1 Kings 4

The Explanation

If you start reading 1 Kings 4, it looks a bit like the credits at the end of a film. Long lists of names. Azariah, Zadok, Benaiah, Ben Hur, Ben Deker. You almost want to skip it. But keep reading, because between all those names something big becomes visible.

Solomon is king of Israel. He is the son of David, and he rules over a huge country. To keep everything running well, he has set up a kind of team. There is a high priest, army commanders, scribes (that's what people who wrote everything down were called then), a friend of the king, and a manager of the palace. Solomon does not do it all alone. He has good people around him.

Then come twelve officers, one for every month of the year. Each of them had to provide food for the palace for a month. That was a huge job, because just look at what was needed in one day: thirty cors of fine flour (that is thousands of pounds), sixty measures of coarser flour, ten fat cattle, twenty cattle from the pasture, a hundred sheep, and also deer, gazelles, and fattened birds. Every day. The palace kitchen must have smelled amazing.

The country is at peace. In verse 25 there is a beautiful sentence: "Judah and Israel lived safely, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, from Dan even to Beersheba." Picture that: people sitting quietly in their own garden, no war, no fear. From the far north (Dan) to the far south (Beersheba), the whole country breathes rest.

And then something even more important. God gives Solomon wisdom. Not a little bit, but "as the sand that is on the seashore." Try counting grains of sand at the beach sometime. Solomon knows more than the wise men of Egypt, more than any wise man of his time. He writes three thousand proverbs and more than a thousand songs. He knows about trees, about the huge cedar and the tiny hyssop that grows out of a crack in a wall. He knows about animals, birds, insects, and fish. Kings from other countries send their people to come and listen to him.

What Does This Mean?

This chapter shows what happens when a king rules with God's wisdom. It is not a story with a fight or a miracle in the middle. It is a picture. A picture of how good it can be when things go the way God intends: peace, enough food, safety, wisdom.

Solomon is great, but pay attention to verse 29: "God gave Solomon abundant wisdom." Solomon did not invent his wisdom himself. He received it. Everything he is, comes from God. That is important, because later in his life Solomon forgets this and things go wrong. But here, in chapter 4, it still shines.

The Common Thread

Sitting under your own vine, without fear. That image comes back again and again in the Bible. The prophets later use it to talk about the time when the Messiah comes. Solomon's kingdom is a kind of preview, a taste of something bigger.

Because Jesus is called "greater than Solomon" (He says that Himself in the Gospels). Solomon's peace lasted only for a while. Jesus brings a peace that does not end. Solomon was wise, but Jesus is Wisdom Himself. When you read this chapter, you see something of the kingdom that Jesus is building, where there really is peace forever.

For You

Maybe you sometimes wish your life felt like verse 25: safe, quiet, no worries. But life is often not like that. There is fuss at school, worry at home, things that hurt.

You may pray for that peace. And you may also know that Jesus is the true King who gives it. Not always right away, not always in the way you think, but for sure.

And one more thing: Solomon was wise because he received it from God. If you want to become wise, you don't have to figure everything out yourself. You may ask God. He gives generously.

Talk About It

Why do you think the Bible spends so many verses on names and lists of food? What does that tell us about God?

Solomon received his wisdom from God. Is there something you would want to ask God for? And do you dare to actually ask it?

Praying Together

Lord God, thank You that You are a King who gives peace and wisdom. Thank You for Jesus, who is even greater than Solomon. Help us to ask You when we don't know something. And give us Your peace, also when things around us are not calm. Amen.