Solomon wandered from God because he loved many foreign women. 700 wives of royal birth, 300 concubines, which went against Deuteronomy 17:17 which told them not to marry outsiders. The fact that he married Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, and Sidonians made it even worse. Also God had told them not to marry more than one wife.
Compare this with Solomon’s prayer upon the completion of the temple. That prayer was sincere, and Solomon loved the Lord and his people at that time.
What happened? He took his eyes off God. He is affections went toward his wives.
That is why it is important to pay attention to your relationship with God. If you love God today, that is wonderful. But, let Solomon be an example to you. Take seriously the importance of maintaining the relationship.
There’s a joke about the wife who asks her husband if he loves her. He says, “I told you a loved you the day we got married. Until I tell you otherwise, nothing has changed.”
The reason that is funny to us is that we know that is patently ridiculous. Love in a marriage should always be restated and reinforced.
So just because you love God today does not mean you should or can relax. God isn’t going anywhere, but your heart will probably wander if you don’t maintain it.
How do you maintain your relationship with God? In many of the same ways that you do with people you love. You spend time with them. You care about what they care about. You tell them you love them, and more important than telling them is demonstrating it in a thousand different ways.
You prioritize time with them, meaning that you set aside certain times to be with them. You talk with them. You share your heart with them. You find out what their heart is about.
God has shared his heart with us through his Word, the Bible. Your listening to this show is a great start in hearing God’s heart, but I hope it also gives you a thirst to want to read and study it on your own. Every day at the end of the show I ask you,”What do you think? ” That’s not a rhetorical question. I want you to think about what God is saying to you as a result of each day’s reading.
You can spend time with God in prayer. Prayer should be a conversation. Take turns. You talk, then you listen, then you respond, then you listen, etc. The Holy Spirit will speak to you.
Also, scripture tells us that when two or more are gathered together in his name, he is there in the midst of them. So another way to spend time with God is to go to church. Go to Bible studies, serve in a ministry of some sort.
Make God the center of your life, and be faithful about it.
If you are married, serve God as a team. If you are single, the apostle Paul said that is a better way because your affections aren’t split between your spouse and God. But, he acknowledges that not all can live that way, and marriage is okay. But when you are looking for a spouse, be sure they have a solid, real relationship with Jesus.
You don’t want to be drawn away like King Solomon was.
Do you remember that at the end of chapter 8, we read that wonderful prayer of Solomon’s after the work was completed on the Temple? Well, here in the beginning of chapter 9, we read that God appeared to Solomon for the second time and He said to Solomon, “I have heard you pray to me. I have heard you ask me to show you my favor. You have built this temple. I have set it apart for myself. My Name will be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.”
My first reaction to this is, “Wow! How cool would that be if after I prayed, God would appear to me and say, “I’ve heard you, Steve.”
My second reaction is, “Maybe I need to step up my prayer life, because that prayer that Solomon offered was much better than anything I have ever prayed.” But of course, King Solomon was much wiser and more intelligent than me.
And then I remember that even Solomon’s prayer is nothing in comparison to God, so I’m ok just being me. After all, God looks at the heart and not the words we speak.
Well, God tells Solomon that He’s heard him and all, and I’m sure Solomon had a heart full of joy at this point.
But then God follows up these wonderfully uplifting words with some equally sobering words. He tells Solomon that in order for all these things to remain true, Solomon and his people must remain faithful to God in all their ways. If they don’t, God will take His hand off of them and He will leave them, and this now beautiful temple will be a source of shock and wonder.
You see, God knew that the people needed to be constantly reminded of who their source of strength and well being was. They are God’s chosen people not because they are special, but because He is a God of grace. It is His goodness and love that brought them out of Egypt, not anything they did. It was His might that brought them into the promised land, not their military prowess. And on and on.
God wanted them looking at Him, not this beautiful building that they built according to His very specific instructions.
