Revival: Stronger Than Ever The Gift Of Wisdom Series

Revival: Stronger Than Ever

The Gift of Wisdom

CCCAG January 17th, 2021

1 Kings 4, 2 Chronicles 1:7-12

Good morning everybody! Continuing our series about revival

If you’d like to open your Bible to 2 Chronicles 1 and bookmark it, I encourage you to do so. Then, please turn to 1 Kings 4.

Last week we began learning lessons about how to restart our lives after being shut down by a national crisis.

If you were not here last week, I want to introduce you to our teacher for this series- his name is Ezra. Ezra is the first spiritual leader of Israel after they returned from exile, and he described himself as “a scribe skilled in the law of Moses.”

To review, God’s people had messed up big time, and God allowed the nation of Babylon to conquer them and carry many of them away into exile over 700 miles from their homeland. After 70 years of exile in Babylon, and being set free to restart their nation, Ezra compiled a selective account of the history of his people.

We call his account, “The Book of Chronicles.”

In it, Ezra teaches scores of lessons from the lives of kings on what to do and what not to do when you get a chance to do things over.

REVIEW

Last week, we learned a lesson from David, one was about faith.

We learned that God relents when we repent. And that repentance involves remorse for our wrongs and turning towards what’s right and giving something costly to God.

Today, we are going to learn a lesson from Solomon about wisdom.

Prayer

PREMISE

The Bible says that, apart from Jesus Christ, Solomon was the wisest man in history.

We read about just how wise Solomon was in 1 Kings 4.

Listen as it describes Solomon’s wisdom:

1 Kings 4:29-34

29 God gave Solomon wisdom, very great insight, and understanding as vast as the sand on the seashore. 30 Solomon’s wisdom was greater than the wisdom of all the people of the East, greater than all the wisdom of Egypt. 31 He was wiser than anyone—wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, Calcol, and Darda, sons of Mahol. His reputation extended to all the surrounding nations.

32 Solomon spoke 3,000 proverbs, and his songs numbered 1,005. 33 He spoke about trees, from the cedar in Lebanon to the hyssop growing out of the wall. He also spoke about animals, birds, reptiles, and fish. 34 Emissaries of all peoples, sent by every king on earth who had heard of his wisdom, came to listen to Solomon’s wisdom.

Pretty impressive, right?

Even with all of this Wisdom, when you study the life of Solomon, you quickly realize he did many things wrong. The Book of 1st and 2nd Kings highlights many of those things.

But Ezra wrote Chronicles to highlight the positive side of Israel’s kings just to encourage us that restoration is possible.

So he’s going to talk about what Solomon did right. And what Solomon did right benefited an entire nation.

What he did right started in the very first year of his reign.

Background- Solomon was replacing his personal hero- his father David.

David was the greatest king in Israel’s history. Huge shoes to fill and it had to be very intimating for this young man to think about.

As he thought out how to begin his kingship, Solomon did something we might not have thought of. He went to Israel’s holiest place, a mountain not far from his home. He took with him 1,000 sheep, goats and cattle. He built a fire on an altar, and he made a thousand-animal-offering to God.

In our way of thinking today in 2021, it would be like he gave away 100 million dollars to a Christian charity. If you’re scratching your head wondering why he did that, let me read to you want happened as a result:

2 Chron 1:7-12

That night God appeared to Solomon and said to him, “Ask. What should I give you?” 8 And Solomon said to God, “You have shown great and faithful love to my father David, and you have made me king in his place. 9 Lord God, let your promise to my father David now come true. For you have made me king over a people as numerous as the dust of the earth. 10 Now grant me wisdom and knowledge so that I may lead these people, for who can judge this great people of yours?” 11 God said to Solomon, “Since this was in your heart, and you have not requested riches, wealth, or glory, or for the life of those who hate you, and you have not even requested long life, but you have requested for yourself wisdom and knowledge that you may judge my people over whom I have made you king, 12 wisdom and knowledge are given to you. I will also give you riches, wealth, and glory, unlike what was given to the kings who were before you, or will be given to those after you.”