THE STORY OF THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON

 

The story of Solomon is one that typifies a good beginning but a sad ending. Solomon was the wisest man that ever lived, he was loved by God and God crowned him with riches and glory. 

He was the third and last king of the United Kingdom of Israel followed by king Saul and his father, King David. He wrote the Song of Solomon, the book of Ecclesiastes and much of the book of Proverbs.

After David had reigned over Israel for 40 years and died, Solomon his son emerged as the King of Israel. Before the death of David, he had charged Solomon to follow the ways of the lord. David said to him "Keep the charge of the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and his testimonies"[1 Ki 2:3]

At the beginning of Solomon's rulership, he followed the principles of God as his father David instructed him. 1 Kings 3:3 says "Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of David his father David". While he went to Gibeon to sacrifice unto the lord, the lord appeared to him at night asking him to make any request of his choice and it would be granted. 

Solomon made a request and asked for wisdom to rule the people of Israel. He said unto the lord "Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad"[1 Ki 3:9]. This request so much pleased the lord that Solomon did not ask for personal riches, affluence or even long life but instead wisdom to rule his own beloved people Israel.

The lord granted the request of Solomon and even added more. The lord said to Solomon "I have done according to thy words: lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart; so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee".[1 Ki 3: 12]

Solomon's wisdom was so great that his fame travelled accross all the nations of the earth. He was wiser than every other man on earth and spoke thousands of proverbs. His wisdom was so great that people gathered from all around the world to hear him speak. 

God did not just give Solomon wisdom, He also blessed him with so much wealth, riches and splendor. His palace was littered with gold and all his drinking vessels were made of gold.

Solomon made Israel greater and wealthier with his unparalleled wisdom, sense of judgement and greater commercial acumen. He reigned for 40 years during his time and built the largest temple ever. 

But despite all the wisdom of Solomon, he was not wise enough to fear God till the end of his life. His latter days were full of idolatry and disobedience unto the lord. The book of Ecclesiastes which he wrote says "Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof"[Ecc 7:8]. 

But sadly, the beginning of Solomon was far much better than his ending. Solomon lost his self control and developed love for so many women, even women of the nations that the lord had warned the children of Israel not to marry from.

He picked an Egyptian woman, the daughter of Pharaoh as a wife together with women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians and Hittites. The total of all his women were 1000, seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines. His wives eventually turned him to an idol worshiper and he began to worship strange gods. 

He began to worship Ashitoreth, the goddess of the Zidonians and Milcom, the goddess of the Ammonites. He went as far as building a house for Chemosh, the goddess of Moab, and for Molech, the goddess of the people of Ammon and for all the goddesses of all his strange wives. 

When the lord saw this, he became very angry with Solomon. 1st Ki 11:9 says "The LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the LORD God of Israel". Solomon reigned for a total of 40 years before he died and was buried in the city of David his father. 

His son Rehoboam became the king of Israel and during his reign, the house of Israel was divided into two kingdoms, Israel and Judea as prophesied by Ahijah.

Solomon had a sad ending. His wisdom did not match his actions and his foundation of was too weak for the strength of his material success. His fate typifies that wisdom, education, popularity, and prosperity without absolute obedience to the word of God is nothing but futility. Thanks for watching, please like, share and subscribe. Bye for now.