Solomon also had twelve district governors over all Israel, who supplied provisions for the king and the royal household. Each one had to provide supplies for one month in the year. (1 Kings 4:7)The nation of Israel was growing up. During the reign of Saul, Israel was at war, subject to, or at the very least tormented by the Philistines. During the reign of David, Israel conquered its enemies and its borders were expanded. During the reign of Solomon, Israel enjoyed a season of peace and prosperity - temporary prosperity.
As enemies were conquered, they were required to pay tribute to Israel. That partially accounted for its prosperity. Under Solomon, however, the kingdom quit expanding even though its bureaucracies did not. In today's reading, we get the first glimpse of Solomon organizing Israel into 12 administrative districts (read: tax districts), organized roughly along tribal lines. Each district was responsible to provide the funding for one month's national budget.
No longer were the costs of doing business garnered through tribute from other nations (there was still tribute, but it was not enough), but the nation itself was being taxed to help pay for the many levels of bureaucracy.
This was the golden age of Israel.
And you thought fiscal mismanagement was a new thing?
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