It was at my high school reunion
this weekend. Forty years. And I had them every ten years.
And I enjoyed it. But once every ten years is enough.
I'm sure they thought that about me too, though. One sobering thought about it
is there were about 10% of people were dead. You know, they had
their pictures up and everything. And Lynn, there's always kind
of a, I'm always wanting to leave before she does. And she said,
this one might be our last, so let's leave when I want. And
I thought, wow, that's true. It might be. 1 Kings chapter
4, I'd like to begin reading in verse 20. This is under the reign of Solomon. Judah and Israel were many as
the sand which is by the sea in multitude, eating and drinking
and making merry. Everybody had plenty to eat,
plenty to drink, and everybody was happy in Solomon's reign. And Solomon reigned over all
kingdoms from the river into the land of the Philistines under
the border of Egypt. And they brought presents and
serve Solomon all the days of his life. And Solomon's provision
for one day was 30 measures of fine flour and three score measures
of meal, 10 fat oxen and 20 oxen out of the pastures and a hundred
sheep beside hearts and roebucks and fallow deer and fatted owl
for he had dominion. over all the region on this side
of the river, from Tipsa even to Asa, over all the kings on
this side of the river. And he had peace on all sides
round about him. 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 Solomon had 40,000 stalls
of horses for his chariots and 12,000 horsemen. And those officers,
12 of them spoken of in verse seven, and those officers provided
vidal for King Solomon, food, and for all that came under King
Solomon table, every man in his month, and they lacked nothing. Let's pray. Lord, we come into your presence
in Christ's name, and we're so thankful that everything you
require of us, you look to thy son for. Lord, we wouldn't want it to
be any other way, and we are so thankful. We're so thankful
for his perfect righteousness that is our righteousness. We're
so thankful for his precious blood. It cleanses us from all
sin. We're so thankful for the freeness
of your grace. We're so thankful for the gospel
of thy dear son. Now, Lord, we ask that you would
grant us your presence for his sake, that you'd speak in power
to our hearts and that we might be enabled to sit at the feet
of your son and hear his word. Bless all your people wherever
they meet together. We pray for your mercy and grace
upon this nation, upon our leaders. Lord, direct them according to
your will. That we might lead a quiet, peaceable
life in all godliness and honesty. Lord, give us grace to love you
more. Give us grace to love one another more. For Christ's sake,
in his name we pray, amen. And I dare say that what I read
just now is the only time in history that a society has had
it so good under Solomon's ring. There was peace on every side.
Nobody lacked anything. Everybody was making merry. Everybody
was happy. Everybody had plenty to eat.
This was a society that I don't think has ever been that way
since then and had never been that way before then. What a
place to live, Israel at this time under the reign of Solomon. Now Solomon, the son of David
is a great type of the Lord Jesus Christ. His reign was prophesied
by David before he was ever born. David said it would be this way
under my son's reign. The scripture says the Lord loved
him. His name means peace. He is our peace. And how Israel
prospered under his reign. Now, before we get into these
12 men who provided food, turn with me to Psalm 72, if you would,
please. This is David's psalm concerning
his son Solomon, but you can see clearly that this is speaking
of the Lord Jesus Christ. As we look at this 72nd Psalm
and notice the title, a Psalm for Solomon, and that is inspired. That is in the original language,
a Psalm for Solomon. This is the Psalm about Solomon
and how clearly this speaks of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's
read this Psalm together. Give the King thy judgment, O
God, and thy righteousness unto the King's son. He, Solomon. The Lord Jesus Christ shall judge
thy people with righteousness and thy poor with judgment. The
mountain shall bring peace to the people and the little hills
by righteousness. He shall judge the poor of the
people and he shall save the children of the needy and shall
break in pieces the oppressor. They shall fear thee as long
as the sun and the moon endure throughout all generations. He
shall come down like rain upon the mown grass, as showers that
water the earth. In his day shall the righteous
flourish, and abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth.
He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river
unto the ends of the earth. They that dwell in the wilderness
shall bow before him, and his enemies shall lick the dust.
The kings of Tarshish and the Isles shall bring presents, and
the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts. Yea, all kings shall
fall down before him. All nations shall serve him.
