What if you had EVERYTHING?
• Wisdom, power, romance?
• Unlimited wealth and scores of people to do whatever you commanded?
• What would you do with it?
• Most of us will never have to contemplate those challenges, but in our lesson today we’ll look at someone who did in….
Solomon, The uses and abuses of wisdom, power, and love
Below are links to the podcast, video, and the transcript of the lesson.
What if you had EVERYTHING?
• Wisdom, power, romance?
• Unlimited wealth and scores of people to do whatever you commanded?
• What would you do with it?
• Most of us will never have to contemplate those challenges, but in our lesson today we’ll look at someone who did in….
Solomon
The uses and abuses of wisdom, power, and love
Where we are
• We just finished talking about his father, David.
• David trusted God from his youth—killed lion, bear, Goliath.
• Anointed as king when very young.
• But he had to wait 10-15 years before he became king.
• As king, he united all Israel—military and organizational success.
• He sinned, suffered for it but repented and was forgiven.
• In his later years, he made preparation for every part of the Temple, including editing the Psalms and writing musical directions for Temple worship.
Solomon, is his successor
• He was God’s choice.
• Bathsheba’s second son; 10th son overall.
• Loved by God from his birth.
• Then David comforted Bathsheba; . . .she . . .gave birth to a son and named him Solomon. And the Lord loved the baby, and sent congratulations and blessings through Nathan the prophet. David nicknamed the baby Jedidiah (meaning, “Beloved of Jehovah”).
2 Samuel 12:24-25 (TLB)
Solomon becomes King
• After some intrigue and an attempt by a brother for the crown, he was made king.
• David’s charge to him:
• “I am about to go the way of all the earth,” he said. “So be strong, act like a man, and observe what the Lord your God requires: Walk in obedience to him, and keep his decrees and commands, his laws and regulations, as written in the Law of Moses. Do this so that you may prosper in all you do and wherever you go and that the Lord may keep his promise to me: ‘If your descendants watch how they live, and if they walk faithfully before me with all their heart and soul, you will never fail to have a successor on the throne of Israel.’ 1 Kings 2:2-4
• Solomon knew God’s requirements from the start and that obeying His law was to be the non-negotiable foundation of his life.
He started well
• He started with immense amounts of wealth given to him by his father for the construction of the temple.
• Then God appears to him and tells Solomon to ask for anything he wants.
• He asks for wisdom and God gives it to him, plus the promise of every material blessing.
• He builds the Temple.
• Plus, he builds palaces, fortresses, other public works.
His life progresses
• At various times in his life, he writes Song of Solomon, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastics, plus Psalms 72 and 127.
• These books mirror a progression of his life, which we will go through, but first we’ll go over an important review of the genre of these books.
• The genre of these books is part of what is known as the “Wisdom Literature” of the Bible.
About Wisdom Literature
• Job is also part of this genre (go back to the Lessons on it).
• And cautions on the book of Job apply here as well—as a reminder, the advice and accusations of his friends sound good until at the end God says all their counsel was wrong. That final statement is God’s commentary on the entire book and without it, individual passages can be very misleading.
• These books are must be read as a WHOLE.
• Pulling verses of context is misleading and often ends in incorrect interpretation.
• Often the whole point of the book is not revealed until the end—as it was in Job, in God’s statement that the view of his friends was wrong. This is also true in Ecclesiastes.
• Following are some brief notes about the various books he wrote or contributed to and most likely when they were written in his life.
Song of Solomon
• Most likely the first book he wrote, written when younger.
• A picture of romance, love celebrated.
• Sometimes taken as an analogy of the love of Christ for the church, but that can get a bit odd.
• Better—the view of a young man truly in love and a celebration of human love.
• Includes the picture a wonderful component of a great relationship found in 8:10 where the beloved describes herself as “Thus I have become in his eyes like one bringing contentment.”
“Contentment, favor” is the Hebrew “Shalom”
• completeness, soundness, welfare, peace
• completeness (in number)
• safety, soundness (in body)
• welfare, health, prosperity
• peace, quiet, tranquility, contentment
• peace, friendship
• of human relationships
• with God especially in covenant relationship
• peace (from war)
• peace (as adjective)
Application: Make shalom, peace a goal—actively pursue shalom in relationships
• In contrast to the contemporary glorification of the snide remark, snarkiness, the sideways put-down escalating to outright nastiness that is destructive to any relationship.
• Always treat each other with honor and kindness—
• It is sometimes difficult to do that with those we are close to.
• We must make a special effort here—it is a training ground for all of life and as…
• Micah 6:8 reminds us, What does the Lord require?
• Do justice, love kindness, walk humbly with your God.
• Kindness and humility are REQUIREMENTS, not simply good relational advice or optional attitudes.
The sadness of
Song of Solomon
• He may have started out loving one woman passionately and peacefully.
• But that certainly was not the continuing pattern of his life.
• He married woman after woman, 300 of them.
