BQ NO. 24 - WHAT DO WE LEARN FROM THE LIFE AND REIGN OF KING SOLOMON?
By Ezekiel Kimosop
Solomon was the second son of David with Bathsheba after the first son born out of his illicit affair with her died under God's judgment. David later promised Bathsheba that Solomon would reign after him.
It appears that David kept this promise as a secret because as he grew old, succession battles rocked his palace as his sons jostled for the coveted seat.
Absalom, one of his favorite sons, mounted a palace coup which saw David briefly dethroned before he was later restored after Absalom died while fleeing from Joab, David's commander (2Sam.15-18).
Another son known as Adonijah later proclaimed himself king, forcing Bathsheba to remind David of his promise to her. David finally directs that Solomon be proclaimed king (1Kings 1:25-40).
This brought to a close the palace wars. David abdicated the throne in an effort to quell the rising royal tension over his succession.
David also instructed Solomon to purge the wicked men who had brought disgrace to his administration. This saw the execution of Joab for the murder if Abner, Saul's former commander who had defected to David (2Sam 3:27; 1Kings 2:28-35). Some scholars have viewed this as one of David's open weaknesses. He was not decisive in purging the wicked from among those close to him so that he finally delegated the responsibility to his son.
Many political leaders today behave in the same way. They do not have the guts to deal with those in their inner circle.
This is most probably because these men are privy to the leader's secret excesses or weaknesses or that they may stage a revolt using the networks they have built.
Abiathar the priest was also defrocked for joining the Adonijah camp during the palace succession upheavals. Solomon spared Abiathar's life because he stood with David during his fugitive life under the reign of Saul (1Kings 2:26-27).
Surprisingly, Solomon fulfilled the prophecy concerning the final demise of house of Eli so that Eli's priesthood ended with the removal of Abiathar from priesthood.
Solomon finally consolidated his reign after purging all evil men and taming all royal rebellion
When he ascended to the throne, God gave him an opportunity to place a request concerning what he desired of God. Solomon prayed for only one item: wisdom.
God graciously granted his prayer and exceeded his expectation. He gave him wealth and honor.
The passsage of 2Chronicles 1:7-12 is significant in revealing the moral character of Solomon.
He had just come from worshipping God at the tabernacle of Gibeon which Moses had built in the desert. David too used to worship there. David understood the religious responsibilities of his royal office and Solomon picked up the tradition from him.
What spiritual legacy shall we leave to our children when we depart this world?
Solomon had offered 1000 burnt offerings to God at this altar.
God was touched by Solomon's devotion and commitment to honor God and He appeared to him that night and said to him "Ask! What shall I give to you?"
By today's standards of hero worship in leadership, Solomon would perhaps have asked for billions of shillings or dollars but this young king chose wisdom only!
He kept the mandate of his royal office at a much higher scale compared to the cravings or fantasies of his youthful generation.
Solomon knew that he became king by God's grace just as David his father did. He recognized God's great mercy to his father David and God's promise to grant him a dynasty that will not end (2Chron.1:8-10).
The prayer for wisdom was an amazing request from this young king and God commended him saying "...you have not asked riches or wealth or honor, or the life of your enemies, nor have you asked long life - but have asked wisdom and knowledge for yourself that you may judge My people over whom I have made you king, wisdom and knowledge are granted to you, and I will give you riches and wealth and honor such as none of the kings have had who were before you, nor shall any after you have the like" (2Chron. 11-13).
Let us focus on God's words above for a moment.
Here are some powerful spiritual truths from the passage:
1) God expects us to approach him with wisdom. He was testing the moral substance of Solomon's life and he rewarded his prudence.
2) God's unseen hand influences the choices of his righteous leaders. David chose Solomon as king yet in effect it was God who superintended the process. Nothing happens by default to God's people. When Mathias was elected to replace Judas, God endorsed it. If we prayerfully make choices, God's leading will accompany us.
3) The people who God places in our charge are fundamentally His.
Solomon refered to the people as "this people" but God saw them as "My people". Citizens of a nation, whether in their ethnic or collective dimensions, are primarily God's people and not subjects of political leaders who often herd them together as political statistics.
In the same way, our church congregations belong to God so that pastors and elders are simply God's agents and stewards over the flock of God (1Peter 5:2).
4) God is gracious in that He exceeds the expectations of his faithful saints when he blesses us. Never underestimate the power of His divine hand when we pray!
Moving on we now examine the decline of Solomon.
Q. How could a man so blessed of God as Solomon descend into a steep spiritual decline?
At the height of his royal success, Solomon's heart departed from God. He became a demigod of sorts with the fame that arose from his vast wealth and his rare wisdom.
Kings from the world over heard of his great success and came to marvel at him. Among these included the Queen of Sheba. (1Kings 10) who is believed to have ruled Abyssinia or parts present day Ethiopia.
Solomon begun to build his royal towers and ornamental architecture with the gold and large tributes that subject kings such as Arab leaders brought to him during the great peacetime that he enjoyed, thanks to the conquests of his father David (1Kings 10:15).
So what brought down this great king after all the great achievements?
