Praise the Lord for His provision that He freely gives unto His people. As we see in this chapter 5, the Lord will use all who has a desire to fulfill His will, and supply all that is needed to accomplish it.
Lord, help us now in this pandemic that is being fostered upon us. Give us leaders who have godly wisdom, and the heart to glorify you. Thank you Lord for hearing our prayers.
What you're reading in 1 Kings 12:3-5,9, refers to mainly the high taxes that Solomon imposed upon the people. Even though we read in 2 Chronicles 8:7,8, that harsh taxes were imposed on those not of Israel that lived amongst them, we see that all of Israel suffered because of the taxes.
Solomon extracted taxes, goods & services from the people in various ways & these were done primarily for the building of the Temple (though, King David actually had already procured most of the materials for them), but also for the other buildings to house his many wives & concubines. He established twelve districts to sustain the king & his household each month through taxation ( 1 Kings 4:7); he conscripted labour from Israel ( 1 Kings 5:13-18); taxed merchants & trade ( 1 Kings 10:15); and received tribute from other nations ( 1 Kings 4:21).
And particularly for the common man, such high taxation became a heavy burden to bear, where some did their normal work during the day, then had to contribute their time after work in Solomon's building projects. So the people protested such burdens & appealed to Solomon's successor, Rehoboam to have pity on them. Rather, he raised the taxes even further causing Jeroboam to lead the people in revolt, hence the divisions of the Kingdoms (Judah & Israel): 1 Kings 12:16-27.
It's noteworthy, that Samuel much earlier prophesied about the inevitability of taxation & other demands ( 1 Sam 8:11-22) as the people demanded a king as the other nations had.
a. Solomon's Temple ( 1 Kings 5:3-6:1 & 6:37-38). The King of Tyre supplied the timber & workmen for this work which took seven years in building.
b. Zerubbabel's Temple ( Ezra 1, 3, 6). This temple was instigated & authorized by Cyrus in 538 BC but the work ceased because of Samaritan opposition & discouragement of many of the Jews. In 515 BC, the work was finally completed by Zerubbabel & Joshua after being encouraged to do so by the prophets Haggai & Zechariah to take up the unfinished work. ( Ezra 4:24-5:2; Haggai 1:1-2:9; Zechariah 4:7-10). But this temple wasn't as extravagant as Solomon's. This temple was plundered & desecrated by Antiochus Epiphanes in 169 BC.
c. Herod's Temple. In about 20 BC, Herod the Great undertook to reconstruct the Temple with its surrounding courts & buildings. Most of the construction took about ten years to complete, but work was still going on while Jesus walked on the Earth & later. And this temple was destroyed by Emperor Titus of Rome in AD 70 & its furnishings & treasures carried off to Rome.
There is no biblical reference to another temple being built as Jesus Himself said, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." ( John 2:19), referring to His Body & three days later, His resurrection. And as you said, that we are the Temple of the Holy Ghost ( 1 Corinthians 6:19), so the old temple was destroyed (first by the rending of the vail & then by Titus), which ushered in the New Covenant with the Temple within us. There are references to the Temple in Heaven but in the New Jerusalem, there will be no need for one, as "the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it." ( Revelation 21:22).
Present day Jews want another Temple to be built, some wanting the institution of sacrifices as well, & others, not. Yet, 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 indicates that anti-Christ will one day sit in the temple showing himself to be God, so one can only guess on that one.
Coming together and working together to build the House of the Lord is a good thing. "Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity". Ps. 133
. * . God carefully choose Solomon and endowed him with wisdom majorly for purpose of building the Temple which is symbole of the Church (body of Christ) Today. Christ the cheif corner Stone - our Rock of Ages, He is foundation of the Church.
Chapter 5 shows us how awesome God is. His greatness was demonstrated in His benevolence to Solomon. He blessed him so much that he became a blessing like Abraham and through this many came to hear of his God.
Lord, help us now in this pandemic that is being fostered upon us. Give us leaders who have godly wisdom, and the heart to glorify you. Thank you Lord for hearing our prayers.
God bless everyone this day, August 5, 2021.
Solomon extracted taxes, goods & services from the people in various ways & these were done primarily for the building of the Temple (though, King David actually had already procured most of the materials for them), but also for the other buildings to house his many wives & concubines. He established twelve districts to sustain the king & his household each month through taxation ( 1 Kings 4:7); he conscripted labour from Israel ( 1 Kings 5:13-18); taxed merchants & trade ( 1 Kings 10:15); and received tribute from other nations ( 1 Kings 4:21).
And particularly for the common man, such high taxation became a heavy burden to bear, where some did their normal work during the day, then had to contribute their time after work in Solomon's building projects. So the people protested such burdens & appealed to Solomon's successor, Rehoboam to have pity on them. Rather, he raised the taxes even further causing Jeroboam to lead the people in revolt, hence the divisions of the Kingdoms (Judah & Israel): 1 Kings 12:16-27.
It's noteworthy, that Samuel much earlier prophesied about the inevitability of taxation & other demands ( 1 Sam 8:11-22) as the people demanded a king as the other nations had.
a. Solomon's Temple ( 1 Kings 5:3-6:1 & 6:37-38). The King of Tyre supplied the timber & workmen for this work which took seven years in building.
b. Zerubbabel's Temple ( Ezra 1, 3, 6). This temple was instigated & authorized by Cyrus in 538 BC but the work ceased because of Samaritan opposition & discouragement of many of the Jews. In 515 BC, the work was finally completed by Zerubbabel & Joshua after being encouraged to do so by the prophets Haggai & Zechariah to take up the unfinished work. ( Ezra 4:24-5:2; Haggai 1:1-2:9; Zechariah 4:7-10). But this temple wasn't as extravagant as Solomon's. This temple was plundered & desecrated by Antiochus Epiphanes in 169 BC.
c. Herod's Temple. In about 20 BC, Herod the Great undertook to reconstruct the Temple with its surrounding courts & buildings. Most of the construction took about ten years to complete, but work was still going on while Jesus walked on the Earth & later. And this temple was destroyed by Emperor Titus of Rome in AD 70 & its furnishings & treasures carried off to Rome.
There is no biblical reference to another temple being built as Jesus Himself said, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." ( John 2:19), referring to His Body & three days later, His resurrection. And as you said, that we are the Temple of the Holy Ghost ( 1 Corinthians 6:19), so the old temple was destroyed (first by the rending of the vail & then by Titus), which ushered in the New Covenant with the Temple within us. There are references to the Temple in Heaven but in the New Jerusalem, there will be no need for one, as "the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it." ( Revelation 21:22).
Present day Jews want another Temple to be built, some wanting the institution of sacrifices as well, & others, not. Yet, 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 indicates that anti-Christ will one day sit in the temple showing himself to be God, so one can only guess on that one.
Coming together and working together to build the House of the Lord is a good thing. "Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity". Ps. 133
By making solomon king and verse 12 iving him the wisdom as He romiised
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