Now this happened literally with Solomon, but you can see this
is the Lord Jesus Christ this is speaking of. Verse 12, for
he shall deliver the needy when he crieth, the poor also, and
him that hath no helper. He shall spare the poor and the
needy. and shall save the souls of the
needy. I love that description of God's
people. Poor, I don't have anything. Needy, I have great needs. That is the confession of every
child of God, poor and needy. Verse 14, he shall redeem their
soul from deceit and violence and precious shall their blood
be in his sight. And he shall live, and to him
shall be given of the gold of Sheba. Prayer shall be made for
him continually, and daily shall he be praised. It's going on
today. There shall be a handful of corn
in the earth, and 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. His name shall endure forever. His name shall be continued as
long as the sun, and men shall be blessed in Him. All nations
shall call Him blessed. Blessed be the Lord God, the
God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things. And blessed
be His glorious name forever, and let the whole earth be filled
with His glory. Amen and amen. The prayers of
David, the son of Jesse are ended. Now, what a glorious type of
the Lord Jesus Christ we have in Solomon. Now look back in
our text in first Kings chapter four, verse seven. And this is going
to be similar to what we did last week. We're going to consider
the names of these men. Verse seven and Solomon had 12
officers over all Israel, which provided vittles food. For the king and for his household,
each man, his month in a year made provision. 12 is a very significant number
in the scripture, isn't it? 12 apostles. The new Jerusalem
had 12 gates, 12 foundations, the foundations of the apostles
of their 12 patriarchs. Our Lord's first public words
were when he was 12 years of age. 12 is used throughout the
scriptures and it, like seven, is the number of perfection.
And this speaks of the men who provided under Solomon's rule,
the food for all of Israel that made this such a happy place.
I mean, they, every man was eating and drinking and making merry.
And everybody was, like I said, I don't think there's been a
generation or a society like this before or after to give
the picture, the greater Solomon, the greater son of David, the
Lord Jesus Christ, what we have in him. But can you imagine,
I mean, you think of how fractured our society is with all the problems.
There's certainly not peace on every side. All the problems,
divisions in our society, the fears on every side. But it wasn't
like this there. Everybody was happy. Everybody
had plenty to eat. No man had any kind of lack.
It was just great. Now, here are the names of these
men. And these men give us some idea
of why the true kingdom of God, and that, you know, while While
the world we live in now is so fractured and we have so many
fears, yet the true kingdom of God, we're happy in Christ, aren't
we? We don't lack anything, do we? We have all things in Christ
Jesus. There's peace on every side because
he is our peace. Now, this is gonna tell why the
true kingdom is like this. Now, let's look at these men's
names. Verse eight. And these are their
names, First, the Son of Her. The Son of Her. Now what does
Her mean? It means the Son of Whiteness. The Son of Whiteness. This speaks of the holy humanity
of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Son of Whiteness. Remember that white linen robe
that the church wears, the righteousness of Christ, the righteousness
of the saints, white linen worn by the priest signifying the
holy humanity, the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now,
this is why we have such peace in this kingdom. This is the
only reason we have such peace in this kingdom. Peace on every
side, we lack nothing, because we have, every believer has,
his holy humanity as their personal righteousness before God. Now
what peace there is in that. When God looks at me, he looks
as one who has his very own righteousness. You know, I dislike the term,
I've used it before, but I dislike the term imputed righteousness.
Imputed righteousness. The Bible never uses that kind
of language. It never uses imputed as an adjective. Always as a verb. There's only
one righteousness. His holy humanity. His perfect white robe. That wedding garment. that when
the king came in and he spotted that one without that wedding
garment, he was cast out. There's only one righteousness,
one holy humanity the king accepts, and that's the righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And what kind of satisfaction
do you have there? You know, that's really the only thing
that satisfies my conscience, is that I have his righteousness
as my personal righteousness before God. Now, what kind of
food is that? Now in a kingdom that all the subjects have his
glorious righteousness, what peace there is on every side.
God looks at me and he's pleased with me. God looks at me and
he can't see any room for improvement. I'm perfect in Christ Jesus.
Now what a kingdom that is. The perfect righteousness, the
perfect merits of the Lord Jesus Christ. I love what Paul said
in Philippians chapter three, verses eight and nine. He said,
oh, that I may win Christ and be found in him. Now some stop
there. What's he say next? Not having
my own righteousness. I don't have anything to do with
that, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness,
which is of God by faith. Now that speaks of peace. Now look in verse nine, The son
of Dekar is the next name. Dekar is the way it's pronounced.
