Bible in One Year Day 153 (1 Kings 11, Ecclesiastes 10-12, Psalm 9)

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Day 153: The Decline of Solomon

Agape Bible 
1 Kings 11

Solomon and His Wives (Giovanni Battista Venanzi)

Chapter 11: Solomon's Moral Failures Displease Yahweh

1 Kings 11:1-8 ~ Solomon's foreign wives

See the parallel passage in 2 Chronicles 11:23-12:1. Solomon was influenced by his pagan wives and the pagan spirit of tolerance for the gods of neighboring peoples. Israel was unique among the nations of the ancient world in her worship of the One God. The number of Solomon's wives and concubines may be typological since they add up to the number 1,000, a number that signifies great abundance (see Song of Songs 3:8 which gives the count of 60 wives, 80 concubines, and countless virgins).

Solomon's many wives and concubines reflect his importance in the ancient Near East and the extent to which other kingdoms sent gifts of royal sisters, daughters, and beautiful women. Documents of other great kingdoms record an amazing number of women in the royal harems. Solomon's son's loss of status in the region is reflected in the number of women in his harem: eighteen wives and sixty concubines (2 Chr 11:21).

Solomon not only married pagan woman but built shrines for their pagan gods including the Canaanite gods and goddess Astarte, Milcom/Molech, and Chemosh. He became devoted (meaning he offered sacrifices) to Astarte, also called in the Bible Asherah. Astarte/Asherah was worshipped by the Canaanites and the Phoenicians of Sidon and the city of Tyre where there seems to have been a major center for her veneration. The other two pagan gods for whom Solomon built shrines were gods from the east side of the Jordan River, Chemosh the Moabite god and Milcom/Molech the Ammonite god. Both deities were the chief gods of the descendants of Abraham's nephew Lot from his incestuous relationship with his daughters (Gen 19:30-38).

• Astarte/Asherah: chief goddess of the Canaanites and Phoenicians. The goddess was presented as the wife of the chief deity El but later was identified as the goddess consort of El's son, Baal. Her cult became prominent in Israel during the reign of King Ahab and his wife Queen Jezebel of Sidon (1Kng 18:19).
• Chemosh god of the Moabites: Moab is called "the people of Chemosh" (Num 21:29; Jer 48:46). The judge Jephthah said that Chemosh had given Moab its land (Judg 11:24). His "high place" will later be destroyed by Davidic King Josiah who reigned from c. 640-609 BC (2 Kng 23:13). Evidence of this deity has been found in a Moabite stela called the "Mesha stela" after the Moabite king who ordered its inscription, giving credit to Chemosh for the Moabite victory over Israel in the 8^th century BC.
• Milcom god of the Ammonites: The cult of Milcom/Milkom/Molech is not mentioned outside the Bible. The practice of child sacrifice to this god by burning a child alive is called an abomination to Yahweh and is condemned (Lev 18:21; 20:2-5; 1 Kng 11:7; 2 Kng 23:10; Jer 32:35; called Moloch in Amos 5:26; Acts 7:43). Like Solomon's shrine to Chemosh, King Josiah, a descendant of Solomon, demolished it (2 Kng 23:13).

The root of Solomon's downfall was his marriages to many pagan women who "led his heart astray" from Yahweh, the very danger of which Israel was warned by Moses in Deuteronomy 7:1-4.

Chastisement of Solomon for breaking the covenant laws

1 Kings 11:9-13 ~ Yahweh's anger and divine judgment

Israel's kings were not like the kings of other nations. The king of Israel was God's anointed servant and was answerable to Yahweh for his actions. He served at Yahweh's pleasure and was bound by the Law of the commandments and the limiting "Laws of a King" in Deuteronomy 17:14-20.

Questions: Read the "Laws of a King" of Israel in Deuteronomy 17:14-20 and compare those laws with Solomon's list of failures in 1 Kings 10:14-26. #1: In addition to taking pagan wives, serving their pagan gods, and turning over the land of Israel in the Galilee to a foreign power, what other laws did Solomon break from the list of the "Laws of a King" that he was supposed to read every day of his life? #2: What was his chief failure listed in the Laws for Kings?
Answer: #1:

LIMITED POWER OF A KING Deuteronomy 17:14-20	SOLOMON'S FAILURE AS A KING 1 Kings 5:6; 10:14-29
He must not acquire many horses (Dt 17:16a)	Solomon had 12 thousand horses (1 Kng 5:6, 10:25-28)
He must not send to Egypt to increase the power of his army (Dt 17:16b)	Solomon imported a chariot from Egypt and built up a force of chariots and cavalry (1 Kng 10:26-29)
He must not have many wives (Dt 17:17a)	Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines (1 Kng 11:3)
He must not acquire vast quantities of wealth (Dt 17:17b)	The weight of gold received annually by Solomon amounted to 666 talents of gold (1 Kng 10:14)
Michal E. Hunt Copyright © 2000 www.AgapeBibleStudy.com

#2: Solomon's chief failure was that he became so proud and powerful in material wealth and influence that he forgot to fear offending God (verse 19 of the Laws for Kings).

