I'm hesitant to make my first words, because we've had a problem, so that's very good. We're good. That's good to hear. You're already in 1 Kings, Chapter 4. Religion and politics are two topics that you try to avoid at Thanksgiving dinner. We expect to talk about religion, In church, we do not always expect to talk about politics in church. And today we're gonna talk about politics. But instead of talking about American politics, we're going to look at the politics of King Solomon. Solomon's kingdom brings us close to the political ideal, as close as any other picture in scripture. That's not to say that we can automatically accept everything that Solomon does as appropriate to be a model for us in our own government, nor is it to say that the description given to us in Solomon's reign cannot be improved upon. Solomon's kingdom is a foreshadow of the eternal kingdom of Jesus Christ, You just prayed just a moment ago in the Lord's Prayer, thy kingdom come. So Solomon's kingdom is a foreshadow of that eternal kingdom. What I mean by foreshadow is that it is a dim reflection of the reality. Now for one thing, in Solomon's kingdom, sin has not been entirely eradicated. In order for there to be a perfect, utopian reality, we would have to have every citizen fully redeemed and fully loving God and His law. Still, Solomon's kingdom is a kind of blueprint to help us understand our eternal kingdom. And, actually, I think it's given to you to help you better formulate a hope of that kingdom. Now remember, we've said this before, the book of Kings is really delivered to God's people living in exile. And part of the reason for giving such a, you know, 10 chapters of a grand description of Solomon's kingdom is to help the people living in exile to rekindle their hope of a future kingdom, okay? I would also say, these are all preface kind of stuff, that I do believe that Solomon's reign most closely foreshadows the time when Christ will return to the earth. Christ is reigning right now in heaven, but I think it most closely parallels when he returns. Certain aspects of Solomon's reign can be used as a model for our present government, Secular kingdoms of the world, though, are not striving to bring about Solomon's kingdom. There's a difference there. This will become obvious when we get to the temple. We don't want our secular governments trying to establish worship, whereas the kingdom of Solomon very much is the establishment of worship. Just to throw that out there, I am a firm believer in separation of church and state. As laid out in our Constitution, I think it's a very good thing. At the same time, I do not think that the ideals of Solomon's kingdom can be directly applied to the Church. It's kind of weird. Elders should try to shepherd with wisdom, I mean, that's a good application, but it's not really a one-to-one. The church is a complex community with many moving parts. I just saw that with Ken and Linda working out the website and being able to see pictures of everyone. That's something I've had nothing to do with, and it's working. That's a good example. But the church is not designed to provide for all the needs of your society, of your life. We are not the ones to decide where to put the roads in the world that you live. We're not the one who establishes the building codes of where you live. That's not something that God's calling the church to participate in right now. But I will tell you, and this is very much a part of this text today, that King Jesus is concerned with every aspect of society. and he understands how to apply his wisdom to every aspect of life. And this is one of the key points as we dive into this text today. There are many reasons for you to believe in Jesus Christ, right? I hope you can tell, yeah, forgiveness of my sins, you know, different things. But one huge reason that I'm not sure we think about all that often is that you will live eternally in the most glorious kingdom ever conceived. And Solomon is going to give us a better vision of how to look to King Jesus, not just look to Savior Jesus, but to look to King Jesus. So in verse one, We see that there will only be one ruler over the eternal kingdom. When it says King Solomon was king over all Israel, that's what he's talking about. There were no regions of which Solomon was not overruling. He was ruler over the entire kingdom. And this clearly foreshadows King Jesus. Every knee will bow. There won't be any rival kingdoms rising themselves up. The entire, and I mean this not just metaphorically, I mean this, the entire universe will be under his rule, part of his kingdom, every square inch. So one reason why you believe in Jesus is because he will be king over this entire universe, and you are right now learning what it means to live in submission to him. This idea that there's one king over the whole people, over the whole nation, is the ideal. As soon as the kingdom splits, you'll see that there's two kingdoms and there's two kings, and the whole idea is, no, no, it can't be that way, has to be one. At the same time, this one high king will delegate responsibilities. Solomon did not rule alone, nor does King Jesus. Solomon forms a sort of cabinet to assist him in the responsibilities of the kingdom. I had a lot of fun just like, If you want to have some fun, just look at how large the U.S. Cabinet is, and how many different areas in the U.S. Cabinet, and how many people. It's just scary to me. But anyway, I learned how many government employees there are in the United States. The vastness is just unbelievable. But we can learn not so much by going through the names of these cabinet members, and I'm sure somebody could come up to me and tell you, oh, this is really cool about this name, but that's not what I'm going into. I just wanna look at some of the areas. So Solomon's cabinet included priests. And so these priests are gonna assist Solomon in the worship of Yahweh. And I think that sets a clear priority that the eternal kingdom will be a religious kingdom. Worship will be at the very center of the eternal