Turn again to 1 Kings 9, where
we read from verse 15. And this is the reason of the
levy which King Solomon raised, for to build the house of the
Lord and his own house, and Milo and the wall of Jerusalem, and
Hazor and Megiddo and Giza. For Pharaoh king of Egypt had
gone up and taken Giza and burnt it with fire and slain the Canaanites
that dwelt in the city and given it for a present unto his daughter
Solomon's wife. And Solomon built Giza, and Bephoron
the Never, and Balaph, and Tadmor in the wilderness in the land,
and all the cities of Stor that Solomon had, and cities for his
chariots, and cities for his horsemen, and that which Solomon
desired to build in Jerusalem, and in Lebanon, and in all the
land of his dominion. And all the people that were
left of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites,
which were not of the children of Israel, their children that
were left after them in the land, whom the children of Israel also
were not able utterly to destroy, upon those did Solomon levy a
tribute of bond service unto this day. But of the children
of Israel did Solomon make no bondmen. But they were men of
war, and his servants, and his princes, and his captains, and
rulers of his chariots, and his horsemen. These were the chief
of the officers that were over Solomon's work, five hundred
and fifty, which bear rule over the people that wrought in the
work. But Pharaoh's daughter came up out of the city of David,
under her house, which Solomon had built for her. Then did he
build Millo. And three times in a year did
Solomon offer burnt offerings and peace offerings upon the
altar which he built unto the Lord. And he burnt incense upon
the altar that was before the Lord. So he finished the house. Pharaoh's daughter came up out
of the city of David unto her house which Solomon had built
for her. Then did he build Millo. And
three times in a year did Solomon offer burnt offerings and peace
offerings upon the altar which he built unto the Lord. And he
burnt incense upon the altar that was before the Lord. So
he finished the house. In this passage in which we read
of the levy that Solomon raised in order to build the house of
the Lord, his own house below the wall of Jerusalem, the various
cities and places. In which we read of how the enemies
in the land, the Canaanites, had been driven out. The Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites,
Hivites and Jebusites. How their children were made
bond servants. and how the children of Israel
were free, and how Solomon's wife, Pharaoh's daughter, came
up out of the city of David into the house which Solomon had built
for her. And then Solomon offered burnt offerings, peace offerings,
sacrifices upon the altar before the Lord, and finished the house. In these events and in these
descriptions ultimately we see the grace of God shown unto a
people typified by Solomon's wife, Pharaoh's daughter, brought
out of Egypt to the city of David and hence
from there into the house which Solomon had built for her. In
these accounts, we see the wondrous grace of God shown unto a people,
an unworthy people, a strange people, a rebellious people,
a lost people, a people who are delivered from all their captivity,
A people who are delivered from their sin, their rebellion, from
themselves. A people who are brought into
a kingdom and a house made by a king, made by the king, made
by their king, prepared for them to dwell and live forever. On the surface, these are historical
events, but they are historical events that God brought about,
both in terms of raising Solomon to the position of king and building
the temple, but also in terms of whom he took to wife and the
house he prepared for her, and how the land, the country, the
city, the temple, the house was prepared and how she was brought
up from Egypt through the city of David, Bethlehem, unto Zion,
Jerusalem, her dwelling place forever. Throughout all these
events and all this account, we see the abundant, the overflowing,
the undeserved, the abounding grace of God towards sinners
like you and I. Pharaoh's daughter, this daughter
of Egypt, this strange woman taken from the world of which
Egypt's a picture, was undeserving, undeserving to be Solomon's wife. This foreigner, this stranger.
And yet this is whom he loved. This is whom he called. This
is whom he delivered. This is whom he saved. This is
for whom he built a house for her to dwell in as his bride
forevermore. Oh the grace of God we see in
these pictures, the grace of God towards sinners, the grace
of God towards the wretched, the lost, the deaf, the blind,
the lame, the dumb, the dead, like you, like I. Grace, grace, grace. Firstly, In Solomon's choice
of a bride, Pharaoh's daughter, we see the elect in grace of
God. She was chosen by the king. She was chosen to be his wife. Though from another nation, though
far away, though a strange woman, though under the law, This union
would be condemned because she was not an Israelite. She was a stranger and a foreigner.