Question: What is God's judgment for Solomon's covenant failures?
Answer: His dynasty will lose the Kingdom of Israel and will only retain one other tribe besides his own tribe of Judah. This will not happen during Solomon's lifetime only because of God's love for his father, David.

Four times God will tell Solomon He will show mercy to him for the sake of David his father in 11:12, 13, 32 and 34. Yahweh and the inspired writer will mention David's name sixteen times in the text from 11:4-39 to contrast Solomon's failure in his relationship with Yahweh with David's fidelity to Yahweh.

1 Kings 11:14-40 ~ God Lifts His Hand of Protection: Solomon's Enemies
Solomon's foreign enemies: 1 Kings 11:14-25

Yahweh plans three judgments for Solomon: two foreign enemies and a domestic enemy. Because of Solomon's covenant failures and the failures of the covenant people as a whole, God will lift His hand of protection for Israel from foreign aggression. The House of David will lose the kingdom of a united Israel, but God will not reject His covenant with David. David's throne will remain secure but it will, however, be diminished as the kingdom of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin.

Solomon's domestic enemies: the revolt of Jeroboam ~ 1 Kings 11:26-40

Question: What was Jeroboam's tribal affiliation?
Answer: He was a descendant of Joseph son of Jacob-Israel and was a member of the half tribe of Joseph's son Ephraim, the son who was recognized as Joseph and Israel's chief heir.

Question: The tearing of the cloak by the prophet Ahijah of Shiloh is a prophetic ot in the presence of Jeroboam. An ot is an act that symbolizes a future event. What is the action and what is the symbolic meaning of the act? Notice that the "newness" of the garment is stresses twice in verses 29 and 30.
Answer: Jeroboam is wearing a new coat. The prophet tears the new cloak into 12 pieces, symbolizing the division of the United Kingdom into a new kingdom. The new cloak represents a new regime and a new kingdom of Israel that will be founded by Jeroboam. The twelve pieces represent the 12 tribes of Israel. The prophet offers 10 pieces to Jeroboam, representing 10 tribes that will compose his Northern Kingdom of Israel.

The identify of Jeroboam as a servant of Solomon and the tearing of the cloak and its symbolic meaning fulfills the prophecy in verse 11: Yahweh therefore said to Solomon, "Since you have behaved like this and have not kept my covenant or the laws which I laid down for you, I shall tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your servants.

The Death of King Solomon

1 Kings 11:41-43 ~ The end of the reign of King Solomon and his death

The "Annals of Solomon" is probably the record of Solomon's reign written by Nathan the prophet and possibly completed by his son or successor (2 Chr 9:29). The book is lost to history. Rehoboam was Solomon's son by an Ammonite princess named Naamah (1 Kng 14:21).

He began his reign as a wise man, but he ended his life as a fool.

And what became of the promise of the everlasting king of the Davidic covenant? Most Jewish scholars see Solomon as the promised Davidic king of the everlasting kingdom. However, St. Augustine wrote that Solomon was not the Messiah promised by God: "God promised that something everlasting would spring from David's seed. Then Solomon was born, and he became a man of such profound wisdom that everyone supposed God's promise concerning David's offspring had been fulfilled in him. But no, Solomon fell and so made room for people to stretch their hope toward Christ. God can neither be deceived nor deceive us, so we can be certain that he did not ground his promise in Solomon, for he knew Solomon would fall. The divine purpose was that after Solomon's fall you would look to God and earnestly press him for what he had promised"(Augustine, Exposition 2 of Psalm 88:6-7).

A Daily Defense 

DAY 153 God and “the Gods”

CHALLENGE: “Why should we reject the gods and goddesses that are worshipped by many cultures? Why should the Christian God be the only one?”

DEFENSE: Divine revelation makes clear there is a single God who created the world.

God is infinite and uncreated, but there are also finite, created spirits known as angels (CCC 328-29). They are God’s servants and messengers (the word “angel”—Hebrew, mal’akh, Greek, angelos—means “messenger”). Some serve God but others have fallen and oppose him (CCC 391–93). 

The Christian faith thus envisions a heavenly hierarchy with the infinite, uncreated God at the top and created, finite spirits under him—some of whom have become evil. The good angels may be venerated as such, but they are merely servants of God and so are not to be given the worship owed to God (Col. 2:18; Rev. 19:10, 22:8–9).

