The Calling

The Book of Revelation
A Written compostion of the Heavenly Calling Network Study Group

Part 18
Psalms 2

1. Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? 2. The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against his anointed, saying, 3. Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. 4. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. 5. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure. 6. Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. 7. I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my son; this day have I begotten thee. 8. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. 9. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. 10. Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. 11. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. 12. Kiss the son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.

Psalms 72

1. Give the king thy judgments, O God, and thy righteousness unto the king's son. 2. He shall judge thy people with righteousness, and thy poor with judgment. 3. The mountains shall bring peace to the people, and the little hills, by righteousness. 4. He shall judge the poor of the people, he shall save the children of the needy, and shall break in pieces the oppressor. 5. They shall fear thee as long as the sun and moon endure, throughout all generations. 6. He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass: as showers that water the earth. 7. In his days shall the righteous flourish; and abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth. 8. He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth. 9. They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him; and his enemies shall lick the dust. 10. The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts. 11. Yea, all kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve him. 12. For he shall deliver the needy when he crieth; the poor also, and him that hath no helper. 13. He shall spare the poor and needy, and shall save the souls of the needy. 14. He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence: and precious shall their blood be in his sight. 15. And he shall live, and to him shall be given of the gold of Sheba: prayer also shall be made for him continually; and daily shall he be praised. 16. There shall be an handful of corn in the earth upon the top of the mountains; the fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon: and they of the city shall flourish like grass of the earth. 17. His name shall endure for ever: his name shall be continued as long as the sun: and men shall be blessed in him: all nations shall call him blessed. 18. Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things. 19. And blessed be his glorious name for ever: and let the whole earth be filled with his glory; Amen, and Amen. 20. The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended.

It might not be true to say that every Psalm is prophetic, but there are very few Psalms that have not got the future imbedded in them in the experiences of those who wrote them. Its very obvious in Psalm 2 that they have a preface of the Millennial kingdom in them. For there we have the statement, He shall rule them with a rod of iron, which is repeated in the book of the Revelation. And you will see that there is a rebellion by kings and rulers against, not only the LORD'S anointed, but they cast away His cords from them. They will not be bound. There is that anarchy that is rampant. There is so much in these Psalms for you to ponder, that will give you the atmosphere of which the book of the Revelation seems to be written.

Drawing attention to, just in passing, that the word "anointed" in verse 2, is the usual word, that gives us in the English language, the Messiah. But in verse six, if you got a margin in your bible, you will see that the word "set", I have set my king, is also given as the word "anointed". I am not playing with words. But this is exactly what the relationship of these two words are for they are both translated "anointed". The first one means to be anointed with oil. And if that is all it means, well, it must have a significance. The anointed person was an appointed person. And that is the whole secret of the word. And the anointed person in the bible was prophet, priest, and king. And against that, is that anointed one that has been appointed to rule in Zion this rebellion was raved. When we come to Psalm 72 we have the title written over it, its a prayer for Solomon. Sometimes we are apt to forget that not one single person in the scriptures usually can be lifted out as a full type of Christ. So many times it has to be more than one person or more than one theme, which is because of His many facets of His person and witness. David is a wonderful type of Christ as king. But David was a man of war. Solomon was a wonderful type of Christ. But Solomon went very seriously astray. And so did David. They are types and shadows. But the two together gives you two aspects of the kingdom. The first, where is the need for a warrior king, and that is how the LORD appears in the book of the Revelation. He comes to make war. And then we have the prince of peace, in Solomon, in who's days was peace and prosperity as it never has been or has been since in the experience of the people of Israel.

One or two statements in Psalm 72 seam to call for a word. Although, you may already know. In verse 6, some people express and say that He shall come down like the rain upon the mowed grass. This word doesn't mean the grass that is there. It is the word translated the kings mowings in the book of Amos and also in 2 Samuel 23 verse 4. It is the ground that has been mowed and was left as the grass that crackles under your feet in the heat of the day. Oh what a miracle when the first rains come. Before you can believe your eyes, it gets more and more green. That's what it will be like when He comes. Before you can believe your eyes its all green. That's what it will be like when He comes. He shall come down and it will be all dead and dry, and it will all turn green, the wilderness will blossom as a rose. That's one of the thoughts.

