to thee for: that all the people of the earth may know thy name to fear thee. If thy people go out to battle, whithersoever thou shalt send them, and pray toward this house, hear thou their prayer and maintain their cause. If they sin against thee, (for there is no man that sinneth not,) and thou be angry with them, and deliver them into captivity: if, then, they shall bethink themselves, and repent, and make supplication, saying, We have sinned and done perversely; and so return unto thee with all their heart, and with all their soul, and pray toward this house; then hear thou their prayer, and forgive thy people that have sinned against thee, and give them compassion before them who carried them captive; for they be thy people and thine inheritance, which thou broughtest out of Egypt, for thou didst separate them from all people of the earth, to be thine inheritance. Now, my God, let, I beseech thee, thine eyes be open, and let thine ears be attentive unto the prayer that is made in this place. Now, therefore, arise, O Lord God, into thy resting-place, thou and the ark of thy strength. Let thy priests, O Lord God, be clothed with salvation, and thy saints rejoice in goodness. O Lord God, turn not away the face of thine anointed: remember the mercies of David thy servant."*

When Solomon had made an end of praying, he rose up from kneeling, "and stood and blessed all the congregation of Israel. Blessed be the Lord that hath given rest unto his people; there had not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised by the hand of Moses his servant. The Lord our God be with us, as he was with our fathers, let him not leave us nor forsake us, that he may incline our hearts unto him, to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments. Let your heart, therefore, be perfect with the Lord our God, to walk in his statutes and keep his commandments, as at this day."

When this prayer was closed, and the benediction was pronounced, "fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt-offerings and the sacrifices. And when the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of the Lord filled the house, they bowed themselves with their faces to the ground, and worshipped, and praised the Lord, for he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever."

"Then the king, and all the people, offered sacrifices before the Lord; and Solomon offered a sacrifice of peace-offerings, two and twenty thousand oxen, and an hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king, and all the people, dedicated the house of the Lord; and the court which was before the

* The 47th, 97th, 98th, 99th, 100th, and 136th Psalms, were probably composed on this occasion. The last words of Solomon's prayer may be found, with some variations, in the 132d Psalm.

house; for there he offered burnt-offerings, for the brazen altar was too small for the number of the offerings."

On this joyful occasion, Solomon, and all the congregation, from the entering of Hamath unto the river of Egypt, held a feast of fourteen days: seven for the feast of tabernacles, and seven for the dedication. "On the eighth day, or the day after the feast, he sent the people away: and they blessed the king, and went unto their tents joyful and glad of heart, for all the goodness that the Lord had done for David his servant, and Israel his people.' Thus happily was this great work accomplished. God had visibly, by the fire from heaven, accepted the offering of his people. The ark of the covenant, with the glorious Shechinah, found its last resting-place. Jerusalem was the place where God was known; and where, alone, he could safely be worshipped by sacrifices and offerings. From henceforth, the high-places were sinful and idolatrous.

After this the Lord appeared to Solomon, and said unto him, "I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication that thou hast made before me: I have hallowed this house which thou hast built, to put my name there for ever; and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually. And if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, in integrity of heart, and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded thee, and will keep my statutes and judgments: then I will establish the throne of thy kingdom for ever, as I promised to David thy father, saying, there shall not fail thee a man upon the throne of Israel. But if ye shall at all turn from following me, ye or your children, and will not keep my commandments and my statutes which I set before you, but go and serve other gods, and worship them; then will I cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them; and this house, which I have hallowed for my name, will I cast out of my sight; and Israel shall be a proverb and a by-word among all people: and at this house, which is high, every one that passeth by it shall be astonished and hiss; and shall say, Why hath the Lord done this unto this land, and to this house? And they shall answer, Because they forsook the Lord their God, who brought forth their fathers out of Egypt, and have taken hold upon other gods, and have worshipped them, and served them; therefore hath the Lord brought upon them all this evil." A threatening which was soon fulfilled. Here, as always, we find the promises of God conditional-they are given only upon a covenant; and in the history we shall find that as the condi

*In Chronicles, it is said that the king dismissed the people on the twenty-third day of the month-which would be the ninth day, or the second after the feast. Some suppose, that a part of the people remained over till the ninth day, and were re-dismissed by the king.

tions on the part of the people were not fulfilled, so they failed to receive the promise. The people whom we now behold so joyful and prosperous in their service of Jehovah, we shall soon see (what the prophetic prayer of Solomon seemed to anticipate) bowing down to idols, and the wretched captives of their foes. This holy temple, now standing unrivalled in its beauty and richness, was soon plundered of its wealth, desecrated by the worship of false gods, a hissing and astonishment among the nations. So true is it that all prosperity, outward as well as inward, depends upon a close adherence to the worship and service of God.

SECTION XII.

SOLOMON'S OTHER BUILDINGS THE SOURCE OF HIS WEALTH-SOLOMON'S OFFENCE,

THE TROUBLES OF HIS LATTER DAYS-HIS DEATH.

SOLOMON'S wealth was mostly expended in building. Besides the temple, he built a palace for himself, which occupied thirteen years in its erection. "He built also the house of the forest of Lebanon," which was more extensive than the temple, though far less splendid. "Around both these palaces there were large porches," or colonnades. A peculiarly splendid abode was erected for the queen, the daughter of Pharaoh. All these buildings were of costly stones, of immense size, and covered with cedar. "In the porch of judgment, at the royal palace, was the great throne of ivory, overlaid with pure gold. The ascent to the throne was by six steps, and on each side were stays, and two lions stood beside the stays; and upon the six steps were twelve lions." In the palace at Lebanon "were two hundred targets of beaten gold, of six hundred shekels each; and three hundred golden shields, of three pounds to each shield. All the vessels of this house, and all Solomon's vessels, were of pure gold, none were of silver, it was nothing thought of in the days of this king."

