|
|
A Bible Teaching Ministry of Galyn Wiemers
|
|
|
![Daily Devotions, Evening and Morning Devotional](../images/Reps&Sets-banner-815LG-devotionTitle.jpg)
|
|
![Sunrise on Temple Mount in Jerusalem; Back to Previous Devotion](../images/sunrise-previous.jpg)
|
April 16 - Evening
"Solomon had twelve district governors over all Israel, who supplied provisions for the king and the royal household. Each one had to provide supplies for one month in the year...
The people of Judah and Israel were as numerous
as the sand on the seashore; they ate, they drank
and they were happy...
God gave Solomon wisdom and very great insight, and a breadth of understanding as measureless as the sand on the seashore. Solomon’s wisdom was greater than the wisdom of all the people of the East, and greater than all the wisdom of Egypt. He was wiser than anyone else, including Ethan the Ezrahite—wiser than Heman, Kalkol and Darda, the sons of Mahol.
And his fame spread to all the surrounding nations.
He spoke three thousand proverbs and his songs numbered a thousand and five. He spoke about
plant life, from the cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop
that grows out of walls. He also spoke about animals and birds, reptiles and fish. From all nations people came to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, sent by all the kings of the world, who had heard of his wisdom."
- First Kings 4:7, 20, 29-34 |
![Sunset on the Sea of Galilee; Click to go to next devotion](../images/sunset-previous.jpg) |
|
Politician, King, Author, Wiseman, Song Writer, Scientist, Scholar, International Advisor |
|
|
Solomon did what Samuel had warned Israel about if they received the king they had asked for.
(1 Samuel 8:10-22). King Solomon made a large central government in Jerusalem, staffed it and
then increased the taxes on the rest of the nation. The nation was divided into twelve districts
(map here of districts) which were roughly divided according to their tribal territory assigned by Joshua. Each district would provide the financing of the kingdom for a month each year. These
taxes and provisions would be collected by the district’s chief officer. The tribe of Judah was exempt from taking their turn which, obviously, was not going to be accepted easily by the northern tribes.
Solomon’s quest for wisdom was a traditional value in the ancient Near East. Egyptian writings
and sayings of wisdom from Amenemope a hundred years before Solomon are still available.
Even in the Akkadian Empire (Mesopotamia) of 2300 BC wisdom was sought and recorded.
Some of the wisdom from the Akkadian Empire comes to us in the recordings of the
Wisdom of Ahiqar which can be seen here and here.
The Bible in 1 Kings 4:30-31 mentions the wisdom of the East and the wisdom of Egypt and even mentions some of the individual wisemen – Ethan, Heman, Kalkol and Darda. These are men
whose sayings and thoughts have probably come down to us in some form or revision through
other writers from the ancient world. 1 Chronicles 2:6 lists these same men as being descendants
of Tamar and Judah. They were skilled not only in wisdom, but also in music (see Heman’s song
in Psalms 88 and Ethan’s song in Psalm 89) and in dance since the word mahol in 1 Kings 4:31 means “dancer.”
Solomon was greater and more famous than all of these men in Egypt, in the East and in all the recorded history. Solomon spoke 3,000 proverbs and wrote 1,005 songs. In the modern Western world this would mean Solomon was being quoted in self-help books and at business seminars,
he would be listened to on i-tunes with a continual musical presence in the nation’s top forty pop songs. But, more Solomon was also a scientist speaking about the smallest plants to the largest trees with insight into zoology, also. Solomon’s talents made him more than a mere national celebrity. Solomon’s fame spread into other countries so that even kings sent their diplomats and representatives to Solomon to seek his advice concerning political and international situations.
Solomon was “the Man!” |
|
![Christian Quote from Church History](../images/quote-box.jpg) |
“The coming decade of decision will be marked either by evangelical penetration of the world, or by the world’s penetration of the evangelical movement and an inner circle’s reactionary withdrawal into some modern
Dead Sea Caves.”
– Carl F. H. Henry |
![Something to Ponder??](../images/ponder-box.jpg) |
Regeneration – “re-” and “generate” are of Latin origin and mean “generated over again”, “born again”, or “born a second time” (John 3:7; Titus 3:5; 1 John 3:2; 1 John
3:1; 5:1; 2 Corinthians 5:17). God is the father of the new birth (John 1:12, 13).
The Holy Spirit is the active agent that causes the new birth (John 3:5-6). The Word of God is the means by which the Holy Spirit produces the new birth because a man cannot believe in something of which he is ignorant (1 Peter 1:23; Romans 10:17). Faith is the mechanism that accomplishes the new birth (Galatians 3:26; John 1:12). The resurrection of Jesus
Christ is the power of the new birth (1 Peter 1:3). The blood of the new covenant is the starting point of the new birth (1 Peter 1:18-19). |
|
|
|
|
|
|
![Personal Prayer](../images/personal-prayer-box.jpg) |
![Church Prayer Item](../images/church-prayer-box.jpg) |
![National Prayer Concerns](../images/nation-prayer-box.jpg) |
![World Prayer Concerns](../images/world-prayer-box.jpg) |
Enough income to meet your needs |
Hearts of servants |
Gun Control Issues |
China, PRC |
|
|
|
![Photo of Jerusalem; Pictures of Israel](../images/picture-from-israel450.jpg) |
![Bible Map and Diagram](../images/bible-map.jpg) |
![The original steps from the days of the New Testament used to access the Temple Mount from the south. These steps were designed to create a slow procession up the to the Temple Mount by alternating a wide step (long run, 35 inches) with narrow step (short run, 12 inches) as seen in this photo.](../photos-diagrams/pics-images/april-photos/16b-monumental-steps-southside-original-B-450.jpg)
The original steps from the days of the New Testament used to access the Temple Mount from the south. These steps were designed to create a slow procession up the to the Temple Mount by alternating a wide step (long run, 35 inches) with narrow step (short run, 12 inches) as seen in this photo.
This flight of stairs is 210 feet wide.
The stairs are a combination of smooth stone slabs and carved bedrock. The stairs alternate between a 35 inch run(the length of the step) and a 12 inch run, except for the first and last three steps, which are all 12 inches. The alternating step width caused the Jewish worshippers to proceed toward the Temple Mount with a steady, unrushed pace.
Jewish writings record Gamaliel (the Apostle Paul’s Jewish instructor and the man who suggested the release of the Apostles in Acts 5:34) sitting on these steps with the elders:
It happened once with Rabban Gamaliel and the elders, that they were sitting on the stairs in the Temple Mount.
-Tosefta Sanhedrin 2:6
(See another photo here and more details here.) |
![Details from 2 Kings 3 when Judah and Israel went to war agains Moab and Elisha had the troops dig trenches to supply the troops with water and deceive the enemy.](../photos-diagrams/diagrams/april-digrams/16b-181_2kg3-300.jpg)
Details from 2 Kings 3 when Judah and Israel went to war agains Moab and Elisha had the troops dig trenches to supply the troops with water and deceive the enemy. |
(click on image for larger size.) |
(click on image for larger size) |
|
|
Details and Explanation of Sets & Reps Devotional System Here |
![Make a donation to support Generation Word Bible Teaching Ministry](../images/donation.jpg) |
|
|
|
|
|
Reps & Sets is a daily Bible devotional for Christians from Generation Word Bible Teaching used each morning and evening. |
|
|
|