By contrast, many in the Greco-Roman world acknowledged the existence of a single, supreme God but did not worship him. Instead, they worshipped lesser, created beings, such as Zeus (Jupiter) and Apollo. They also acknowledged the existence of inferior spirits, which could be good or evil and which were not worshipped (Ramsay MacMullen, Christianizing the Roman Empire, 12–13). 

In Greek, the term “god” (theos) applied to both the great God and the created ones, while the term “demon” (daimonion) applied to the inferior, potentially evil spirits.

Christians agreed there is a great God and that there are lesser spirits who could be called demons. The main issue was how to treat the middle category of finite “gods.” 

Divine revelation made it clear only the true God is to be worshipped (Exod. 20:2–6; Deut. 5:6 10), and there are no other beings equal to him (Isa. 43:10, 44:6, 8). Therefore, Christians reasoned, the term “god” (theos) should not be applied to the pagan deities. To the extent they even exist, they would be inferior spirits or “demons” (daimoniōn; cf. 1 Cor. 10:20, MacMullen, 17–19). 

The Christian critique of pagan deities thus is not that there aren’t finite, created spirits, but that they are fundamentally different from and inferior to God and not worthy of worship.

Jimmy Akin, A Daily Defense: 365 Days (Plus One) to Becoming a Better Apologist

Bible in One Year Day 152 (1 Kings 10, Ecclesiastes 7 - 9, Psalm 8)

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Day 152: Being Forgotten 

Agape Bible 

1 Kings 10

Queen of Sheba Visits Solomon (Lucas de Heere)

Chapter 10: The Queen of Sheba's Visit and Solomon's Wealth

1 Kings 10:1-13 ~ The Queen of Sheba comes to Jerusalem

The land of the Queen of Sheba is believed to have been located at the southwestern tip of the Arabian Peninsula, in modern Yemen. The location permitted lucrative sea trade with both Africa and India. In addition, caravan trade was facilitated by the domestication of the camel, the only pack animal that could survive the long distances between water sources. Sabeans had reputations not only as traders but also as raiders (Job 1:15), and may have been descendants of Abraham through his second wife, Keturah (Gen 25:1-3). 

Her testing of Solomon's wisdom by asking hard questions may have included riddles, like Samson's riddle at the wedding feast in Judges 14:12-14. The use of riddles at feasts and special occasions was very popular in the ancient world. Solomon's fame included his gift for proverbs and riddles. To know riddles or "dark sayings" was considered a mark of wisdom: The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel ... for teaching sound judgment to the simple, and knowledge and reflection to the young; for perceiving the meaning of proverbs and obscure sayings, the sayings of the sages and their riddles. Let the wise listen and learn yet more ... (Prov 1:1, 5-6 underlining added).

The Almug tree, also called red sandalwood, is a rare wood that was highly valued in antiquity and today. It is a scented wood with a distinctive wood grain which is why it was used for musical instruments, decorative architectural supports for the Temple, and the royal palace. It ancient palaces it was also used to make furniture. According to 2 Chronicles 2:7, the wood came from the Lebanon, but it also grows in India. Almug wood is mentioned in ancient Akkadian texts from the 3^rd millennium BC.⁽¹⁾

The exchange of gifts was probably part of concluding a successful trade agreement.

1 Kings 10:14-25 ~ King Solomon's wealth

The annual revenue Solomon received was probably from tribute collected from the Arabian tribal chieftains for passage of their caravans through Israeli controlled territory. Large tributes were not uncommon. 

Solomon's revenues from taxes, tribute, and trade appears to be enormous. Exotic animals like apes and baboons were collected for royal zoos. That Solomon's riches surpassed all the kings of the earth is hyperbole, but expresses the concept that he was enormously wealthy and admired by neighboring kingdoms.

1 Kings 10:26-29 ~ King Solomon's chariots and cavalry

The expensive chariot from Egypt, costing about 15 pounds (c. 7 kilograms) of silver was probably a chariot only for Solomon's use for ceremonial occasions and the horse costing about 3 ¾ pounds of silver, was also probably for the king or a stallion to improve his herds of horses. Muzur may refer to Egypt or to a province in Cilicia. Cilicia was a territory along the southeastern coast of Asia Minor. It was the same region that was the home of St. Paul. Tarsus, Paul's hometown was located on the eastern plain of Cilicia.

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A Daily Defense 

DAY 152 The Slaughter of the Innocents

CHALLENGE: “Herod’s slaughter of Bethlehem’s baby boys (Matt. 2:16) is a myth. We have no historical record of this actually happening.”

DEFENSE: We do have a record of it, and the act is entirely in keeping with the character of Herod the Great.

The Gospel of Matthew is itself a record. It cannot simply be set aside on a “false until proven true” principle. Scholars do not reflexively reject what ancient sources say, particularly when it fits with known facts. 