My friend, has God used you in some wonderful way? Don’t forget who did that. You didn’t. He did. Remember to look to Him and not to rest on your laurels. He wants us to continually rely on Him and live lives that are pleasing to Him.
A house is just a house until someone lives there, and then it becomes a home. A sanctuary is just an auditorium until the people of God are there, and then it is a house of worship. And the Temple was just a big, albeit beautiful building until the presence of the Lord filled it.
All of the years of promise are now fulfilled as the cloud representing the presence of God filled the place, and Solomon must have become overwhelmed with emotion as he saw this miraculous event take place. His prayer was one of joy, and awe, and gratitude, and yes even concern for the people that God gave him to lead and care for. You can hear Solomon’s tender heart for them, can’t you?
Solomon wasn’t puffed up with pride and power. He truly felt a burden for their welfare.
Would that our leaders today would take a lesson from Solomon.
In the last chapter we learned that Solomon took seven years to build the Lord’s temple. And in this chapter, we find that once God’s house was built, Solomon began building a place for himself.
This structure took thirteen years to complete. You might think he took more care on his own house, or that it was more beautiful or elaborate. No. I don’t think so. He took less time to build God’s Temple because he felt that God deserved a beautiful place, and he pushed hard to get it done as soon as possible, while still adhering to high standards of craftsmanship and God’s very explicit instructions on how it was to be done.
Solomon was willing to wait longer for his own place.
I wonder how things might be different if we all put God’s honor above our own comfort.
So now it’s time to build the temple. David couldn’t do it because he was a man of war, even though God gave him the plans…the specifics on how it should be built. God told David that his son would be the one to build it, and now this promise is set to be fulfilled.
King Hiram of Tyre was not a Jew, but it does appear as if he had become a believer in the one true God. It’s very likely that this was a result of his long friendship with David. Solomon contracted with King Hiram to be the supplier of lumber and some of the labor for the temple.
It’s interesting to note that the Tabernacle, or temporary dwelling place of God, had been built only by Jewish hands. But the Temple was to be built by Jewish *and* Gentile hands, which is appropriate because the Temple really is a type, or example of the church, which is made up not of buildings but of individual believers of every ethnic and national background. In addition to that, every believer is the temple of God, as the Holy Spirit dwells in each one of us.
As you might expect, there are many features of this temple that is to be built by Solomon that are symbolic. Just a couple of examples are 1) The walls are lined with cedar wood, which has a rich and beautiful aroma. Heaven itself is rich with the wonderful presence of God. 2) The interior of the Temple was overlaid with gold, the most valuable and beautiful material there was at the time of the construction of the temple. Even the floor was gold. According to Scripture, the streets of Heaven are paved with gold.
Everything about the temple was to be made according to very specific instructions. Size, material, shape, color…no detail was left to chance. This is a reflection on God, the ultimate Creator. When He created the universe, there was a plan for everything, and nothing was made by chance.
We will hear much more about the building of the temple in the coming chapters.
Well as chapter three begins, we see a couple of things that could be of concern.
First is his marriage to Pharaoh’s daughter. Jews were not to marry non Jews, or they might draw them away from God. Many scholars believe that she must have embraced Judaism. In addition, some think that this is the bride that Solomon wrote about in the Song of Solomon, which we read in episodes 287, 290 and 293.
The other thing that was not quite right was his offering sacrifices at places that were not officially sanctioned. The reason given is that the temple had not yet been built, but it would have been better if he had gone to the place where the Ark of the Covenant was, which is what David had done. Solomon seems to be given a bit of latitude though, because he truly did love the Lord and followed David’s rules, which were of course based on God’s Law.
Now, we see that God loved Solomon by what he did for him. God asked what He could give Solomon, and of course Solomon’s answer was the best possible answer. It demonstrated his love for God and the children of Israel. He asked for wisdom so that he would be able to lead them well. And God was so pleased with this that He gave Solomon a supernatural wisdom, plus riches and honor, with the promise that if he continued to obey His laws and commands, He would give him a long life.
