GOD’S WORD FOR YOU
2 CHRONICLES 9:17-20
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17 The king also made a large ivory throne and overlaid it with pure gold. 18 There were six steps up to the throne. A footstool of gold was attached to the throne, and on each side of the seat were armrests and a pair of lions standing beside the armrests. 19 Twelve lions stood beside the six steps, one on each end of each step. Nothing like it was ever made for any other kingdom. 20 All King Solomon’s drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were of pure gold. Silver was not considered valuable in the days of Solomon.
A few things catch our attention here that we have not already discussed. The first is the ivory throne. The chief source of ivory in the ancient world was elephant tusks (the Hebrew word for ivory is simply shen, “tooth”). Elephants are not mentioned in the Bible, but the apocryphal accounts of the Maccabees talk about elephants many times (1 Maccabees 1:17; 2 Macc. 11:4; etc.). Ivory, even in modern piano keys, is usually so valuable that it is a thing overlayed on top of wood. Solomon’s court was extravagant to such excesses that it is possible that laminate “boards” of ivory were fashioned for the sides and back of his throne, while other portions (the wooden posts and support pieces) were overlaid with gold.
The throne’s footstool catches the author’s attention, while in 1 Kings 10:19 it was the other end, the headrest, that caught his attention. The stool is said to be attached to the throne. The passive (hofal) verb indicates that it was “fastened” to the throne; we would say that it was permanently attached. This was perhaps a “great idea” by a designer which may or may not have been terribly comfortable to the King who sat there. In the parallel account of 1 Kings 10:19, it is not the footstool but the headrest that is briefly described. There the headrest is said to have had a “rounded top.” There is a variation in the Greek translation of that verse, where different vowels make the Hebrew word “rounded” (‘agol) into “calf’s (head)” (‘egel). While this could easily be the error of a translator, it may already have been so questionable that here in 2 Chronicles (written under inspiration some four hundred years before the Greek translation was made) that the emphasis was given to the other end of the throne instead. Solomon’s kingdom was torn apart after his death, as we will see in the next chapter (about 30 verses away), and the people were forced by their new king to worship images of calves rather than the God of Jacob. Even an accidental mention of a calf on Solomon’s throne, through what amounts to be a spelling error, could give an impression that the author was trying to avoid.
Solomon also had statues of lions next to the armrests of his throne and flanking each of the six steps, so that there were fourteen lions in all. No doubt these were roughly life-sized; it should not concern us that the local Syrian lions (properly called “Persian lions”) were a little smaller in stature than the massive African lions. In Solomon’s time, the territories of both species overlapped in the Middle East and in Israel in particular. The symbolism of lions includes:
1, Power and strength. “What is stronger than a lion?” (Judges 14:18); “They rouse themselves like a lion that does not rest until it devours” (Numbers 23:24).
2, Boldness. “The righteous are bold as a lion” (Proverbs 28:1). Such boldness can also enable a good government to be merciful. Solomon himself prayed, “You give attention to your servant’s prayer and his plea for mercy” (2 Chronicles 6:19).
3, Dignity. “Then even the bravest soldier, whose heart is like the heart of a lion, will melt with fear, for all Israel knows that your father is a fighter and that those with him are brave” (2 Samuel 17:10). “Give him dignity and honor” (Exodus 28:2).
4, The authority of government. “A king’s rage is like the roar of a lion” (Proverbs 19:12).
5, The responsibility of government. “The lion’s den, the place where they fed their young, where the lion and lioness went, and the cubs, with nothing to fear. The lion killed enough for his cubs and killed prey for his mate…” (Nahum 2:11-12).
6, The power of government is delegated to them by God. “Do you hunt the prey for the lioness and satisfy the hunger of the lions when they crouch in their dens or lie in wait in a thicket?” (Job 38:39-40).
7, A prophecy about the coming Christ. “You are a lion’s cub, O Judah; you return from the prey, my son. Like a lion he crouches and lies down, like a lioness– who dares to rouse him?” (Genesis 49:9); “Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed” (Revelation 5:5).
Solomon’s reign showed that the gift of government is one of the highest gifts God gives to mankind on earth. The blessings of good government include such things as peace, safe travel, good roads, stability in many things including trade and commerce, and public safety and health. Good government does not pursue its own desires above the public good, but is most especially concerned with the well-being of the people it serves. As we confess in our Augsburg Confession: The church in the past attempted to usurp the power and authority of the secular government, “and also presumed to set up and depose kings according to their pleasure. Such outrage has long since been condemned by learned and devout people in Christendom. On this account our teachers have been compelled, for the sake of comforting consciences, to point out the difference between spiritual and temporal power, sword, and authority, and they have taught that because of Christ’s command both authorities and powers (that is, the Church and the State) are to be honored and esteemed with all reverence as the two highest gifts of God on earth.”
Pray for our leaders in the church, but do not neglect to pray for our leaders in the government. Whether they are Christians or unbelieving heretics and hedonistic pagans, they are God’s servants (Romans 13:6). The difference is that when he uses those who believe in him, he blesses their efforts and will receive them into glory when their lives are through. But when one of his governing servants does not believe in him, he will treat that man like a spade or a shovel that won’t scour clean, and he will not hesitate to throw it away into the fire when the time of service is over. Pray that God would bless us through them, and that he would also bless them through us.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
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Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, New Ulm, Minnesota
God’s Word for You – 2 Chronicles 9:17-20 A spade that won’t scour