kingdom. Even though I believe in a separation of church and state now, I know that eternally there will be no separation of church and state. Now think about that. The reason why we don't want there to be a merging of separation of church and state today is because generally speaking, human governments are oppressive. We don't want them meddling when it comes to religion. Another reason is that we can't all agree on how to worship or who to worship in our day and age, and we all want the freedom to be able to worship as we see fit. But on that day, when the kingdom comes, we will be told this is who we're worshiping and this is how we're worshiping, and we'll all get in line and step with that. So the regulation of your worship is not a bad thing. The cabinet also includes a secretary of state, someone who carries out and implements the decisions of the king. There's also someone to keep charge of the records. There's also someone in charge of the army. And I would tell you that it's very difficult to try to understand how in the eternal kingdom we will have any need for an army. So I get that. Solomon also has a friend, a personal advisor, Now, I love this one, I was thinking, how in the world can a personal advisor, Jesus doesn't need any personal advisors, and then I started thinking to myself, oh, you know what? The bride of Christ is a good advisor in Jesus. And some, it's hard for me to imagine being there and actually going through counsel with Christ, but I don't think it's out of the question. Solomon also has someone who's put in charge of governing his palace, his household, his government. There's someone in charge of building projects, must be an engineer. And I can imagine, as I was thinking about this, so Solomon's thinking, how am I gonna make all these expansions of Jerusalem, and how am I gonna build this other city over here, and how am I gonna do that? and he has people that are smart to actually know how to coordinate those projects. And I can imagine that in the new heavens and the new earth. People actually coordinating building projects together. So the presence of this cabinet actually helps us to understand that the eternal kingdom is a complex society. There are many interconnected parts. And every citizen in the kingdom will play some role in the functioning of that kingdom. And in order for a complex society to be coordinated, there has to be oversight and, dare I say, bureaucracy. Bureaucracy doesn't even sit well with me at all. I don't like bureaucracy. I see it as corrupt. I see it as inefficient. But this passage helps me to say, oh, my trouble with bureaucracy has less to do with the concept and more to do with our imperfections. There will be bureaucracy in God's eternal kingdom, because everyone's going to have a part. Next, we look at the issue of forced labor. There's someone actually over forced labor in this cabinet. And it's hard for me to think of the ideal of the kingdom, including forced labor. Now, I don't think forced labor is necessarily slavery. It could be. I think it's better to think of kind of like being drafted into the military. When the draft occurs, you're going. It's not optional. I can foresee that some activities that we do in the eternal kingdom will be just kind of like things that we do on our own time. But I can also see that we will have activities that Christ will say, this is your duty. You need to do this. I just don't know how much of it will be forced. It'll be something that will be like, yeah, I want to do that. And so maybe this idea of forced labor deals more with the fact that this is still not the eternal kingdom. and it's still in this fallen world. It also could connect with the idea that the forced labor comes from the kingdoms that Israel conquered. So a lot of times you could conquer a kingdom, and then if you conquered that kingdom, they could either be put to death or they could become forced labor. And so there's that going on. You can read that in Deuteronomy 20, where it gives the stipulations for that. The point is that they don't see, in this portion of the story, forced labor as something bad. Rather, they see it as having the labor sufficient to do all the projects that need to be done. Now, later on, in Chapter 12, the yoke will become heavy, and it'll be part of the reason that they want it thrown off. But at this point, the labor force was sufficient to carry out all the projects. Everything was good. So maybe the best conclusion we can draw is that when it comes to all the projects that will be undertaken in the new heavens and the new earth, there'll always be sufficient labor. There'll always be sufficient supplies, always be sufficient money. So like we will be able to do the things that need to be done. It won't be a burden on us. Now, in addition to the support for these building projects, Solomon also needed support just to keep his government supplied. And it is that really extensive. In fact, they were taxing the people in order to bring in the supplies just to provide for the government. And I did not do the research in our own American government, how much it takes to keep our American government alive, but I imagine that would be a fun thing to do. But in his day, it was huge. There were some estimates that his government included 14,000 people some of them up to 32,000 people But I was vast and he needed to have people giving in order to actually provide for the government and guess where they get the money from all over the kingdom But it was all over the northern kingdom. The one portion of the kingdom that doesn't pay any tribute is Judah. And that's where Solomon's from. So it's like his own kingdom is exempt. I don't know what to draw from that. But the idea is that the king has this huge kingdom and there's provision for it. And I think the author knows that as soon as you start talking about taxes, as soon as you start talking about a large government, you start thinking, This is not good. They are gonna rob the people and make them kind of like the the days of Robin Hood where they're