Yet, under the grace of God, God brought it, brought this
union to pass. He chose this woman. Solomon chose Pharaoh's daughter. But in this we see a picture
of Christ's bride, chosen out of the Egypt of this world, chosen
out of her wretchedness, her vileness, the darkness in which
she dwelt. She was a stranger and a foreigner,
not worthy to be brought into God's kingdom. And yet Christ
set his love upon a people, his bride. whom he would deliver
out of Egypt, whom he would bring into his courts, whom he would
build a house for, to dwell in forevermore with him, a bride
whom he loved, a bride whom he chose, a bride for whom he would
give himself. Christ knew her. in the darkness
of this world. He knew her when she was a sinner
restrained from Him. He loved her before ever she
was born. He loved her before ever she
sinned and fell in Adam. He loved her in the darkness. He loved her when she was a stranger. He loved her when she hated Him.
When she despised Him, He gave Himself. for those who were sinners. He gave himself for those in
the darkness. He gave himself for strangers
like Pharaoh's daughter. For God commendeth his love toward
us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Yes, Pharaoh's daughter here
is a picture of his bride. delivered out of Egypt, a stranger
and a foreigner, a stranger and a foreigner to the things of
God, not worthy to be counted amongst his people. And yet one
chosen by the King. Oh the grace we see here, electing
grace. chosen by God from the foundation
of the world, chosen, elected unto salvation in spite of all
that she was and all that she stood for and in spite of all
that we are and all that we stand for. Yes, she was of Egypt, Pharaoh's
daughter. She had all that Egypt could
give her to indulge in. This was not any Egyptian woman. She had, as it were, the world
at her feet. She could have whatever she wanted
that Pharaoh could give her. And she had her fill of it. And yet she was delivered from
it to be brought to Solomon. And how this pictures us as sinners. We may have all the world, all
the riches we can get hold of, all the entertainment, all the
pleasures. We can fill our desires with
this world, with this Egypt around us. But truly we have nothing. It does us no good. We can be
drunken. with this world's pleasures,
with the pleasures of Babylon. We can strive after it, but it
leaves us in darkness. It never fulfills. With every
pleasure there is suffering. It leaves us empty. And it leaves
us estranged from God, from whom we've run. In Egypt we are lost. We are rebels unto a holy God. We are captive. Captive. The children of Israel before
they were delivered from Egypt and from Pharaoh's rule were
captives in Egypt. Bound. Bound to serve him. bond servants a picture of their
captivity under sin of our captivity under sin we can have all that
the world gives us and we think it's freedom when really it binds
us we can indulge our sinful lusts and desires in whatever
way we want but they just trap us they ensnare us they bind
us we're captive we're not free we're trapped Men speak of having
free will. Men speak of having free will
to respond to the gospel. But who does? It's a lie. We have no free will. We make
our choices, but our choices are between this sin and that
sin. This indulgence and that indulgence. This desire and that
desire. We're not free. We never choose
to turn from our sin unto God. Jesus spake of the prodigal son,
of that son that took of his father's inheritance and went
off to indulge in it. And he was never free. It brought
him ultimately to an end of all things. It brought him to feed
the pigs, the swine. Once he'd spent all his money,
once he'd indulged all his pleasures, there he was with nothing. It
gained him nothing. And there he would have remained
and died if God by grace hadn't sought and found him and brought
him to his right mind and led him back to his father. And there
in Egypt would we remain. Even if we were Pharaoh's daughter,
even if we were in a great position We can be in this world and some
of us have nothing. And some have everything. But
ultimately we're all in the same place. Because the riches of
this world are fleeting and passing. And when we grow old and we have
neither strength nor ability to indulge in our desires, And
when all the riches around us, the greatest house, the greatest
dwelling, the greatest amount of land, the most friends, the
most possessions, when we can do nothing with them because
we're stricken down by old age and illness, when our sin brings
us down low, then we discover that all these things that we
sought after, all these things we desired, are of nothing worth. What doth it profit a man if
he gains the whole world, but loses his own soul? Yes, there in Egypt we are but
strangers, estranged from God, lost rebels, vile, wretched sinners
in the darkness. No matter how great a position
we may attain to in this world, no matter that in the world's
sight we may be Pharaoh's daughter, we're still lost in Egypt, captive
to our own sins. And yet it's there that Solomon's
love and grace and mercy found out Pharaoh's daughter. it's there from whence he called
her it's there upon which God's elect in grace found her and
drew her unto salvation and if God's grace finds you there he
will draw you out irresistibly He will bring you to an end of
all things in Egypt, all things in this world. And He will lead
you to the city of David. He will draw you to see the One
who was born in Bethlehem. He will point you unto Christ
the Saviour. And He will say, follow Me. Christ will look upon you and
say, follow me. And he will lead you into his
house prepared before for sinners such as you. Yes, there was electing grace
pictured here in Solomon's choice of a bride. But before this bride
could be brought to dwell in the house prepared for her by
Solomon, before she could come and dwell in the land, there
