1 Kings, Chapter 4 - Solomon's Golden Age | Prophets of Israel Daily

[music] >> Shalom friends, welcome back to the Prophets of Israel daily. This is the book [music] of First Kings chapter 4. I'm Jeremy Gimpel, here with my dear friend and havruta study partner [music] Aryeh Brillwitz. And this series is brought to you by the Land of Israel network at the landofisrael.com. All right friends, after all the drama, the deathbed charge, the securing of the throne, the plea for a listening heart, chapter 4 shows us what it all produced. This is the chapter of the golden age, a portrait of Israel at the very height of its glory, more peaceful, prosperous, and expansive than it had ever been. It is a window into the beginning of the Messianic era, a prophetic blueprint of what the kingdom could look like. And at first glance, it reads like a list, officials, districts, provisions. And underneath that list, it's just a beautiful image, an image that inspired, at least for me, the Arugot Farm that Ari and I have been building in Judea now for 10 years. And the chapter opens by naming Solomon's cabinet. And then verses 7 through 19, Solomon appoints 12 officers over all of Israel, each responsible for provisioning the king and the entire kingdom for 1 month of the year. 12 officers, 12 months, the whole kingdom just running like clockwork. And then comes the verse that captures the soul of the age, verse 25. Vayeshev Yehudah v'Yisrael lavetach ish takhat gafno v'takhat te'enato. And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig tree. That's verse 25. Ish takhat gafno v'takhat te'enato. Every man under his own vine and under his own fig tree, from Dan to Beersheba, all the days of Solomon. Te'enato, his fig tree. I planted a fig tree and I made a stone bench in a circle around it. And when we're done building the Arugot Farm, I'm going to put a sign there that says "Ted N'ato, his fig tree." And friends, I'm going to sit down under my fig tree and just look over Jerusalem. >> That's beautiful, Jeremy. I'm going to not wait until we're done, and I'm just going to do that tonight at my Sabbath table where right behind me, outside the window, is a fig tree that I sit at my Sabbath table under that. Um we're living the dream. We really are. And by the way, that phrase, "Every man under his vine and under his fig tree" becomes one of the most enduring images um of peace in all of the Tanakh. And it's worth asking why the Tanakh reaches for a vine and a fig tree specifically. Cuz think about what it takes to sit under your own vine and fig tree. A vine takes years to mature. A fig tree takes years before it bears fruit. You don't plant them for a quick harvest. You plant them for a future that you're betting on. So, to sit under your own vine and fig tree means that you've had years of stability, enough security to to plant slowly and wait, enough confidence in tomorrow to believe you'll still be here to enjoy the fruit. It's the opposite of the life David lived, always running, always fighting. Right? This is the son enjoying the peace the father made possible. Nobody's fleeing, nobody's under siege, every family quietly on its own land watching its own trees grow. And that's why the prophets later grabbed this exact image to describe the Messianic age itself. Micah and Zechariah and Zechariah both paint the final redemption as the day when every man will sit under his vine and under his fig tree and none shall make them afraid. They borrowed Solomon's golden age as a preview of the world to come, of the Messianic age. So, so this little verse in a chapter full of administrative lists is one of the most hopeful verses in the Tanakh, a snapshot of what redemption looks like. And it tells us the goal was never empire or conquest. It was always this, a person at peace on their own land, unafraid. >> That's really beautiful, Ari. And you know, in the chapter shows just how vast this peaceful kingdom was. Verse 21, "Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the river." Some people say from the river Jordan, but I think it's pretty clear that the river is the river Euphrates, the land promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the land that Moshe stood upon before he crossed the Jordan. And God says, "Look north, south, east, and west." He's looking east and he says, "This is the land that I promised." And so, from the river Euphrates through the land of the Philistines in Gaza to the border of Egypt, the fullest extent the promise to Abraham ever reached in history. I made a short video about where the land of Israel is, and I just want to air it for you today so you can really see the promised land with your own eyes. Check this out. >> What exactly is the land of Israel? Where exactly are the borders of the land of [music] Israel? If we can't envision it, if we can't see it, we can't pray for it, and we'll never achieve it. The Bible makes it very clear. Genesis chapter 15 verse 18, "From the river Egypt to the great Euphrates River." Exodus 23 verse 31, "I have set your borders from the Red Sea to the sea of the Philistines and from the desert to the Euphrates." >> This here is Eretz Israel. This is the land of Israel. >> So now you see where the logo of the Land of Israel Network and the Land of Israel Fellowship come from. See, some Christian Bibles mistranslate the verse and they say from the Nile to the Euphrates. It says from the river Egypt to the Euphrates. And that's all of the Sinai until the river Egypt that is the border of another country called Egypt. The Nile is inside another country. That's not the promised land. That's Egypt. But here we see Solomon sovereign over it all. But in this chapter, there's one phrase in here that I can't read in our generation without stopping. Verse 24. Solomon had dominion over all the region west of the river from Tiphsah even to Gaza. >> Yeah, even to Gaza, Jeremy. For for anyone living in Israel today, those three words they land hard, right? Gaza. Azza. Right? That strip of land on our southwestern edge that has been a source of conflict for the people of Israel for over 3,000 years. Go back to the book of Judges. Gaza was a great Philistine stronghold, the very city where Samson met his end. It was hostile territory, a thorn in Israel's side for generations. The enemy David spent his life fighting, right? And and in our days, friends, we don't need to explain what Gaza has meant to the people of Israel. Right? The rockets, the wars, the heartbreak. Gaza has been one of the most painful and persistent challenges of our entire national existence, ancient and modern. And yet, here in this one verse under King Solomon, at the height of Israel's faithfulness and peace, the text says his dominion reached even to Gaza. Even Gaza was at peace. Even Gaza was was within the ordered, secure, God-blessed kingdom. The one place that has tormented Israel across millennia, for one shining generation