Oh, how quickly things can
change. When we left 2 Samuel, we saw
King David on the throne of Israel. He
wanted his son, Solomon, to carry on in his attempt to live a life and rule
over the kingdom in a manner that would honor God. In the first chapter of 1 Kings, we see that
Solomon did, indeed, take his father’s throne.
And chapter 3 of 1 Kings shows us how much Solomon loved God, obeyed
Him, worshipped Him, and offered huge sacrifices to Him. His only deviation from God’s laws in the
beginning of his reign was that he worshipped, not in the tabernacle in the
presence of God (he had not yet built the temple), but in the high places where
Abraham had built altars. In spite of
this deviation from His plan, God was apparently pleased with Solomon, since He
offered to give him anything he asked for.
Solomon was humble, admitted his inability to rule such a huge kingdom
without God’s help, and asked God for wisdom.
God honored Solomon’s request. In
addition, God also gave him all the things he did not ask for that other,
lesser men might have asked – riches and fame.
He also promised that He would give Solomon a very long life if he
remained obedient to His laws and commands.
Now Solomon loved the Lord by walking in the laws of his father David, with the exception that he also sacrificed and burned incense at the shrines. The king went to the great shrine at Gibeon in order to sacrifice there. He used to offer a thousand entirely burned offerings on that altar. The Lord appeared to Solomon at Gibeon in a dream at night. God said, “Ask whatever you wish, and I’ll give it to you.” Solomon responded, “You showed so much kindness to your servant my father David when he walked before you in truth, righteousness, and with a heart true to you. You’ve kept this great loyalty and kindness for him and have now given him a son to sit on his throne. And now, Lord my God, you have made me, your servant, king in my father David’s place. But I’m young and inexperienced. I know next to nothing. But I’m here, your servant, in the middle of the people you have chosen, a large population that can’t be numbered or counted due to its vast size. Please give your servant a discerning mind in order to govern your people and to distinguish good from evil, because no one is able to govern this important people of yours without your help.” It pleased the Lord that Solomon had made this request. God said to him, “Because you have asked for this instead of requesting long life, wealth, or victory over your enemies—asking for discernment so as to acquire good judgment—I will now do just what you said. Look, I hereby give you a wise and understanding mind. There has been no one like you before now, nor will there be anyone like you afterward. I now also give you what you didn’t ask for: wealth and fame. There won’t be a king like you as long as you live. And if you walk in my ways and obey my laws and commands, just as your father David did, then I will give you a very long life.” (1 Kings 3:3-14, Common English Bible)
It is in these early years of Solomon’s life
that we can see the foreshadowing of Christ:
· Solomon became the successor to David’s throne,
just as we are told that Christ will reign on the throne of David.
Then
Solomon sat on the throne of his father David; and his kingdom was firmly
established. (1Kings 2:12, New King James Version)
On his
robe and on his thigh was written the name: “King of kings and Lord of lords.”
(Revelation 19:16, Good News Translation)
· David introduced Solomon as King by having him
ride to Gihon on a donkey, where he was hailed as King. Jesus made his triumphant entry into
Jerusalem on a donkey, where he was greeted with shouts of “Hosanna.” (The donkeys indicated that these two kings
were coming in peace, not as conquerors in a time of war.)
King
David said, “Bring me Zadok the priest, the prophet Nathan, and Benaiah,
Jehoiada’s son.” They came to the king, who said to them,
“Take with you the servants of your masters. Put my son Solomon on my mule and
bring him down to Gihon. There Zadok the priest and the
prophet Nathan will anoint him king over Israel. Blow the ram’s horn and say,
‘Long live King Solomon!’” (1 Kings 3:32-34, Common English Bible)
So the
disciples went and did what Jesus had told them to do: they brought the donkey
and the colt, threw their cloaks over them, and Jesus got on. A large crowd of
people spread their cloaks on the road while others cut branches from the trees
and spread them on the road. The crowds walking in front of Jesus and
those walking behind began to shout, “Praise to David's Son! God bless him who
comes in the name of the Lord! Praise be to God!” (Matthew 21:6-9, Common
English Bible)
· Solomon ruled during a time a peace. Jesus will rule over a time of peace that
will never end.
