Solomon’s Fractures

00:00:00 Speaker 1: Previously on the chosen people, my king. 00:00:04 Speaker 2: As you know, I oversee the labor for these projects. King Hiram has been generous sending us skilled laborers and craftsmen, and of course the tribes of Israel have provided men to serve as well. I've even gathered the descendants of the Canaanite still in our land to supplement our workforce. Yet, despite these efforts, completing projects on time remains a challenge. I fear the new endeavors will face similar difficulties. Oh yes, my King, young Jereboeme would serve. He's well liked among the men, and he's from the tribe of Ephrahim. If I may offer a suggestion, my king, Lord Edeniram, perhaps you could send the conscripted men of his tribe to him. 00:00:44 Speaker 3: The golden glow of the early morning sun reflected off the temple's gleaming limestone and gilded surfaces, refracting beams of dazzling light through the portico. Incense curled skyward from the priest fire pans, filling the air with a sweet aroma that mingled with the frenzied anticipation of the day. Thousands gathered in the vast courtyard, priests, nobles, elders and commoners, each straining to glimpse the moment Israel had waited generations for. At the heart of it all stood Solomon. The temple was finished, the promise fulfilled, and the Lord was pleased. Yet even in its perfection, Solomon wanted more. 00:01:35 Speaker 4: If I considered all that my hands had done, the toil I had expended to doing it, behold, all was vanity and striving after wind. All the toil of nervous was off. It is appetite, it's not satisfied. 00:02:00 Speaker 5: Sometimes the danger isn't failure. Sometimes it's success that blinds us Shelloh, my friends, from here in the holy Land of Israel, i'm l extein with international Fellowship of Christians and Jews, and welcome to the Chosen People. There's a question that I've wrestled with for years. Can success be sacred or does it come with strings attached? Today, in First Kings, chapter nine, we find that King Solomon now has everything. He has peace, he has power, he has prestige. The temple is finished and the Kingdom of Israel is thriving. But beneath the gold, something begins to crack. Today, listen closely, not just to the triumphs, but to the tremors. What does it mean to be chosen and still be at risk? 00:02:45 Speaker 3: The faint crackle of dying embers echoed in the vast emptiness of the temple courtyard. Long after the crowds had dispersed and the sounds of their revelry had faded into the night, Solomon's still sat in the shadow of the towering golden doors. He sat with his hands clasped loosely in his lap, mulling over the churning thoughts in his mind. Nobody dared interrupt his meditation. Solomon was searching for something, although he didn't know what. The temple limestone walls loomed behind him, immense, perfect and shimmering in some unspoken contest with the gleaming, pale light of the moon, And yet that hollowness still naordered the edges of his heart. 00:03:37 Speaker 4: What's next? 00:03:39 Speaker 3: The question looped through his mind, a buzzing, persistent whisper He couldn't sign us. He let his gaze wander across the temple grounds. All was in order, The temple was finished, Plans for the palace complex were under way. His father's dream was fulfilled, His people were prosperous, his enemies were subdued. Everything a king could ever dream of was his. 00:04:09 Speaker 4: Then why does it feel like something's missing? 00:04:14 Speaker 3: His thoughts drifted unwillingly to rear Boham. The boy had slipped away from the festivities as soon as Solomon concluded his final blessing, claiming he felt ill. 00:04:26 Speaker 1: But Solomon knew better. 00:04:28 Speaker 3: He had seen Ria Boham's friends hovering on the outskirts of the crowd and gesturing for him to join them. His son's irresponsibility and indifference were growing harder to ignore. 00:04:41 Speaker 4: Easy home, He'll grow into it. He's still time, But that. 00:04:47 Speaker 3: Hollow ache only deepened. Solomon reclined on the stone steps, the coolness grounding him, and closed his eyes. O, my God, have I done enough. Despite the discomfort of sitting on hard stone, sleep tugged on Solomon. Weariness dragged him into a heavy, dreamless kind of sleep that only ambition fueled exhaustion could bring. But then warmth, light not from the moon above, but from within the courtyard around him blurred, then crystallized in stark clarity. The torches blazed, higher, shadows retreated, and the air grew thick, charged holy, and then the Lord spoke. 00:05:42 Speaker 1: I have heard your prayers and plea for mercy. I have consecrated this temple you have built, putting my name there forever, my eyes and my heart will always be there. 00:05:59 Speaker 3: Solomon's chests swelled with relief and awe. He had discerned the signs from earlier correctly the Lord had accepted them. The temple was worthy. 