I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Kings 9-10.

Today’s passage begins with God’s reply to King Solomon’s prayer of dedication for the Temple.  Solomon had asked God to watch over the Temple and to hear prayers directed towards it.  God responded that He would indeed watch over the Temple until the end of time.   But He warned the people of Israel that if they disobeyed God’s commands and worshiped other gods, the destruction of the Temple would serve as a warning to all peoples.  And today in Jerusalem we see that promise fulfilled.  The remains of the Temple are a platform upon which the worshipers of another god have built their own temple.  I believe that at some point those people will learn the lesson the Philistines learned when they put the Ark of the covenant in a subordinate position to their god, Dagon.  More importantly, it should serve as an object lesson to people today.  If we turn to God and serve Him, He will bless us, but if we turn from Him, our lands will become a desert and a ruin.

Every time I read the rest of today’s passage I am struck by how King Solomon’s wisdom led him to build a trading empire rather than one of conquest.  We see how he entered into a trading alliance with King Hiram of Tyre.  Tyre was the dominant trading empire in the Mediterranean, yet Solomon’s apparent control over the land trade routes to Asia gave him the dominant role in his partnership with Hiram.  Then once King Solomon began sending trade ships out into the Indian Ocean from the Red Sea the Queen of Sheba came to see what his intentions really were.  She had heard of his wisdom as a trading partner, but did not truly believe it until she met him.  I read this account as showing us that King Solomon entered into win-win trade relationships.  He did not seek trade agreements where he won and his trade partner lost.  We see that with both Tyre and the Queen of Sheba.  With Tyre, he sold King Hiram lands which were basically worthless, but invited Hiram into a partnership of trade out of a port city which Solomon controlled.  The Queen of Sheba brought Solomon gifts of great value, but he sent her on her way with gifts she would have considered of as great, or greater. value.