Although we don’t have a non-Christian record of this event, we would not expect to. Bethlehem was small (Micah 5:2), and in Jesus’ day its population was between 300 and 1,000. The number of males under two was likely no more than 25 to 30; perhaps no more than 6 or 7 (Paul Maier, “Herod and the Infants of Bethlehem,” 177–178, in Jerry Vardaman, ed., Chronos, Kairos, Christos II). Given the small scale of the event, most people outside of Bethlehem wouldn’t have been aware of it.

We don’t have any of Herod’s court records, and what knowledge we have of his acts is spotty, being principally derived from Josephus, who was born decades after Herod died. Although Josephus does briefly mention Jesus in a couple of passages, it is unlikely that he would have mentioned a small event like the slaughter of the innocents, if he was even aware of it.

Despite this, the story fits with what was known about Herod. During the latter part of his reign he became paranoid and obsessed with keeping power. He saw plots everywhere and consequently executed his favorite wife and three of his sons. Thus Caesar Augustus allegedly quipped, “It is better to be Herod’s pig than son” (Macrobius, Saturnalia 2:4:2)—the joke being that, as a Jew, Herod wouldn’t eat pork and his pig would be safe. 

Herod is known to have ordered mass executions. As his own death approached, he had a large number of prominent men confined in a stadium and ordered that they be killed so every family would grieve upon his death (Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews 17:6:5–6).

Fortunately, this order was disobeyed when he died, but he was still alive when the slaughter of the innocents occurred, and that order was carried out. It is precisely what we would expect of Herod upon learning a baby was born who had a rival claim to the Jewish throne.

Jimmy Akin, A Daily Defense: 365 Days (Plus One) to Becoming a Better Apologist

Bible in One Year Day 151 (1 Kings 9, Ecclesiastes 5 - 6, Psalm 7)

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Day 151 Wisdom and Folly

 

Agape Bible 
1 Kings 9 

The Dream of Solomon (Luca Giordano) 

1 Kings 9:1-9 ~ Yahweh appears a second time to Solomon

In the twenty-fourth year of Solomon's reign, when all the building projects were completed, Yahweh appeared to Solomon a second time to reaffirm the Davidic Covenant that God promised David.  However, Yahweh also gave Solomon a very stern warning concerning the conditions that would allow an unbroken line of Davidic kings to rule over Israel and for God's continuing protection of His Temple.

His successors must faithfully keep God's laws and ordinances.  Failure to keep the laws outlined in the Ten Commandments and enumerated in the expanded law of the Torah, especially the command not to worship other gods, would result in:

1. Israel being exiled from the land (verse 7a).
2. God disowning the Temple (verse 7b).
3. Israel being known among the other nations for having deserted Yahweh their God (verse 9).

It is a dire warning for both Israel's kings and the covenant people as a whole.  David was a model king of God's people in his role as the shepherd who guides and prays for his people.  His submission to the will of God for his life, his praise for God, and his humble repentance when he sinned became a model for kingship and for the prayers of the people in the beautiful psalms, many of which are attributed to David.  As God's "anointed" representative, David's song of praise for Yahweh (2 Sam 22:1-51) and his last words (2 Sam 23:1-7) express a loving and joyful trust in God who David acknowledges as the only God and the only King and Lord.  His descendants, even Solomon, will not live up to his model of servant kingship.

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A Daily Defense 

DAY 151 Moral Evil and Free Will

CHALLENGE: “An all-good, all-powerful God would not tolerate evil; thus, God either is not all-good or not all-powerful.”

DEFENSE: This presupposes that God cannot have good reasons to tolerate evil, but he does. One is that he values free will.

The abuse of free will is the definition of moral evil. Nobody sins except by misusing his free will.  Sin, in turn, can produce suffering, as when one person unjustly harms another. Moral evil thus can cause physical evil, and free will can produce both. This is important because we have a good idea why God allows free will: to allow love.

The two greatest commandments are to love God and to love your neighbor (Matt. 22:36–40). Love is the fundamental thing God wants from us. But if we had no free will, we would not be capable of freely choosing love. We might be able to simulate love, but it would be the programmed “love” of a robot, not the real thing.

It would be like Ira Levin’s book The Stepford Wives, in which a group of husbands replace their wives with robots programmed to be the perfect homemakers. The robots are always attractive, always submissive, always ready to do whatever their husbands want. But there is no love in the town of Stepford. The husbands do not love their “wives”; they treat them merely as instruments for their own pleasure. And the “wives” don’t love their husbands; they are robots with no free will.

For love to be real, it must be freely chosen, and so God has given us free will, knowing that precisely because it is free—we may choose not to love. We may choose to act unlovingly, to sin against him and our neighbors. 

God thus allows moral evil in the world to make it possible for us to choose love. By creating room for free will , he must also create room for its misuse and the consequences that follow from that. When we act unlovingly, we harm others, and this causes some of the suffering in the world.

