I Kings 2:3-15
3 Solomon showed his love for the LORD by walking according to the statutes of his father David, ...
4 The king went to Gibeon to offer sacrifices, for that was the most important high place, and Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar.
5 At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, "Ask for whatever you want me to give you."
6 Solomon answered, "You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day.
7 "Now, O LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties.
8 Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number.
9 So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?"
10 The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this.
11 So God said to him, "Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice,
12 I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be.
13 Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for -- both riches and honor -- so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings.
14 And if you walk in my ways and obey my statutes and commands as David your father did, I will give you a long life."
15 Then Solomon awoke -- and he realized it had been a dream.
1 Kings 3:1
1 Solomon made an alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt and married his daughter.
1 Kings 6:14,21-22,30,35
14 So Solomon built the temple and completed it. ...
21 Solomon covered the inside of the temple with pure gold, and he extended gold chains across the front of the inner sanctuary, which was overlaid with gold.
22 So he overlaid the whole interior with gold. He also overlaid with gold the altar that belonged to the inner sanctuary. ...
30 He also covered the floors of both the inner and outer rooms of the temple with gold. ...
35 He carved cherubim, palm trees and open flowers on them and overlaid them with gold hammered evenly over the carvings.
1 Kings 7:48-51
48 Solomon also made all the furnishings that were in the LORD's temple: the golden altar; the golden table on which was the bread of the Presence;
49 the lampstands of pure gold (five on the right and five on the left, in front of the inner sanctuary); the gold floral work and lamps and tongs;
50 the pure gold basins, wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls, dishes and censers; and the gold sockets for the doors of the innermost room, the Most Holy Place, and also for the doors of the main hall of the temple.
51 When all the work King Solomon had done for the temple of the LORD was finished, he brought in the things his father David had dedicated -- the silver and gold and the furnishings -- and he placed them in the treasuries of the LORD's temple.
1 Kings 9:26-28
26 King Solomon also built ships at Ezion Geber, which is near Elath in Edom, on the shore of the Red Sea.
27 And Hiram sent his men -- sailors who knew the sea -- to serve in the fleet with Solomon's men.
28 They sailed to Ophir and brought back 420 talents of gold, which they delivered to King Solomon.
Note: One talent of gold is approximately 75 pounds or 34 kilograms of gold. Note: 420 talents of gold is approximately 31,500 pounds or 14,280 kilograms of gold.
1 Kings 10:14-18
14 The weight of the gold that Solomon received yearly was 666 talents,
15 not including the revenues from merchants and traders and from all the Arabian kings and the governors of the land.
16 King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold; six hundred bekas of gold went into each shield.
17 He also made three hundred small shields of hammered gold, with three minas of gold in each shield. The king put them in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon.
18 Then the king made a great throne inlaid with ivory and overlaid with fine gold.
Note: 666 talents of gold per year is equal to approximately 49,950 pounds or 22,644 kilograms of gold per year. Note: Each six hundred beka large gold shield weighed approximately 15 pounds or 6.6 kilograms of gold. Note: Each three mina small gold shield weighed approximately 3.75 pounds or 1.8 kilograms of gold.
1 Kings 10:23-27
23 King Solomon was greater in riches and wisdom than all the other kings of the earth.
24 The whole world sought audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom God had put in his heart.
25 Year after year, everyone who came brought a gift -- articles of silver and gold, robes, weapons and spices, and horses and mules.
26 Solomon accumulated chariots and horses; he had fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand horses, which he kept in the chariot cities and also with him in Jerusalem.
27 The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones,
2 Chronicles 9:20
20 All King Solomon's goblets were gold, and all the household articles in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. Nothing was made of silver, because silver was considered of little value in Solomon's day.
1 Kings 11:1-6,11-15
1 King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh's daughter -- Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites.
2 They were from nations about which the LORD had told the Israelites, "You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods." Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love.
3 He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray.
4 As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father had been.
5 He followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molech the detestable god of the Ammonites.
6 So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the LORD; he did not follow the LORD completely, as David his father had done. ...
11 So the LORD said to Solomon, "Since this is your attitude and you have not kept my covenant and my decrees, which I commanded you, I will most certainly tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your subordinates.
12 Nevertheless, for the sake of David your father, I will not do it during your lifetime. I will tear it out of the hand of your son.
13 Yet I will not tear the whole kingdom from him, but will give him one tribe for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen."
Note: The land that belonged to the small tribe of Simeon was in the middle of the land that belonged to the much larger tribe of Judah. Therefore Simeon was completely surrounded by the much larger tribe of Judah. With the passage of time the small tribe of Simeon gradually merged with the larger tribe of Judah as a result of marriages between the two tribes of people. Therefore the two tribes eventually became known by the name of the larger tribe of Judah and this is the tribe that remained loyal to Solomon's son.
Note: The tribe of Levi consisted of priests, scribes, and temple workers and they were originally given land inside the territories that belonged to all the other tribes so that the priests could teach the laws of God to everyone regardless of where the people lived. Therefore when the kingdom was divided some of the Levites were in the land of Judah and they remained loyal to Solomon's son. But some of the Levites were in the lands that belonged to the tribes that rebelled against Solomon's son. Therefore some Levites were in both parts of the divided kingdom.