00:06:12 Speaker 1: As for you. If you walk before me faithfully, with integrity of heart and uprightness, as your father David did, and if you keep my commands and observe my laws, I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I have promised your father's saying, you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel. 00:06:38 Speaker 3: A swell of pride searched through Solomon, but it was quickly deflated by what came next. 00:06:45 Speaker 1: But if you or your descendants turn away from me and do not observe my commands, if you serve other gods and worshiped them, then I will cut off Israel from the land I have given them. I will reject this temple I have consecrated for my name. 00:07:05 Speaker 3: The words struck him to the bone Israel would become an object of scorn and ridicule among all the people's. 00:07:14 Speaker 1: Though it is now exalted, all who pass by will be appalled and saying, why has the Lord done such a thing to this land and to this temple? And they will answer because they abandoned the Lord, their god. 00:07:30 Speaker 3: The vision in Solomon's dream flickered, and for a brief, harrowing moment, Solomon saw it cracked stones, weeds growing through broken doors, the temple hollow and cold, its golden walls stripped bare a ruin. Solomon jolted upright, gasping for breath. The sun was just cresting over the horizon, casting golden light over the temple. It was whole, intact and gleaning. The courtyard was still. Birds chirped softly in the distance from the olive trees lining the terraces. Soon the priests would awaken the altar's fires for the morning offerings. Solomon quickly rose, smoothing his hair and making his way back to the palace. But as he went, his hands trembled. It was just a dream, and yet the words clung to him, heavy as iron. He rose and paced the length of the temple steps hard pounding. 00:08:33 Speaker 4: The lord accepted it. 00:08:34 Speaker 2: He heard me. 00:08:36 Speaker 4: He chose this place. But that warning that the threads. I cannot let that happen. This, this legacy, is my responsibility to uphold. But are the cracks already forming? 00:08:51 Speaker 3: But then the claws of anxiety tickled the edges of his mind, rear boems, indifference, the growing complaints from the heads of the northern tribes about the high taxes, the conscripted workers he had to pay, and the lent resources from other kingdoms. Not to mention all his wives, How many did he even have? 00:09:14 Speaker 1: Now? 00:09:15 Speaker 3: All but one were political marriages, and many even remained unconsummated. He hardly saw the women, but far too many of them inquired about altars to their gods. The concessions Solomon made in his marriages resulted in little shrines sprouting up beyond Jerusalem's walls like weeds. 00:09:36 Speaker 4: We have to keep Israel pure and my wives appeased. I have to honor my father's memory. I have to. 00:09:43 Speaker 3: Solomon clenched his jaw in fierce determination. He thought about that vision again, the cracks in the temple, the weeds sprouting from each fracture. The vision of ruin. 00:09:56 Speaker 4: I'll hold the temple sands, the kingdom is strong, and I'll fix the rest. 00:10:03 Speaker 3: His gaze drifted upward to the temple's mighty pinnacle, shining against the brightening sky. It was solid, magnificent, and a monument to his reign. And yet the hollow ache lingered in the deepest. 00:10:19 Speaker 2: Part of his heart. 00:10:25 Speaker 3: Thirteen years had passed since Solomon's dream. His palace complex was finally complete, a shining jewel of the capital. His family had grown, his fame had spread across the world, and peace still reigned. Their prosperity was undeniable. Now, in a rare moment of quiet amid the weight of ruling, Solomon found himself in his mother's home. Bathsheba gushed as she listened to Rioboham talk about his newborn child, and. 00:10:58 Speaker 6: To think, three generations of Israel's kings in one room together. We're building an empire that would have made King David proud. 00:11:10 Speaker 3: Bathsheba could barely contain her joy. Becoming a great grandmother had softened her, but there were certain things that pricked at her. Bathsheba's eyes narrowed subtly at Macha, who beamed at her husband as she cradled her newborn son, now a man grown at twenty five. Rheoboam already had several wives and children, but this was the first born of his favored wife, Machha, a controversial wife to say the least in the eyes of Bathsheba. Though Maha was a great great granddaughter of David, she had turned from the god of her forefathers to worship the pagan god Asherah. Worse still, her grandfather was none other than the traitoress abt Salon, and while past rebellions were now history, bath Sheba made it clear she still harbored a grudge against that branch of the family. Solomon had to admit he hadn't been pleased with the match either, but Ria Boham was his weakness. His son loved Macha, so he had allowed the marriage, much to Bathsheba's chagrin. Solomon's first wife, Naamah, Ria Boham's mother, didn't help. She was an Ammonite and