THE FIRST AND GREAT COMMANDMENT
As recalled by the apostle John, Christ was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing" (Revelation 5:12). The fact that the Lamb of God was worthy to receive such things does not, thereby, suggest that receiving such things makes one worthy, or even that such things will be for one's good. For example, riches, which can serve to bless may, in other instances, function as a curse. It is not the mere possession, but the use to which they are directed that determines whether riches bless or curse their possessor. Recall that the same gold used to build the ancient tabernacle (see Exodus 25: 1-8; Exodus 35:20-29), at which "every one [who] sought the Lord" gathered (Exodus 33:7), was also used to fashion a golden calf (Exodus. 32:1–6, 21, 24, 35). In the end, the gold used to construct either came from Egypt, "which in the Chaldean signifies . . . that which is forbidden" (Abraham 1:23).
Hence, the extent of one's wealth does not serve as the measuring cup of his love for God.
Both rich and poor are made by God (see D&C 38:16), both rich and poor have need of repentance (see D&C 58:47), and both rich and poor can possess the eyes of greediness (D&C 56:16-17). Rather, love for God is measured by the desires of one's heart and, thus, it is by the desires of one's heart that he shall be judged (D&C 137:9). Jeremiah proclaimed that "the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked . . ." (Jeremiah 17:9). When describing its deceitful nature, James declared that "out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing." James afterwards cautioned that "these things ought not so to be [for] . . . no fountain both yield salt water and fresh" (James 3:10-12). In short, "a man being evil cannot do that which is good" (Moroni 7:3-11). This focus on the intents of one's heart does not suggest that good works are of no consequence, or unnecessary; it only suggests that every man's works must be tried by fire (see 1 Corinthians 3:12-14) to determine whether those works spring forth from desires that are good or designs that are evil (compare Alma 41:3-6).
The first commandment recorded by Moses (Exodus 20:3), therefore, is a directive that one's love for God is to stem from motives that are pure. Although Shakespear taught that "all the world's a stage," there is no room for playacting when it comes to loving God! To have "no other gods before [Him]" means turning one's desires towards Him who is the "desire of all nations" (Haggai 2:7); it means one's doing all things with an eye, mind, and heart single to His glory such that no other god obscures his view of God (see D&C 88:67-68). It is "obeying from the heart" (Romans 6:17) and "doing the will of God from the heart" (Ephesian 6:5-6). It was in this context that the Savior addressed his disciples and used Solomon as the example of one who sought to serve two gods:
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| THE PACKARD FAMILY |
Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and thieves break through and steal;
But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.
For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. (3 Nephi 13:19-21)
Restated, if one's heart is on earth where thieves reside, then thieves will undoubtedly break through and steal. Anciently, the Lord raised up thieves "to march through the breadth of the land and [steal] the dwellingplaces that [were] not theirs (Habakkuk 1:5-7). In these days, this same "terrible and dreadful" nation called Babylon serves the same purpose and is no less raised up to do God's bidding. The windows through which these latter-day thieves enter the unguarded dwellings (see Joel 2:9) are the careless hearts of the children of men, the very same throne from which Satan reigns with blood and horror (see 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 and D&C 86:3; compare Mosiah 3:6). These "treacherous dealers" (see Habakkuk 1:13; compare Isaiah 24:16) form the fourth beast that Daniel described as "dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly" (see Daniel 7:7 compare Habakkuk 1:7). This fourth beast is also the same that the apostle John saw "rise up out of the sea and stand on the sand" . . . whose number is six hundred three score and six (see Revelation 13:1, 18). This beast is king Solomon, under whose sovereignty[1] every vicitim is "eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage" (see 1 Kings 4:20; compare Joseph Smith-Matthew 1:42 and 2 Nephi 28:7-8), walking in "his own way, and after the image of his own god, whose image is in the likeness of the world, and whose substance is that of an idol" (D&C 1:16).
THE GREAT PRETENDER
Solomon spent a lifetime laying up for himself treasures on earth (see Ecclesiastes 2:3-11) and, although it appears that he initially refrained from asking God for riches, the record suggests his heart, nonetheless, was overly-exercised in desired them. In fact, a small variation of 1 Kings 3:3, noted in the Joseph Smith Translation, brings into serious question Solomon's love for, and loyalty towards, God. The King James version of this verse declares, without qualification, that "Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of David his father." The Joseph Smith Translation of this same verse states:
And BECAUSE THE LORD BLESSED SOLOMON as he was walking in the statutes of David, his father, HE BEGAN TO LOVE THE LORD, and he sacrificed and burnt incense in high places, and he called on the name of the Lord. (JST 1 Kings 3:3; emphasis added).
The slight variation in this verse changes everything. Solomon's love for God was akin to a child's love for his parents because of the weekly allowance. Love that is devised is the worst form of love. Even hatred is preferred over a pretentious love that seeks to deceive. Like a small child on Christmas morning, any inaugural feelings Solomon may have had for the LORD were veiled by his preoccupation with "the gifts under the tree." The command to love God comes without conditions, gifts, or expectations. "We love him," John wrote, "because he first loved us. (1 John 4:19). No other reason summons our love for God.
