Solomon’s Officials
4 Now King Solomon was king over all Israel. 2 These were his officials: Azariah the son of Zadok was the priest; 3 Elihoreph and Ahijah, the sons of Shisha were secretaries; Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was the recorder; 4 and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the army; and Zadok and Abiathar were priests; 5 and Azariah the son of Nathan was over the deputies; and Zabud the son of Nathan, a priest, was the king’s friend; 6 and Ahishar was over the household; and Adoniram the son of Abda was over the men subject to forced labor.
7 Solomon had twelve deputies over all Israel, who [a]provided for the king and his household; each man had to [b]provide for a month in the year. 8 These are their names: Ben-hur, in the hill country of Ephraim; 9 Ben-deker in Makaz and Shaalbim and Beth-shemesh and Elonbeth-hanan; 10 Ben-hesed, in Arubboth (Socoh was his and all the land of Hepher); 11 Ben-abinadab, in all [c]the height of Dor (Taphath the daughter of Solomon was his wife); 12 Baana the son of Ahilud, in Taanach and Megiddo, and all Beth-shean which is beside Zarethan below Jezreel, from Beth-shean to Abel-meholah as far as the other side of Jokmeam; 13 Ben-geber, in Ramoth-gilead (the towns of Jair, the son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead were his: the region of Argob, which is in Bashan, sixty great cities with walls and bronze bars were his); 14 Ahinadab the son of Iddo, in Mahanaim; 15 Ahimaaz, in Naphtali (he also married Basemath the daughter of Solomon); 16 Baana the son of Hushai, in Asher and [d]Bealoth; 17 Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah, in Issachar; 18 Shimei the son of Ela, in Benjamin; 19 Geber the son of Uri, in the land of Gilead, the country of Sihon king of the Amorites and of Og king of Bashan; and he was the only deputy who was in the land.
At first glance, when one sees that a single man was responsible to provide for the king and his household for an entire month, it seems a bit crazy.
But as we read through the descriptions of these twelve deputies, we begin to see that these men had been blessed incredibly, and were also over multiple cities. So it’s highly likely that they received help from the people in their region, to spread the burden over their entire region.
Likewise, in some churches, it seems that many rely on the few to support the ministry, but God calls all to give what they can. Generosity is not a result of how much you have, but of the state of your heart. God asks us to be givers because it makes us more like Him, and because it benefits us in the process.
To refuse this calling is to shut the doors of heaven and cut yourself off from the resulting blessings. No one would want that, yet we do it anyway unintentionally.
In Luke 6:38, Jesus said, “Give, and it will be given to you. They will [a]pour into your lap a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.”