indifferent to the ways of the Lord. 00:12:34 Speaker 7: Bath Sheba, Solomon, you should have been there at the celebration we had for Aba Jam's birth. We danced and worshiped at the eshirapols on the high place all day and all night. Why, I will be going up to the high place again later today to worship my God Milcombe, to thank him for such a blessing. What a glorious king by grandson will be. 00:12:58 Speaker 3: Bath Sheba stiff, and her grip tightening around the edges of her cup. She had held her tongue long enough. Clinging to the edges of her control, she confronted her daughter in law at. 00:13:10 Speaker 8: Last, Please, Naemmah, you know that neither I nor my son the king will set foot on those high places with their shrines to other gods. And if Riabaem is wise, he will follow suit. Your people may worship other gods, But my great grandson will be circumcised on his eighth day and dedicated on his thirteenth at the Lord's temple, just as his father was, and his father before him, and David before them. All the men in the house of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. 00:13:42 Speaker 3: Solomon and Rhea Boham winced the words landed as sharply as Bathsheba had intended. 00:13:50 Speaker 4: Mother. 00:13:50 Speaker 8: No, don't give me that tone, Solomon. If your father were still alive, he would have taken an axe to those asheropolls. The moment they were erected. 00:14:00 Speaker 3: Solomon nodded for Nayemah and Macha to leave with the children. It was only Solomon, Ria Boham and bath Sheba. 00:14:08 Speaker 4: Now, Mother, there's a delicate balance to these conversations. You need to show more tact. 00:14:16 Speaker 6: Not to mention you've insulted Macasso. Quickly after giving birth to our firstborn. 00:14:21 Speaker 3: Bath Sheba was too old to speak with her usual regality and temperance. Solomon and Ria Boham weren't just a king and prince, they were her son and grandson. 00:14:34 Speaker 8: There's an alarming number of foreign shrines around Jerusalem. Israel hasn't had such things here since the time of Judges. You fear offending your wives, but but I fear for the heart of Israel. 00:14:51 Speaker 4: Mother Gebirah, I have to consider our wives. These marriages secure alliances and ins your peace. 00:15:00 Speaker 8: Father, for all his faults, never made marriages like these. 00:15:05 Speaker 4: Yes, but Father was constantly at war. The surrounding nations were always challenging him and pressing Israel's borders. He was a man of war, but I am a man of peace. These marriages keep the welfare of our nation bound with the others, but they also. 00:15:22 Speaker 8: Bind their culture to ours and their gods to our people. Will my new great grandson make just as many trips to the Ashera palls as the. 00:15:31 Speaker 4: Temple Abijam will grow up in our faith? And you know that the worship of our neighbour's gods is only permitted outside the city. This is an important concession on which the peace and prosperity of our great nations stand. 00:15:48 Speaker 3: But Solomon, Solomon waved off the protestations of his mother and charged forward. 00:15:55 Speaker 4: My son understands his obligations to the Lord. Don't you rearbonn do father? See mother? Many of my wives, Nama included, worshiped other gods. But Ria Bomb understands his duty to the Lord. It's the same with Israel. The people know who promised us this land, who brought them out of slavery all those generations ago, and who promised to make us a great nation. And look, we're living in the land of promise. We're free. We are indeed a great nation. Now the three of us are due for a council meeting. We're presenting King Hiram with a gift for his contributions to the temple and the palace complex. Lady Nama, Lady Maker, I will leave my grandson in your pere and see you both at his circumcision and dedication at the Temple of the Lord. 00:16:50 Speaker 3: Bathshiba looked as though she had more to say, but she carefully tucked it away. She miss Nathan, she miss David, and she feared that the age of imperfect but still righteous men was coming to an end. Solomon strode from the room, his focus already shifting to more important matters. 00:17:12 Speaker 1: He stepped into the. 00:17:13 Speaker 3: Newly constructed Hall of Judgment, its gleaming stone and towering columns standing as a testament to his rule. Here, at least, was one place untouched by the quarrels of his household. Here wisdom reigned. Here, his work brought satisfaction. Here he reveled in the gift the Lord had given him, a gift that surely would always be enough. A few hours later, still riding high on the public praise he had received from King Solomon himself, Jeroboam's heart swelled with pride. From his humble beginnings in the territory of Ephraim to overseeing the repair of the great city of David, Jeroboam had come so far? 00:18:06 Speaker 2: How far I've come from that spring morning when I first crossed paths with King Solomon to managing hundreds of my fellow tribesmen. If only my father could see me. 00:18:18 Speaker 3: Now his thoughts were interrupted by the sound of furious whispers echoing down the corridor. One of the voices, indignant, livid, belonged to King Hiram of Tire. Jeroboam tensed he had no desire to be entangled in a treasonous conversation. Looking around for an exit, he swore under his breath the voices were approaching too quickly. 