Today’s reading takes us from the pinnacle of Solomon’s reign to the lowest point. What began modestly grew to be incredible and awe-inspiring, and then plummeted to insignificance.Read today’s passages in the NLT here
It took 40 years, and even in that amount of time the damage wasn’t completely realized. Solomon’s sins didn’t catch up with the nation of Israel until after he died. To the unsuspecting observer, Solomon went out in glory and honor at the top of his game, with the world at his feet. But the Bible tells a different story…it says that Solomon lost God’s blessing (and so, the kingdom) when he began to worship other Gods.
How could a man so wise possibly worship other Gods? Surely he knew that this would end in disaster, didn’t he?
I believe that Solomon’s wisdom was only subject to one thing: his desire. As wise as he was, Solomon didn’t desire God completely. I don’t know for sure, but maybe you can see it in the way he prays when they dedicate the temple. He uses the phrase “I built for you” alot…enough to make me uncomfortable. I would have preferred him to say “that you allowed us to build for you”…keep the focus on God. And then there is the enormous throne, the solid gold silverware, the decadence at every turn. Surely some of this money could have been better used to create infrastructure, or developing farmland, improving towns, or something. Instead Solomon disobeys God and goes back to Egypt to purchase horses (Deut 17 says the king should not do that). He takes many wives (again, Deut 17 says he should not) and he acquires great amounts of wealth for himself. (you guessed it…Deut 17 says “no” to that as well).
When Samson had broken the three parts of the Nazarite vow, God removed his strength and sent him into captivity. These three infractions remind me of that. After Solomon has broken these three, his desires are no longer for the Lord completely. By degrees he has drifted away, maybe it has 12 horses at first, and then when nothing terrible happened, they purchased more. How many wives was “too many”? Certainly 700 woman were over that amount….and they all came from different faiths. In the end, Solomon’s desire to please his wives trumped his desire to please God. This would have NEVER happened with his father, David. In fact, when one of his wives griped about how he was celebrating, and dancing half naked in front of the Ark of the Covenant while it was being moved into Jerusalem, he sent her away and never slept with her again. When he became aware of his sin with Bathsheba, or when he counted the people against God’s will, he immediately cried out for mercy and accepted whatever punishment God brought. Those disasters cost him dearly, but at the end of his life, he turned the kingdom over to his son in splendid fashion, without a civil war and without great bloodshed.
The difference between David and Solomon was heart. David’s was completely devoted, and Solomon’s was not. If the Lord ever asks me what He can do for me, I would want to reply “give me a heart completely devoted to you, so that I will never stray away, take you for granted, or rebel in any way”. I wouldn’t ask for the removal of my free will, just the clear conviction of my values and beliefs that would allow me to forever make the right choice to obey God.
The pursuit of wisdom is worthy, but the pursuit of a heart fully devoted to God is of even greater value. “Please allow me to have that heart, O God”.
Faithfully,
PR