to the right hand or to the left, so that he may continue long in his kingdom, he and his children, in Israel.

1) Verse 16 in the passage from Deuteronomy says, "Only he must not acquire many horses for himself or cause the people to return to Egypt in order to acquire many horses, since the LORD has said to you, "You shall never return that way again."

Now look at what the first thing Solomon did was in verses 14, 16, and 17 (the main point the author is making) --Solomon acquired many horses, and from Egypt of all places.  The very thing that the LORD told the kings of Israel not to do.  It's almost like God told Moses to write this thinking of Solomon, and Solomon completely ignored all the LORD's instructions (not very wise of him to do so).

2) "And he shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away."

Well, we know that describes Solomon to a "T." He will have many foreign wives and concubines that will not follow after the LORD and he will build places of worship to their foreign gods all over Jerusalem and it will lead Solomon and the people of Israel astray for many, many generations.

3) "Nor shall he acquire for himself excessive silver and gold."

Now look at verse 15 of today's text, "And the king made silver and gold as common in Jerusalem as stone, and he made cedar as plentiful as the sycamore of the Shephelah."  It would appear that Solomon is 0 for 3 in the first three commands that the LORD gave to the kings of Israel so far.  The LORD's blessings should never be used as a license to sin, and that's what Solomon did.

What could have kept Solomon from doing all these things?  If only he had followed the instructions in verses 18-20.  The first thing he would have done would be to make his own personal copy of the book of Deuteronomy and keep it close by and refer to it often.  He would have listened to the instruction of the priests who hopefully would have turned to this passage in Deuteronomy as one of the first passages.  He might have even put these verses up in prominent places to keep himself and his heart in check so that he would be careful to do all the LORD had commanded of Him.  Yet, he took the blessings of the LORD for granted and abused the grace of the LORD and used the blessings the LORD bestowed on him to commit sin and lead the people of Israel into sin.  (The wealth Solomon acquired not only went into the building of the Temple, but also into building all these idols and high places).

Anyone with an understanding of the book of Deuteronomy reads these verses and understands they are to walk away with the feeling of, "This is not good."  This is going to be a problem for Solomon and most of his generations after him, but it all starts right here.  David was not impressed by chariots and horses (he hamstrung most of the horses of the enemy armies he fought so they could not be used as war horses) and even though he had great wealth at the end of his years, David was saving it all up to give towards the building of the Temple.  He was not really acquiring wealth for himself.  David's problem was definitely that of having multiple wives, but for the most part, David loved the Law of the LORD and meditated on it day and night.  He wrote songs about it and encouraged the LORD's people to think about it and to obey it so that they might be blessed.  In many ways this made David a better king than Solomon, even though Solomon had more land, more riches, and more fame.