You will find more than once in this Psalm, "all nations", are mentioned. And you remember in the great prophecy, Matthew 24 and other passages, it speaks about all nations, all nations, all nations. And it must be kept as they are written. This is not merely preaching the gospel to the individual sinner. This is something that has to do with "all nations" that are to be gathered. All nations that are to be gathered and judged. All nations that are to be blessed. Then at the finish, it says the prayers of David, the son of Jessie, are ended. It doesn't mean that David never prayed any more. It means that he reached the zenith, the goal. He had nothing more in front of him. And we should look at the passage that I am referring to, 2 Samuel chapter 23. to see how he speaks of it in that passage. It speaks about the ruler in verse 3 He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God. 4. And he shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds; as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain. 5. Although my house be not so with God; yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure: for this is all my salvation, and all my desire, although he make it not to grow..... Now, you will find that there is another rendering to those words "although he make it not to grow". And it stands something like this, at the beginning David's house thus through God at the end for shall he not cause it to prosper, is the alternative rendering. And in the middle, two statements, this covenant is sure, and this is all my desire. There is David lining himself up with Gods purpose. Gods purpose, his house, that kingdom, which is only a type and a shadow. He realized that there was a king to come that would eclipse any thing that he had ever done. But he was right to look at his son Solomon and see in him a type of what the prince of peace would be in the fullness of time.

We must now turn our attention. This time, instead of going in to the book of the Revelation, we are going to deal with old testament types. One of the reasons why this study is bringing the study of the book of the Revelation to a conclusion I think is a very good one. For I don't know any more to tell you. I could write, and write, and write, telling you nothing, or going over things that we have already covered, just in case you missed it, but that's not what I am here for. Reading this study in its fullness will help you see those things that you might of missed. If any one else knows the problems that are there in Revelation 20, 21, and 22 I would be very glad for you to teach me. Another reason is this. We must keep a balance in our studies. To keep on, and on, and on with anti-christ and Daniel and the man of sin and all these things would be at long last, to put OUR truth out of perspective. For those of us whom belong to the church which is His body are under the terms of the mystery. And although all scripture is our province, yet it would be unwise to be so steeped in prophecy that belongs to another people as not to give enough attention to OUR own calling.

This study is going to look at just a few statements made in regard to three kingdoms that come in the old testament. The kingdom of Saul. The kingdom of David. The kingdom of Solomon. And the first thing that we have to remember is that there should have never been a kingdom on earth at all so far as Israel is concerned. For the very fact that Saul was asked for, God says they rejected me. But of course He over rules the strange activity of the human mind. And now it is imbedded in scripture, that which we see given in prophecy, that before there is a true kingdom is set up there is going to be a false one. There will be a premillennial kingdom. Now hearing this, you must not run away and say that I have endorsed what is now called a premillennial kingdom teaching. Because that teaches that there is going to be a real sort of millennian to last about 500 years on the earth which I can not find no warrant in scripture. But when I look at the book of the Revelation, I find that before the KING comes there is to be a universal kingdom, but its only the kingdom of the beast, the anti-christian monster at the time of the end. And Saul comes before David. And David comes before Solomon. Those three phases of the kingdom are there in the book of the Revelation. We first of all have the 13th chapter where we have the anti-christian kingdom. We have the 20th chapter where we have the Millennial kingdom, but its an iron kingdom, and there is a rebellion at the end. Then after that we have the day of God, which is often forgotten, which takes us right on to the end which lays the kingdom right at the feet of the Father so that God may be all in all. So, although I said just now that I am finishing the book of the Revelation because I don't know any more about it, I do see moderately clearly that those three kingdoms are there in that book.

