Expanding Government

To build government programs and and structures costs quite a bit, and Solomon’s constructions were no different  Hiram had demanded his workers and people be given their food for doing the work, but in addition. Solomon agreed to let him buy twenty towns in the area around the Sea of Galilee, as I kings 9:10-14 describes.  “And it came to pass at the end of twenty years, when Solomon had built the two houses, the house of the LORD, and the king's house, (Now Hiram the king of Tyre had furnished Solomon with cedar trees and fir trees, and with gold, according to all his desire,) that then king Solomon gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee.  And Hiram came out from Tyre to see the cities which Solomon had given him; and they pleased him not.  And he said, What cities are these which thou hast given me, my brother? And he called them the land of Cabul unto this day.  And Hiram sent to the king sixscore talents of gold.” 

Hiram paid a hundred twenty talents or 8400 pounds of gold for the cities, even though they were not exactly what he wanted.   This provided a lot of the money to pay workmen and buy materials for the various building projects, some of which are described in I Kings 9:15-19.  “And this is the reason of the levy which king Solomon raised; for to build the house of the LORD, and his own house, and Millo, and the wall of Jerusalem, and Hazor, and Megiddo, and Gezer.  For Pharaoh king of Egypt had gone up, and taken Gezer, and burnt it with fire, and slain the Canaanites that dwelt in the city, and given it for a present unto his daughter, Solomon's wife.  And Solomon built Gezer, and Bethhoron the nether, 1ki 9:18 And Baalath, and Tadmor in the wilderness, in the land, And all the cities of store that Solomon had, and cities for his chariots, and cities for his horsemen, and that which Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, and in Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion.”

To do all the work, Solomon required that the descendants of the peoples who had originally owned the land spend a certain amount of time each year working on Government projects, while only Jewish people were allowed to serve as overseers, government officials and military personnel, as I Kings 9:20-25 describes.  “And all the people that were left of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, which were not of the children of Israel, Their children that were left after them in the land, whom the children of Israel also were not able utterly to destroy, upon those did Solomon levy a tribute of bondservice unto this day.  But of the children of Israel did Solomon make no bondmen: but they were men of war, and his servants, and his princes, and his captains, and rulers of his chariots, and his horsemen. 1ki 9:23 These were the chief of the officers that were over Solomon's work, five hundred and fifty, which bare rule over the people that wrought in the work.”

Here again we see a major contrast between David and Solomon’s attitudes.  David had allowed other groups to serve in his army, even making a Philistine from Gath, Ittai one of his generals in II Samuel 18:2.  Because of the way he treated them even former enemies had surrendered to David and became his subjects.  Later they reberl agains Solomon and his descendants because of the way they were treated, in violation of God’s commands in Leviticus 19:33-34.  “And if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not vex him.  But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.”  Solomon was more concerned with accomplishing his goals than with obeying God.   

The expenses did not stop with the completion of the Temple, but were ongoing like probably every government in history, as we see in I Kings 9:24-25.  “But Pharaoh's daughter came up out of the city of David unto her house which Solomon had built for her: then did he build Millo.  And three times in a year did Solomon offer burnt offerings and peace offerings upon the altar which he built unto the LORD, and he burnt incense upon the altar that was before the LORD. So he finished the house.”

Before long the sale of the cities, forced labor and taxes were not enough to meet the governments demands, and Solomon negotiated a partnership with Hiram or Tyre to establish a port on the northern tip of the Gulf of Aqaba and send trading ships along the alng the coasts of Africa and India.  It was a profitable venture as I Kings 9:26-28 tells us.  “And king Solomon made a navy of ships in Eziongeber, which is beside Eloth, on the shore of the Red sea, in the land of Edom.  And Hiram sent in the navy his servants, shipmen that had knowledge of the sea, with the servants of Solomon.  And they came to Ophir, and fetched from thence gold, four hundred and twenty talents, and brought it to king Solomon.”

Throughout history, governments have expanded until the peope were not able to support them.  When that time comes governments often begin to try to get into business, like Solomon in the trading business, but eventually even that cannot cover the everincreasing costs.  When he died, the people would beg his son to reduce the taxes because they had become such a burden.