• And even that was not enough as he had an additional 700 concubines.
• Many commentators talk about how many of the marriages were done for political expediency—Pharoah’s daughter and then daughters of kings, etc.
• Whatever the reasons, all these women were certainly not God’s plan for a peaceful life.
On to the Book of Proverbs
• Solomon wrote and complied many of the Proverbs, but he is not the sole author of the book.
• He refers to the “the sayings of the wise” in it.
• The final two chapters identify Agur (30:1) and Lemuel (31:1) as two of the wise men who contributed content to it.
• Many compilations of wise sayings (proverbs) in the literature of the time—it seems self-help books have always been popular.
• But these are the ones God choose for us to remember.
Where they came from in Solomon’s life
• Prov 4:1-2, TLB Young men, listen to me as you would to your father. Listen, and grow wise, for I speak the truth—don’t turn away.
• 3 For I, too, was once a son, tenderly loved by my mother as an only child, and the companion of my father.
• 4 He told me never to forget his words. “If you follow them,” he said, “you will have a long and happy life. 5 Learn to be wise,” he said, “and develop good judgment and common sense! I cannot overemphasize this point.”
• Given his parent’s instruction it was not a surprise when God appeared to him that he asked for wisdom, it had been instilled into him as a child from his parents.
• Application: children will tend to value what their parents value.
Interpretation advice on Proverbs
• Proverbs are wise sayings they are NOT promises.
• Given all things being equal to follow the advice in Proverbs is the best way to live your life.
• Proverbs show what is pleasing to God in many practical areas of life.
• HOWEVER—just because you follow the advice in Proverbs it is not a guarantee that you will experience a problem-free life.
• Nor it is a book of formulas— “if you do this, that will automatically follow.”
Misinterpretation example
• Train up a child in the way he should go;
even when he is old he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6
• Kids from good families sometimes turn out badly.
• But you have a much better chance of them turning out well if they are trained well as children—and if you live a godly life before them.
• God does not interfere with free will.
• There is much evil in the world and no guarantees of success.
• Proverbs gives us the standard for pleasing God no matter what the outcome and sadly if we don’t follow God’s ways……
The life represented in Ecclesiastes is the result
• Here we see the deterioration of a man who had everything—Solomon, who is assumed to be the author of the book.
• This appears to be his final commentary on his life and such a sad one it is.
• The book opens with:
• “Vanities of vanities, KJV,” “Meaningless! Meaningless! NIV” and in the LB, it says, “ In my opinion, nothing is worthwhile; everything is futile.”
• The book then goes on to describe all that Solomon did to come to that conclusion.
His exploration for meaning
• He begins by exploring wisdom, but from the beginning is a hint of his problem as he refers to and will often that his search was for these things, “under the sun” (Ecc.1:3) not from God, from what he could see.
• He goes on to c.2:
• I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards. . . I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I acquired male and female singers, and a harem as well—the delights of a man’s heart. . . . I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure.
• And on and on…he had the money, power, resources and as he said he denied himself nothing.
On interpreting Ecclesiastes
• Remember it is “wisdom literature” with the ending, the summary, the conclusion is what you are to remember out of the book
• Similar to Job, verses pulled out of context are not to be taken at face value or as what God wants us to do.
• They might be scattered bits of good advice, but overall, the words of a cynical, wasted life.
• For example, “Do not pay attention to every word people say,
or you may hear your servant cursing you—
for you know in your heart
that many times you yourself have cursed others. Ecc.7:21-22
Why the Bible is filled with bad examples
• The Bible not only tells us how we should live,
• But it is an honest reporting of what happens when don’t do what God wants.
• Ecclesiastes gives people problems because they ask how can some of the things that are in the book be from God.
• Important to remember all the statements in the Bible are true statements, true reports of what happens, but some are not examples of what we should do, but precisely the opposite.
• Here is the example of a man who had everything. He chose to squander it on himself, and he ends up a pitiful, cynical, sad old man.
His final advice
• Now all has been heard;
here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments,
for this is the duty of all mankind. Ecc. 12:13
• So true.
• Sadly, however, Solomon was not the only one who suffered because of his intense selfishness.
• He forgot why he was king, why he was given the gifts he was given. It wasn’t for him only.
In contrast, his father David
• Then David knew that the LORD had established him as king over Israel and had exalted his kingdom for the sake of his people Israel.
2 Sam 5:12
• In the lesson on David, we talked about how he was a man after God’s own heart and here is a primary example of it.
• God made David king for the sake of his people, and he was aware of that and lived it. And we don’t have any examples of David working to enrich himself.
• He reflected God’s style of leadership which is (astoundingly, amazingly) that of a servant.
Not a small issue
• Pride, putting yourself first is a characteristic of Satan.