And it’s interesting to see what Solomon did next. He went to where the Ark of the Covenant was and offered sacrifices there.
Next we see a demonstration of Solomon’s wisdom. As we read the account, we look back and say, “Yes, that was very insightful of him.” But put yourself there, without the benefit of knowing how the story ends up. What a quandary that was! Imagine the horror of everyone there when he asked for the baby to be cut in two! Everyone was horrified, except for the woman who was lying. Solomon knew that the true mother would never let her baby be killed like that.
So we’re told that Solomon was wiser than anyone. How marvelous it must have been to have a king with such wisdom.
David was king for forty years, many of them turbulent. And on his death bed, he gave his young son words of advice. We’re not sure how old Solomon was when he became king, but some scholars believe he might have been as young as twelve years. Others think he was in his twenties. I tend to go with the second opinion.
Either way, David told him to stay close to God and follow his commands so that his kingdom would be lasting.
And then David give Solomon some directions about some specific people. Joab, who had killed innocent men; the family of Barzillai, who had given David shelter when he was being pursued by Absalom; and Shimei, who had cursed David even though he knew that David was God’s anointed king.
Because of our limited time, I’m not going to talk about these folks, but about Adonijah’s request to have Abishag the Shunammite as his wife.
Why did Solomon have Adonijah killed for this request?
You remember that Adonijah had tried to snake the throne away from Solomon before David died, right? Do you also remember that Abishag was the young girl that had been brought to David to keep him warm? She was his concubine. Sort of a second level wife. We’re told in 1 Kings chapter 1 that David did not have sexual relations with her, but she was his wife and they had lain together.
Adonijah made this request as a play for the throne yet again. He thought that if he could have one of David’s wives as his, this would give him a step up to usurp the throne.
The fact that Bathsheba didn’t understand this play or that she didn’t just reject Adonijah’s request out of hand might be that she didn’t consider Abishag a wife of David because the marriage hadn’t been consummated, or maybe because she thought this would be a way to assuage Adonijah’s disappointment over losing the throne. His approach to her had been as if he accepted his fate and merely wanted Abishag as a sort of consolation prize.
But Solomon saw right through Adonijah’s deception. As long as Adonijah lived, Solomon was in danger, so he ordered Adonijah’s death that very day.
Solomon was God’s chosen king. These were formative years for Israel. God’s plan for Solomon and his chosen people was going to be fulfilled. Had Adonijah accepted God’s will, his fate would have been different, but he chose his own path which was diametrically opposed to God.
Chapter 11 began with a message that would not come from an old, jaded, cynical Scrooge-type man.
He started with the advice that you should be generous with those in need, because your giving is like a farmer sowing grain. It will yield a return. And if you have the ability now, you never know when your fortunes may change and you may need someone else’s generosity.
And then Solomon advised that the young should enjoy their youth, keeping in mind that God will be the judge of all that we do. So we should avoid evil.
Chapter 12 says the young should keep the Creator in mind, because in our old age life becomes difficult. Our senses dull and our bodies become weak. And ultimately, we die.
And at the very end of the chapter and the book, Solomon refers to himself in the third person and calls himself the Preacher. And he says that after observing all that he could, he wrote down the best words that he could; words of truth. Words that could hold you steady in the storms of life. Words that were given by God.
And his conclusion was this: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. Because God will judge every work, every act, whether good or evil.
Beloved, the only true and lasting happiness and peace is found in knowing God and pleasing Him. Anything apart from that will only bring emptiness, heartbreak, spiritual bankruptcy and ultimately eternal separation from God. And as Christians, we know that the only way to truly know God is when we have a personal relationship with Jesus.
Solomon didn’t know Jesus by name, but he came to know that God was his only hope, and I am sure that God credited his account in the same way as He did with Abraham because of that faith.
