1 Kings 9:15-23 – To be wholly preserved

First Kings 9:15-23 speak about Solomon’s building projects and his labor force. Verse 15 said that Solomon's projects included the temple and his palace, the Millo, the wall of Jerusalem, Hazor, Megiddo, and  Gezer. What is the Millo? It was first mentioned in 2 Samuel 5:9. It was probably a fortified wall that existed long before David conquered the Jebusites, and lived in Jerusalem. David apparently extended it as a defensive wall for Jerusalem which Solomon now restored or rebuilt.

Verse 16 said that Gezer was a city which Pharaoh, the king of Egypt captured, burnt down, killed all the Canaanites, and gave it as a dowry to his daughter who married Solomon. Just imagine the ruin of the city when it was first given. No wonder Solomon had to rebuild it. In addition, verses 18-19 said that Solomon also rebuilt “…the lower Beth-horon and Baalath and Tamar in the wilderness, in the land of Judah, and all the storage cities which Solomon had, even the cities for his chariots and the cities for his horsemen, and all that it pleased Solomon to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon, and in all the land under his rule.” 

For these mammoth projects, a huge labor force was required. First Kings 9:20-22 tell us that Solomon used the people of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites and their descendants as forced laborers for his projects. These were the people whom the people of Israel were not able to destroy totally. In verse 22, we are thrown off the sentence that says “…Solomon did not make slaves of the sons of Israel….” For earlier in 1 Kings 5:13-18, we are told that he had a conscripted force from the tribes of Israel for his building projects, whom he had placed under the supervision of Adoniram. How do we reconcile this? The difference is this. The Israelites conscripted only had to serve three months whereas those people of the  Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, and their descendants were made to serve permanently. Besides the second half of verse 22 suggests that the Israelites were used for military roles and verse 23 said they were used for supervisory roles.

In these verses, we see Solomon wisely considered the nation’s needs for God as well as for personal protection. He did not just build the temple and the palace, but he also had the Millo, the wall of Jerusalem, Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer rebuilt. He built the house of God to take care of their spiritual needs. He also built the storehouses to take care of their physical needs. Then he also had the walls and towers built for security and protection. Taking what Solomon did for the nation, we draw some parallels for our application. The temple of our life, meaning the relationship we have with God, must not be compromised. It is of utmost importance. We need to make building our spiritual life our top priority. Then we must take our personal needs into consideration. We need to have spiritual storehouses built to ensure that we have an ample supply of spiritual food to keep us strengthened for our journey with Him. We also need to build fortresses that will guard us against the luring temptation of the enemy of our souls. Let us take care of our whole life - spirit, soul, and body! And as we do, pray that we will truly experience 1 Thessalonians 5:23.  That the “God of peace Himself will sanctify us entirely; and our spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”