Besides these private palaces, Solomon built and fortified the cities of Gezer, which he had received as a dowry with the queen, Pharaoh's daughter; Hamath, which he captured; Tadmor in the wilderness; the cities which had been given to Hiram,* and by treaty receded to Israel; "and all the cities of store, and cities for his chariots, and cities for his horsemen, and all that which Solomon desired to build in the land of his dominion."

When Hiram came to see the cities which Solomon had given him in the land of Galilee, he was dissatisfied. And as these princes remained on friendly terms, and soon after we find Solomon fortifying these very cities, we must suppose that some other reward had been given to the king of Tyre for his generous assistance, and that the cities of Galilee returned to their former king.

The men who were employed in "these works were the remnant of the Canaanites, whom the children of Israel were unable to destroy. Solomon used these as bondmen in the more laborious and menial parts of his service; while the native Israelites filled the stations of trust and honour. "They were his officers, his men of war, the rulers of his chariots and horsemen, and rulers over those that wrought in the work."

To carry forward and complete these vast designs, and to maintain the kingdom in all the luxury and splendour in which it was now existing, required a constant influx of wealth. The drain upon the royal treasury must have been immense. No resources within the kingdom itself could have furnished anything like an adequate supply. Accordingly, we find the people of Israel, and the king himself, now, for the first time, engaged in foreign commerce. Here again Solomon had recourse to his friend and ally the king of Tyre. As his own subjects were almost entirely an agricultural people, they were unfitted to build or man the ships necessary for this traffic. But by the aid of Hiram the plan was executed. "Solomon fitted out a fleet in Ezion-geber, beside Eloth, on the shore of the Red sea, in the land of Edom." The fleet was manned with a mixed crew of Hebrews and Tyrians. It sailed to Ophir, and brought thence in gold four hundred and twenty talents to the king. Besides the direct return, in the precious metals, these ships were no doubt laden with the merchandize of the east, which were disposed of all along the shores of the Mediterranean; and thus Palestine became the centre, for a time, of that lucrative trade.*

The king was at the same time engaged in another tradefrom Egypt, through his dominions across the Syrian desert, and so on eastward. What were the avails of this trade we are not informed, but it was probably large; as we know from more recent history, that this commerce has always conferred great wealth upon those who were engaged in it. "Linen yarn, horses and chariots, were brought from Egypt, and sold to the Syrians; and Solomon's servants had a complete monopoly of the whole trade."

In the course of this traffic, Solomon's wealth and wisdom became widely known. The splendour of his court attracted the admiration of other monarchs. "And all the earth sought to Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put into his heart. And they brought every man his present; vessels of gold, and vessels of silver, and garments, and armour, and spices, and harness, and mules, a rate year by year." Among

*It seems probable (though it is not certain from the narrative) that Solomon and Hiram had another fleet trading along the coasts of the Mediterranean as far as Tarshish.

others who were thus drawn to the king, was the queen of Sheba. Her territories lay in the southern part of Arabia. When the report of Solomon's wisdom reached her, she came, with a large retinue, and a present of gold and spices, and precious stones, to prove Solomon with hard questions. Solomon answered all her questions. The impression made upon the queen, by the wisdom of Solomon, and the splendour of his court, and the temple service, was almost overwhelming. "There was no more spirit in her. And she said to the king, It was a true report that I heard in mine own land, of thy acts and of thy wisdom. Howbeit, I believed not their words until I came, and mine eyes had seen it; and behold the half was not told me: thy wisdom and prosperity exceedeth the fame which I heard. Happy are thy men, happy are these thy servants which stand continually before thee, and that hear thy wisdom. Blessed be the Lord thy God, which delighted in thee, to set thee on the throne of Israel: because the Lord loved Israel for ever, therefore made he thee king to do judgment and justice."

The whole revenue of the king, from all these sources, was six hundred threescore and six talents* of gold a year, besides that which came from the merchantmen, from the kings of Arabia, and from the governors of the country. Silver was in Jerusalem as stones, and cedars as the sycamore trees for abundance.

This unexampled tide of prosperity began to have its influence. There are few, perhaps, who could have lived in the midst of such luxury, and wealth, and power, without being corrupted by them. Solomon, at least, with all his wisdom, fell, and fell most lamentably. He has given us his own experience, filled with solemn warnings, in the book of Ecclesiastes. He drank the cup of earthly joys, and left upon record for us the satisfaction which they gave, in that short sentence, Vanity of vanities, all is vanity. "But Solomon loved many strange women, beside the daughter of Pharaoh"-women of the surrounding nations, with whom God had expressly forbidden all intermarriage. Solomon clave unto these in love. He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines. These guilty alliances were not long in producing their result. For when Solomon was old, his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians; and after

*The difficulty in regard to the weight of the talent may be removed, by supposing that in the time of Solomon it had no definite weight, but signified a flat piece of metal, which might be larger or smaller, as we use the word ingot. For if we take for a talent the weight assigned to it in the tables, as Prideaux says, the whole house might have been built of solid gold.