1Ki 3:5-15 “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us”

[Study Aired August 19, 2021]

1Ki 3:5  In Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night: and God said, Ask what I shall give thee.

1Ki 3:6  And Solomon said, Thou hast shewed unto thy servant David my father great mercy, according as he walked before thee in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with thee; and thou hast kept for him this great kindness, that thou hast given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day.

1Ki 3:7  And now, O LORD my God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father: and I am but a little child: I know not how to go out or come in.

1Ki 3:8  And thy servant is in the midst of thy people which thou hast chosen, a great people, that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude.

1Ki 3:9  Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?

1Ki 3:10   And the speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing.

1Ki 3:11   And God said unto him, Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thyself long life; neither hast asked riches for thyself, nor hast asked the life of thine enemies; but hast asked for thyself understanding to discern judgment;

1Ki 3:12   Behold, I have done according to thy words: lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart; so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee.

1Ki 3:13   And I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked, both riches, and honour: so that there shall not be any among the kings like unto thee all thy days.

1Ki 3:14   And if thou wilt walk in my ways, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as thy father David did walk, then I will lengthen thy days.

1Ki 3:15   And Solomon awoke; and, behold, it was a dream. And he came to Jerusalem, and stood before the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and offered up burnt offerings, and offered peace offerings, and made a feast to all his servants.

The love that God bestows upon us is revealed by calling us sons who are not known of the world, and is typically being  revealed to us via Solomon, a type of the elect whose father was David, a type of Christ (1Jn 3:1). God’s love is expressed through Christ, and this tells us that we, being as He is in this life, will be sent as Christ was sent (1Jn 4:17 , Joh 20:21 ) to express this same love to the rest of the world (2Co 5:18 , 1Co 8:6).

1Jn 3:1  Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.

1Jn 4:17   Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.

Solomon at first was truly humble and “not known of the world”, but as we know, later in his walk he would be corrupted by the world and have his heart turned by those things which represent our own power and self-willed nature that, if God does not chasten and scourge out of us (Heb 12:6), will cause us to drift back into the world like Demas, Titus and Crescens (Deu 17:16 , 1Ki 4:26 , Psa 33:17-18, 1Ki 11:2-3, 2Ti 4:10 ).

Deu 17:16   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 [negative – running with horses (Deu 17:16 ) and positive – expression of running with horses (Jer 12:5)].

1Ki 4:26   And Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen.

Psa 33:17   An horse is a vain thing for safety: neither shall he deliver any by his great strength.

Psa 33:18   Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy [Heb 5:7];

1Ki 11:2  Of the nations concerning which the LORD said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: Solomon clave unto these in love.

1Ki 11:3  And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart.

This turning away of Solomon’s heart was simply because of a lack of fear and reverence toward God’s command that told him you “shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt” as well as his desire to cleave “unto these in love”. Love is obedience to God’s commands, which tells us to forsake the world and cleave unto him who is the author and finisher of our faith (1Jn 2:15 , Jos 23:8-11)

1Jn 2:15   Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

Jos 23:8  But cleave unto the LORD your God, as ye have done unto this day.

Jos 23:9  For the LORD hath driven out from before you great nations and strong: but as for you, no man hath been able to stand before you unto this day.

Jos 23:10   One man of you shall chase a thousand: for the LORD your God, he it is that fighteth for you, as he hath promised you.

Jos 23:11   Take good heed therefore unto yourselves, that ye love the LORD your God.

In type and shadow, God was not bestowing upon Solomon the kind of correction that would have prevented him from getting all those horses that represent his own power, his own righteousness (Php 3:9), and God did not prevent him from having all those wives and concubines that add up to one thousand, which represents the same hidden desire that will continue to be in the heart of mankind throughout the thousand year reign until the sins of the Amorites come to their fullness expressed in the rebellion of Gog and Magog against the camp of the saints (Rev 20:8).

Php 3:9  And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:

Rev 20:8  And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.

Solomon did not have any more power than anyone of us to walk in God’s commandments and keep His statutes, which if he would have had, he was promised God would “lengthen his days” of 1Kings 3:14 . Yet for his father’s sake, who typifies Christ our olam/father, the whole kingdom would not be taken out of his hands despite himself: “Howbeit I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand: but I will make him prince all the days of his life for David my servant’s sake, whom I chose, because he kept my commandments and my statutes” (1Ki 11:34 ).

1Ki 3:5  In Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night: and God said, Ask what I shall give thee.

It is in “Gibeon” (“hill city”), which typifies where we are raised in heavenly places (Eph 2:6), that we learn of our high calling that is in the Lord (Php 3:14 , Psa 121:1-2).

Eph 2:6  And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

Php 3:14   I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Psa 121:1  A Song of degrees. I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.

Psa 121:2  My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth.

It is “in a dream by night” that God comes to us and says “ask what I shall give thee“. The elect’s high calling in Christ is being typified at this express moment in Solomon’s life (Psa 2:8-10). The “dream by night” reminds us that light comes out of darkness and that the dream God gives us reveals the singleness that is in Christ (2Co 11:3), a dream that is one that brings us to conclude and be convinced that there is one body with many members (Gen 40:8, Gen 41:25 , Rom 12:5).

Psa 2:8  Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession (Joh 11:22 ).

Psa 2:9  Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.

Psa 2:10   Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth.

Gen 40:8  And they said unto him, We have dreamed a dream, and there is no interpreter of it. And Joseph said unto them, Do not interpretations belong to God? tell me them, I pray you.

Gen 41:25   And Joseph said unto Pharaoh, The dream of Pharaoh is  one: God hath shewed Pharaoh what he is about to do.

2Co 11:3  But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through h