Lighthouse scribes

If you’re a Christian, you’re probably well acquainted with Solomon’s history and his writings. Many of us were introduced to him as the wisest and richest man in the Bible. He wasn’t a likely heir apparent but God chose him to be king even before he was born.

Succession process ✅

“But you will have a son who will be a man of peace. I will give him peace with his enemies in all the surrounding lands. His name will be Solomon, and I will give peace and quiet to Israel during his reign. He is the one who will build a Temple to honor my name. He will be my son, and I will be his father. And I will secure the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever.’”
1 Chronicles 22:9-10 NLT

Solomon’s ascent to the throne reminds us that God is sovereign over all. We do not know why God chose him over his brothers, especially when we see that at the end of his reign, he’d institutionalised Idolatry in Israel. We do see from the text above that he fulfilled the purpose of God to build the temple to honour God’s name.

At the time, the temple served as God’s abode among the people and was a central place of worship for the twelve tribes of Israel. The temple wasn’t only a body of symbols that pointed back to God, but was a place where people went to be present with God. Of all of David’s sons, God had chosen Solomon to be king and to build the temple.

Military might and marriage ❌

“But you will have a son who will be a man of peace. I will give him peace with his enemies in all the surrounding lands. His name will be Solomon, and I will give peace and quiet to Israel during his reign. He is the one who will build a Temple to honor my name. He will be my son, and I will be his father. And I will secure the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever.’”
1 Chronicles 22:9-10 NLT

Did Solomon have a peaceful reign? Yes. He didn’t have to fight any battles. But that wasn’t because he trusted God to build him that fortress of peace.
Solomon forged peaceful alliances by his many marriages to women of royal significance. These marriages became the pacts that kept the peace of his kingdom, but took the peace of God away not just from his heart, but the entire nation.

“Now King Solomon loved many foreign women. Besides Pharaoh’s daughter, he married women from Moab, Ammon, Edom, Sidon, and from among the Hittites. The Lord had clearly instructed the people of Israel, “You must not marry them, because they will turn your hearts to their gods.” Yet Solomon insisted on loving them anyway. He had 700 wives of royal birth and 300 concubines. And in fact, they did turn his heart away from the Lord.”
1 Kings 11:1-3 NLT


We can do good works for God ≠ we are walking in truth.

The Bible tells us that when we do not obey God, we do not live/walk in the truth (1John 2:4-5a). Doing great things for God is not the measure of how much we love God or how aligned we are with God, and when we try to accomplish what God has said to us in our own way and outside his counsel, we will soon find that the end thereof is death.
Solomon was such a wise king, and was once a man that listened to God for counsel. He was the very king who told us these great words:
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.”
Proverbs 3:5-6 NLT
Somehow, when he wanted to achieve God’s promise of a peaceful kingdom, he went about it the human way and didn’t seek God’s way of getting peace. This action that seemed harmless to Solomon and brought him great pleasure, turned his heart away from God, tore the kingdom of Israel into two, and the resulting idol worship turned the people away from God.

Personal wealth ❌

God made Solomon very rich. Solomon’s tax policies amassed wealth for him and put a burden on the people he ruled. Two separate and true observations.

1 Kings 4.

““Your father was a hard master,” they said. “Lighten the harsh labor demands and heavy taxes that your father imposed on us. Then we will be your loyal subjects.””
1 Kings 12:4 NLT

The Bible tells us that there was an abundance of silver and cedar in Israel during his rule, but this didn’t appear to enrich the lives of the commoners.
God had instructed that the kings of Israel should not amass wealth because it easily becomes a person’s confidence.
The God who gives power to get wealth gives it for expansion, yet while Solomon’s wealth grew, the majority groaned under the weight of the policies that partly grew his wealth. This was an injustice.

The Bible tells us that Solomon’s heart had turned away from God, and God was very angry with him. God had warned him about idol worship, and Solomon did not listen or keep God’s covenant. In response, God foretold the division of the kingdom of Israel and raised adversaries to his kingdom for the rest of his reign.
In spite of his personal failings (there’s a lot not to copy from his life) there’s so much to learn from the Spirit-inspired books that Solomon wrote and his relationship with God when he sought after God.

Are there any life lessons from Proverbs, Songs of Solomon and/or Ecclesiastes that you live by?

Please share in the comments what you’ve learnt from your personal study.

Love,

Osi

P.S, How have you been?

P.P.S, I’ve been away because life has been busy. It’s a good kind of busy, but I’ll try to post more often.