The first book of Samuel chapter 8. We have the origin of the kingdom unto Saul. verse 1 And it came to pass, when Samuel was old, that he made his sons judges over Israel. 2. Now the name of his firstborn was Joel; and the name of his second, Abiah: they were judges in Beersheba. 3. And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment..... Dreadful to think that a man like Samuel should have sons that could be described like that. A man like Eli had sons that were an abomination and Samuel was called as a child. And now Samuel has to have the same bitter experience. How true it is that grace or favor doesn't run in the blood. Grace or favor doesn't run in families. With all his knowledge of the word and will of God, his sons departed seriously, so seriously, that they were practically responsible for the cry of Israel, give us a king. verse 4 hen all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah, 5. And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations..... There is a question that you will find in the Talmud writings, that any new teacher that stands up is very often given a question. What do you say is the first and greatest commandment of the law. You know, they put it to Christ. He was there, posing as a teacher, so they said you answer that question. But it was put to other rabbi's. And its on record that one rabbi said most certainly that the greatest commandment of the law of Moses is wearing a fringe on the bottom of your garment. Now that could raise a smile in gentile mind. What did that man mean? Did he mean anything sensible or what? Why should he put the fringes at the bottom of a garment to be so important of all of the law of Moses? Because God said that you must never omit that, the Jew must never omit that fringe because that is the sign that I have given you that you are separate people from all nations of the earth. That is what he said. And these people were bartering that. Even Balaam, who was occupied by so much greed, never the less prophesied truth. He said people should dwell alone, they shall not be numbered among the nations. And here these people, who's destiny was to be a separate people, they just say, make us like the nations. What fools we can be, can't we. When we somehow transgress or in any measure seek to modify The will of God.

This displeased Samuel. When they said give us a king to judge us. And verse 6 And Samuel prayed unto the Lord. 7. And the Lord said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee:.... Why? for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them..... So here we have a theocracy, with God as their King. With no visible king on the throne. That is what He intended. But they said make us like the nations. It is a tragedy to get some prayers answered. You remember in the scriptures in the record of Israel in the wilderness, that He answered their prayer. And sent leanness into their souls. Some prayers in the scriptures you can see has awful consequences because they were not asked according to the will of God. So, it goes on here. verse 9 now therefore hearken unto their voice: howbeit yet protest solemnly unto them,.... Don't let them be without a witness. Gods will they should repent. and shew them the manner of the king that shall reign over them..... Tell them what their in for. Tell them what they are asking for. So Samuel did.verse 11 And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots. 12. And he will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over fifties; and will set them to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots..... Here it comes. Here is this despotic rule verse 13 and he will take your daughters to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers. 14. And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your oliveyards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants. 15. And he will take the tenth of your seed, .... This is beginning to usurp what belongs to God. The tithe belong to Him. In verse 18 And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the Lord will not hear you in that day. 19. Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay; but we will have a king over us;.... So Samuel was told in the last verse of this chapter to harken to their voice and make them a king.

Now here is the key, it is in the 9th chapter. verse 1 Now there was a man of Benjamin, whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Bechorath, the son of Aphiah, a Benjamite, a mighty man of power..... When you get a long string of names in the bible that generally means a man of importance. Look at this And he had a son, whose name was Saul,.... And you remember that there was another name that was Saul who was of the tribe of Benjamin in the new testament. So he was linked to that tribe and that name. a choice young man, and a goodly: .... We are going to find the same expression used of David. and there was not among the children of Israel a goodlier person than he: from his shoulders and upward he was higher than any of the people..... So, from the physical point of view, he was a king of men. And the story goes on as you know, how he was chosen and anointed and the Spirit of God came upon him. He prophesied and then came the rebellion, the disobedience, the growing darkness, oh the satanic element that he was in to the end of Saul. How he turned unto witch craft. How he died a suicides death because he had left the LORD. That was the king of mans choice.

Now we turn to have a look at the three statements that I have put forward. Saul, mans day, how he rejected the LORD. He was goodly. And in the 16th chapter the Spirit is associated with him verse 1 And the Lord said unto Samuel, How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel?.... So Saul is now rejected by the LORD. They had rejected the LORD in choosing him. Now it comes back upon them. fill thine horn with oil, and go, I will send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite: for I have provided me a king among his sons..... So we find this story goes on in this same chapter that Samuel went to this Bethlehem. He enquired of Jesse and told him the reason verse 6 And it came to pass, when they were come, that he looked on Eliab, and said, Surely the Lord's anointed is before him..... You see, God doesn't hide the fact that some of His servants can be utter fools. Even Samuel ought to look at this man and say oh what a strapping fellow he is. What a strapping fellow Saul was. God looks not upon the out word appearance. The Spirit looks upon the heart. But he said Eliab Surely the Lord's anointed is before him. 7. But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart..... There are many things that we have to be sad about when we read the story of David. There not shielded, and they are not covered up. They are exposed. God said they He knew the heart of David inspite of his lapses and his failures. And so it says Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, Neither hath the Lord chosen this..... He said here is the seven of them. verse 11 are here all thy children? And he said, There remaineth yet the youngest.... This is what God does. He picks up those who are no account and passes by those who would be chosen by men. We should be very comforted about that our selves. For we are numbered among those who are not very mighty, not very noble, as the epistle to the Corinthians said.

