A Call To The Remnant

2Ch 9:16 And three hundred shields made he of beaten gold: three hundred shekels of gold went to one shield. And the king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon

Can there be any doubt that King Solomon was the richest man in the world? Lets consider the shields that are spoken of here in Scripture. In today’s market, if a shekel represents 17 grams of 24k gold at $47 a gram for a swiss ingot, then one shekel of gold would be worth $800. If there was 300 shekels of gold in a shield, then each shield would be worth $240,000. And since there was 300 shields, that is $72,000,000 in gold . This was a tiny part of the treasures of Solomon.

The glory of Solomon’s kingdom was known throughout the earth. He was courted by kings and queens from all over the world. They came to see his glory and to hear of his famed wisdom. Oh the beauty and the splendor of a man who displays the treasures of heaven. Are men not drawn to those who have treasures even greater than the treasures of Solomon? For some perspective from God we can see in Matt 6 that we are to consider the lilies of the field, how they neither toil nor spin and yet Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed in such splendor. Can I suggest that God’s children are more glorious that the lilies of the field. It’s not in our toiling nor in our spinning that makes us glorious, its in the treasures that lie within us. Its in the fact that we are a light in the great darkness of the world because it is no longer we that live but it is Christ who lives in us. We contain these treasures in earthen vessels.

The treasure that lies within us is the treasure of Christ Himself. He alone is our exceeding great reward. His presence is more glorious than all the shields of Solomon. We can imagine these shimmering shields of gold. Along with these in the throne-room of Solomon was a throne made of ivory overlaid with the purest of gold. There was six steps up to the throne and there beneath the throne sat a footstool of solid gold. All the drinking vessels were gold, there was no silver to be found. There was nothing like this in all the earth. No king was more arrayed in splendor than Solomon. The glory of this place took the breath away of all who entered.

What are the riches of our dwelling place with the Lord. Out of the beauty of dwelling with Him, do we have the finest gold of unconditional love? Are the walls of our dwelling place encrusted with the jewels of forgiveness and mercy? Are the windows of our dwelling places draped with meekness and humility? Do trophies of grace hang on every wall? Are they framed with the finest materials of patience and kindness? Do we pursue the riches and the glories of heaven with the same vigor and single-mindedness that men here on earth pursue gold and silver? And the treasures that we have attained in Christ, do we protect them with all the resources that we have? Do we value the treasures of our heart in the same way men value their wealth? There is a direct correlation between how much we value something to the lengths we will go to protect it.

And it came to pass, when Rehoboam had established the kingdom, and had strengthened himself, he forsook the law of the LORD, and all Israel with him. And it came to pass, that in the fifth year of king Rehoboam Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, because they had transgressed against the LORD (2Ch 12:1-2)

So Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, and took away the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king’s house; he took all: he carried away also the shields of gold which Solomon had made. Instead of which king Rehoboam made shields of brass, and committed them to the hands of the chief of the guard, that kept the entrance of the king’s house.(2Ch 12:9-10)

Rehoboam brought about the division of Israel. In its divided state, the Egyptian king, Shishak came against Jerusalem and stole the treasure of the temple. The world invaded the weakened kingdom and took away all of its treasures. Can I suggest this is what has happened to Christendom? The world invaded it and took its treasures for itself. Now, look at what they replaced those 300 shields of gold with. Brass! Pure gold replaced by brass at the entrance to the kings house. What a disaster, pure gold replaced by a pale imitation. In a place where there was once so much gold that the Scriptures said “it made the silver in Jerusalem as plentiful as the stones,” now it had to replace the gold shields with brass.

The tragedy for much of Christendom is that the pure gold of the Lord’s presence has been replaced with the pale imitation of brass. Where once we stood in an atmosphere oh holiness surrounded by the glory of God, now we stand and watch smoke machines pathetically try and recreate this. Dimmed lights and loud drums and noisy electric guitars add to the “atmosphere.” One can try with all the skill they possess and alchemists toiled for centuries in this pursuit, but one cannot recreate gold. One cannot recreate the presence of God. The burning bush and the Holy ground only exists in the presence of God. Take God away and all you are left with is a common bush and some sand. How terribly tragic to see modern Christendom worshiping a bush and some sand and a handful of brass shields. God help us. Lord we need the gold of your presence. We need to stand in a unity that stops the world from invading the Church. Forgive us for our divided hearts.

Only the shield of faith can stop the fiery darts darts of the enemy. It must be real faith. The kind of faith that trusts God above all else no matter what our circumstances are is the faith of pure gold. This pale imitation that can only trust God for worldly treasure and ambition is but common brass and is the currency of the world. What kind of faith do you have?