From the readings for the last few days we might well receive the impression that the temple goes up overnight. Now we discover out that its building takes twenty years (8:1), during which time Solomon is at work on other projects. The chronicler puts a positive spin on everything Solomon undertakes because the LORD is with him.
In the Book of Kings, for example, we are told that Solomon gave a number of cities to Hiram of Tyre in exchange for his help in building the temple(1 Kings 9:11). Here we are told that it is Huram who gives Solomon a number of cities (8:2), which he fortifies and settles with people of Israel, moving from strength to strength. Whichever is the case, it is clear that the chronicler is determined to glorify the kingdom of Solomon and underline the strength and prosperity that the house of David brings to the people to the exclusion of any other information.
In the Book of Kings we get the impression that Solomon leaned heavily upon labor conscripted from the people of Israel for his building projects. Here the chronicler is at pains to say that this is not the case. "Of the people of Israel," he tells us, Solomon makes "no slaves for his work; they [are] soldiers, and his officers, the commanders of his chariots and his cavalry" (8:9).
In Chronicles there is no mention is made of the idolatry into which Solomon's foreign wives lead him, which the writer of Kings so deplores. Here we are told that Solomon builds "Pharaoh's daughter" a house of her own so that this pagan princess will not reside in David's house, which the presence of the "ark of the LORD" has made holy (8:11). A very different picture indeed!
The chronicler is also at great pains to show Solomon as a pious worshiper of the LORD, keeping the requirements of the Law of Moses, especially as regards temple worship and sacrifice (8:12).
In all the externals at least, Solomon's reign is the best of times. A joint commercial expedition with Huram to the land of Ophir—modern Ethiopia or Somalia—is a spectacular success. When she comes to Jerusalem with gifts, Solomon "wows" the Queen of Sheba with his wisdom and the opulence of his court (9:1-9). And the spices she brings him are incomparable—"there [are] no spices such as those that the queen of Sheba [gives] to King Solomon" (9:9), we are told. Even the algum wood Solomon imported from Ophir makes such incomparable harps for the temple musicians that "there never was seen the like of them before in the land of Judah" (9:11). Everything is the best in the days of Solomon, and it is the unwavering favor of the Lord and the king's obedience that makes it so.
We are told of vast wealth his commercial ventures to Ophir and Tarshish—modern Spain—yield so that "silver was not considered as anything in the days of Solomon" (9:20). The chronicler describes his ivory and gold throne in awestruck detail (9:17-19), and ends by saying that "that like of it was never made in any kingdom." All this splendor is maintained and the kingdom is protected by Solomon's standing military, especially his cavalry, which are stationed in the "chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem" (9:25).
The chronicler, looking back to the time of Solomon, can see nothing wrong in all this. The wealth of the kingdom represents the grace and favor of the LORD for the house of David (9:27). There is no mention of the unfaithfulness of Solomon's later years which figures so largely in the book of 1 Kings (see 11:1-13 and 33-40).
And when at Solomon's death the kingdom is divided, it is only partly because Solomon's son Rehoboam foolishly takes the bad advice of his young counselors (10:1-12). Mostly it is seen as God's will (10:4). If there is any real fault, it lies with Jeroboam, the traitor, and with the rebellious northern tribes of Israel (10:16-18). The chronicler downplays any mistreatment they believe they have suffered at the hand of Solomon. And King Rehoboam, who belongs to the house of David and inherits his blessing, is treated positively—at least at first. When he is warned by the prophet Shemaiah not to attack his rebellious "kindred," Rehoboam obeys (11:4).
He fortifies the cities of Judah against invasion. But more important, he maintains the worship in the temple, and priests and Levites flee to Judah from the northern kingdom because there Jeroboam has "appointed his own priests for the high places, and for the goat-demons, and for the [golden] calves that he had made" (11:16).
These priests and Levites strengthen the kingdom of Judah, "and for three years they [make] Rehoboam the son of Solomon secure, for they [walk] for three years in the way of David and Solomon (11:17). These priests and the worship of the temple, for the chronicler, are the chief defense of the kingdom of Judah. The Books of Kings give more attention to Israel, the more powerful and prosperous of the two kingdoms. But it is upon Judah and the fate of the house of David the chronicler focuses. His theology is inextricably linked to the covenant God makes with David and to the worship of the Jerusalem temple. For him the continuity of house of David and temple worship are crucial to the identity of the People of the Promise and their future.
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