fleecing everybody and there's you know that kind of thing But if you look down at verse 20 Immediately after talking about all these people that have to provide just for the government to make it Judah and Israel were as many as the sand by the sea they ate and drank and were happy So the fact that he mentions Judah and Israel together actually Reminds them that the kingdom will split eventually into two kingdoms, but the idea is that everyone is happy This is not accidental The writer is trying to point you back to the promises that God gave to Abraham. Genesis 22, I will surely bless you. And I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies. So this idea that all of God's people are numerous as the sand of the sea is just trying to help them understand covenantal language of great promise and fulfillment. When I was thinking about this vast number of people and the provision that the king, even though they're giving like taxes and they're paying and they're working for the kingdom and all these kind of things, the idea that they ate and drank and were happy immediately took my mind to Jesus feeding the 5,000. He had all these people coming to him. There's a vast community of them. They're probably hungry. They've been following him. And he says to his disciples, feed them. And they said, we don't have the resources for that. We can't do that. He says, feed them. And of course, he does this miracle. Because in Jesus's kingdom, He gives to us. You might be serving him, but he is giving to you, and he is the great giver, unlike many of our governments, which are more taking from us than giving. Okay, you need to know that in Christ's eternal kingdom, you will be provided for, and you will eat, and you will drink, and you will be happy. Now, verse 21, Solomon rules over the kingdoms around him. Now that took me a long time to figure this out, and I've actually got a map in my notes that was very helpful. But if you have Israel and Judah, Israel and Judah, all these nations around were in some way conquered or related to Israel. So some of these kingdoms David conquers. Syria, Amman, Moab, Edom. Some of these kingdoms actually become like a vassal state. So they're their own government, but they have like a vassal status with Israel. That would be Philistia would be those. And even Phoenicia, Which is where they get a lot of the supplies for the temple Venetia is is actually like an ally But all of these states are paying tribute to Israel They're bringing money into Israel and it's providing for much of the the building projects that he does During that time again, it's difficult for me to imagine the new heavens and the new earth with there being other kingdoms and Existing but I do believe revelation 1115 says the kingdom of the world Has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ And I think what we see is that all these other kingdoms actually belong to Christ And I think Solomon sets that up that there he will be reigning over the entire universe Okay Next thing You might not like this either King Solomon is filthy rich. And they go into this great story like just providing for him and his household, and they go through the provisions. 150 bushels of flour, 300 bushels of meal, 10 oxen, 20 pasture-fed cattle, 100 sheep in addition to wild game. He gives this big list. Now, I realize that if we took the household of the Washington DC, so to speak, it'd be much larger than that today. But this was a picture of extravagance in that day. He was wealthy. He was rich in all of his, in his days as far as the other kingdoms around him. Now, What you need to see is that his wealth was not a burden to the people. The wealth of the nation was such that the king's personal wealth didn't actually make the rest of the people poor. And in a way that's difficult for us to understand, the people of that day wanted their king to be wealthy. You know, I don't know, maybe we'd understand this more in England, but you don't want the king looking like he's a pauper. You want him to be wealthy because it showed the wealth of the kingdom as a whole. And so when they're describing this, you and I might be like, who cares about that? But think about this. You need to know that King Jesus is not a pauper. He controls all of the wealth of the entire universe. It is at his disposal. Now, of course, even in Samuel, we get this picture that the king will just keep demanding more, taking more in order to get more from you. And it turns into a terrible thing, very burdensome on the people eventually. But in Solomon's day, it is not a burden. And I know that from verse 25. Judah and Israel lived in safety from Dan even to Beersheba every man under his vine and under his fig tree all the days of Solomon so in his time people had their own personal state so to speak and the imagery is living under your own fig tree living under your own vine you've got a little portion of portion of the kingdom that you can call your own and you are happy there. I think that's kind of fun. As I studied this, I started thinking, you know, Yeah, I can envision in the new heavens and the new earth, I'll have my own land, some place that I can call mine, that I can enjoy, but I'll also really see the beauty of partaking in the community as a whole. And so there'll be this connection of both community and individual, and I just think that's a beautiful picture. By the way, most governments promise peace and prosperity. I went immediately to the Civil War where they promised 40 acres and a mule, you know. And the promise was much better than the reality, right? They gave him like this arid land that was terrible, but they promised. But King Jesus, his promise is, I mean, the reality is good to his promise. He's not gonna fall short. He will provide for all of his people. Okay, so also, verse 26 through 34, Solomon has a large and powerful army that is well supplied. And again, the idea is in future years, the army will become great, it'll become oppressive to the people. But right now, it just shows that Solomon's kingdom is secure. No