1 Kings Chapter 9
God’s Warning to Solomon
A. God appears to Solomon again
1. (1 Kings 9:1-5) God confirms the answer to Solomon’s prayer
“And it came to pass, when Solomon had finished building the house of the LORD and the king’s house, and all Solomon’s desire which he wanted to do, that the LORD appeared to Solomon the second time, as He had appeared to him at Gibeon. And the LORD said to him, I have heard your prayer and your supplication that you have made before Me, I have consecrated this house which you have built to put My name there forever, and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually. Now if you walk before Me as your father David walked, in integrity of heart and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded you, and if you keep My statutes and My judgments, then I will establish the throne of your kingdom over Israel forever, as I promised David your father, saying, You shall not fail to have a man on the throne of Israel.”
Solomon completed the great building projects that defined the first half of his reign. This included the house of the Lord, his own palace, and all other structures he desired to accomplish. Scripture indicates that this occurred roughly twenty four years after Solomon ascended the throne. It was after these monumental achievements that God appeared to Solomon again, the second recorded divine appearance in his life. This moment signals a turning point, because finishing one’s greatest accomplishments often exposes the soul to new dangers. When lifelong work is completed, the temptation is to relax spiritually, lose focus, and drift toward compromise. As Morgan notes, the hour after great accomplishment can be the most perilous, because the heart seeks a new object of desire, whether noble or corrupt.
The text emphasizes that all Solomon’s desire was fulfilled, a phrase that describes intense delight. Trapp notes that the word for desire carries the sense of a young man’s longing for his beloved, implying that Solomon’s affections were becoming overly attached to his achievements. This unhealthy attachment becomes the early rumble of the decline that will appear in later chapters. Achievements, when loved too deeply, often become idols, and even the wisest man can stumble if the heart is not guarded.
God’s appearance to Solomon a second time reveals the goodness and patience of God. The first divine encounter came early in Solomon’s reign at Gibeon, when God invited him to ask for wisdom. The second appearance comes decades later, reminding us that God gives renewed visitations and fresh mercies throughout the believer’s life. Spurgeon observed that older saints should not only look back with gratitude upon early encounters with God, but should also seek fresh experiences of His presence. God does not need to convert His people again, yet He does renew their strength and open the windows of heaven for new seasons of power and clarity.
God assured Solomon that He had heard his prayer from the temple dedication. A prayer means nothing unless God hears and responds to it, and Solomon’s prayer in chapter eight had been saturated with pleas for God’s attention. Spurgeon reminds us that there are moments in prayer when the believer senses that the answer has been granted, when petition gives way to thanksgiving. God had already given Solomon an immediate sign of acceptance when fire from heaven consumed the sacrifices at the dedication, yet now He gives a verbal confirmation many years later. God’s hearing is not bound to time, and His responses often come in multiple forms to strengthen faith.
The Lord then declared that He had consecrated the temple. Solomon built the temple with materials, labor, and architectural skill, yet only God could make it holy. Meyer notes that this truth reflects the larger reality that man performs the outward work while God performs the invisible work of consecration. Whether in ministry, worship, or daily obedience, human effort remains powerless unless God hallows it with His presence.
Finally, God placed a clear and unmistakable condition before Solomon. If Solomon walked before God with integrity and obedience, as David had walked, then God would establish his throne and maintain the Davidic dynasty forever. God was not demanding perfect obedience, because David did not live flawlessly. Instead, David’s life was marked by sincerity, repentance, loyalty, and a heart oriented toward God. That same heart posture was within Solomon’s reach, and if he remained faithful, God’s blessings would continue. Yet implied in the promise was a warning. If Solomon drifted, the kingdom would suffer loss. The stability of the throne was tied to obedience, reminding every leader that success with God is always conditional upon faithfulness.
2. (1 Kings 9:6-9) God warns Solomon
“But if you or your sons at all turn from following Me, and do not keep My commandments and My statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods and worship them, then I will cut off Israel from the land which I have given them, and this house which I have consecrated for My name I will cast out of My sight. Israel will be a proverb and a byword among all peoples. And as for this house, which is exalted, everyone who passes by it will be astonished and will hiss, and say, Why has the LORD done thus to this land and to this house. Then they will answer, Because they forsook the LORD their God, who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, and worshiped them and served them, therefore the LORD has brought all this calamity on them.”
