While reading through the history of the kings, the presence of ivory in their decorations captured my attention. A throne was fabricated for Solomon out of ivory. It was overlaid with gold. Then, in the days of Ahab, he constructed a palace of ivory. Often, when we think of the ancient peoples, we think they were inferior to us. Their lives were not enhanced by modern technology. We think ourselves superior to them because of computers, air conditioning, refrigeration, cell phone technology, etc.
We forget however of the ingenuity which was needed to supply all of these materials to use in the construction of the palaces and temples which they erected.
I noticed as I read that Solomon's men would bring apes and peacocks far away lands into his kingdom. Think how difficult it would be to bring an ape to Judah. How did they control the apes? How did they maintain the apes once they were placed in Judah? The ingenuity and skill of those who lived in the days of the kings must have been great.
As I read about the ivory throne and palace, I thought that ivory can't be the tusks of an elephant. The ivory they speak of must be some other type of material. With just a little study, I found the ivory they used was the ivory of elephants. I learned some of the tusks grew to as much as ten feet in length. They elephant which carried a ten foot tusk must have been a huge animal. Of course, to be able to obtain that ivory was a tremendous task. The use of that material only added to the magnificence of the kingdom.
Just think of the glory of those kingdoms. Just think of the glory of the house of God.
I do not really have a spiritual thought to attach to this study. I just wanted to share with you my amazement as I think about the days of the kings. Much thought, and work had to go into the acquiring of these materials and their use. The Temple and palaces of the kings had to be magnificent and glorious. Imagine their splendor. Then think how glorious heaven must be. The place where God dwells.
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