There remaineth yet the youngest, and, behold, he keepeth the sheep..... Oh if I only known. He said that is the point. I am making him my shepherd king. I took him from the sheep folds and put you over my people Israel. The Shepard king. Oh, the LORD is my Shepard. Here he is, the Shepard king. And Samuel said unto Jesse, Send and fetch him: for we will not sit down till he come hither. 12. And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly .... You see that there is no premium on being ugly. God didn't say, now find me the Ugliest person, I have had enough of the good looking one. No, this one was goodly. It depends if the outside is corresponding with the inside. That is the thing that matters. And if the outside doesn't always correspond, well, we put up with it. And there is a suggestion here that David was of that type of Israel, which you don't see many times now, but which has always been known that they had a ruddy complexion and a rather auburn fare hair and even blue eyes. He had fair curly hair, a pink complexion and blue eyes. He was genuine Israelite through and through. And the Jew that we see today is rather mostly a mongrel variety and not the genuine thing. And you do also know, even though we don't put anything on it, that many traditional pictures of our Savior represent not a black hair Jew, but a fair auburn hair, ruddy complexion Jew. And there is a great possibility that is retaining the truth. But what does it matter. Whether your eyes are blue, or any other color. It depends on the heart. Here was David, a man after God's own heart.

verse 12 And the Lord said, Arise, anoint him: for this is he. 13. Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah. 14. But the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him..... So here we have the transfer. The anointing was accompanied by the actual clothing by the Spirit. And here was this young David, the LORD'S anointed, although there was a period of time he had to wait.

We will leave Saul and go on with David. In the Second Samuel chapter 5 we reach a point in the history which is important for us to remember. You must remember that David ruled over his own particular tribe for a period and then ultimately reigned over all Israel. There is a feature there that we want to keep in mind with regard to the type. David, not having all Israel at the very beginning. Solomon had all of Israel from the beginning. Lets look at this fifth chapter. verse 1 Then came all the tribes of Israel to David unto Hebron, .... Hebron is word that means among other things, fellowship. and spake, saying, Behold, we are thy bone and thy flesh..... I would like to comment on this statement but really has nothing to with this passage. You remember when our Saviour appeared after His resurrection. He said, handle me and see for a spirit has not flesh and bones as you see me have. There has been a wonderful doctrine built on the fact that He said flesh and bone and He hadn't got any blood. That is blasphemies nonsense. Because if you haven't got blood you wouldn't want to have oxygen, and if you didn't want oxygen you wouldn't have nostrils, and then you wouldn't be a human being at all. We are so used to saying flesh and blood, flesh and blood, flesh and blood, but the old testament doesn't say flesh and blood. It says flesh and bone. Even Adam in the beginning used the same figure. He looked at his wife Eve and says this is now flesh of my flesh, bone of my bone. It has nothing to do with it, so lets watch these figures of speech and not make doctrines out of them. They said we are thy bone and thy flesh..... and we understand what they meant. Also in time past, when Saul was king over us, thou wast he that leddest out and broughtest in Israel: and the Lord said to thee, Thou shalt feed my people Israel, and thou shalt be a captain over Israel. 3. So all the elders of Israel came to the king to Hebron; and king David made a league with them in Hebron before the Lord: and they anointed David king over Israel..... So he had a second anointing. This time all Israel now. avid was thirty years old when he began to reign.... Can you listen to the same words that is in Luke's gospel chapter 3 verse 23 And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age,.... There He was, anointed for His work.

verse 4 David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years. 5 In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months: and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty and three years over all Israel and Judah. 6. And the king and his men went to Jerusalem unto the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land: which spake unto David, saying, Except thou take away the blind and the lame, thou shalt not come in hither: thinking, David cannot come in hither. 7. Nevertheless David took the strong hold of Zion: the same is the city of David.....