God followed His promise of blessing with a clear and sobering warning. The kingdom and the Davidic dynasty would endure through obedience, but if Solomon or his sons turned from following the Lord, judgment would follow. God made no room for divided loyalty. If the king drifted from the commandments and statutes God had set before Israel, the consequences would fall not only upon the royal house but also upon the nation itself. Leadership in Israel had covenantal weight. A faithful king brought stability and blessing. An idolatrous king invited ruin. The warning makes it plain that privilege carries responsibility, and disobedience from the top brings devastation to the entire body.
The Lord declared that if Solomon or his descendants forsook Him and turned to idols, He would cut off Israel from the land that He had given them. The gift of the land was gracious, yet within the Mosaic Covenant its enjoyment was conditional upon obedience. Israel could not rely on their heritage, their past victories, or even the glories of the temple to shield them from the consequences of rebellion. The very land promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob could be forfeited through idolatry. This warning anticipates both the Assyrian and Babylonian exiles, where God literally removed His people from the land because they persisted in worshiping other gods.
God also warned that the temple itself, though consecrated and filled with His glory, could be cast out of His sight. The temple was not a talisman that guaranteed divine favor. God had accepted it, sanctified it, and put His Name upon it, yet He would just as surely reject it if the people rejected Him. The temple was glorious, but it was not God. Israel would always face the temptation to love the symbol more than the One symbolized, to trust the building rather than the God who met them there. The warning made it clear that the temple could become desolate if it ever replaced obedience in the hearts of the people. This was fulfilled when the Babylonians destroyed the first temple in 586 BC, and again when Rome destroyed the second temple in AD 70. God will not bless idolatry even when it is draped in religious appearance.
Israel’s disobedience would result in the nation becoming a proverb and a byword among all peoples. Under the Old Covenant, God promised to reveal His glory to the nations either through extraordinary blessing or extraordinary judgment. Obedience would lead foreign nations to marvel at Israel’s prosperity and righteousness. Disobedience would cause those same nations to marvel at Israel’s devastation and downfall. When the nations passed by the ruined temple and the wasted land, they would be astonished and would hiss, a gesture of contempt and shock. They would ask why the Lord had dealt so severely with His people, and the answer would be unmistakable. Israel had forsaken the Lord their God, the One who brought them out of Egypt, and had embraced other gods. Judgment would be so severe that even unbelieving nations would recognize that the calamity came from the hand of God.
This passage underscores the severe mercy of God. The warning is not vindictive. It is protective. God is guarding Israel from the destructive power of idolatry by showing the consequences in advance. He had redeemed them from Egypt, entered into covenant with them, and placed His presence among them. For them to turn to other gods would not only dishonor Him, it would destroy them. Therefore the warning is both just and merciful. It reveals the holiness of God, the danger of sin, and the certainty of divine discipline upon those who forsake His ways.
B. The ways and means of Solomon’s great building projects
1. (1 Kings 9:10-14) Lumber and gold from King Hiram of Tyre
“Now it happened at the end of twenty years, when Solomon had built the two houses, the house of the LORD and the king’s house, Hiram the king of Tyre had supplied Solomon with cedar and cypress and gold as much as he desired, that King Solomon then gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee. Then Hiram went from Tyre to see the cities which Solomon had given him, but they did not please him. So he said, What kind of cities are these which you have given me, my brother. And he called them the land of Cabul, as they are to this day. Then Hiram sent the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold.”
Solomon’s relationship with Hiram of Tyre continued into the later years of his building projects. Hiram supplied Solomon with the finest cedar and cypress from Lebanon, along with significant amounts of gold. Tyre was renowned for its timber and maritime commerce, making it the ideal partner for Solomon’s massive undertakings. The materials used in the construction of the temple and palace reflected the wealth, craftsmanship, and international cooperation that characterized Solomon’s early reign. The partnership with Hiram began under David and continued with mutual respect and political alliance.
After twenty years of building the temple and Solomon’s palace, the king compensated Hiram by granting him twenty cities in the region of Galilee. Although Hiram had been generous in his support, this transaction reveals one of Solomon’s questionable decisions. The land of Israel was not Solomon’s personal property to trade or mortgage. It belonged to the Lord by covenant promise. While Solomon’s intention may have been pragmatic, it revealed a subtle drift in his thinking. A king who once prayed for wisdom was now willing to trade God’s inheritance for political and economic advantage. David never would have considered giving away land that God had promised to Israel forever. This act signaled an early warning that Solomon’s values were shifting under the weight of his expanding kingdom.