Jimmy Akin, A Daily Defense: 365 Days (Plus One) to Becoming a Better Apologist

Bible in One Year Day 150 (1 Kings 8, Ecclesiastes 4-6, Psalm 6)

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Day 150:  The Dedication of the Temple 

Agape Bible 

1 Kings 8

Chapter 8: The Temple is consecrated to Yahweh

1 Kings 8:1-9 ~ The Ark of the Covenant is brought to the Temple

See the parallel passage in 2 Chronicles 5:2-10.  After the return from the Babylonian exile the seventh month was called by the Babylonian name Tishri.
Question: Solomon planned to have the dedication of the Temple in association with which of the seven God ordained feasts of remembrance that was also a pilgrim feast?  This feast took place in the month of Tishri from the 15 to the 21^st and concluded with a Sacred Assembly on the 22^nd.   See Lev 23:33-43; Num 29:12-38; 2 Chr 8:13 and the charts on the Sacred Annual Feasts.

Answer: Solomon planned to have the dedication of the Temple during the feast that remembered the dedication of the desert Sanctuary, the Feast of Sukkoth/Tabernacles, also called the feast of Shelters or Booths.

1 Kings 8:10-13 ~ Yahweh takes possession of His Temple
The "cloud" was the visible manifestation of the presence of Yahweh, and is often referred to as the "Glory cloud" (see for example Ex 13:21-22; 19:9, 16; 24:15-18; 33:9-10; 40:36-38; 1 Cor 10:1-3).  Cloud and light are two images that occur together in the manifestation of God, as in the pillar of cloud and fire that led the children of Israel on the wilderness journey (Ex 13:21-22).  In the theophanies of the Old Testament and in the Transfiguration of Jesus in the New Testament (cf Mt 17:5), the cloud is described as both dark and luminous, and it reveals the living and saving presence of Yahweh while veiling the transcendence of His glory to avoid the extinction of sinful man witnessing His divine Presence.  God's holiness is so far removed from human unworthiness that anyone who looks upon God risks death (Ex 33:20).  It is for this reason that Moses, Elijah, and even the seraphim covered their faces in His Presence (Ex 3:6; 1 Kng 19:13; Is 6:2).  Anyone who remains alive after seeing God is overcome with astonishment and gratitude, and it is a favor God rarely grants (Ex 33:10-11, 21-23).  No human being can safely look upon God's face except in heaven (Mt 5:8; 1 Cor 13:12; 1 Jn 3:2).

1 Kings 8:14-21 ~ King Solomon addresses the people
In his address to the assembly of Israel, Solomon mentions that God did not choose a place for His Temple from among the tribes until He chose Jerusalem (Dt 12:5, 11-12; 2 Chr 6:6).  He recounts David's desire to build a Temple for Yahweh and how he has, with Yahweh's approval, fulfilled his father's desire.  His prayer relies on God's covenantal promises, on God's active presence among the covenant people like God's mighty deeds in the children of Israel's exodus out of Egypt.  Solomon will begin and end his prayer by mentioning the great event of God's intervention for Israel in the Exodus liberation (verses 21, 51 and 53).

Solomon also testifies that the Ark of the Covenant that he has placed in the Temple's Holy of Holies is the same Ark God commanded Moses to build at Mt. Sinai.
Question: What is the covenant document Solomon refers to in verse 21?
Answer: The two stone tablets of the Ten Commandments written by God Himself.

1 Kings 8:22-29 ~ King Solomon's prays for himself and for the Temple

Solomon stood before God's sacrificial altar in the courtyard in front of the Temple Sanctuary, and then he kneeled down with his hands out stretched at shoulder height, palms upward and began, in the presence of the Assembly of Israel, to offer a prayer to Israel's God (see 1 Kng 8:54).  In his prayer, Solomon prays on his own behalf, on behalf of the entire nation, and for the generations yet to come.  Both the High Priest and the King are God's servants who are the intermediaries or covenant representatives between God and His covenant people.  The High Priest is the people's religious intermediary and the King is the people's civil intermediary who enforces God's laws and is the people's emissary to foreign nations.  Solomon then mentions God's covenant with David and David's descendants.  It is an eternal covenant that is not conditional on the righteousness of the individual Davidic kings, but the blessings of Yahweh on each successive king is based on his obedience and faithfulness to his leadership role as God's righteous agent in serving God's people.

