SOLOMON: A LESSON FOR THE AGES

By Jill Roberts and Michael Canalé

 

Recently, Michael and I read Ecclesiastes, which led to a discussion of how Solomon, the author of this Bible Book, had begun as the storied, wisest and richest man in the world and yet ended up cynically writing, in the first words of Ecclesiastes, that all is,

 

“Meaningless! Meaningless!..Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.”

(Ecclesiastes 1:2) NIV

 

The Message also says it well:

 

“Smoke, nothing but smoke…there’s nothing to anything – it’s all smoke.” (Ecclesiastes 1:2)

 

By the world’s standards, Solomon had it all in his life. And yet…

 

Michael, looking at the entirety of Ecclesiastes, sums it up:

 

“Solomon was a game player with tremendous stakes riding on his plays. He ended up writing his own rules to the game. The man thought to be the wisest man in the world, came up with his own game.”

 

Behind such an outcome, lies a story. That story and how it all unfolded, is the subject of this week’s blog. It teaches an amazing lesson and is quite a yarn, spun out of an amazing tale. Like all good stories, the beginning is very important. Let’s start there.

 

When you were a child, did you ever play the game where you asked a friend, “If you could have only one wish, what would it be?” I did. After some tries with this, I decided to attempt to be clever and make my wish be this: “That all my wishes will come true.” That ploy usually only worked once or twice, but, after all, it was only a game, anyhow. Solomon, on the other hand, actually lived a true experience where God appeared to him in a dream and posed this same question – what would his one wish be. How was it that, of all the people in Scripture, only this one man was given this amazing opportunity by God? Who was Solomon?

 

Solomon was a child of King David and Bathsheba, and the story of how he came to this moment with God and the wish, is dramatic, a real page turner in a real page turner of a book, the Bible, God’s holy word.

 

As one of the sons of King David and Bathsheba, it is not surprising that Solomon would assume the throne as the King of Israel. However, twists and turns in the circumstances were such, that he almost didn’t have the opportunity to do so. This is because his half-brother, Adonijah, upon realizing that his and Solomon’s father, King David, was about to pass away, decided to attempt to ascend to this coveted throne. He did what in sales parlance is called an assumptive or presumptive close by throwing an elaborate coronation feast for himself and inviting all of Israel’s luminaries who supported him. Adonijah thereby pretended to treat his kingship as a foregone conclusion. But, as soon as she heard of this, Bathsheba, made a quick visit to her husband, David, who was on his deathbed. Bringing news of Adonijah’s attempted coup, she asked David to immediately anoint Solomon as King. This he did. With the clout that only David possessed, Solomon was, without delay, appointed King, with all the pomp and circumstance of true authority.(As an aside, Adonijah was initially spared by Solomon, but, when he tried another maneuver, tantamount to asking Solomon to give him the Kingdom, he was summarily dispatched from this Earth, Solomon’s patience at an end.) Scripture tells us that,

 

“The Kingdom was now securely in Solomon’s grasp.” (1Kings 2:46) The Message

 

Right away, in this nonstop Biblical account, several significant events began to happen.

 

David, with the last of his strength, powerfully gave his final instructions to Solomon:

 

“I am about to go the way of the earth,’ he said. ‘So, be strong, act like a man and observe what the LORD your God requires: Walk in obedience to him and keep his decrees and commands, his laws and regulations, as written in the law of Moses…”

(1 Kings 2:2-4) NIV

 

Freshly apprised of what he should do, Solomon promptly broke two of these laws. He arranged a politically advantageous but legally forbidden marriage with the daughter of Pharaoh, King of Egypt. (1 Kings 3:1) NIV

Then, he offered sacrifices and 1,000 burnt offerings on altars at the high places, (1 Kings 3:3-4) NIV, an illegal act under God’s law, unless performed by a priest.

 

Importantly, these offerings were made in Gibeon. This is highly significant because it was there, in Gibeon, where God appeared to Solomon in a dream. How amazing our God is! He didn’t wait for Solomon to return to Jerusalem, but, instead, went to meet him in the very place where Solomon sinned against Him. And did he rebuke Solomon in this dream? Not at all. In fact it is here where God’s opening line is, “What can I give you? Ask.” (1 Kings 3:5) The Message. God affirmed the many ways Solomon was being faithful to Him, clearly hopeful that the granting of a wish would act to improve the areas where he wasn’t. God gave Solomon an opportunity, not a reprimand. How beautiful it is to serve such a God, one who met Solomon where he was and does the same with us!

 

Solomon responded to God by choosing wisdom or “…a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong.” (1 Kings 3:9) NIV, God granted this wish. (1 Kings 3:10-12) NIV. However, He also gave Solomon a blessing that was conditional. He said that, “IF (emphasis added), you walk in obedience to me and keep my decrees and commands…” (1 Kings 3:14) NIV, Solomon’s life would go well. Implied in that was, of course, a warning, one that probably emanated from God’s already viewing Solomon’s disobedience with regard to women and to his performing unlawful sacrifices.

 

Michael poses the question, “What other wishes might Solomon have made?” While a discerning heart to know right from wrong was a good choice, it only took him to the place where he KNEW what was right, not to the place where he DID what was right once he knew it. What a difference! Michael asks whether obedience, virtue or character might have been better choices. These are very thought-provoking questions. While it was certainly in God’s permissive will for Solomon to choose wisdom or a discerning heart, may it have been His perfect will for an even better choice, one that would have included following Solomon’s insight as to what was right and eschewing what was wrong?