00:18:45 Speaker 9: Did you see how he just handed over those good for nothing cities with a smile? 00:18:53 Speaker 2: Land of Cabul? 00:18:55 Speaker 6: What use is land in Galilee? To me? 00:18:58 Speaker 9: Everyone knows the soil earl as worthies, and of course Solomon keeps Chopper and the Jesaree Valley for himself, only land worth having. 00:19:10 Speaker 4: What is this? Do you then turn around? 00:19:13 Speaker 3: Jeroboam froze, caught mid step. The men had spotted him. He straightened his spine and faced the King of Tire Like the soldier he. 00:19:23 Speaker 9: Was mah Jeobo, the man task to fortify the city of Mageddo Israel's gateway to Egypt, Assyria. 00:19:33 Speaker 2: And Sumer. 00:19:35 Speaker 6: It seems you're quite the leader on the rise. And how does your rewards? 00:19:41 Speaker 2: It was you sent off to. 00:19:43 Speaker 9: Lord over the slaves further in. 00:19:45 Speaker 4: Their own land. 00:19:46 Speaker 9: Now, best of luck with that. I wager you'll spend more time quelling rebellions than fortifying cities. 00:19:55 Speaker 3: Jeroboam was taken aback. He had not suspected that the new assignment he had received from Solomon could be perceived as anything but favorable. Jeroboam had the deliberate sense that they knew something he didn't, and he sank to the pit of his stomach. Jeroboam despised not being in control above all else. 00:20:19 Speaker 2: What are you implying, good King, I don't oversee slaves. They are conscripted laborers from the tribes. They are sent willingly. 00:20:26 Speaker 6: You're from the north, on Joe. 00:20:29 Speaker 2: No, I'm from the central territory of Israel, Your highness. 00:20:35 Speaker 9: Well, then when you go back home, talk to your neighbors. Keep your eye on the resentment up north, my boy. They won't stand to keep sending their men to the south with nothing to show for it. 00:20:49 Speaker 3: Back home with that, Hiram and his attendant sauntered off down the corridor, their hushed conversation resuming as they disappeared around the corner. Jeroboam frowned. He was no politician. He preferred direct, decisive action over whispered schemes. But if he was to live up to the future Solomon had placed before him, he would need to learn how to play this game? 00:21:18 Speaker 2: What was the king in playing? 00:21:21 Speaker 3: At the end of the week, he would leave Jerusalem to oversee the next round of conscripted laborers, men from Ephraim and Manassa. 00:21:31 Speaker 2: But they're not slaves. Only the Canaanites are slaves. 00:21:36 Speaker 3: But even as he spoke the words, they felt less certain than they once had. He thought of the murmurs of discontent. He had often dismissed the begrudging tones of his fellow tribesmen as they worked under him in the city of David. He had always assumed they were simply dissatisfied with their assignments lower in stateus chafing under the weight of the work. But Hiram's words gnawed at him. 00:22:06 Speaker 2: Was it really just the work they resented or was it something deeper? Is the king subtly enslaving God's. 00:22:16 Speaker 3: People, Jeroboam exhaled slowly. He would see for himself when he headed north. 00:22:27 Speaker 5: What is the cost of greatness? We often imagine success as a reward, as if it confirms our righteousness. 00:22:34 Speaker 7: But blessing is. 00:22:35 Speaker 5: In proof of greatness. It's a test of greatness, even as King Solomon and the nation he rules seemed to be flourishing. My dear teacher, Rebbi Jonathan Sax of Blessed Memory one said something profound about this exact moment in the history of Israel and what the Hebrew Bible the Tanagh says about it. Rebbe sac said, without saying so explicitly, the Tanakh is hinting that the building of the Temple and Israel into a second Egypt Solomon was altogether too close to be in Israelite pharaoh. Isn't that devastating? It forces us to ask, when does sacred architecture become a monument to ourselves. We often assume God's blessings are a sign of favor, but as we've seen again and again as we've studied the Bible together, blessing is often a burden. Think of Abraham and Moses, think of David, Their greatness came not through comfort, but through costly obedience. And this is a lesson that we find God trying to teach the Chosen People in today's Bible story. As glorious and majestic as the Holy Temple was, God wanted to make it crystal clear that the Temple would only flourish as long as both Israel's king and Israel's people kept God's laws. In fact, it would only exist as long as Israel was obedient. The temple and its ceremonies would only work if the Chosen People kept God's laws in fact, and a