King Solomon prays for the people of Israel

1 Kings 8:30-51 ~ King Solomon prayer

Solomon's prayer for the covenant people is composed of seven petitions.  Each petition presents a condition of trial followed by the request for God's forgiveness and/or intervention:

1. He prays for forgiveness for individual Israelites who have wronged a neighbor.
2. He prays for forgiveness and restoration when Israel has sinned and God has lifted His protection and delivered His judgment in Israel's defeat by an enemy nation.
3. He prays for forgiveness when Israel's sin has resulted in a judgment of no rain for the crops.
4. He prays for forgiveness and God's intervention when natural disasters and war afflicts the nation.
5. He prays for the foreigner who turns to Yahweh.
6. He prays for Israel's victory in wars against her enemies.
7. He prays for God's mercy when Israel's sins have led to exile from the land and that, in their repentance, God will hear their pleas and will restore His repentant people to the land of Israel.

1 Kings 8:52-61 ~ The conclusion of Solomon's prayer and the blessing of the people

Solomon reminds Yahweh that out of all the other nations of the earth, God chose the children of Israel to be His personal possession.  They were chosen by divine election.

The success of the relationship with Yahweh is based on Israel's continuing obedience to God's laws and willingness to keep His commandments.

1 Kings 8:62-66 ~ The sacrifices on the Feast of Sukkoth (Tabernacles) for the Temple dedication

The dedication of the Temple is taking place in the early fall, after the harvest and on the feast day that was created to remember the dedication of the desert Sanctuary, on the pilgrim feast of Sukkoth/Tabernacles (also called Shelters or Booths).  As you will recall, it was a seven day feast that every adult man of the covenant was required to attend with a Sacred Assembly on the eighth day (Lev 23:33-37; Num 28:12-16, 35; Dt 16:16; 2 Chr 8:13).

A Daily Defense 

DAY 150 Intercession of the Saints and Necromancy

CHALLENGE: “The Catholic practice of asking dead saints for their intercession is wrong. The Bible forbids necromancy.”

DEFENSE: Asking the saints for intercession is not necromancy.

Necromancy is an attempt to gain information by conjuring the dead. The term is derived from the Greek words nekros (“dead person”) and manteia (“oracle, divination”). This practice, which was common in the ancient world, is forbidden in the Old Testament: “There shall not be found among you . . . a medium, or a wizard, or a necromancer” (Deut. 18:10–11).

The fact that necromancy was for purposes of gaining information is made clear by the Hebrew terms for “medium” (sho’el ’ob, “a spirit inquirer”), “wizard” (yidde‘oni, “a spiritist”), and “necromancer” (doresh ’el-ha-metim, “an inquirer of the dead”). The focus on gaining information is also made clear by the context in Deuteronomy, which specifies that God will send his people prophets instead of allowing them to use mediums, wizards, and necromancers (Deut. 18:15).

Necromancy is forbidden today, as well. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states: “All forms of divination are to be rejected: recourse to Satan or demons, conjuring up the dead or other practices falsely supposed to ‘unveil’ the future” (CCC 2116).

Both Scripture and the Catholic Church agree that necromancy is forbidden. However, asking the saints for their intercession is a fundamentally different practice. In necromancy, people attempt to contact the dead to obtain information from them—either about the future or about other matters that are hidden from the inquirer. The flow of information is supposed to be from the dead to the living.

When people ask the saints for their intercession, however, they are not seeking information. They are asking the saints to partner with them in prayer to God. If anything, the flow of information is from the living to the dead—that is, a living person is making his prayer request known to a departed saint.

The biblical injunction against necromancy is thus a condemnation of something else. It is not talking about the same thing. This means that the practice of asking the saints for their intercession must be judged on its own merits, and as we cover elsewhere (see Day 36), there are good reasons for the practice.

Jimmy Akin, A Daily Defense: 365 Days (Plus One) to Becoming a Better Apologist

Bible in One Year Day 149 (1 Kings 7, Ecclesiastes 1 - 3, Psalm 5)

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Day 149: All is Vanity 

Agape Bible Study 

1 Kings 7 

The Temple of Yahweh and Solomon's Palace on Mount Moriah

 

This is an artist's suggested floor plan of Solomon's Temple
and Palace complex on Mt. Moriah

Chapter 7: The Temple of Yahweh and Solomon's Palace on Mount Moriah

1 Kings 7:1-14 ~ Solomon's Palace Complex

Solomon began building the Temple of Yahweh on Mount Moriah in the fourth year of his reign and completed the Temple seven years later.  He then began building his palace after the Temple was completed, also on Mount Moriah, and completed it thirteen years later.  He spent 20 years building the Temple and his palace on Mt. Moriah.

Solomon's palace was located on Mt. Moriah, south of the Temple, and it was probably separated from the Temple by the wall of the Temple's inner court, with both the Temple and the palace enclosed by the wall of a great court. Within the palace complex there were three halls that were used for official functions:
The House of the Forest of Lebanon: The name of this building came from the many columns of cedar wood that supported the roof of the structure that gave it the appearance of a forest.  It was c. 150 feet (c. 46 meters) long, c. 75 feet (c. 23 meters) wide, and c. 45 feet (c. 13.5 meters) high.  It was much larger than the Temple and served as both a reception hall and an armory (1 Kng 10:16-17, 21; Is 22:8). 