Now we come to the statement that we want to look at. 1 Chronicles chapter 28 verse 1 And David assembled all the princes of Israel, the princes of the tribes, and the captains of the companies that ministered to the king by course, and the captains over the thousands, and captains over the hundreds, and the stewards over all the substance and possession of the king, and of his sons, with the officers, and with the mighty men, and with all the valiant men, unto Jerusalem. 2. Then David the king stood up upon his feet, and said, Hear me, my brethren, and my people: as for me, I had in mine heart to build an house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and for the footstool of our God, and had made ready for the building: 3. But God said unto me, Thou shalt not build an house for my name, because thou hast been a man of war, and hast shed blood. 4. Howbeit the Lord God of Israel chose me before all the house of my father to be king over Israel for ever: for he hath chosen Judah to be the ruler; and of the house of Judah, the house of my father; and among the sons of my father he liked me to make me king over all Israel: 5. And of all my sons, (for the Lord hath given me many sons,) he hath chosen Solomon my son to sit upon the throne of the kingdom of the Lord over Israel. 6. And he said unto me, Solomon thy son, he shall build my house and my courts: for I have chosen him to be my son, and I will be his father..... So David was a man of war all his days. And Solomon was a king of peace practically all his days. And so we have the two. It is good to see how God said to David, and have not said to us, it was good for you David to have thoughts about My house. That's right, but you must not do it. And sometimes we entertain thoughts that we feel we ought to do. But He says, OH no, somebody else will. So, it is good to know that God judges the intents of hearts as well as the very things we have done.

Now we need to see the other side of the story. To Solomon. The day of the LORD is the Millennial kingdom. He comes to make war. He rules with a rod of iron. He has to repress a rebellion at the end. The day of God finds Christ as universal ruler and He rules and reigns until all enemies are under His feet. He is there acknowledge as King Of kings, and LORD of lords and the purpose is then completed. I said KING of kings, 1 Kings chapter 4. We go back on our story a little bit now.See how far Solomon has cords with the future, this prophetic teaching concerning Christ. verse 20 Judah and Israel were many, as the sand which is by the sea in multitude, eating and drinking, and making merry..... there have been those who, because of their interpretation, set aside in the book of the Revelation, chapter 20, the sand, and say it doesn't mean a great number. Well, here it does, and that is the usual way in which it is used. A great number. verse 21 And Solomon reigned over all kingdoms from the river unto the land of the Philistines, and unto the border of Egypt:.... He reigned over all kings. Well, that's king of kings, so far as it is humanly possible for a man to have that title. And then they brought presents, and served Solomon all the days of his life. Then we have the description of some of the extent of his kingdom. verse 24 For he had dominion over all the region on this side the river, from Tiphsah even to Azzah, over all the kings on this side the river: and he had peace on all sides round about him..... So he was king of kings, and he had a dominion that was extensive. Faster and wider than it has ever been occupied before and perhaps since . And it says in verse 25 And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig tree,.... Those words will come up in the mind of the Hebrew reader a feast of tabernacles. Which is the last feast in Israel's festival year. Every man under his vine and under his fig tree, no one making him afraid. No more need for walled cities. A day will come when a greater than Solomon will give them peace and safety, which are the very words that are going to be used by the anti-christ first and be disowned by him.

verse 25 And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, from Dan even to Beersheba, all the days of Solomon..... And that is more or less an extension of the words in Psalm 72 which is He shall have dominion from sea to sea and from the river unto the ends of the earth. Or to the ends of the land as it is in the Hebrew. And in Psalm 2, Ask of Me, I will give the heathen and thine inheritance and the uttermost parts as thy possession. So here we have the extension of the kingdom of Solomon, which is an anticipation of that greater ruler that is yet to come.