Note: The tribe of Benjamin was on the border between the two kingdoms and the people of the tribe of Benjamin where able to chose which of the two kingdoms they wished to be loyal to. Some Benjamites remained faithful to God and the tribe of Judah. But some Benjamites rebelled against God and they began worshiping the idols and the false gods that were worshiped by the northern tribes.
Discussion
King Solomon began his reign by asking God to help him properly govern the people he was responsible for. God said that He would grant Solomon's request and God also promised Solomon that he would be the richest king on the face of the earth while he lived. God also told Solomon that if he would continue to honor God and obey God's commands then Solomon would have a long life.
However, Solomon gradually drifted away from his allegiance to God and Solomon began to worship the false gods of his 700 wives and 300 concubines. Therefore when Solomon died ten of the tribes of Israel rejected the rule of his son and they chose a different king to rule them and they were called the kingdom of Israel. Solomon's son became the king of Judah.
The wealth of the world no longer flowed into the kingdom of Israel or into the kingdom of Judah. And very gradually the prosperity and wealth of the kingdom of Israel and the kingdom of Judah was lost, and both kingdoms were eventually defeated by foreign nations, and the people were captured and they became slaves that had to serve foreign masters. The temple in Jerusalem was torn down and all the gold in the temple was carried off to other lands.
- - - - - - -
During my lifetime I have watched the USA prosper, put a man on the moon, and become a major leader in world affairs.
Pre-1965 Silver Coins
Silver Certificate - 1964 and Before
Federal Reserve Note - 1965 and After
I was 15 years old in 1964 and I carried USA government minted coins in my pants pocket. Pennies contained 95% copper, nickels contained 25% nickel and 75% copper, and dimes, quarters, half dollars and silver dollars contained approximately 90% silver. Silver was so common in the USA that people did not consider their pocket change to be anything special. Since a silver dollar contained approximately 90% silver this means that the market price of silver in 1964 was about $1.11 per troy ounce. On July 1, 2021 the market price of silver is about $26 per troy ounce and silver is no longer considered to be of "little value." Since 1965 in the USA our government minted coins have been made of scrap metal and our dollar bills are 100% made of paper and they are not backed by silver or gold. And our bank accounts are just digital electrons. Have you ever given any thought to the true value of a digital electron? As long as people in the USA and in the rest of the world believe that the digital electrons of the USA are of real long-term value then things should continue to be okay. However, when the USA stopped backing its money with silver and gold in 1965 the government declared that its money was backed by the faith and confidence that people had in its money and in its government leaders. As long as most of the people in the USA and in the rest of the world have faith and confidence in the honor and integrity of the leaders of the government in the USA then things should continue to be okay.
For comparison purposes, the official price of gold in 1964 in the USA was $35 per troy ounce. On July 1, 2021 the market price of gold is about $1,765 per troy ounce. In 1964 a really nice 14K gold wedding ring could be purchased for about $10. That same 14K gold wedding ring would cost about $500 in the year 2021.
In the year 1962, or two years before the USA decided to print "fiat" money that was not backed by silver of gold, I was 13 years old and the government of the USA officially expelled God from the public school system. Since that time I have watched as the academic standards in the public school system have been very gradually but continually reduced with each passing year. Today in the year 2021 there are some college students who do not know how to spell, they do not know the multiplication tables from 1 to 10, and they cannot tell time by looking at the face of a clock that has hands that show the time. Many school students no longer respect any type of authority and many school districts cannot hire or retain enough school bus drivers due to the behavior of the students on the buses. Discipline in many public school systems has become almost impossible to enforce and many public school systems are having serious problems hiring and retaining qualified teachers because the teachers do not wish to be exposed every day to the rude, sarcastic and abusive behavior of the school students.
1962 was also the year that the legal system of the USA visibly began to drift away from God. Gradually people were no longer required to swear on the Holy Bible that the testimony they were about to give in a "court of law" would be the truth. Since 1962 I have watched as God's moral laws have gradually been set aside and new moral standards have been legislated by our politicians. Today in the year 2021 a lot of people believe it is okay to do "whatever seems right in their own eyes." People in the year 2021 openly brag about being able to lie, cheat, and steal without being punished. And some people intentionally and deliberately create unnecessary problems for other people and some of these people openly brag about the things they do. This is sad because in the year 2021 these evil people are "admired" by some people and more and more people are beginning to imitate these types of unacceptable behavior.
In your opinion, if there is a God then do you think God is pleased with the USA? If there is a God then what do you think is going to happen to the USA? Is it possible that the USA may receive the same justice that Solomon's kingdom received?
Conclusion
Even if you are the king of the most powerful and richest nation on the face of the earth, when you die none the riches you acquired will go with you into the next life. And the riches you acquired may not be inherited by your children. And eventually all the wealth you acquired will gradually (or immediately) flow into the hands of other people and nothing you accomplished will remain.
However, there is another interesting story in the Holy Bible about money.
Mark 12:41-44
41 Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts.
42 But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny.
43 Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others.
44 They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything -- all she had to live on."
In your opinion, who do you think received the most honor when they arrived in heaven: King Solomon or the poor widow?
Respectfully,
Grandpappy.
Grandpappy's e-mail address is: RobertWayneAtkins@hotmail.com
2 Chronicles 9:20