There were three stories of windows along the long walls, with each window facing across from the window on the opposite wall.  The windows and door frames were rectangular and not arched.  The roof was made of 45 cedar beams, 15 beams to each row resting on the columns. 

The Hall (Porch) of the Pillars: In the front of the building, he made a colonnade or a porch of columns c. 75 feet (c. 23 meters) long and 45 feet (c. 13.5 meters) wide.  There is some confusion as to whether this was a separate structure of if the porch extended the length of the columned hall. The 'in front" could refer to in front of the columns or in front of the hall.

The Hall of the Throne: 
The dimensions of this hall are not given but the hall was also paneled in cedar.  Solomon's golden throne is described in 1 Kings 10:18-20a ~ The king also made a great ivory throne which he overlaid with refined gold.  The throne had six steps, a back with a rounded top, and arms on each side of the seat; two lions stood beside the arms, and twelve lions stood on each side of the six steps. 

1 Kings 7:13-14 ~ Hiram the master bronze worker
Question: What was Hiram's ethnic background and profession?

Answer: He was the son of a bronze worker from the Phoenician city of Tyre and an Israelite woman from the northern tribes of either Naphtali or Dan.  He was a master craftsman who worked in bronze.

1 Kings 7:15-22 ~ The Temple's bronze pillars

Hiram made two, hollow free standing bronze columns and placed them to the right and left of the Temple porch.  The names of the pillars are related to God's divine power/strength (Boaz) and founding/establishing (Yakin) of the Temple and the covenant people.  

1 Kings 7:23-26 ~ The Temple's Bronze Sea

See 2 Chronicles 4:2-5 for the parallel passage.  2,000 measures equate to 11,500 gallons.  The bulls represented strength and bulls were the sin sacrifice for a chief priest (Lev 4:3).  That there were twelve bull statues probably represents the twelve tribes of Israel whom the chief priests serve as God's representatives.  The "sea" was used for ritual washing of the priests' hands and feet before entering the Sanctuary or approaching the altar of sacrifice.  The original water basin made for the desert Sanctuary was much more modest.  The purpose for the basin is clearly intended for the chief priests who are the descendants of Aaron: Whenever they are to enter the Tent of Meeting, they will wash, to avoid incurring death; and whenever they approach the altar for their service, to burn an offering for Yahweh, they will wash their hands and feet, to avoid incurring death.  This is a perpetual decree for him and his descendants for all their generations to come (Ex 30:17-21; also see Ex 38:8).

Image of the Bronze Sea from the Jewish Enclyclopedia

1 Kings 7:27-39 ~ The wheeled stands and their bronze water basins
The Temple faced the east with the Holy of Holies in the west.  The basins were placed on the north and south sides of the main Temple building.  The Great Bronze Altar of Sacrifice and the Great Sea were placed in the courtyard in front of the Temple.  In the desert Sanctuary the Sea was directly in front of the entrance to the Holy Place and the Altar was directly east of the Sea (Ex 40:30), but most drawings of Solomon's Temple have these two large structures side by side or the Sea slightly to the south of the Altar.  There are no location instructions in either Kings or Chronicles and so it seems more likely that the locations of the Sea and the Altar would copy the original instructions God gave to Moses in Exodus 40:30.

1 Kings 7:40-51 ~ The summary of the bronze objects Hiram made for the Temple

See the parallel passage in 2 Chronicles 4:11-18.  The sacred utensils were used for trimming the wicks of the lamps for the lampstands, scoops for collecting the ash from the sacrificial altar and the incense altar, for carrying the live coals from the sacrificial altar to the incense altar, etc.; the type of metal used identified the space where the utensils were used: gold for the Holy Place and bronze for the courtyard of the bronze altar of sacrifice with the exception of the chalices/bowls for collecting the blood of the sacrificed animal which was made of solid gold (1 Kng 7:50; 2 Chr 4:8, 16). 

the gold table for the loaves of permanent offering ...
Verse 48 and the parallel passage in the Septuagint only mentions a single golden table to hold the Bread of the Presence (Face) of God like Exodus 25:23-30 and 37:10-16.  However, 2 Chronicles 4:8 and the parallel passage in the Septuagint mentions ten tables and 1 Chronicles 28:16 and the Septuagint have the information that these ten tables were covered in silver and not gold. This presents a conundrum. Most commentators assume that there were ten tables and ten lampstands. It is possible; however, that there was one main gold covered table for the Bread of the Presence as commanded in Exodus but with additional silver tables available when hundreds chief priests served in the Temple on the pilgrim feast days and one golden Lampstand/Menorah with additional silver lampstands and lamps for lighting the larger space.