• He is the one who said…
• ‘I will ascend into heaven,
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God;
I will also sit on the mount of the congregation
On the farthest sides of the north;
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds,
I will be like the Most High.’ Isaiah 14:12-14
• Putting ourselves first, above others, is not the example we should follow, but instead—
We are to be like Jesus
• Phil. 2 5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
• 6 Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
7 rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
• He applies this attitude to us when after washing the disciple’s feet, he gives his guide to godly leadership.
Jesus’ summary of wise leadership
• John 13:12 When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. 13 “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. 14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. 15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.
• 16 Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17 Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.
• Application: happiness, fulfillment as a leader comes with service, we are never put in a position of leadership to enrich ourselves.
Solomon didn’t do that
• His building needs more wealth, begins trade, conscripts labor, begins to heavily tax the people.
• That taxation wears on the people and eventually after he dies, it one of the primary reasons the kingdom splits in two as his son and heir, Rehoboam will not lower their taxes.
• He does build the Temple, but following the dedication of it, God is not entirely impressed, but gives him a warning.
God appears to him a second time
• When Solomon had finished building the temple of the Lord and the royal palace, and had achieved all he had desired to do, 2 the Lord appeared to him a second time, as he had appeared to him at Gibeon. 3 The Lord said to him:
• “I have heard the prayer and plea you have made before me; I have consecrated this temple, which you have built, by putting my Name there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.
• 4 “As for you, if you walk before me faithfully with integrity of heart and uprightness, as David your father did, and do all I command and observe my decrees and laws, 5 I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised David . . . . . But if you or your descendants turn away from me and do not observe the commands and decrees I have given you and go off to serve other gods and worship them,7 then I will cut off Israel from the land I have given them and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name. Israel will then become a byword and an object of ridicule among all peoples.8 This temple will become a heap of rubble. 1 Kings 9:1-8
• Unfortunately, the people started down this path in part because….
Excessive taxation wasn’t Solomon’s only problem
• 1 Kings 11 King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh’s daughter—Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites. 2 They were from nations about which the Lord had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.” Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love. 3 He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray.
• 4 As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been.5 He followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molek the detestable god of the Ammonites. 6 So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the Lord; he did not follow the Lord completely, as David his father had done.
• 7 On a hill east of Jerusalem, Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable god of Moab, and for Molek the detestable god of the Ammonites.8 He did the same for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and offered sacrifices to their gods.
His wealth, extravagance continued
• Nations came to hear him, to give him gifts.
• God did not retract His promise of great blessing, but it was so wasted.
• He could have given them a witness of the greatness of Jehovah God and invited them to worship the one true God.
• Instead, he worshipped their gods.
• And because of that…
God appears to him a 3rd time for judgment
• 1 Kings 11:9 The Lord became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice. 10 Although he had forbidden Solomon to follow other gods, Solomon did not keep the Lord’s command. 11 So the Lord said to Solomon, “Since this is your attitude and you have not kept my covenant and my decrees, which I commanded you, I will most certainly tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your subordinates.
• 12 Nevertheless, for the sake of David your father, I will not do it during your lifetime. I will tear it out of the hand of your son. 13 Yet I will not tear the whole kingdom from him, but will give him one tribe for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen.”
And that is what happened
• After Solomon died when the people came to Rehoboam asking for relief, the older advisers told him,
• 1 Kings 12:7 “If today you will be a servant to these people and serve them and give them a favorable answer, they will always be your servants.”
• But he ignored them, and threatened the people(my little finger will be heavier than my father’s waist)with greater burdens.
• They rebelled.
The Kingdom splits
• Into the Northern Kingdom of Israel
• The Southern Kingdom of Judah
• North—all evil kings
• South—the descendants of David, some good, some bad.
• And along with them, the time of the great prophets, but that will be in our next lesson.
• Back to our current lesson.
The ending of the man who had it all
• Because he chose to squander it on himself, he ended up not only a disillusioned, pitiful old man worshipping pagan gods,
• But he forfeited the opportunity to influence many for the sake of Jehovah God and laid the foundation for the moral and eventual physical destruction of his nation.
• Many applications here:
• Power, wealth, anything of importance is never given to us to only enrich us.
• All gifts of wisdom, power, and love are always to be used in the service of others.
An old hymn says it well
• How I praise Thee, precious Savior,
That Thy love laid hold of me;
Thou hast saved and cleansed and filled me
That I might Thy channel be.
• Refrain: Channels only, blessed Master,
But with all Thy wondrous power
Flowing through us, Thou canst use us
Every day and every hour.
• Channels only—that’s what we are for Jesus to come through
• All the gifts God gives us are to be used as a channel for his love to flow through to our world.
What to do
• Take an honest inventory of what God has given you.
• List your material blessings, your resources, and relationships.
• Clarify your spiritual gifts.
• Make an honest assessment of how you are using what you’ve been given.
• How much is spent on you? How much on the Kingdom of God on sharing His peace, His love, knowledge of Him and specific acts of sacrifice and kindness in the world?
• Pray for wisdom and courage in how to be like our Lord who emptied Himself to serve.
• We all have work to do.
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