was much work that Solomon did in that land. And there was much
work that had gone on before Solomon built the temple. When
God brought his people into Canaan, They drove out the Canaanites
from the land. They drove out the Amorites,
the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, the Jebusites. When Solomon was brought to the
throne, he raised a levy. The people gave in order that
the house of the Lord should be built, the temple. the king's house, his bride's
house, the wall of Jerusalem, Milo, all the buildings, all
the city of God. There was much to be done. And
in that city, and in that temple, and in that house, there could
be no mixture, no mixture, no mixture of the
Jews, and the Gentiles. No mixture of the enemies of
Christ within. We read of how Israel had utterly
destroyed the other nations. But of those that they didn't
destroy, those were brought by Solomon to be bond servants. Upon those did Solomon levy a
tribute of bond service unto this day, but of the children
of Israel did Solomon make no bondmen. Yes, there was a distinction
drawn between those who were of Israel and those who weren't. Those who were God's people and
those who weren't. That which was of God and that
which wasn't that which was of the spirit and that which was
of the flesh that which was everlasting and that which would be cast
aside that which was of grace and that which was of the law
that which was of faith and that which was of works behind all
of this There is a picture of God's distinguishing grace in
delivering his people, in choosing them and gathering them and saving
them and in cleansing them and washing away their sin and dividing
the flesh from the spirit. We see a people brought into
bond service and a people who are free. There can be no mixture
in God's kingdom. No mixture of sheep and goats. No mixture of God's people and
sinners. No mixture of sin and righteousness. No mixture of law and grace.
Christ chose his bride She was chosen from all eternity. He
gave himself for her. He washed her of all her sin,
and he brought in upon the cross for her everlasting righteousness. He delivered her from the curse,
from the law, from the condemnation, from the law's rule over her.
He blotted out all her sins. He took away all her iniquities. He delivered her from all her
enemies. He made her pure and perfect
without spot and without blemish. He destroyed all her enemies. And he brought her in as a perfect
and unblemished and unspotted bride, beautiful in all her ways. Oh, the distinguishing grace
of God that chose a bride for his son, for whom he gave his
all. For whom he gave his all. This grace, which was set upon
Pharaoh's daughter, a picture of Christ's bride, is a grace
that saves. Above all this is saving grace. Solomon didn't simply set his
eye upon Pharaoh's daughter and then expect her to do everything
else. He built a house for her. He
prepared it for her. He brought her in. He did all
the work in order to deliver her as it were. All we read of
in this chapter is what Solomon did. And Pharaoh's daughter,
his bride, his wife, was the recipient. When Christ set his
love upon a people chosen of God from the foundation of the
world, when he set his love upon her, he did all that was necessary
to deliver her from her sin. He set his face like a flint
towards Jerusalem. He came into this world to go
to Jerusalem, to go outside the city, to go to the cross, to
take the sin and the corruption of his bride, his people, to
lay down his life in their stead. He set aside heaven's glory. He was born a man, made a little
lower than the angels, even for the suffering of death. He came
into the darkness, the evil of this world. He came into the
Egypt below. He came and walked amongst men
that hated him, that rejected him, that despised him. And he came. because he loved
his bride. He came because he loved one
who was a sinner, one who hated him by nature, one who deserved
his condemnation and wrath because of her unrighteousness, one who
deserved to be cast out One who deserved nothing from his hand
and yet he loved her. He set his grace and his mercy
upon her. Oh the love that Christ had for
his bride. How abounding it is. How merciful
it is. Christ didn't come to expose
the sin of his bride. He didn't come to display her
shame. He didn't come to condemn her.
He didn't come to rebuke her. He came to save her, to deliver
her, to set his love upon her. He took her sin. He took her
guilt. He took the curse due unto her
upon himself. and he took it away. How different
this is to man. When Adam fell in the garden
and ate of the tree that God had told him not to eat of, and
when God knew that Adam had fallen and came looking for him in the
garden, As the man and his wife hid in the trees and covered
themselves with fig leaves because they knew that they were naked, when they, with this newfound
knowledge gained from eating the fruit of the tree that the
Lord had commanded them not to eat, showed them their nakedness,
when the law had exposed them and condemned them, they try
to cover up their sin, they try to make amends, they try to work
at their own righteousness, they try to redeem themselves. Yet when the Lord came and called
out, where art thou? And the man said, and when the
Lord asked him what he did, what did he do? What did he do? He blamed his wife. He blamed the woman. The man said, the woman whom
thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did
eat. And the Lord said unto the woman,
what is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, the serpent
beguiled me, and I did eat. They each blamed another. When
found out in his sin, Adam blamed his wife. And when she was asked,
she blamed the serpent. But when Christ came into this
world to deliver the one he loved, he took her condemnation and
her guilt upon himself. He never pointed the finger.
