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341 lines
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<TITLE>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible [Second Chronicles, Chapter VIII].</TITLE>
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"This site is for those friends and family members who may or may not know Our Lord Jesus Christ, and if not, they may come to know Our Lord through His Prophets."> <meta name="author" content="Brian Duncalfe">
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<body background="../sueback.jpg" bgproperties="fixed" >
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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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<h3><a href="http://www.biblesnet.com" target="_blank">Back to Biblesnet.com Home Page</a>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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[<A HREF="MHC14007.HTM">Previous</A>]
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[<A HREF="MHC14009.HTM">Next</A>]<BR>
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<TD ALIGN="RIGHT" VALIGN="TOP">
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1708)
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</TD></TR></TABLE>
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>S E C O N D C H R O N I C L E S</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. VIII.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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In this chapter we are told,
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I. What cities Solomon built,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+8:1-6">ver. 1-6</A>.
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II. What workmen Solomon employed,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+8:7-10">ver. 7-10</A>.
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III. What care he took about a proper settlement for his wife,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+8:11">ver. 11</A>.
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IV. What a good method he put the temple-service into,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+8:12-16">ver. 12-16</A>.
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V. What trading he had with foreign countries,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+8:17,18">ver. 17, 18</A>.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="2Ch8_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch8_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch8_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch8_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch8_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch8_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch8_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch8_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch8_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch8_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch8_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Solomon's Buildings.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 992.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 And it came to pass at the end of twenty years, wherein
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Solomon had built the house of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, and his own house,
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2 That the cities which Huram had restored to Solomon, Solomon
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built them, and caused the children of Israel to dwell there.
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3 And Solomon went to Hamath-zobah, and prevailed against it.
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4 And he built Tadmor in the wilderness, and all the store
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cities, which he built in Hamath.
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5 Also he built Beth-horon the upper, and Beth-horon the nether,
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fenced cities, with walls, gates, and bars;
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6 And Baalath, and all the store cities that Solomon had, and
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all the chariot cities, and the cities of the horsemen, and all
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that Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, and in Lebanon, and
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throughout all the land of his dominion.
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7 <I>As for</I> all the people <I>that were</I> left of the Hittites, and
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the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the
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Jebusites, which <I>were</I> not of Israel,
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8 <I>But</I> of their children, who were left after them in the
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land, whom the children of Israel consumed not, them did Solomon
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make to pay tribute until this day.
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9 But of the children of Israel did Solomon make no servants
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for his work; but they <I>were</I> men of war, and chief of his
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captains, and captains of his chariots and horsemen.
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10 And these <I>were</I> the chief of king Solomon's officers,
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<I>even</I> two hundred and fifty, that bare rule over the people.
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11 And Solomon brought up the daughter of Pharaoh out of the
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city of David unto the house that he had built for her: for he
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said, My wife shall not dwell in the house of David king of
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Israel, because <I>the places are</I> holy, whereunto the ark of the
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L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> hath come.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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This we had
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+9:10-24">1 Kings ix. 10-24</A>,
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and therefore shall only observe here,</P>
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<P>
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I. Though Solomon was a man of great learning and knowledge, yet he
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spent his days, not in contemplation, but in action, not in his study,
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but in his country, in building cities and fortifying them, in a time
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of peace preparing for a time of war, which is as much a man's business
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as it is in summer to provide food for winter.</P>
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<P>
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II. As he was a man of business himself, and did not consult his own
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ease, so he employed a great many hands, kept abundance of people to
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work. It is the interest of a state by all means possible to promote
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and encourage industry, and to keep its subjects from idleness. A great
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many strangers there were in Israel, many that remained of the
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Canaanites; and they were welcome to live there, but not to live and do
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nothing. The men of Laish, who had no business, were an easy prey to
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the invaders,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+18:7">Judg. xviii. 7</A>.</P>
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<P>
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III. When Solomon had begun with building the house of God, and made
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good work and quick work of that, he prospered in all his undertakings,
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so that <I>he built all that he desired to build,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+8:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>.