 

If there was trouble on the distant horizon of Solomon’s life, and there was, at this point, however, it was just that – distant. There were these early years, the truly great seasons that mark the beginning of Solomon’s life and kingship.

 

First of all, he built God’s Temple in Jerusalem. A grander edifice never existed, and Solomon was its builder. No detail was spared in its grandeur – the gold, the wood, the carvings. The length constraints of this blog will not allow us to do it justice.

 

Secondly, Solomon’s wisdom in settling the disputes of those living in Israel was unmatched. He was brilliant and decisive. God gave him wisdom and he dispensed it freely and impressively.

 

Then, Solomon wrote most of the Bible Book of Proverbs! It is renowned in both the religious and secular worlds for its wisdom. We very briefly cite some of its jewels:

 

Proverbs 3:7, NIV – “Do not be wise in your own eyes.”

Proverbs 4:23, NIV – “Above all, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”

Proverbs 35:28, NIV – “Like a city whose walls are broken down, is a man who lacks self-control.

 

Oh, the irony in what he early wrote and what he later lived!

 

Notably, Solomon also penned Psalm 127. He begins by stating that,

 

“Unless the LORD builds the house, the builders labor in vain.” NIV

 

How clear his insight was at this point.

 

Solomon also wrote the Bible Book of Song of Songs, honoring God’s gift of sex, love and commitment. He included a section regarding problems in his own marriage. It is a magnificent Book, albeit, again, so ironic, based on what was to happen later in his own life.

 

The identity of the writer of I Kings, the primary teller of Solomon’s story, is a contested matter among most theologians. Some say it was Jeremiah, others speak of Ezra or Ezekiel. However, this author’s concerns about Solomon are, from the text of this Book, extremely well established. A very revealing passage follows. Speaking of the Temple, he writes,

 

“He spent seven years building it.

It took Solomon thirteen years, HOWEVER, (emphasis added), to complete the construction of his palace “

(1 Kings 6:38 – 1 Kings 7:1) NIV

 

This writer of I Kings wrote these verses back to back. His disapproval just does seem evident. It is, of course, quite prophetic of Solomon’s priorities to come.

 

After the Temple was completed, Solomon dedicated it in a great ceremony. He delivered a beautiful God-filled speech to all of Israel, and, in it, he asked God to hear their prayers and to answer them. After this, God appeared to Solomon a second time. Like the first time, God conditioned His blessings:

 

“As for you, IF (emphasis added), you walk before me faithfully, with integrity of heart and uprightness…and do all I command and observe my decrees and laws, I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever…You shall never fail to have a successor on the throne of Israel.” (1 Kings 9:4-5) NIV

 

This time, however, God, who now had had years to observe Solomon, became sterner in His message:

 

“BUT, (emphasis added), if you…go off to serve other gods and worship them…this Temple will become a heap of rubble…”

 

It must have seemed inconceivable to Solomon, having just dedicated this matchless Temple, that it could ever be destroyed. Perhaps, it was so impossible in his mind that he didn’t take God at his word, for Solomon only accelerated his breach of God’s laws. In particular, let’s look at Deuteronomy and its law that Solomon would have known so well:

 

“He must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray.” (Deuteronomy 17:17) NIV

 

The record of Scripture is unambiguous with regard to this law being severely broken by Solomon.

 

As to women,

 

“He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray,” (1 Kings 11:3) NIV

 

These women were pagan and worshipped gods so horrendous that the mind can hardly imagine it. Suffice it to say, Chemosh, Molek and Ashtoreth, some of their pagan gods, encouraged their followers to sacrifice their live children! What were Solomon’s practices re them?

 

“He followed Ashtoreth and Molek…Solomon built a high place for Chemosh.” (1 Kings 11:5-7) NIV

 

Departing from God’s law, as Michael says, “Solomon drastically strayed off God’s path. He created his own game and his own path.”

 

Faithful regarding His word, God waited for Solomon’s death before allowing Israel to be divided. True to His word, the Temple Solomon so beautifully built, “lay in rubble,” at the hands of the Babylonians in 586 BC. Because of the large time gap between Solomon’s death and the destruction of the Temple, God, as He always does, must have offered subsequent Kings so many more chances.

 

And God’s promise to Solomon to give him wisdom – God was just as true to this. In his later years, Solomon wrote Ecclesiastes, and it is a masterpiece of his ultimate wisdom. In the final chapter of this Book, Solomon’s solid insight is back:

 

“Now all has been heard

here is the conclusion of the matter:

Fear God and keep his

Commandments,

for this is the duty of all mankind.”

(Ecclesiastes 12:13) NIV

 

As Michael says, in the end, Solomon decided to be in God’s game, the one that gets you from Earth to Heaven,”

 

I read a great tweet from Todd Trotter last week. He tweeted,

 

“Don’t read success stories. You will only get a message. Read failure stories, you will get some ideas to get success.”

 

Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes that,

 

“You learn more at a funeral than at a feast.”

(Ecclesiastes 7:2) The Message

 

Thus, this story. God help us to take it to heart. Certainly, one more reason to trust this Book, the Bible, is that it doesn’t mince words, but shows all the people who live in its pages and in history, as they were, both great and flawed and, in most cases, some of each.