chilling section of this chapter, God warns some and what will happen if the Israelites aren't careful in their observance. I'm going to read these verses to you so you can feel God's emotion as he spoke them. This is what God said. But if you or your descendants turn away from me, do not observe the commands and decrees I have given you, and go off to serve other gods and worship them, then I will cut off Israel from the land I have given them, and I will reject this temple I've consecrated from my name Israel will then become a byword and an object of ridicule among all people. This temple, which will be so exalted, will become a heap of rebel. All who pass by will be appalled and will scoff, and will say, why has the Lord done such a thing to this land and to this temple. People will answer because they have forsaken the Lord, their god, who brought their ancestors out of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them. That's why the Lord brought all this disaster on them. And in fact, we know both the First and Second Temples they were destroyed. Our sages painfully point out that the cause of this was Israel's behavior, or rather their misbehavior. But the sage has also found a hint of optimism here. They look at these words, this temple which will be so exalted. Now, since God is speaking in Bible times about the temple's future destruction, shouldn't the Bible say which was so exalted? But it doesn't. The Bible says, this temple which will be so exalted, and this is a foreshadowing of the Chosen people's return to the Holy Land and even to the rebuilding of the Temple to come. This is already beginning to happen, the words of the prophets coming to life, the Jewish people coming home, isn't it turn to our ancient homeland? And we are trying to act as God wants us to. I think of this often as I lead the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, the ministry that is bringing food to the hungry, clothing the naked, sheltering the poor, and it's all done because of the help and support of our Christian brothers and sisters. Together, we are doing so much good for needy people. And each day in my prayers, I ask God to look upon this good that we do and to make us secure in this land, even in the face of those who want to destroy us. And I pray for him to prepare the way for a rebuilt temple that we can all enjoy all the nations as majestic as it was in the days of King Solomon. When I look at King Solomon, I see a man loved by God, and a man and a people who are drifting. And that should scare us a little bit, because the drift is quiet. Drift happens when the applause is loud, and the warnings are subtle. Drift happens when your crown fits too well, and the altar feels like yours, And suddenly the voice of God feels like an interruption rather than a guide. C. S. Lewis once wrote, the safest road to Hell is the gradual one, the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts. And yet God doesn't leave Solomon. God speaks, he warns, and he invites repentance to shuva return even in correction. God's heart is of restoration, of rebuilding, not just temples, but people. Maybe you're building something, a ministry, a family of future, and you should ask yourself what is it built on? Are the stones of your life set with humility? Is your heart still listening for the whisper? Listen for him, Listen for God, and build well with the ultimakel of being His glory. At the very end of the blessing that King Solomon gave to the crowds of Israelites as he dedicated the Holy Temple, he says, one thing I want to leave you with, he said, and may these words of mine which I have prayed before the Lord. Be near to the Lord our God, day and night, that he may uphold the cause of his servant and the cause of his people, Israel, according to each day's need, so that all the people of the earth may know the Lord is God, and that there is no other amen. 00:28:25 Speaker 3: You can listen to The Chosen People with Isle Eckstein ad free by downloading and subscribing to the pray dot Com app today. This prey dot Com production is only made possible by our dedicated team of creative talents. Steve Gattina, Max Bard, Zach Shellabaga and Ben Gammon are the executive producers of The Chosen People with Yile Exstein, edited by Alberto Avilla, narrated by Paul Coltefianu. Characters are voiced by Jonathan Cotton, Aaron Salvato, Sarah Seltz, Mike Reagan, Stephen Ringwold, Sylvia Zaradoc, Thomas Copeland, Junior, Rosanna Pilcher, and Mitch Leshinsky, and the opening prayer is voiced by John Moore. Music by Andrew Morgan Smith, written by Aaron Salvato, bre Rosalie and Chris Baig. Special thanks to Bishop Paulinier Robin van Ettin, Kayleb Burrows, Jocelyn Fuller, Rabbi Edward Abramson, and the team at International Fellowship of Christians and Jews. You can hear more Prey dot com productions on the Prey dot Com app, available on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. If you enjoyed The Chosen People with Yile Eckstein, please rate and leave a review.