He never said, this is why I'm in this state. He never blamed
her. He came to cover her sin. He
came to cover her modesty. He came to take it away. He came
to wash her and make her pure. Oh, the saving grace, the mercy,
the love He showed her. We read of how the Pharisees
brought that woman caught in adultery, in the very act unto
Christ, and set her before him, expecting him to condemn her. And he said unto them, he who
is without sin cast the first stone. And one by one they all
went away, because they were all convicted. They knew that
they were sinners. And how could they condemn another
when they were sinners themselves? And when all her accusers had
gone away, he asked her, where are thine accusers? She said,
they've gone away. And he said, neither do I condemn
thee. Go and sin no more. He came not to condemn. He came
not to destroy, but to save. He came not to call the righteous,
but sinners. under salvation. If Adam blamed
his wife for his own sin, Christ covered his wife's sin and took
it as his own. That's the depth of saving grace. He took our guilt, our sin, our
shame as his own. He not only forgives us for our
sin, He took it as His and stood in our place, stood in His people's
place. He took His bride's sin, her
guilt, her judgment, the curse, He took it all as one condemned. He was nailed to the cross under
the outpouring of God's wrath. in the sinner's place. He was
nailed to the altar. He was slain upon the altar.
His blood was shed. He died. Oh, the depths that
saving grace went to to deliver a people. In this we are reminded
once more in this chapter of the heart of the Gospel, when we read in verse 25 that
three times in a year, a reminder of the triune work of God in
salvation, a reminder of the three days between the cross
and the raising of Christ. a reminder of the free hours
in the darkness three times in a year did Solomon offer burnt
offerings and peace offerings upon the altar which he built
unto the Lord and he burnt incense upon the altar that was before
the Lord so he finished the house there could be no salvation without
the burnt offerings of Christ upon the cross without the peace
offering of Christ upon the cross there could be no salvation without
the burning of incense upon the altar before the Lord there could
be no finishing of the house except Christ died to save his
people by grace oh what a salvation And in doing so, in doing so,
Solomon finished the house. And in doing so, Christ finished
the house for his wife, his bride. He prepared a place for her. He prepared the house for his
bride. All the land that we read of
in this chapter, all the cities, all the buildings, He prepared. He prepared Solomon, built Giza
and Bephoron, the Neva, and Balaph, and Tadmor in the wilderness,
in the land, and all the cities of store that Solomon had, and
cities for his chariots, and cities for his horsemen, and
that which Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, and in Lebanon,
and in all the land of his dominion. Solomon raised the levy to build
the house of the Lord and his own house and Milo and the wall
of Jerusalem and Hazor and Megiddo and Giza. He prepared the house. Pharaoh's daughter came up out
of the city of David unto her house which Solomon had built
for her. What a place he prepared. What
a place. What a place Christ has prepared
for his people, by grace, in mercy, for those whom he loves. A place prepared for them by
God from eternity. A place prepared for a chosen
people. A people distinguished by grace. A people saved by grace. a place
prepared. Christ said under his disciples
let not your heart be troubled you believe in God believe also
in me in my father's house are many mansions if it were not
so I would have told you I go to prepare a place for you And
if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive
you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be also. What a place he's prepared for
his people. But there are people who were
called out of Egypt unto Christ, unto glory, and as they journey
through this world as pilgrims and strangers in this world.
They know what it is to suffer and to travail as they look unto
their savior but pass through the valleys in this wilderness,
pass through the darkness. They know the struggle within
between the flesh and the spirit. For though Christ took his people's
sin, and took it all away, and paid the price for every sin,
past, present and future, every believer knows from bitter experience
that whilst they remain in this world in the flesh, there remains
that in them in their flesh, that sinful nature which wars
against the Spirit. There remains that which though
condemned at the cross, which though they have been delivered
from, in their experience as they journey through this world,
there is that which wars against the Spirit. And the good that
they would, they cannot do, and the evil that they would not,
that they do. There remains for them that struggle.
As Paul said, we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal,
sold unto sin for that which I Do I allow not, for what I
would, that do I not, but what I hate, that do I. If I then
do that which I would not, I consent unto the Lord that it is good.
Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth
in me. For I know that in me, that is
in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing. For to will is present
with me, but how to perform that which is good I find not. For
the good that I would, I do not, but the evil which I would not,
that I do. Now if I do that, I would not. It is no more I that do it, but
sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law that when I
would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the
law of God after the inward man. But I see another law in my members,
warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity
to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that
I am! Who shall deliver me from the
body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ
our Lord. So then with the mind I myself
serve the law of God but with the flesh the law of sin. There
is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus
who walk not after the flesh. but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of
life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and
death for what the law could not do in that it was weak through
the flesh. God sent in his own Son in the
likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, condemned sin in the
flesh. Yes, the believer knows this
warfare pictured in this chapter When Solomon, we read of that
the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites which were
not of the children of Israel, their children that were left
after them in the land whom the children of Israel also were
not able utterly to destroy, upon those did Solomon levy a
tribute of bond service unto this day. There were still those
in the land who were bond servants. They did not have the power they
once had. The majority had been destroyed
but there was still this in the land. A picture of the flesh
and the trouble it brings as a believer journeys through this
world. But how God keeps us, how he
keeps the believer, How he won't let the believer return from
whence he came. How he lifts him up. Yes, there's
this warfare that Paul speaks after. He sees the wretchedness
in him. He cries out, who shall deliver
me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ,
our Lord. As God brought you there, Has
He made this grace known unto you? That though you see your
weakness, that though you see the wretchedness in your flesh,
that though you see your sin daily, He lifts you up beyond
it to look beyond yourself, outside from yourself, unto Christ alone. that He brings you to look upon
Him who sent His Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin condemned
sin in the flesh, to look unto Christ who suffered in your place. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh
but after the Spirit. Yes, Pharaoh's daughter was called
by grace. She was called out of Egypt.
She was called to the city of David, Bethlehem. She was led in the end unto Zion. Called by grace, kept by grace,
preserved by grace. Has the Lord called you? Has he brought you by faith to
Bethlehem. Has he brought you to the city
of David to see his son come into the darkness of this world
for you? Has he brought you outside the
camp at Jerusalem to the altar, the cross upon which Christ died,
to see him sacrificed in your place? is he leading you into
his house. Pharaoh's daughter came up out
of the city of David under her house, which Solomon had built
for her. Then did he build Milo. Those
whom Christ loves, he sets his grace upon. Those whom he loves,
he loves forever. Oh, the love that Solomon had
for his bride. We see this not only in his building
of this house for Pharaoh's daughter, his wife, but how we read of
Solomon's love and the depth of love that God taught him in
the Song of Solomon. how God showed Solomon the depths
of his grace, his mercy, and his love under sinners, and how
he caused Solomon to pen that book as a picture, as an unfolding
of the love that Christ has for his bride, and the love that
she is given for him. Go forth, O ye daughters of Zion,
And behold King Solomon with the crown wherewith his mother
crowned him in the day of his espousals and in the day of the
gladness of his heart. We read in the Song of Solomon
311. Oh has God come in the darkness
of this world to you? Are you a daughter of Zion called
out of Egypt called out from your sin, called out from your
rebellion, called out by grace to look upon your King, crowned,
crowned in glory, crowned in victory, crowned in heaven above. Has Christ come and taken your
sin? Has he gone three times to the
altar and burnt offerings on your behalf? Has he laid down
his life because you sinned, because of your guilt, because
of your hatred? Has he loved you with an everlasting
love? Until The daughter of Pharaoh entered
the house. The house was not finished. Pharaoh's
daughter came up out of the city of David under her house which
Solomon had built for her. Then did he build Millo. And
three times in a year did Solomon offer burnt offerings and peace
offerings upon the altar which he built unto the Lord. And he
burnt incense upon the altar that was before the Lord. So
he finished the house. Yes, he prepared it. Yes, he
built it. But until his bride was there
with him, it was incomplete. There was something missing.
Christ came into this world to save sinners. He came by grace
to call them, to deliver them, to wash them, to cleanse them,
to bring them into glory. He came to have them His bride. He came to bring His bride into
His house, as He called you. Has he set his love upon you? Has he brought you into his kingdom? Is he leading you to a place
prepared for you? Has he brought you into his banqueting
hall and set a banner over you, a banner of love? Oh, the grace
of God that brings salvation. to the most wretched, to the
chief of sinners, to the vile, to beggars, to the blind, the
deaf, the dumb, the dead, those lost in captivity in Egypt, has
God come to where you are in grace to bring you into his house
of Christ forevermore. Go forth, O ye daughters of Zion,
and behold King Solomon with the crown wherewith his mother
crowned him in the day of his espousals and in the day of the
gladness of his heart. Amen.