The writer of 1Kings outlines
Solomon's errors as follows:
1) Like his father David, Solomon loved women exceedingly. He however took this passion to absurdity. Here is why:
He married Pharaoh's daughter in violation of God's law (1Kings 3:1) and also married 700 wives and had 300 concubines, an unbeaten biblical record!
Unfortunately, his wives turned away his heart from the LORD (1Kings 11:3). This is probably because most of the influential among them were foreign women.
2) Solomon fell to idolatry including the worship of Ashtoreth the Sidonian goddess and Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.
He also built a high place for Chemosh the detested Moabite god, on the hill east of Jerusalem (probably present day Mt Olives) and for Molech of Ammon (1Kings 11:3-5).
Notice that Solomon gave himself fully to idolatry as he grew older suggesting that the impact of idol worship was incremental till it finally did the final blow.
Satan takes his time in wearing down our spiritual fortifications so long we are not alert and we fail resist his evil manouvres.
Bible scholars believe that Solomon later returned to the LORD after years of spiritual and moral ruin and wrote the Book of Eccleasiastes where he viewed life from a reformed heart.
He saw life without God as vanity of vanities (Eccl. 12:8-14). Solomon learnt from his errors late in life. It is better late than never.
Q. What moral lessons can we learn from the life of this great king?
1) We discover the folly of wanton or "wild living".One preacher once spoke of the "folly of the 3Gs" that often bring down godly men from grace to grass; from palace to prison. These are "Girls, Gold and Glory", an acronym that represents the unbriddled worldly pursuit of sexual pleasure, fame and riches without the fear of God. This is hedonism per excellence.
Another preacher referred to them as the "3Ws" "Wealth, Wine and "Women". Some great world leaders including famous preachers who strayed into this path forgot or lost their calĺing and landed themselves in disgrace.
Solomon focused on sensual pleasure and glorified himself and soon forgot the hand of God which had lifted him to the throne in the place of Adonijah, who was David's son by his eldest wife and rightfully the crown prince! This is the same paradox that fell on David's choice in the place of his eldest brother Eliab who in all probability should have been crowned as the second king of Israel!
This is a warning to us to be wary of personal "ivory towers" that distract our focus on God such that we forget the giver of all things who graciously chose to rescue us from eternal damnation!
These worldly indulgences may initially appear harmless till their impact later turns perilous, if left unchecked.
2) The second lesson concerns petitions for personal needs. What we crave before God determines the substance of our moral predisposition. We need a clear conscience, always even as we pray.
If we love God, we should above all things allow him to have his way in our lives. It is better to have the least in life than to have the most only for it to destroy our destiny. What is your overriding motive for the prayer list that you have presented to God? If the motive is ungodly, God will not grant the request
Why is this so?
James 4:1-3 (NKJV) declares "you lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain...you ask and do not receive because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. "
God looks at the intents of our hearts when we approach Him. He is touched by a heart that seeks to glorify Him.
3) Solomon started well with God but finished badly. It is better to start badly and finish well but it is best that we be consistent with God and not allow the enemy any opportunity in our walk of faith lest he wrecks up our lives and destroys our fellowship with God.
Finally, lets remember that serving God in any capacity is a privilege that calls for humility and wisdom. God will judge every intent of our hearts and will certainly punish disobedience. (Jer.17:9).
As I conclude, someone may ask; if God knew that Solomon would abandon Him, why did He bless him with so much wealth and honor?
We must not forget that it was not necessarily the riches or wisdom that drew Solomon away from God but the foreign women he married who brought their heathen culture and religion to bear on him. Of course there is evidence that the man had created a personality cult of some sort with his great wealth but scripture lays less emphasis on this source of ruin in Solomon's case.
Given the immense influence that women ordinarily wield on the powerful royal or political offices that their husbands hold, it would have been wise for Solomon to avoid Canaanite women and to limit their number to a sensible figure. In any case his father David married a few women and none was Canaanite.
Solomon's life story is a warning to believers to tread their choice of spouses with great care lest the enemy plants his agents on their lives [see my article on Jezebel].
Solomon's wives were probably very beautiful and irresistable but we must remember that external beauty can be deceptive! God seeks that we see the inner spiritual substance which must overide the external looks (1Peter 3:1-7). Only in Queen Esther's case do we see both factors assymetrically matched in a woman.
Solomon did his best to manage his royal office but his personal excesses brought to bear on his leadership so that he miserably failed God and his people. His was an expensive weakness that ruined his legacy.
We too need to prayerfully watch our excesses in this earthly life lest they digress our spiritual journey and drive us into disobedience and ultimately into ruin. The Bible warns that let him who standeth watch lest he fall.
Finally, we can learn that if Solomon was able to return to the Lord in his sunset years [as evidenced in his book of Ecclesiastes], no one indeed is beyond rescue.
It is easy to imagine that some people have gone too far in their depravity either because of their extreme pursuit of earthly pleasure or even in high occult but God's grace can still reach out and restore them.
Do you know of some specific peope who drew away from Christ to follow the pleasures of this passing world?
Do not give up on them but keep praying for them that they may return to the Lord while He may be found.
Our God can do exceedingly, abundantly above what we can think or imagine (Ephesians 3:20)
Shallom.
© Ezekiel Kimosop Teaching Series 2018
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