Yet the transaction also shows Solomon’s shrewdness as a political negotiator. The cities he offered were unimpressive, small habitations of little strategic or economic value. These were not fortified centers or fertile lands. They were rural settlements, described by the word irim, which can refer to anything from tiny hamlets to full cities. When Hiram visited the region, he was not pleased. He called the land “Cabul,” meaning “good for nothing,” a nickname that demonstrated his disappointment. The cities did not meet his expectations, and the area evidently lacked resources or significance from a Phoenician perspective.
Still, Hiram accepted the arrangement and maintained good humor. Despite his dissatisfaction, he fulfilled his side of the agreement and sent Solomon one hundred and twenty talents of gold. Each talent weighed roughly seventy pounds, making the shipment an enormous quantity of wealth. Modern estimates place this amount of gold at astonishing value, reaching into the tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars in modern currency. The exchange demonstrates that Solomon, while compromising by giving away land, nevertheless managed the deal in such a way that he received extraordinary financial benefit.
Hiram’s displeasure with the cities likely reflects more than poor quality land. He may have sensed a compromise on Solomon’s part, something David would never have done. The alliance between Israel and Tyre remained intact, but this moment shows the beginning of a decline in Solomon’s discernment. What began with wisdom, humility, and devotion was slowly becoming overshadowed by politics, wealth, international prestige, and the temptation to treat God’s covenant gifts as bargaining chips.
2. (1 Kings 9:15-24) Slave labor from remnant Canaanite peoples
“And this is the reason for the labor force which King Solomon raised, to build the house of the LORD, his own house, the Millo, the wall of Jerusalem, Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer. Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up and taken Gezer and burned it with fire, had killed the Canaanites who dwelt in the city, and had given it as a dowry to his daughter, Solomon’s wife. And Solomon built Gezer, Lower Beth Horon, Baalath, and Tadmor in the wilderness, in the land of Judah, all the storage cities that Solomon had, cities for his chariots and cities for his cavalry, and whatever Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion. All the people who were left of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, who were not of the children of Israel, that is, their descendants who were left in the land after them, whom the children of Israel had not been able to destroy completely, from these Solomon raised forced labor, as it is to this day. But of the children of Israel Solomon made no forced laborers, because they were men of war and his servants, his officers, his captains, commanders of his chariots, and his cavalry. Others were chiefs of the officials who were over Solomon’s work, five hundred and fifty, who ruled over the people who did the work. But Pharaoh’s daughter came up from the City of David to her house which Solomon had built for her. Then he built the Millo.”
Solomon’s vast building endeavors required a massive labor force. Scripture records that his construction projects extended far beyond the temple and his palace. He fortified Jerusalem, strengthened Israel’s strategic military defenses, and expanded infrastructure across the land. Archaeology confirms the scale and sophistication of his work. Excavations at key sites show uniform architectural patterns from Solomon’s era, verifying the wide reach of his building initiative. These projects reflect both Solomon’s administrative skill and his vision for national strength. Yet they also reveal areas where compromise began to creep into his leadership.
The text mentions the Millo, a significant structure within the fortified city of David. The Hebrew term millo appears to refer to a major fortress or defensive installation. Some scholars believe it was a terraced system of support structures that strengthened the northeastern ridge of ancient Jerusalem. Whether a fortress or a complex of engineered supports, it was central to Jerusalem’s security and further demonstrates the military and governmental centralization occurring under Solomon. This was one of the earliest hints of a monarchy drifting toward excess and burdening the population with heavy requirements.
Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer stand out as three of the most important fortified cities of Israel’s northern and central defenses. Archaeological investigations have shown that these cities share remarkably similar gate complexes, with identical layouts and measurements, each attributed to the Solomonic period. Hazor guarded the northern approach to Israel, along major international routes and near the Sea of Galilee. It served as a critical buffer against northern invaders until it was destroyed centuries later. Megiddo commanded the most important pass between the coastal plain and the Jezreel Valley, making it one of the most strategic strongholds in the land. Scripture associates it with the prophetic future battlefield known as Armageddon, where the Lord Jesus Christ will defeat the armies of the Antichrist. Gezer was an ancient Canaanite stronghold linking the coastal region to Jerusalem. Although assigned to Ephraim, Israel did not fully conquer it until Solomon’s day, when Pharaoh captured it, destroyed it, and then gave it to his daughter as a dowry upon her marriage to Solomon. Solomon rebuilt and fortified it, making it a key part of his defensive network.
Solomon also constructed storage cities, chariot cities, and cavalry cities across his dominion. These facilities strengthened Israel’s logistical capabilities and military readiness. They enabled Solomon to maintain large numbers of horses and chariots, something God had warned His kings against in Deuteronomy 17. Chariots multiplied military power, yet they also symbolized reliance upon human strength rather than the Lord. This detail foreshadows further spiritual drift within the kingdom.
