2 Chronicles 8:18
And Huram sent him by the hands of his servants ships, and servants that had knowledge of the sea; and they went with the servants of Solomon to Ophir, and took thence four hundred and fifty talents of gold, and brought them to king Solomon.
Solomon turned his outlet at the head of the Red Sea into a commercial asset by building a navy of ships at Ezion-geber in Edom on the shore of the Red Sea, manned by trained sailors from Tyre together with his own servants for voyages to Ophir to bring back gold with great plenty of almug trees and precious stones. The fleet sent by Huram's servants that knew the sea sailed with Solomon's servants to Ophir and returned with four hundred and fifty talents of gold for the king.
That enterprise belonged to a far larger divine gift, for the kingdom stretched from Hamath to Egypt and from the Mediterranean to the Euphrates and was crossed by natural highways of world commerce. In that position Israel was to reveal the character of the true God and extend the gospel invitation through teaching the meaning of the sacrificial service, so that all nations would reverence the King of kings and live by looking to Christ.
The voyages greatly increased the revenues of the king and his subjects and strengthened Solomon politically, yet he made selfish use of strategic points and turned contact with many nations to personal aggrandizement. Gain became the motive, and what should have served witness served wealth and power.
Solomon lost sight of that high and holy purpose, and the missionary spirit God had implanted in him and in true Israelites to enlighten those ignorant of God and His truth was rapidly supplanted by a spirit of commercialism, with cupidity and short-sightedness taking its place. Precious opportunities afforded by contact with representatives of all nations constantly passing through and tarrying in his territory were thus misused, while countless multitudes thronging the thoroughfares of travel were allowed to remain in ignorance of the true God.