2 Chronicles 9:21

2 Chronicles 9:21 says, For the king's ships went to Tarshish with the servants of Huram: every three years once came the ships of Tarshish bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks.  Solomon's ships continued to engage in trade with other countries, along with the servants of Huram.  They brought not only gold, silver, and ivory, but apes and peacocks as well.  Solomon was successful in business.  Whether we are successful in worldly terms or not, we as followers of Christ need to be successful in sharing the gospel with others. Verse twenty-two adds, And king Solomon passed all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom.  Solomon was greater than any king of the earth in riches and wisdom, but he pales in comparison to our King as Christians, Jesus Christ.  Verse twenty-three continues, And all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom, that God had put in his heart.  All the other kings sought to be in the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom, which was really the wisdom that God had given him.  It would be nice if everyone came to Christians to hear the wisdom of God, but too often they do just the opposite.  They try to discredit us as people who have been deceived.  Verse twenty-four states, And they brought every man his present, vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and raiment, harness, and spices, horses, and mules, a rate year by year.  These were freewill offerings according to Matthew Henry, given to seek the favor of Solomon.  I do know that if we are to be saved, we must offer ourselves to God as a freewill offering, but we shouldn't do it just to gain His favor.  We should do it because He loves us and has already granted us His favor, salvation through the sacrifice of His only begotten Son on the cross.  Verse twenty-five adds, And Solomon had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen; whom he bestowed in the chariot cities, and with the king at Jerusalem.  Solomon also had four thousand horse and chariot stalls and twelve thousand horsemen to use them throughout the nation of Israel.  God has His army in place today, but our main purpose is to spread the gospel.  Verse twenty-six continues, And he reigned over all the kings from the river even unto the land of the Philistines, and to the border of Egypt.  Solomon ruled over many other kings, and King Jesus rules over all other kings or leaders of any kind, whether they acknowledge it or not.  Verse twenty-seven says, And the king made silver in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar trees made he as the sycomore trees that are in the low plains in abundance.  In Jerusalem, silver was like stones and cedars like sycamore trees.  When we get to our heavenly home, we will walk on streets of gold, but our real riches come from the forgiveness of sins and restoration with God through our faith in Jesus Christ.  Nothing else will matter. Verse twenty-eight continues, And they brought unto Solomon horses out of Egypt, and out of all lands.  This is just another statement of people bringing gifts to Solomon, this time horses from Egypt and elsewhere.  Verse twenty-nine states, Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, first and last, are they not written in the book of Nathan the prophet, and in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of Iddo the seer against Jeroboam the son of Nebat?  We are told that the rest of the acts of Solomon were written in two books that we do not have.  If they were important, I believe that God would have preserved them for us, but we know what we need to know about Solomon and his reign from the Bible.  Verse thirty adds, And Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years.  Solomon reigned for forty years, during which time Israel was mostly at peace and even looked up to by the rest of the world.  Jesus Christ, our King, will reign forever and He will always lead those who put their faith in Him to peace with the Heavenly Father.  Verse thirty-one continues, And Solomon slept with his fathers, and he was buried in the city of David his father: and Rehoboam his son reigned in his stead.  Then, Solomon died and left all the riches behind.  Whatever we own and no matter how powerful we may be, one day we will die and leave it all behind, unless Jesus Christ returns first, and even then, we will leave it all behind.