Solomon — whose name means peaceful, also called Jedidiah, “beloved of the LORD” — was David’s tenth son and, humanly speaking, far from the throne. Yet God loved him and chose him before he was born. What follows is the fulfillment of a word spoken long before Solomon ever dreamed of kingship. The First Theophany: A Dream at Gibeon

Israel was in one of its darkest hours. The Philistines ruled. The people had grown spiritually dull. The judges were failing. And heaven, it seemed, had gone quiet. But God does some of His greatest work in hidden places.