Solomon
Solomon
David ordained that his son Solomon become the next king. He then gave Solomon
the plans for the Temple and said:
- Chr 28:9-11
"As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a
loyal heart and with a willing mind; for the LORD searches all hearts and
understands all the intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will be found by
you; but if you forsake Him, He will cast you off forever. "Consider now, for the
LORD has chosen you to build a house for the sanctuary; be strong, and do it."
Soon after this, the Lord appeared to Solomon and offered him anything he
wished for:
IKing 3:5-14
At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said,
"Ask! What shall I give you?" And Solomon said: "You have shown great mercy to Your
servant David my father, because he walked before You in truth, in
righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with You; You have continued this great
kindness for him, and You have given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this
day. "Now, O LORD my God, You have made Your servant king instead of my father
David, but I am a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in. "And Your
servant is in the midst of Your people whom You have chosen, a great people,
too numerous to be numbered or counted. "Therefore give to Your servant an
understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil.
For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?"
The speech pleased the LORD, that Solomon had asked this thing. Then God said
to him: "Because you have asked this thing, and have not asked long life for
yourself, nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have asked the life of your
enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern justice, "behold, I
have done according to your words; see, I have given you a wise and
understanding heart, so that there has not been anyone like you before you, nor shall any
like you arise after you. "And I have also given you what you have not asked:
both riches and honor, so that there shall not be anyone like you among the
kings all your days. "So if you walk in My ways, to keep My statutes and My
commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days."
fterwards Solomon became Israel's most magnificent king. He built the
marvelous Temple and God's favor was with him. When he had finished the Temple he made
sacrifices and said a public prayer:
IKing 8:27-30
"But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of
heavens cannot contain You. How much less this temple which I have built! "Yet
regard the prayer of Your servant and his supplication, O LORD my God, and listen
to the cry and the prayer which Your servant is praying before You today: "that
Your eyes may be open toward this temple night and day, toward the place of
which You said, 'My name shall be there,' that You may hear the prayer which Your
servant makes toward this place. "And may You hear the supplication of Your
servant and of Your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. Hear in
heaven Your dwelling place; and when You hear, forgive. . ."
Then God revealed His glory:
- Chr 7:1-3
When Solomon had finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the
burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the LORD filled the
temple. And the priests could not enter the house of the LORD, because the glory of
the LORD had filled the LORD'S house. When all the children of Israel saw how
the fire came down, and the glory of the LORD on the temple, they bowed their
faces to the ground on the pavement, and worshiped and praised the LORD, saying:
"For He is good, for His mercy endures forever."
During his reign he made Israel a world power and great wealth flowed into the
kingdom. He had such great wisdom from God that people came from distant lands
to here him. He taught many proverbs and wrote Ecclesiastes and Songs. Yet
Solomon did more than any other king to break down the kingdom and to destroy its
true foundations. His biggest mistake was in disobeying God by taking many
wives, and marrying the daughters of foreign kings. He had 700 wives and 300
concubines. He allowed them to build altars to "Astarte" (Ishtar in Babylonia and Astoreth in Phoenicia) the fertility goddess and
other pagan gods.
The instructions in the Law for a king were as follows:
Deut 17:14-20
"When you come to the land which the LORD your God is giving you, and possess
it and dwell in it, and say, 'I will set a king over me like all the nations
that are around me,' "you shall surely set a king over you whom the LORD your God
chooses; one from among your brethren you shall set as king over you; you may
not set a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. "But he shall not
multiply horses for himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt to multiply
horses, for the LORD has said to you, 'You shall not return that way again.'
"Neither shall he multiply wives for himself, lest his heart turn away; nor shall he
greatly multiply silver and gold for himself.
"Also it shall be, when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he shall
write for himself a copy of this law in a book, from the one before the priests,
the Levites. "And it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of
his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God and be careful to observe
all the words of this law and these statutes, "that his heart may not be lifted
above his brethren, that he may not turn aside from the commandment to the right
hand or to the left, and that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and
his children in the midst of Israel."
Though Solomon was gifted with incredible wisdom, his heart led him astray.
Toward the end of his life troubles began to appear through powerful factions,
and enemies raised up both within and without the nation. Though Solomon made
Jerusalem one of the wonders of the world, the kingdom was ready for a collapse.
When Solomon died (about 922 BC) the kingdom split in two.
The Story of the Bible