under a king with a listening heart, even Gaza was quiet. And I don't think that's a small detail. I think the Tanakh is showing us that the challenges that seem permanent, the conflicts that feel like they can never be resolved, under the right kind of leadership, under a kingdom truly aligned with God, even those can know peace. Even Gaza. >> You know, it's just marvelous looking at the Bible and watching Israel today in our struggle and journey towards redemption. Watching the Bible alive in three dimensions, in living color. It just comes to life. Even Gaza, it's just we are struggling right now in the land of Israel. October 7th came from Gaza. That's the belly of the beast of the Hamas. And it's like, by the way, Solomon, when Messiah comes and builds the temple, it's even Gaza. It's like winking to our generation. And so, this chapter tells us the source of it all. Hashem gave rohav lev, largeness of heart. Wisdom greater than all the wisdom of the East, of Egypt. He spoke 3,000 proverbs and 1,005 songs. People came from all of the nations to hear him. But right in the middle of this golden picture, Ari, there's one verse that just catches me. And I think it's a sneak preview of the tragedy that's to come. Verse 26. had 40,000 stalls of horses for his chariots. 40,000 horses. And friends, the Torah in the law of kings says something very specific. Listen to Deuteronomy chapter 17. Rock low yard below season below yard below nation below yard only he shall not multiply horses for himself nor shall they multiply wives for himself that his heart not turn away. So the king is commanded plainly do not accumulate too many horses and do not take too many wives and here from the very beginning at the height of his wisdom Solomon already has 40,000 horses and later he has a thousand wives and so we really learn sometimes the smartest people with the highest IQ have the hardest challenge because their IQ becomes their provide and their pride is their downfall. >> Yes, that's true. But I think mostly that's a challenge your family has to deal with much more than me at least but but anyways, Jeremy that is one of the most devastating verses in the whole chapter because of where the text places it right in the middle of describing Solomon as the wisest man whoever lived and I don't think that that's an accident because here's the danger of being the smartest man in the world. You can start to believe you're smart enough to outsmart the Torah itself. The Torah says a king shouldn't multiply horses and Solomon can look at that and think I understand why. That law is to stop a king from trusting in military might instead of in God but that's not me. I'm only maintaining peace through strength. The reason behind the law doesn't apply to me and it's the same with wives. The Torah says a king shouldn't multiply wives less his heart turns away. And you can hear Solomon reasoning other things can't handle it. Their hearts get pulled by foreign gods but I'm the wisest man alive. I love God. I can marry for diplomacy and peace and keep my heart entirely with God. That law is for kings who aren't wise enough. It isn't for In fact, we learn that Solomon looked at the reason behind the command and told himself, "I will multiply and I will not turn away." And friends, that is the tragic seed planted right here in chapter 4 in the soil of his greatest strength because we know how the story ends. In chapter 11, it is exactly the wives and exactly the turning of the heart that the Torah warned about that brought Solomon down. The very thing the Torah predicted, word for word, his heart turned away. And here's the piece that breaks my heart. Solomon asked God for a heart a love show me a listening heart. And the Torah warned that too many wives would cause his lev, his heart, to turn. The same heart that was his greatest gift becomes the site of his greatest fall. The wisest man in the world forgot one thing wisdom can never replace, the humility to obey God even when you're certain that you know better. >> You know, that's the sobering truth of it, Ari. The smartest man who ever lived was brought down not by a lack of wisdom, but by too much confidence in it. And wisdom told him that he was the exception. The Torah told him no one is. And so, that's what chapter 4 teaches us. First for our own lives, this chapter is a picture of what flourishing actually looks like. A deep peace of a person and secure enough to plant a vine and wait years for its fruit, settled and unafraid under their own tree. It tells us that peace begins on the inside. Shlomo's whole golden age grew out of one internal choice to ask God for the right heart. But the same chapter holds the warning, too, that our greatest strength can sometimes become our greatest danger the moment it makes us think that the rules were written for other people. Shlomo's wisdom was a gift. It's like his certainty that the Torah was that she was above the Torah, that was the crack that one day would break him. And so, get the heart right and keep the humility to obey even when you're sure you know better. And second, for Israel today as a nation, friends, this chapter is a memory and a promise. It's a memory of what our nation looked like at its highest, Judah and Israel, a whole nation dwelling safely from Dan to Beersheba, the borders reaching the fullness God promised Abraham, even Gaza at peace. And it's a promise because the prophets took that exact image and told us it's going to come again. And so, there will be a day when every person sits under their vine and their fig tree, and none shall make them afraid. And so, we've come back to the land of Israel. We're living in the early light of that ancient vision. In chapter 4, it speaks to our generation that it all is coming true. Not through horses and chariots, not through might alone, but through a nation that seeks, just like Solomon at his best, with a listening heart. That we have to stay humble enough to build a kingdom that's aligned with Hashem. Even the hardest places, even Gaza, will finally know peace. May we live to see it, my friends. And so, I want to join everyone around the world. I've been traveling around the United States now speaking to so many people, and I see that it's slowly but surely our global family is growing. And now you have a chance. You can actually join 100% for free. Try out the Land of Israel fellowship. See it for yourself. Experience what it's like being connected to this global movement of people from so many backgrounds, so many languages, so many nations, all coming together wanting to learn Torah, wanting to be together to grow together and to see what the future holds as we're literally building what Solomon is about to build. We're just building it in the virtual, literally a house of [music] prayer for all nations. Check it out at landofisrael.com. Hazak u'varuch, my friends. Tomorrow, we'll see you for 1 Kings chapter [music] 5.