I’ll be 61 years old in a few months, and even though I have not lived my life with the same privileges as Solomon did, my experiences have taught me the same lessons. When I have gone my own way, veering from the path that I knew God would want me to travel, I have always found nothing but emptiness and sadness. It is only when I cling tightly to Him that I find that unshakeable peace, that joy which is independent of my circumstances, that *knowing* that everything will be alright.
I hope you have found that marvelous truth in your own life. Jesus said, “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” That is what God wants for you. And so do I.
At the end of our last reading in Ecclesiastes, the end of chapter 8, Solomon had said that after setting his mind on understanding wisdom, after watching what happens here on earth, he concluded that it is impossible for man to understand it all. And this is coming from the wisest man that ever lived.
And the beginning of our reading today began with the words, “So I considered all of this carefully, examining all of it: The righteous and the wise and their deeds are in God’s hand…”
I have discovered, in my life, that this is a good place to be. Before Jesus left this world he said, “Peace I leave with you. My peace I give you. I give to you not as the world gives. Don’t be troubled or afraid.”
If we try to make sense out of the world, as Solomon did, we will become like he did. We’ll become cynical and jaded. Solomon spent many years in pursuit of the things the world tells us will bring happiness. And near the end he threw in the towel and said, “It’s too much. I can’t understand.”
When I was a few years younger, ok, when I was many years younger, during the Jesus Freak days of the late 60s and early 70s, there was a popular bumper sticker around that said, “Let go and let God.”
Of course, like most bumper stickers that’s overly simplistic, but it fits in our discussion here.
When we are willing to admit that we’re not in control, that it’s all in God’s hands, it becomes easier to let go and let God. Jesus came to give us peace, which is good, since all the things that the world says will give us peace fall sadly short.
It’s good to remember that I am not God. Which is good, because I don’t even want that job.
These chapters, while not entirely inspiring, seem to be a *little* less hopeless sounding than the first two, don’t you think?
There’s a lot here to think about, but in our limited time, I’d like to focus for just a moment on chapter four.
Halfway through the chapter, Solomon talked about the man who works so hard he has no family, no son or even a brother. And he said that this is a bad and senseless thing. No disagreement there, right?
But then he talks about a better alternative. The next four verses explain that two are better than one, and three are even better. Like Solomon, in my older years I have learned that this is true.
My dad was very much a loner. A “self made man”. He worked literally seven days a week until he got too old to work. In all my childhood years, until I moved out of the house at the age of 21, he probably took no more than a total of a month off work for a very few short vacations. He did pretty well for himself, financially, though never rich. But for a guy who barely finished the eighth grade, he did well.
When I was a boy, he taught me that friends would always let you down, and that it is better to keep people at arm’s length. Don’t let anyone in. Do things on your own. Don’t ask for help. Figure things out yourself. Be your own man.
It wasn’t until many, many years later that I found out just how poor that makes you, even if you have a lot of money. When my dad died, he had no friends at his funeral. No one but my mom, my sister and her three children, my wife, my kids and me to mourn him.
My father-in-law was the exact opposite of my dad. He was giving, warm, caring, loving man. He worked almost until the day he died, not because he was trying to accumulate money, but because he barely made enough to pay the bills. He was an integral part of our church and was there whenever the doors were open. I can’t tell you all the jobs he had at church over the years. Suffice it to say that if he saw something that needed to be done, he did it. Everyone loved and respected Rip Collins. And when he died, there was not an empty seat in the church nor a dry eye in the house. Rip Collins died a rich man. And I have no doubt that when he met Jesus he heard a hearty, “Well done, good and faithful servant!”
My father-in-law knew that it is better to be with people than go it alone. There is no virtue in being a self made man if you close out the world in the process.
Solomon wandered from God because he loved many foreign women. 700 wives of royal birth, 300 concubines, which went against Deuteronomy 17:17 which told them not to marry outsiders. The fact that he married Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, and Sidonians made it even worse. Also God had told them not to marry more than one wife.