To staff these projects, Solomon raised a labor force from the remaining Canaanite populations. The Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites were tribes Israel had been commanded to drive out completely. Instead, remnants remained in the land, and Solomon conscripted them into forced labor. While Solomon did not enslave Israelites, reserving them for military and administrative leadership, his decision to use Canaanite survivors as perpetual laborers represented a compromise. God had commanded Israel to remove these nations because of their idolatry and moral corruption. Solomon’s use of them as a workforce violated the spirit of that command. Instead of eliminating their influence, he institutionalized their presence. This act, though politically efficient, weakened the spiritual purity of the nation and laid foundation stones for future decline.
Solomon employed five hundred and fifty supervisors to oversee the forced labor, demonstrating how large and complex his building operations had become. His marriage to Pharaoh’s daughter is mentioned again here, with Solomon building her a separate residence outside the City of David. This relocation suggests an awareness that foreign influences should not mingle directly with the holy city, yet the marriage itself remained a compromise. Solomon’s alliance with Egypt brought prestige, land, and security, but it violated the biblical warnings against intermarriage with foreign nations. These decisions, each seemingly practical on the surface, collectively reveal the early erosion of Solomon’s discernment.
3. (1 Kings 9:25-28) Financing from naval expeditions that brought back gold
“Now three times a year Solomon offered burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar which he had built for the LORD, and he burned incense with them on the altar that was before the LORD. So he finished the temple. King Solomon also built a fleet of ships at Ezion Geber, which is near Elath on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom. Then Hiram sent his servants with the fleet, seamen who knew the sea, to work with the servants of Solomon. And they went to Ophir, and acquired four hundred and twenty talents of gold from there, and brought it to King Solomon.”
The text opens by highlighting that Solomon regularly offered burnt offerings and peace offerings three times a year upon the altar at the temple. These occasions likely correspond to the major pilgrimage festivals commanded by the Law, such as Passover, Pentecost, and the Feast of Tabernacles. However, the wording raises the possibility that Solomon himself may have participated directly in functions reserved exclusively for priests. Burning incense and offering sacrifices were priestly duties, not royal responsibilities. It is possible that Solomon overstepped his role, intruding into sacred duties in a way similar to later kings like Uzziah. Yet the passage may also mean that Solomon initiated and oversaw the offerings, ensuring that proper priestly procedures were followed. Scripture does not definitively accuse Solomon here, but the ambiguity marks another point where boundaries became blurred. As Solomon grew in wealth and power, the lines between kingly authority and priestly duty became less distinct.
The text then turns to the maritime endeavors that financed much of Solomon’s wealth. Solomon constructed a fleet of ships at Ezion Geber, located near Elath on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom. This location was strategic, giving Solomon access to international trade routes that reached far beyond the borders of Israel. Tyre, located on the Mediterranean, had no direct access to the Red Sea, so its maritime expertise combined with Israel’s southern port created a powerful economic alliance. Hiram supplied experienced sailors who worked alongside Israelite crews. Their combined skill made it possible to embark on long-distance voyages that brought back extraordinary wealth.
Their destination was Ophir, a region known for producing great quantities of gold. Although its exact location remains uncertain, the name carries associations of tremendous value and exotic trade. Some believe Ophir was located in southern Arabia, near the land of the Sabaeans. Others suggest the eastern coast of Africa, possibly modern Somalia or Ethiopia. Still others propose a location in India. Clarke notes that two places named Ophir existed in ancient sources, one possibly in India beyond the Ganges and another in Arabia. While the precise location is undetermined, the amount of gold acquired confirms its great significance in international commerce. The expedition brought back four hundred and twenty talents of gold, an enormous amount. A single talent weighed approximately seventy pounds, meaning the expedition returned with nearly thirty thousand pounds of gold. Such a quantity reflects the far reaching ambition and economic power of Solomon’s kingdom.
Solomon’s navy demonstrates the administrative genius of his reign, yet it also hints at the rising emphasis on wealth, luxury, and expansive political alliances that would later contribute to his downfall. The king who once asked for wisdom above riches had become one of the wealthiest rulers in the ancient world. Scripture does not condemn the naval expeditions themselves, but the accumulation of wealth and foreign alliances became part of a larger pattern that eventually distracted Solomon from wholehearted devotion to the Lord. The seeds of decline lie not in one act but in the accumulation of subtle compromises, growing power, and increasing dependence upon human enterprise.