I'm sorry, Dekar. And it gives the cities over
which he was responsible for providing them food. But what
this name means is pierced. What do you think of when you
think of that? They shall look on him whom they have pierced. Now here is why this kingdom
has such peace. This is why there's peace on
every side. This is why everybody has all they can want and everybody
is happy because of Christ crucified. That's what food this is. Paul put it this way in Galatians
chapter six, verse 14, God forbid that I should glory that I should
feel confident in, that I should rejoice in anything save the
cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, here's the only thing that
gives me peace. This is the only thing that satisfies
my conscience, the cross of Christ. where He actually put away my
sin so that it is no more. And just as truly as He put away
my sin, He gave me His righteousness. That's what the cross is all
about. And isn't that the food of this kingdom? Isn't that what
we find satisfaction? Do you tire of hearing about
the cross of Christ? It's more glorious to me because
of who He is and what He did and what He accomplished. It's
more glorious to me than it's ever been. The cross of the Lord
Jesus Christ, everything God requires of me, He looks to His
Son for and what He provided by the glorious cross. Now this
is the food of this kingdom that gives perfect satisfaction. This
is why we're complete and lack nothing, because of the cross
of the Lord Jesus Christ. The food of this kingdom is pierced. They shall look upon him whom
they have pierced. Now look in verse 10. The son
of Hesed, he's the third provider of food. His name is Hesed. And that means the son of mercy. Now here's the food of this kingdom
that gives us such satisfaction, that makes us know there's peace
on every side and that there's no lack. Our meat and drink is
the mercy, the mercy of God. Now, when God identifies himself
and proclaims his name to Moses in Exodus chapter 34, what is
the first thing he says with regard to himself? The Lord,
the Lord God, merciful, merciful and gracious, long suffering
and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands,
forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, who will by no means
clear the guilty. Now, if you can understand how
he can forgive transgression and sin, yet by no means clear
the guilty, you've understood the gospel. Mercy. Now the first time the word merciful
is used, and I love this, in Genesis chapter 19, the angels
tell Lot, get out of here. God's going to destroy this place.
What did Lot do? He lingered. He lingered. There was something in that place
that God was going to destroy that he found attractive, and
he didn't want to leave. He didn't want to leave. Okay, stay there. No, the scripture
says the angel grabbed him by the hand and pulled him out. God being merciful to him. Now that's the kind of mercy
I need. Not mercy offered to me and it's up to me to kind
of use it one way or the other. That kind of mercy won't do me
any good. I need the kind of mercy that grabs me by the hand
and yanks me out and saves me. I love what the Lord said to
the Pharisees. He said, you go and learn what this means. I'll
have mercy and not sacrifice. God says, I don't want you bring
me yours. Look, I've sacrificed. No, I'll
have mercy. And the rule of this kingdom
is mercy. I think of the Beatitudes, um,
blessed, uh, merciful. If you've ever experienced the
mercy of God, you'll be merciful. And if you're not merciful, you
don't know anything about the mercy of God. That's just the
way it is. Mercy, the son of mercy. Now look in verse 11, the son
of Abinadab, that's the fourth person, Abinadab, and his name
means my father is king. My father is king. Now what this
speaks of is the kingship, the sovereignty of our father in
this kingdom. Now the reason this kingdom is
so great is because he's the king. And because he controls
and rules everything, this speaks of his absolute sovereignty.
Don't you love his sovereignty? The fact that he controls everything
and everybody, and he's completely sovereign over all the actions
of men, no matter what they are. He's in control of it. That person
sitting beside you, he's in control of them. You sitting there, he's
in control of you. He's sovereign. That's what that
means. He's sovereign. He's sovereign in creation. He's
spaked the world into existence just by an activist's will. He's
sovereign in providence. Everything that happens, he's
the first cause behind. Everything. If you take anything
out, he's no longer sovereign. He's sovereign over everything.
And he's sovereign in salvation. That means salvation. My salvation,
your salvation, is not in your hands. You don't have any control
in this thing. It's in his hands. He's sovereign. My father is king. I like to
sing that song, this is my father's world. I like to remember that.
This is my father's world. And he's absolutely sovereign
and what a reason for peace. You know, there's nothing to
worry about. All the stuff you're worried
about, all the stuff I worry about, there's nothing to worry about.
God's in control of everything. And when we worry, we're worried
about God not being in control. What an evil thing to think.
Worrying is so sinful. God reigns. He is king. He is in control. And then in
verse 12, Bena. Bena, the son of Iud. I can't pronounce these names.
I always get embarrassed trying to do that. But anyway, you know
what Bena's name means? And this is part of this kingdom.