The desert Tabernacle had seven kinds of furnishings but Solomon's Temple had eight.  Summary of the types of furnishings for Solomon's Temple:

1. The Ark of the Covenant: Israel's most sacred shrine that held the covenant documents of the Ten Commandments.  It resided in the Holy of Holies.
2. The Mercy-seat: The solid golden lid of the Ark of the Covenant where God dwelled in the midst of His people between the wings of the figures of the golden cherubim.
3. Incense Altar: This shoulder high altar stood in front of the entrance to the Holy of Holies.  Its sweet smelling incense smoke carried the prayers of the people offered during the morning and afternoon liturgies of worship into the heavenly Sanctuary.  Also the fire pans for carrying the live coals from the Altar of Sacrifice and the censer for transporting the sacred incense.
4. Table of the Bread of the Presence (showbread):  1 Kings 7:48 has "table" in the singular but ten tables are mentioned in 2 Chronicles 4:8.  The original desert Sanctuary only had one (Ex 25:23). Every Sabbath twelve loaves of unleavened bread, representing the twelve tribes of Israel, were place on the gold plated table in the Holy Place.  Only the priests ate the leftover bread that was replaced (Ex 25:23; 37:10-16; Lev 24:5-9).
5. The Lamp stands: Ten lamp stands with seven bowls symbolized the seventy sons of Jacob-Israel who migrated into Egypt and Israel's role as a light to the nations of the world represented by the seventy nations in Genesis 10.  In the desert Sanctuary there was only one lampstand with seven lamps representing the light of God's spirit within His Temple.  There were also the gold implements associated with trimming the wicks and keeping the lampstand burning.
6. The Bronze Sea: This huge basin was for the priests to ritually cleanse their hands and feet.  The twelve bulls, three facing in each of the four cardinal directions, depicts the twelve tribes of Israel and recalls the miracle of the crossing of the Red Sea out of Egypt when the children of Israel were purified of the sins of Egypt (1 Cor 10:1-2).
7. The Bronze Altar of Sacrifice: The altar where the covenant people offered God their sacrifices of whole burnt offerings, sin offerings and communion offerings; and the equipment that was associated with the altar like the ash scoops and the chalices for sprinkling and pouring blood out against the altar.
8. The ten moveable bronze lavers: Five movable bronze water basins were on the north and five on the south side of the Temple.  They were used for washing the blood off the sacrificial offerings before placing them on the altar fire or returning the body of the animal to the offerer for a communion sacrifice or to the priests for a sin sacrifice.  The movable lavers were not part of the desert Sanctuary.

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A Daily Defense 

DAY 149 The Nature of Luke’s Enrollment

CHALLENGE: “Luke says Jesus was born during a census (Luke 2:1–5), but he is wrong about its nature. It wouldn’t have been empire wide, Joseph wouldn’t have gone to Bethlehem, and Mary wouldn’t have accompanied him.”

DEFENSE: There are solutions to each challenge.

Augustus was emperor from 27 B.C. to A.D. 14, and he began the practice of empire-wide census taking: “Every five years, the Romans enumerated citizens and their property to determine their liabilities. This practice was extended to include the entire Roman Empire in 5 B.C.” (“Census,”  Encyclopedia Britannica, 2016 ed., emphasis added).

Because of the size of the empire, census taking was done in stages, taking place in different countries in different years. The decree of 5 B.C. thus likely wasn’t implemented in Palestine for a few years.

If the census was being done for tax purposes—as was normal—it would explain why Joseph returned to Bethlehem: He was from there and still had property there.

However, the enrollment may not have been a census. It may have been an event that took place in 3–2 B.C. when the people of the empire swore allegiance to Augustus (see Day 182 and 138). In this case, Joseph may have returned to Bethlehem because Israel was organized tribally, and the Romans may have used the tribal structure to ensure that the locals took the oath. Since Bethlehem was the ancestral home of Joseph’s clan, that is where he went.

Mary went with Joseph because she was his wife and she could be better cared for by him and other relatives in Bethlehem than if she were left at home. Contrary to popular depictions in art, we need not suppose that she made the journey to Bethlehem in the last stages of pregnancy. Luke merely says that “while they were there, the time came for her to be delivered” (Luke 2:6).

There are unanswered questions about this event, but Luke and his readers were familiar with the way such enrollments worked. They had taken part in such events themselves. Even skeptical scholar Raymond Brown notes: “It is dangerous to assume that [Luke] described a process of registration that would have been patently opposed to everything that he and his readers knew” (The Birth of the Messiah, 549).

Jimmy Akin, A Daily Defense: 365 Days (Plus One) to Becoming a Better Apologist