He ruled
over all the lands west of the Euphrates River, from Tiphsah to Gaza, and over
all the kings west of the Euphrates. He had peace on all sides. (1 Kings 4:24,
Common English Bible)
A child
is born to us! A son is given to us! And he will be our ruler. He
will be called, “Wonderful Counselor,” “Mighty God,” “Eternal
Father,” “Prince of Peace.” His royal power will continue to grow; his
kingdom will always be at peace. He will rule as King David's successor, basing
his power on right and justice, from now until the end of time. The Lord
Almighty is determined to do all this. (Isaiah 9:6-7, Good News Translation)
· Solomon married the daughter of Pharaoh. Although the Israelites were commanded not to
marry outside the nation of Israel, apparently the daughter of Pharaoh had
accepted the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to be her One True God, since we
see no admonition against this marriage, and since it was during this time that
Solomon’s kingdom flourished. The bride
of Christ, His church, includes Gentiles, those who have accepted and worship
the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, our One True God.
Solomon
became the son-in-law of Pharaoh, Egypt’s king, when he married Pharaoh’s
daughter. He brought her to David’s City until he finished building his royal
palace, the Lord’s temple, and the wall around Jerusalem. (1 Kings 3:1, Common
English Bible)
“Come!”
say the Spirit and the Bride. Whoever hears, echo, “Come!” Is anyone thirsty? Come!
All who will, come and drink, drink freely of the Water of Life! (Revelation
22:17, The Message)
· Solomon is said to be the wealthiest man to
ever have lived. The taxes he raised
each year equaled almost 40,000 pounds of pure gold. But the wealth of Jesus Christ exceeds even
that of Solomon! His wealth does not
come from taxing His people, but just the opposite. He makes us joint heirs with Him.
The
weight of gold that came to Solomon yearly was six hundred and sixty-six
talents of gold… So King Solomon surpassed all the kings of the earth in
riches and wisdom. (1 Kings 10:14, 23, New King James Version)
For
every beast of the forest is Mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills or upon
the mountains where thousands are. I know and am acquainted with all the
birds of the mountains, and the wild animals of the field are Mine and are with
Me, in My mind. If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world and its
fullness are Mine. (Psalm 50:10-12, Amplified Bible)
The
silver is Mine and the gold is Mine, says the Lord of hosts. (Haggai 2:8,
Amplified Bible)
· Solomon did not tolerate threats to his reign. When he found out about those who made false
claims to the throne, he had them killed.
God will not tolerate false claims to His throne. Although He is longsuffering because it is
not His will that any should perish, He is also a jealous God and will not
tolerate anyone or anything that would take His place of honor and glory.
Adonijah,
Haggith’s son, bragged about himself and said, “I’ll rule as king myself”. . . So
King Solomon sent Benaiah, Jehoiada’s son. He attacked Adonijah, and Adonijah
died. (1 Kings 1:5, 2:25, Common English Bible)
“You shall have no other gods before Me. You
shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in
heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under
the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord
your God, am a jealous God…” (Exodus 20:3-4, New King James Version)
For He must reign till He has put all enemies
under His feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death. For “He has put
all things under His feet.” (1 Corinthians 15:15-27a, New King James Version)
· God promised David that his son, Solomon, would
build the temple of God. The temple
Solomon built was magnificent. But Jesus
told us that He is preparing a place for us.
The place Jesus is building will far exceed the glory of Solomon’s
temple. Solomon’s temple was eventually
destroyed, but the place Jesus is preparing for us will never be
destroyed. It will last for eternity.