And actually he's mentioned twice. or two different men with the
same name is mentioned twice in this list. And his name means affliction,
affliction, trouble, trial. Now, since he's mentioned twice,
I'm gonna look at it in two different points of view. Number one, just
the trials we experience, the trouble we experience. the difficult
things we experience. Everybody has trouble. Man that's
born of woman is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward. But
we have this assurance, every trouble and trial is sent by
our heavenly father for our good and his glory. And that's the
stuff of this kingdom. David said, it's good for me
that I was afflicted. that I might learn thy statutes.
Every trouble is good for us. It's sent by our wise heavenly
father, who's too wise to err and too kind to be cruel, and
everything he does is just right, isn't it? Oh, thank, James said,
count it all joy when you fall into affliction, trouble, trial,
temptation. Count it joy, because you know
who sent it. And the other, angled, but since
his name is twice is I think of what Paul said to Timothy,
be not thou therefore ashamed of the gospel, but be a partaker
of the afflictions. Don't be not thou therefore ashamed
of the testimony of our Lord, but be a partaker of the afflictions
of the gospel. If you confess Christ, if you
confess the gospel, you'll make enemies. You'll have people that
will hate you. It'll mistreat you. It'll misrepresent
you. That's part of it. That's just
part of it. Be a partaker of the afflictions
of the gospel. Now look in verse 13, the son
of Geber, and he's also mentioned twice, the son of Geber. And that word means the son of
man. That's all it means, the son
of man. What was our Lord's favorite title? What was the title he
used regarding himself more than any other title? the Son of Man. The eternal God, Jesus Christ,
loved to speak of himself as being the Son of Man. The only way me and you could
be saved is if he became a man, bone of our bones and flesh of
our flesh. There is one God and one mediator
between God and men, the man, Christ Jesus. The son of man
is come to seek and to save that which was lost. And oh, our peace
is because of the son of man coming and the eternal God being
made flesh and coming and Keeping the law for us as man and dying
for us as man and being raised from the dead for us as man.
Seated, there's a man in glory right now, seated at the right
hand of the father, ruling and reigning and interceding. All
the peace of this kingdom is the son of man. I look in verse
14, Ahinadab, the son of Ido. Ahinadab means my brother's liberal. My brother, the Lord Jesus Christ,
is liberal. He's so generous. He's so liberal. He's so gracious. I can't help
but think of the scripture. You know the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes,
he became poor, that you, through his poverty, might be rich. My brother is liberal. I'm going
to have to be real quick on these next ones. Look at verse 15,
a high may as this man's name was
a high may as, and you know what that means? My brother is anger.
My brother's anger. Now, what would God be without
his anger and wrath? We read in the scriptures of
the wrath of the lamb, God is angry with the wicked every single
day. A God without anger, a savior
without anger would be a spineless savior that we couldn't even
respect in the first place. God is angry with the wicked
every day. And this is a part of who he
is. He's holy. He's righteous. He must punish
sin. He's not going to wicked sin.
My brother is anger. And then In verse 17, we've already
looked at Bayana, that's affliction, but verse 17, Jehoshaphat, that
means Jehovah has judged. And in this kingdom of peace,
we have absolute perfect justice and judgment, the judgment that
took place on the cross. And this is where the peace comes
from. I don't have any sin. Christ put it away. It was judged. It was condemned. He's in absolute
control. The gospel is a thing of righteous
judgment. Jehovah has judged. There's nothing
unjust about this thing. When I'm brought into heaven,
the very justice of God is going to demand it because of what
Christ accomplished on the cross. And this is where all the peace
of this glorious kingdom comes from. Jehovah has judged. It's a completely just thing. And look in verse 18, the next
name is Shemai, the son of Eli and Benjamin. Shemai means famous
and renowned. This is about the fame and the
glory and the exaltation of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now in his
temple, does everyone speak of his glory? And that's what is
glorious about this kingdom that we're speaking of. experience
so much peace, it's all about the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ.
It's not about the glory of the flesh or of men. It's about the
glory of Christ. And this is what makes it holy
and glorious. Who gets the glory? That's always
the issue, isn't it? Who gets the glory? If man gets any glory, God's
not in it. Who gets the glory? The Lord
Jesus Christ. His kingdom is altogether glorious.
And it ends with that same name, Geber, which means the son of
man, the son of man. That's the one that's in there
twice. This kingdom is about the son of man coming to seek
and to save that which was lost. Now this, this is why this kingdom
was so happy. eating and drinking, making merry,
peace on every side, no lack, because of the food of this kingdom
that is clearly spelled out in the names of these 12 officers
that provided the food, which really is the doctrines of the
apostles, isn't it? Or the doctrines of God, not the apostles, but
God. What a kingdom we live in, amen.