one would threaten this kingdom. They are strong and powerful, and that's a good thing. Verse 29, and this is what we need to kind of get to. Benji brought this out very well in the call to worship All of this Interactedness and blessing and everybody doing well, and they're being happiness all of it is stems upon one thing and that is that Solomon is wise and And his wisdom did not come from himself, but was given to him by the Lord. Verse 29, God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding beyond measure and breadth of mind, like the sand of the seashore. so that Solomon's wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all the people of the East and all the wisdom of Egypt. He was wiser than all other men, wiser than Ethan the Ezraite and Heman and Kalkal and Darda, the sons of Mahal, and his fame was in all the surrounding nations. I'm gonna read this to the end. He also spoke 3,000 Proverbs. His songs were 1,005. He spoke of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of the wall. He spoke also of beasts and of birds and of reptiles and of fish. And the people of all the nations came to hear the wisdom of Solomon and from all the kings of the earth who heard his wisdom. See, when we talk about Solomon being wise, We're not talking about a man sitting up on the top of a mountain with a long beard, just being a sage. That's not what we're talking about. We're talking about that Solomon knew everything about everything. Of course he didn't, but it's a picture of Christ. He was the expert on everything so that people came to him and asked him questions about every subject. We think Oh, if I wanna know something about this, I'll go to this expert over here, or I'll go to that expert over there. And what this passage is telling us is that we would all go to Solomon, just like we'll all go to King Jesus. And it's not just that the world, that Jesus was this wise, it's that the world recognized how wise he was. Everyone knew it, they all went to him. He surpasses everyone. So, you wanna have a question about nuclear physics? Go to Jesus. You wanna have a question about space flight? Biology? Computers? Poetry? It doesn't matter what it is. He's the one you go to. Amazing. And yet, when Jesus came into this world to save you, he set all that aside. Isn't that amazing? People mocked him. They didn't think he knew anything. Thought he was stupid. And yet he did that so he could redeem you. So you don't just have a king that's up there wise looking at you and saying how unwise you are. You have a king who's willing to give his wisdom to you, and that's the passage of James. You ask him for wisdom, he will give it to you. It's a beautiful thing. Okay, so here's my conclusions. Jesus is not just your savior. He is also the wisest of all kings. The gospel is the only way that you can become a citizen of his glorious kingdom. Right? That's the gospel. You must be cleansed of your sins. You're cleansed of your sins by believing in his death and resurrection. That being said, you need to understand that Jesus didn't just die to save you. He died to make you a part of his kingdom, a glorious kingdom, of which you will be a functioning member in that kingdom. Now, I grant you that worship will be at the very center of the kingdom. I see all that with the temple. We'll talk about that in the coming weeks as we look at the temple. But we should be dreaming Christ's kingdom as a complex civilization well organized with every individual playing their own part. We have our own personal lives, which will be full and meaningful, but we will also, in some way, contribute to the beauty of the overall society. We will all have duties, and those responsibilities of rule will be, and those who are given the responsibility to rule over others will, in the truest sense, be public servants. There won't be any scarcity of resources. There won't be envy and jealousy. There will be contentment and happiness and prosperity. And so as I have studied this, I've just thought, wow, that's fascinating to me. It's hard for me to understand how I'll have my role as a teacher, but it's really cool to think of Benji as a civil engineer and thinking how things fit into the society. I don't know what it'll all be, but we will all have a place. And the thing that you are doing right now is learning how to love and submit to your king. You're in training right now for your eternal kingdom somehow. It's interesting that God, I believe, gives this picture in Solomon to inspire you to have hope. Jeremiah 29, verse 11, and you'll recognize this, but we always apply it to right now. I think that's a problem, but he says, I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord. Plans for wholeness and not for evil to give you a future and a hope. The original hearers of Jeremiah's words had experienced the collapse of the kingdom, but even while they were living in ashes, God wanted them to have this hope. Many of you have experienced disappointment in your life broken dreams. And I know that some of you don't even know Craig Franklin, but my brother had an accident similar to Craig's. The dreams that are broken because he broke his neck are vast. But each one of us have had broken dreams. Each one of us have had things that have like pulled away this ideal of the kingdom in your life. But even with those dreams, some of them broken by your own sin, some of them broken by others, those dreams are real in the new kingdom. When you trust in Jesus as your savior, you are trusting in him as your king. And do not think that the broken dreams of this world will prevent you from enjoying the glories of that kingdom. Romans 8, 28, we know that for those who love God, and I throw in, and King Jesus, all things work together for good for those who are called according to his purpose. And I don't know how the sufferings will all work themselves out. I don't know how they're preparing for us for the glories of the next, but I'm looking forward to finding out, because it is going to be awesome. What do you think about that? Amen.