1 Kings 4

1 Kings 4:1

SOLOMON’S ELEVEN PRINCESIn chapter 4 Solomon brings the kingdom to its zenith. The things that marked his kingdom were peace and prosperity. Peace is what we would like to have, is it not? I think we could call Solomon the prince of peace while David was a man of war. But the peace that Solomon and those in his kingdom enjoyed was made possible by David, the man of war. This has a spiritual application for us. We like to feel that God forgives sin because He is sentimental. God does not forgive sin on a low plane like that. A battle has been fought, my friend, and a great sacrifice has been made. Blood has been shed that we might have forgiveness of sin. The Lord Jesus Christ made peace by the blood of His cross. It is only through His blood that we can enter into peace. In the first few verses of this chapter a list of Solomon’s princes is given. Some of them apparently were the sons of the sons of David, which would mean that they were Solomon’s nephews. Azariah is mentioned in verse 1Ki_4:5. This man was either a son of Nathan, David’s son, or a son of Nathan, the prophet.

1 Kings 4:7

SOLOMON’S TWELVE OFFICERSSolomon had twelve officers. Each officer came from a tribe of Israel. They were in charge of providing the needs of the king and his household. This was Solomon’s method of taxation.

1 Kings 4:20

THE GREATNESS OF THE KINGDOMThis was a time of great prosperity and peace. The wars were over. There was plenty for everyone. And this, my friend, is just a little adumbration, a little preview, of the kingdom that is coming on this earththe millennial kingdom.

1 Kings 4:25

There are several things we need to note here. This was a time of security and safety, something which we do not have in this world today. “There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked” (Isa_57:21). But peace is coming on the earth when the Prince of Peace comes. In Solomon’s day every man dwelt under his own vine and fig tree. That tells us that one man was not living in a mansion and another in a hovel. Each man had his vine and fig tree; he was living comfortably on his own property. It was so from Dan to Beer-shebathat is, from the northern border to the southern borderall the days of Solomon.

1 Kings 4:26

I want to call attention to this verse. The horse was the animal of war, and God had forbidden the multiplication of horses. God gave a specific law that a king was not to multiply horses or wives: “But he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses: forasmuch as the LORD hath said unto you, Ye shall henceforth return no more that way” (Deu_17:16). Solomon multiplied both horses and wives. He had stables all over the land of Israel. I visited the ruins of Megiddo; that is, the mound that overlooks the valley of Esdraelon where we believe that the great issue will be finally settled in the last days at the battle, or war, of Armageddon.

It is a tremendous view, by the way. But the thing that impressed me was the ruins there of Solomon’s stables, stalls, and the troughs where his horses ate. These stables would accommodate at least 450 horses. 2Ch_9:25 says he had 4,000 stalls for horses! Solomon certainly multiplied horses, contrary to the wisdom of God.

1 Kings 4:29

SOLOMON’S GREAT WISDOM AND RENOWNNow we are told something of the wisdom of Solomon. The east is where the wise men came from.

1 Kings 4:31

Four outstanding wise men are mentioned in this verse.

1 Kings 4:32

We are told that Solomon spoke three thousand proverbs. We have only a few hundred recorded in the Bible. His songs were a thousand and five. Believe me, he was a song writer. We have only one of his songs, The Song of Solomon. Solomon was a dendrologist"He spake of trees, from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall." The hyssop is a humble little plant that grows on rocks.

Solomon was also a zoologist"he spake also of beasts"and an ornithologist since he spoke of birds. He was an entomologist: he spoke of creeping things, or insects. He was an ichthyologist: he spoke of fishes. He spoke of these things because he had studied them and was an authority in these particular realms. This, apparently, is the beginning of the sciences. Solomon was interested in these things.

1 Kings 4:34

Solomon gained a worldwide reputation for his wisdom, and many came to hear him. We have a few of the proverbs that he wrote recorded in the Book of Proverbs. As I have said before, these proverbs are extremely helpful to any young person entering adult life. There are certain proverbs that can guide a young man in life and business. You see, God is very practical with us. He gets right down to the nitty-gritty, where you and I walk in and out of the marts of trade, where we enter into the courts of the land and into social gatherings. Certain guiding principles of life are given to us in Proverbs. I am not saying that a young man can become a Christian by following the proverbs of Solomon, but he certainly will have a marvelous guide for his life.