So Solomon built the temple and finished it. And
he built the inside walls of the temple with cedar boards; from the floor of
the temple to the ceiling he paneled the inside with wood; and he covered the
floor of the temple with planks of cypress. Then he built the twenty-cubit room
at the rear of the temple, from floor to ceiling, with cedar boards; he built it
inside as the inner sanctuary, as the Most Holy Place. And in front of it the
temple sanctuary was forty cubits long. The inside of the temple was cedar,
carved with ornamental buds and open flowers. All was cedar; there was no stone
to be seen. And he prepared the inner sanctuary inside the temple, to set the
ark of the covenant of the Lord there. The inner sanctuary was twenty cubits
long, twenty cubits wide, and twenty cubits high. He overlaid it with pure
gold, and overlaid the altar of cedar. So Solomon overlaid the inside of the
temple with pure gold. He stretched gold chains across the front of the inner
sanctuary, and overlaid it with gold. The whole temple he overlaid with gold,
until he had finished all the temple; also he overlaid with gold the entire
altar that was by the inner sanctuary. (1 Kings 6:14-22, New King James
Version)
In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it
were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I
go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself;
that where I am, there you may be also. (John 14:2-3, New King James Version)
He showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming
down out of heaven from God. The city had God’s glory.
Its brilliance was like a priceless jewel, like jasper that was as clear as
crystal. The wall was built of jasper, and the city was pure gold, like pure
glass. The city wall’s foundations were decorated with
every kind of jewel. The first foundation was jasper, the second was sapphire,
the third was chalcedony, and the fourth was emerald. The
fifth was sardonyx, the sixth was carnelian, the seventh was chrysolite, and
the eighth was beryl. The ninth was topaz, the tenth was chrysoprase, the
eleventh was jacinth, and the twelfth was amethyst. The
twelve gates were twelve pearls; each one of the gates was made from a single
pearl. And the city’s main street was pure gold, as transparent as glass. Night
will be no more. They won’t need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun,
for the Lord God will shine on them, and they will rule forever and always. (Revelation
21:10b-11, 18-21, 22:5, Common English Bible)
Although Solomon was a king of
peace, a man of great wisdom, and set out to honor God, eventually Solomon became
weak and complacent. Solomon’s
disobedience was three-fold (at least).
In Deuteronomy 17, Moses instructed that any future king of Israel
should not acquire many horses, should not have many wives, and should not
amass excessive riches. Solomon’s
disobedience led to his downfall and to the downfall of Israel as a world power. After his 40-year reign, Israel became a divided
kingdom. Eventually, God’s people were
overcome by the Assyrians, the Babylonians, and the Persians. The second part of the book of 1 Kings,
beginning in Chapter 12, tells us about Solomon’s downfall, his death, and the
succession of good and evil kings that followed him in a divided kingdom.
God showed us, through Solomon,
how important it is to seek wisdom, to live in obedience to God, and to look to
Jesus, the true Son of David, our King of Kings, the Prince of Peace. I hope you will worship Him today, tomorrow,
and always. And I hope you will pray
this prayer of confession and repentance, based on the prayer of Solomon,
inserting your name as indicated, just as I will.
“Lord God of
Israel, there is no God in heaven above or on earth below like You, who keep Your
covenant and mercy with Your servants who walk before You with all their
hearts. Yet regard the prayer of Your
servant, (insert your name here), and (my) supplication, O Lord my God, and
listen to the cry and the prayer which (I am) praying before You today: “When (I)
sin against You (for there is no one who does not sin), and You become angry
with (me), and when (I) return to You with all (my) heart and with all (my)
soul, then hear in heaven Your dwelling place (my) prayer and (my)
supplication, and maintain (my) cause, and forgive (me) who (has) sinned
against You, and all (my) transgressions which (I) have transgressed against
You; and grant (me) compassion.” (1Kings 8:23, 28, 46a, 48a, 49-50a, New King
James Version)
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