In 2 Chronicles chapter 1 verse 7 In that night did God appear unto Solomon, and said unto him, Ask what I shall give thee..... That is a very favorite thing in the fairy tales when we were children, wasn't it. Three wishes. And how many times has it exposed human nature. First of all you wish for something, then it gives you an intolerable burden that you have to use your last wish to get rid of it. Well, in this case, Solomon manifested a right spirit. verse 8 And Solomon said unto God, Thou hast shewed great mercy unto David my father, and hast made me to reign in his stead. 9. Now, O Lord God, let thy promise unto David my father be established: for thou hast made me king over a people like the dust of the earth in multitude..... Here again is fulfillment of old testament prophecy. This was no little tiny kingdom that could be just neglected. Here were kings that were ruled over and they were like the dust of the earth in multitude. verse 10 Give me now wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people: for who can judge this thy people, that is so great?.... And that pleased God, as you can understand. And God said to Solomon, Because this was in thine heart, and thou hast not asked riches, wealth, or honour, nor the life of thine enemies, neither yet hast asked long life; but hast asked wisdom and knowledge for thyself, that thou mayest judge my people, over whom I have made thee king: 12. Wisdom and knowledge is granted unto thee; and I will give thee riches, and wealth, and honour, such as none of the kings have had that have been before thee, neither shall there any after thee have the like..... That's the way that God acts.

The same spirit is on the sermon of the mount. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His roughhouses. He said, all these other things shall be added to you. Not necessarily always, but God will not reserve and hold those back if you put first things first. We must give credit to Solomon that in his younger days he did. The tragedy of Solomon is that he couldn't resist certain attractions. If you read the book of Proverbs you will discover that they are not all written by Solomon. You will find that it say this particular Proverb is written by Solomon and this particular Proverb was written for Solomon. And the wonder is, the tragedy is, that in all the books of the Proverbs that were written for young Solomon's guidance, he was warned about his affections in a certain direction. And in all the Proverbs that he wrote himself, he never said a word about his great weakness. Nehemiah said, even Solomon was led away by these out outlandish women. You see, the wisest king that this world has ever known was an utter mess wasn't he. He did not allow the word of God to be his director. Do you know that if you read the last chapter of the book of Proverbs that you have Gods picture of the sort of woman he ought to have married. If you have never read that chapter in view, I'll place it here, and you should read it again. Proverbs chapter 31 verse 1 The words of king Lemuel, the prophecy that his mother taught him. 2. What, my son? and what, the son of my womb? and what, the son of my vows? 3. Give not thy strength unto women, nor thy ways to that which destroyeth kings. 4. It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine; nor for princes strong drink: 5. Lest they drink, and forget the law, and pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted. 6. Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts. 7. Let him drink, and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more. 8. Open thy mouth for the dumb in the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction. 9. Open thy mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy. 10. Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies. 11. The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil. 12. She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life. 13. She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands. 14. She is like the merchants' ships; she bringeth her food from afar. 15. She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens. 16. She considereth a field, and buyeth it: with the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard. 17. She girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her arms. 18. She perceiveth that her merchandise is good: her candle goeth not out by night. 19. She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff. 20. She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy. 21. She is not afraid of the snow for her household: for all her household are clothed with scarlet. 22. She maketh herself coverings of tapestry; her clothing is silk and purple. 23. Her husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land. 24. She maketh fine linen, and selleth it; and delivereth girdles unto the merchant. 25. Strength and honour are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come. 26. She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness. 27. She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness. 28. Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her. 29. Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all. 30. Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised. 31. Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates.....

All men should read and understand it before taking on that extreme of taking on a wife. There it was. He got it in chapter and verse right in front of him. And all his wisdom didn't save him from making a mess of himself. And I say that to myself. That we may know the word by heart, we may be a walking concordance, but if it doesn't influence our life then we can make havoc of our lives and those around us in the very same way. There is Solomon, but that does not enter in to the type. The type is here. Solomon, in all his glory. Solomon, in his wisdom. And our Savior said a greater than Solomon is here.

Then we have in 2 Chronicles chapter 6 these words. He is now dedicating the temple.David, you see, was not allowed to do so. David was given instructions. David gave of his own person possessions. But nothing more. And he says here verse 17 Now then, O Lord God of Israel, let thy word be verified, which thou hast spoken unto thy servant David. 18. But will God in very deed dwell with men on the earth? behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house which I have built! .... There is a thought of the vastness. This Solomon has gone beyond the limitations of the present heaven. He says heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee much less this house which I have built. He realizes that it is only a shadow and a type.