Solomon and Wisdom, Part 2
Today I will answer the question I left you with last week: So why did Solomon not take advantage of this remarkable gift of wisdom?
"Compromise" is one word that comes to mind. It was common for kings to make marriage alliances as part of treaties. Solomon followed this practice, even though God had forbidden marriage with outsiders. Even before he was given the gift of wisdom, he would have known this prohibition. Yet we read in 1 Kings 3 that he "made a marriage alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt. He took Pharaoh's daughter and brought her into the city of David until he had finished building his own house and the house of the LORD and the wall around Jerusalem" (3:1).
1 Kings 11 reveals the turning of Solomon's heart occurred because he loved many foreign women, and it enumerates the nations they came from, all which God had forbidden intermarriage with: Egyptian, Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, Hittite. We are told that Solomon clung to them in love, these 700 wives and 300 concubines.
Here is the tragedy: "And his wives turned away his heart. For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father....And the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods. But he did not keep what the LORD commanded." (Read 1 Kings 11:1-10 for the whole story.)
That chapter also tells of the consequences: "Therefore the LORD said to Solomon, 'Since this has been your practice and you have not kept my covenant and my statutes that I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you and will give it to your servant. Yet for the sake of David your father I will not do it in your days, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son. However, I will not tear away all of the kingdom, but I will give one tribe to your son, for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem that I have chosen" (verses 11-13).
The rest of 1 Kings 11 tells how the Lord brought this about.
We have the writings of Solomon in much of Proverbs, the Song of Songs, and Ecclesiastes--what we might consider his spiritual diary. Ecclesiastes 12 ends with these poignant words: "The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: Fear God and keep his commandments, because this applies to every
person. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether good or evil" (12:13-14, NAS; other references ESV).
"Compromise" is one word that comes to mind. It was common for kings to make marriage alliances as part of treaties. Solomon followed this practice, even though God had forbidden marriage with outsiders. Even before he was given the gift of wisdom, he would have known this prohibition. Yet we read in 1 Kings 3 that he "made a marriage alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt. He took Pharaoh's daughter and brought her into the city of David until he had finished building his own house and the house of the LORD and the wall around Jerusalem" (3:1).
1 Kings 11 reveals the turning of Solomon's heart occurred because he loved many foreign women, and it enumerates the nations they came from, all which God had forbidden intermarriage with: Egyptian, Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, Hittite. We are told that Solomon clung to them in love, these 700 wives and 300 concubines.
Here is the tragedy: "And his wives turned away his heart. For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father....And the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods. But he did not keep what the LORD commanded." (Read 1 Kings 11:1-10 for the whole story.)
That chapter also tells of the consequences: "Therefore the LORD said to Solomon, 'Since this has been your practice and you have not kept my covenant and my statutes that I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you and will give it to your servant. Yet for the sake of David your father I will not do it in your days, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son. However, I will not tear away all of the kingdom, but I will give one tribe to your son, for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem that I have chosen" (verses 11-13).
The rest of 1 Kings 11 tells how the Lord brought this about.
We have the writings of Solomon in much of Proverbs, the Song of Songs, and Ecclesiastes--what we might consider his spiritual diary. Ecclesiastes 12 ends with these poignant words: "The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: Fear God and keep his commandments, because this applies to every
person. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether good or evil" (12:13-14, NAS; other references ESV).
posted by Ebeth | 7:38 AM
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