1 Ki. 9: Never Leave You

1 Kings 9:7 "then I will cut off Israel from the land I have given them and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name. Israel will then become a byword and an object of ridicule among all peoples."

After Solomon recovers from his big national party, God meets with him. He actually appeared to Solomon previously at Gibeon. So, this was still a novel thing for Solomon. He was the king. God's anointed, and this was only the second time the LORD appeared to him. This isn't some social call. This isn't a pat on the back, its a sobering challenge. Again God tells Israel's leader to obey His commands and decrees. And I love that God says He Himself has consecrated the temple. God's presence in itself is reward. What a thought. Do you think that today? A reward? For what?

But along with all the nasty terrible stuff that could happen to Israel, like famine and war and death, God introduces a new concept.

He says that Israel will become a byword and an object of ridicule. How horrible that must have been to hear for Solomon. No one wants to believe that at some point their nation could be a joke, forgotten. It doesn't take a deep history scholar to realize that happened eventually, so someone somewhere along the line didn't get the memo, or refused to heed it. Currently, and I haven't seen the news lately, but there doesn't appear to be a descendant of the line of David on the throne in Israel.

In other news, Solomon, as a reward to Hiram, the King of Tyre who hooked him up with a bunch of cedar and stuff, gives him twenty cities. These apparently aren't good cities. Biblical ghettoes, as it were. Hiram knew what was going on, these cities were junk, and he named them as such. Even so, he still sent men with Solomon's to sea to get some gold for some reason.

Solomon continues building up the city, using laborers conscripted from remnants of the HACPHAJ, which Israel couldn't or wouldn't drive out.