King Solomon’s Folly
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In 1 Kings 3:9-10, young Solomon asked God, “Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?” It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this.
King Solomon (the name Solomon comes from the Hebrew and means “peaceable”) is one of the great figures of the Bible. He was the son and successor of King David and reigned from 970-931 B.C. In all the long array of Israelite kings, Solomon shares with David the pinnacle of renown.
King Solomon is traditionally praised for his wisdom, his wealth and his writings. His kingdom extended from the Euphrates River in the north to Egypt in the south. His crowning achievement was the building of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem.
Solomon accumulated enormous wealth and influence. He controlled the entire region west of the Euphrates and had peace on his borders. 1 Kings 10:26 states that he owned 12,000 horses with horsemen and 1,400 chariots. He had a large share in the trade between northern and southern countries. He established Israelite colonies around his province to look after military, administrative and commercial matters. He led Israel to become a superpower status and then to its downfall.
Although King Solomon was young, he soon became known for his wisdom. The first and most famous incident of his cleverness as a judge was when two women came to his court with a baby whom both women claimed as their own. Solomon threatened to split the baby in half. One woman was prepared to accept this decision, but the other woman begged the King to give the live baby to the other woman. Solomon then knew the second woman was the mother.
People from surrounding nations also came to hear Solomon’s wisdom. He composed 3,000 proverbs and 1,005 songs. He wrote the Song of Songs, the Book of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes.
While Solomon was a great leader and administrator, he was a great sinner indulging in idolatry and immorality on a grand scale. According to 1 Kings 11:4, Solomon’s “wives turned his heart after other gods”, their own national deities, to whom Solomon built temples, thus incurring God’s anger. 1 Kings 11 describes Solomon’s descent into idolatry, particularly his turning after Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom, the abomination of the Ammonites.
Solomon had flaunted God’s instruction to his forefathers to “obey all the law...”.
According to 1 Kings 11:9-13, it was because of these sins that “the Lord punishes Solomon by tearing the kingdom in two.”
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. 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 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.”
Solomon forgot from whence he had come and therefore lost his directions for a successful future. His “superpower” was doomed.
As we enter into a new year, let’s take stock of the great principles and convictions of our forefathers that made us into the great nation that we are. Let us pray that 2010 will be the year of great revival in our land.
God has a prescription that will heal us: “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” - 2 Chronicles 7:14