1 Kings 10:14-11:8
All King Solomon’s goblets were gold, and all the household articles in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. Nothing was made of silver, because silver was considered of little value in Solomon’s days. The king had a fleet of trading ships at sea along with the ships of Hiram. Once every three years it returned, carrying gold, silver and ivory, and apes and baboons.
King Solomon was greater in riches and wisdom than all the other kings of the earth. The whole world sought audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom God had put in his heart. Year after year, everyone who came brought a gift—articles of silver and gold, robes, weapons and spices, and horses and mules.
King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh’s daughter—Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites. They were from nations about which the Lord had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.” Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love. He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray. As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been. He followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molek the detestable god of the Ammonites. So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the Lord; he did not follow the Lord completely, as David his father had done.
He did the same for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and offered sacrifices to their gods.
Solomon's revenue through trade and taxes is enormous. But consumer spending more than keeps pace. The country's position made him a convenient middleman for chariots from Egypt and horses from Turkey.
Solomon's political marriage alliance no doubt contribute to the country's peace and security. But foreign wives bring with them foreign gods. And Solomon in his old age turns from God to worship idols - a sin which will cost his son the greater part of his kingdom and divide the nation.
Why?
Much wealth and peace make Solomon turn away from the Lord, and his foreign marriage makes his heart turn to worship idols. It is the king's downfall.
Rich and women are the easy way to make God's people downfall.
We are living to honor the name of the Lord, instead of to pursue the money and joy in this world.
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所羅門得到財富非常龐大，超過14億5千萬美元。每年得到666他連得金子，這個是不好的數字。
所羅門很會做生意，養那麼多馬為了戰爭準備，同時賣給其他國家賺錢。也是自己愈來愈沒有安全感，怕百姓造反！
各國來朝貢、來付費聽所羅門的話，都要大把金子、銀子的費用。他的臣子每天都在聽，他們是否珍惜，沒有用智慧教導百姓。我們每天可以讀經、聽道，我們是否珍惜這些智慧的話呢?我們不用花錢就可以聽，讓我們像這些外邦人珍惜神的證話。
所羅門花費金子，一方面是神賜給，另一方面展示自己的財力。然而這些財富沒有用在百姓身上，沒有用在屬靈生命上，百姓生活沒有改善，減輕百姓負擔，反而使百姓賦稅很重。神給他這麼多，卻沒有用在對的地方。
只有智慧的言語才是真財富！
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How?
Step forward to the target the Lord has given to us. We do not belong to this world but have eternal life when we walk with the Lord.
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