Solomon’s legacy brought disaster to Israel. He cannot escape his influence on guiding or leading them into idolatry of the most heinous kinds. This seems to hard to even contemplate let alone believe. How could David have raised Solomon to not know the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as he knew Him?
What does this tells us? What can we learn from this?
We will study one lesson at a time to let the truth really sink into our hearts and minds.
First, let us look into Solomon’s wealth from Chronicles.
2 Chronicles 9:13-14 Now the weight of gold which came to Solomon in one year was 666 talents of gold, besides that which the traders and merchants brought; and all the kings of Arabia and the governors of the country brought gold and silver to Solomon.
9:15 King Solomon made 200 large shields of beaten gold, using 600 shekels of beaten gold on each large shield.
9:16 He made 300 shields of beaten gold, using three hundred shekels of gold on each shield, and the king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon.
9:17 Moreover, the king made a great throne of ivory and overlaid it with pure gold.
9:18-19 There were six steps to the throne and a footstool in gold attached to the throne, and arms on each side of the seat, and two lions standing beside the arms. Twelve lions were standing there on the six steps on the one side and on the other; nothing like it was made for any other kingdom.
9:20 All King Solomon's drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold; silver was not considered valuable in the days of Solomon.
9:21 For the king had ships which went to Tarshish with the servants of Huram; once every three years the ships of Tarshish came bringing gold and silver, ivory and apes and peacocks.
9:22-24 So King Solomon became greater than all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom. And all the kings of the earth were seeking the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom which God had put in his heart. They brought every man his gift, articles of silver and gold, garments, weapons, spices, horses and mules, so much year by year.
9:25 Now Solomon had 4,000 stalls for horses and chariots and 12,000 horsemen, and he stationed them in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem.
9:26-28 He was the ruler over all the kings from the Euphrates River even to the land of the Philistines, and as far as the border of Egypt. The king made silver as common as stones in Jerusalem, and he made cedars as plentiful as sycamore trees that are in the lowland. And they were bringing horses for Solomon from Egypt and from all countries.
Sometimes or better yet, most of the time, it is better to just meditate on God’s Word without commentary from others. So I will just highlight a few concerns with Solomon’s life.
He seemed to take a great deal of time on his life and palace. Who was he trying to impress?
Solomon became greater than all the other kings living at his time.
Did he represent God in a manner that made God greater than all the other gods?
Could all this attention, gifts, and homage to him from the kings of the world only add to his sense of independence from God?
There is a real lack of reference, thanksgiving, and reverence to God, even though all of this was from God.
More to come next time.