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| KING MIDAS |
It is ironic that, for one who supposedly did not ask for wealth, the biblical record spends so much time discussing the riches that Solomon obtained. Initially, the wealth obtained by Solomon appears to have come without any personal effort or sacrifice. In a dream (see 1 Kings 3:15), Solomon sought for understanding from the LORD to judge the people (1 Kings 3:9). Because he constrained himself from asking for riches, the record states that Solomon's "speech pleased the LORD" (1 Kings 3:10). Other individuals of dubious character have likewise crafted their speech to be pleasing to the LORD (see JS-History 1:19 and 2 Kings 23:9). In response to his inquiry, the LORD told Solomon: "And I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked, both riches, and honour: so that there shall not be any among the kings like unto thee all thy days. (1 Kings 3:13; compare 1 Kings 10:23).
In time, the procurement of wealth became Solomon's life-ambition. But there was something a little peculiar about his ambition . . . Solomon had a fetish for gold. According to the Old Testament record, all of "king Solomon’s drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold; none were of silver: it was
nothing accounted of in the days of Solomon" (1 Kings 10:21; compare 2 Chronicles 9:20). I worked nearly 8 years in hard-rock mining for Coeur Mines Corporation. Our entire business was devoted to gold and silver extraction. We moved countless tons of earth to obtain 100,000 ounces of gold and 80,000,000 ounces of silver annually. I can understand developing an affinity for gold, but to despise silver because of that affinity seems rather idiotic for one who was then thought to be so wise.
Because of his love for this precious metal, Solomon's temple and many of the instruments therein were overlaid with pure gold:
Because of his love for this precious metal, Solomon's temple and many of the instruments therein were overlaid with pure gold:
And the porch that was in the front of the house, the length of it was according he overlaid it within with pure gold.
to the breadth of the house, twenty cubits, and the height was an hundred and twenty: and
And the greater house he ceiled with fir tree, which he overlaid with fine gold, and set thereon palm trees and chains.
And he garnished the house with precious stones for beauty: and the gold was gold of Parvaim.
He overlaid also the house, the beams, the posts, and the walls thereof, and the doors thereof, with gold; and graved cherubims on the walls.
ARTIST RENDITION OF SOLOMON'S TEMPLE
And he made the most holy house, the length whereof was according to the breadth of the house, twenty cubits, and the breadth thereof twenty cubits: and he overlaid it with fine gold, amounting to six hundred talents.
9 And the weight of the nails was fifty shekels of gold. And he overlaid the upper chambers with gold.
10 And in the most holy house he made two cherubims of image work, and overlaid them with gold.
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| CELESTIAL ROOM OF SALT LAKE TEMPLE |
So . . . what is the value of a talent of gold? In an article published in the August 1987 edition of Ensign Magazine, the following extract answers this question:
The answer comes from what we learn about the shekel and the talent. Since the Jews did not begin using coinage until the Exile (the time of Daniel and Ezekiel), business transactions before then were done by bartering or by paying a predetermined weight of a precious metal, usually silver. Three of the most common weights were the half-shekel (or bekah), shekel, and talent—the largest standard. (The smallest was the gerah, identified in Exodus 30:13 as 1/20 of a shekel. It is rarely mentioned in the Bible.) From Exodus 38:25–26, we can figure the relationship of a shekel to a talent: 3000 shekels to one talent.
The Hebrew bekah weighs approximately 6.02 grams, and the shekel 11.4 grams. Excavators have uncovered numerous ancient stone weights, but none of the shekel or half-shekel stones weigh precisely the same, probably due to the difficulty of carving stones into exactly the same weight. The talent, then, if we take the average weight of a shekel at 11.4 grams, amounts to about 75.5 pounds. (Tice, Richard, Bekahs, Shekels, and Talents: A Look at Biblical References to Money, Ensign, August 1987).
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| MOST HOLY PLACE, SOLOMON'S TEMPLE |
Using the August 27, 2014 New York gold spot price of $1,280.60, the present-day value of a talent of gold is $1,546,965. Hence, the present-day value of the gold that Solomon used to overlay the Holy Place was $928,178,880. Nearly $1 billion! That would certainly make for a fine celestial room!
For starters, he sent "ships 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" (2 Chronicles 9:21). Aside from what commentaries have to say concerning this port city of trade, it is worthy to note that most scriptural references to Tarshish are decidedly negative. One particular reference provides an abstract description of the locale of Tarshish. I suggest that this abstract description is a key element that ties Solomon to the world.
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| SHIPS OF TARSHISH |
BUT . . . there were at least three other sources whereby Solomon obtained significant gold reserves:1. Hiram sent his naval servants 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. (1 Kings 9:27-28)
2. The Queen of Sheba gave the king an hundred and twenty talents of gold (1 Kings 10:10)
3. Hiram, king of Tyre, sent to Solomon sixscore talents of gold. (1 Kings 9:14)
These talents, together with six more, came to Solomon. Hence, the Old Testament record notes that "the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was SIX HUNDRED THREESCORE AND SIX talents of gold" (1 Kings 10:14; compare 2 Chronicles 9:13).
Here is wisdom! Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is SIX HUNDRED THREESCORE AND SIX (Revelation 13:18).
ENDNOTES
[1] In connection with John's vision, the sovereign's horses, prepared for war and violence, "are swifter than the leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves." And the army of the horsemen, which number "two hundred thousand thousand" (see Revelation 9:16), come from far and spread themselves abroad (see Habakkuk 1:8). They transgress the laws, change the ordinance, and break the everlasting covenant (see Isaiah 24:5; compare D&C 1:15). Wickedness, as a fire (Isaiah 9:18-19), "devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness" (Joel 2:3). Their scortched-earth methods "devour the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned" (Isaiah 24:6) wherein the abomination, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, that leaveth the temple of God desolate, is fulfilled (see Joseph Smith-Matthew 1:32, D&C 84:117, and D&C 88:85).