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Those who have a genius for building find that one project draws on
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another, and the latter must amend and improve the former. Now observe,
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1. How the divine providence gratified even Solomon's humour, and gave
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him success, not only in all that he needed to build and that it was
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for his advantage to build, but in all that he had a mind to build. So
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indulgent a Father God is sometimes to the innocent desires of his
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children that serve him. Thus he pleased Jacob with that promise,
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<I>Joseph shall put his hand on thy eyes.</I>
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2. Solomon knew how to set bounds to his desires. He was not one of
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those that enlarge them endlessly, and can never be satisfied, but knew
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when to draw in; for he finished all he desired, and then he desired no
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more. He did not sit down and fret that he had not more cities to
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build, as Alexander did that he had not more worlds to conquer,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Hab+2:5">Hab. ii. 5</A>.</P>
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<P>
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IV. That one reason why Solomon built a palace on purpose for the
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queen, and removed her and her court to it, was because he thought it
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by no means proper that she should <I>dwell in the house of David</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+8:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>),
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considering that that had been a place of great piety, and perhaps her
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house was a place of great vanity. She was proselyted, it is likely, to
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the Jewish religion; but it is a question whether all her servants
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were. Perhaps they had among them the idols of Egypt, and a great deal
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of profaneness and debauchery. Now, though Solomon had not zeal and
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courage enough to suppress and punish what was amiss there, yet he so
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far consulted the honour of his father's memory that he would not
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suffer that place to be thus profaned where the ark of God had been and
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where holy David had prayed many a good prayer and sung many a sweet
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psalm. Not that all the places where the ark had been were so holy as
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never to be put to a common use; for then the houses of Abinadab and
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Obed-edom must have been so. But the place where it had been so long,
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and had been so publicly attended on, was so venerable that it was not
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fit to be the place of so much gaiety, not to say iniquity, as was to
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be found, I fear, in the court that Pharaoh's daughter kept. Note,
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Between things sacred and things common the ancient landmarks ought to
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be kept up. It was an outer-court of the temple that was the <I>court
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of the women.</I></P>
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<A NAME="2Ch8_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch8_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch8_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch8_15"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch8_16"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch8_17"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch8_18"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Solomon's Devotion.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 992.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>12 Then Solomon offered burnt offerings unto the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> on the
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altar of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, which he had built before the porch,
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13 Even after a certain rate every day, offering according to
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the commandment of Moses, on the sabbaths, and on the new moons,
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and on the solemn feasts, three times in the year, <I>even</I> in the
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feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the
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feast of tabernacles.
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14 And he appointed, according to the order of David his
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father, the courses of the priests to their service, and the
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Levites to their charges, to praise and minister before the
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priests, as the duty of every day required: the porters also by
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their courses at every gate: for so had David the man of God
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commanded.
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15 And they departed not from the commandment of the king unto
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the priests and Levites concerning any matter, or concerning the
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treasures.
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16 Now all the work of Solomon was prepared unto the day of the
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foundation of the house of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, and until it was finished.
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<I>So</I> the house of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> was perfected.
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17 Then went Solomon to Ezion-geber, and to Eloth, at the sea
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side in the land of Edom.
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18 And Huram sent him by the hands of his servants ships, and
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servants that had knowledge of the sea; and they went with the
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servants of Solomon to Ophir, and took thence four hundred and
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fifty talents of gold, and brought <I>them</I> to king Solomon.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Here is,
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I. Solomon's devotion. The building of the temple was in order to the
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service of the temple. Whatever cost he was at in rearing the
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structure, if he had neglected the worship that was to be performed
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there, it would all have been to no purpose. Assisting the devotion of
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others will not atone for our own neglects. When Solomon had built the
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temple,
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1. He kept up the holy sacrifices there, according to the law of Moses,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+8:12,13"><I>v.</I> 12, 13</A>.
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In vain had the altar been built, and in vain had fire come down from
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heaven, if sacrifices had not been constantly brought as the food of
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the altar and the fuel of that fire. There were daily sacrifices, <I>a
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certain rate every day,</I> as duly as the day came, weekly sacrifices
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on the sabbath, double to what was offered on other days, monthly
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sacrifices <I>on the new moons,</I> and yearly sacrifices at the three
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solemn feasts. Those are spiritual sacrifices that are now required of
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us, which we are to bring daily and weekly; and it is good to be in a
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settled method of devotion.
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2. He kept up the holy songs there, according to the <I>law of
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David,</I> who is here called the <I>man of God,</I> as Moses was,
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because he was both instructed and authorised of God to make these
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establishments; and Solomon took care to see them observed <I>as the
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duty of every day required,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+8:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>.
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Solomon, though a wise and great man and the builder of the temple, did
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not attempt to amend, alter, or add to what the man of God had, in
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God's name, commanded, but closely adhered to that, and used his
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authority to have that duly observed; and then <I>none departed from
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the commandment of the king concerning any matter,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+8:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>.
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He observed God's laws, and then all obeyed his orders. When the
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service of the temple was put into this good order, then it is said,
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<I>The house of the Lord was perfected,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+8:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>.
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The work was the main matter, not the place; the temple was unfinished
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till all this was done.</P>
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<P>
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II. Solomon's merchandise. He did himself in person visit the sea-port
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towns of Eloth and Ezion-geber; for those that deal much in the world
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will find it their interest, as far as they can, to inspect their
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affairs themselves and to see with their own eyes,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+8:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>.
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Canaan was a rich country, and yet must send to Ophir for gold; the
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Israelites were a wise and understanding people, and yet must be
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beholden to the king of Tyre for <I>men that had knowledge of the
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seas,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+8:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>.
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Yet Canaan was God's peculiar land, and Israel God's peculiar people.
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This teaches us that grace, and not gold, is the best riches, and
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acquaintance with God and his law, not with arts and sciences, the best
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