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Perhaps many of us might have heard of the wealthiest and the wisest king of Israel: Solomon. But what else do we know about him besides these renowned qualities? Let’s take a closer look at who King Solomon really was, and why he played such an important role in the history of Israel, God’s chosen nation.
King Solomon and His Fame
Apart from Solomon’s great riches and prosperity, there was more than what meets the eye. Solomon was the son of David, an upright king, and someone whom God said was a man after His own heart. When King David anointed his son as his successor, he gave Solomon careful instructions to abide by every one of God’s laws and to worship Him only.
Solomon: Carrying on the Covenant
By doing that, Solomon would be keeping the covenant that God had made with Israel all the way back in the time of Moses.
As for you, if you walk before me faithfully with integrity of heaven and uprightness, as David your father did, and do all I command and observe my decrees and laws, I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised David your father when I said, ‘You shall never fail to have a successor on the throne of Israel.’
1 Kings 9:4-5
Adhering to his father’s words, Solomon walked faithfully with God for much of his life.
Solomon: The Wise King
God was pleased and promised to give anything Solomon asked for. What did Solomon ask for though? Not wealth nor a long life, but the wisdom to lead God’s people on the righteous path. God, deeply moved, gave Solomon everything he desired, including the things he didn’t ask for (1 Kings 3:5-14). God made Solomon the wisest king. Even foreign royalty came to listen to Solomon’s great wisdom. He was filled with splendour and reigned over Israel with justice.
King Solomon had everything that not many could have attained in a lifetime: wisdom, fame, and wealth. He was the first king to build a physical temple for God. Foreigners who visited King Solomon praised the God of Israel because of him and the grand temple he had built. But did this prosperity lead to good things in the end?
Solomon and the Broken Covenant
God promised King David that He would treasure Israel out of all nations if they acted in obedience to His will. But if they rebelled, He would let other nations overtake them. God laid down this same conditional blessing to Solomon. But the thing is – did Solomon truly take God’s promise and warning to heart?
King Solomon became well-renowned. And with that fame and attention, greater temptations and opportunities to turn away from God arose. Solomon, unfortunately, had a weakness for women. He married many foreign wives who gradually turned his heart away from God. He built places of worship for their gods which also he ended up worshiping (1 Kings 11:2).
In the end, Solomon discarded his father’s command to be faithful to God. And like their king, the Israelites also started intermarrying with gentiles and turned to idols.
The Big Picture: The Weight of Solomon’s Betrayal
Long before, God had established a covenant with the Israelites. His heart had always been to set this nation apart so that they can pave the way for others to come to know God.
Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.
Exodus 19:5-6
Sadly, because of Solomon’s rebellion, God’s covenant was fully broken when he intermarried with foreign women and worshiped foreign gods. So, instead of living exemplary lives, Solomon and the people became an object of ridicule to surrounding nations.
Why Is Worshiping Idols So Bad?
How much heartache would God have felt upon seeing the people He raised and worked so hard for, walking the path to destruction? To God, the most detestable thing is to worship a god other than Him. He is their Creator, their Father – how could they turn on Him and go to worship lifeless pieces of wood or gold?
If we look back at the very first law of the Ten Commandments, it was to serve God only (Exodus 20:3). Solomon completely broke the covenant with God by turning his heart and the hearts of Israel to foreign gods. It was such a great betrayal that God compared it to the betrayal of Adam as well.
“Like Adam, they have broken the covenant; they were unfaithful to me there.”
Hosea 6:7
Again, how do you think God felt and responded to such a deep betrayal not just from Solomon, but a whole nation He chose to spread holiness? Following this event, God abandoned Israel, and the kingdom was destroyed over time. During King Solomon’s son’s reign, the kingdom of Israel split into two – Northern Israel, with 11 tribes that were eventually destroyed by Assyria, and Southern Judah, 1 tribe, that was eventually destroyed and exiled into Babylon.
Where Solomon’s Actions Fit Into the Big Picture
Because the Israelites chose to worship foreign and lifeless gods, God gave them over to those gods – and they were destroyed. We see the anger and frustration of God being abandoned by his people expressed all throughout the books of the prophets. But does Israel’s story end there with God just abandoning them for good?
No. God made a plan to restore and rebuild his chosen people. He promised to do a new thing. He prophesied through the prophet Jeremiah about a new covenant that He would establish with the scattered Israelites. With this new covenant, God would ensure that his people wouldn’t be led astray or deceived again.
“I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the Lord.
Jeremiah 31:33-34
He also prophesied through several prophets to send a Messiah who would come and save Israel (Isaiah 9:6-7). God laid the groundwork to bring back His people who had walked away from Him, showing His true heart of reconciliation and love.
Learning From Solomon’s Mistake
Solomon’s betrayal brought about the end of an era – the era of God’s chosen people being from the physical bloodline of Israel. So, God started a new era through Jesus, a righteous man without sin. For those who believed in Jesus, they would become God’s new chosen people, His children. Being physically born an Israelite no longer mattered. It was now a matter of the spirit.
Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God–children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
John 1:12-13
The New Covenant God’s People Must Keep
And to these children, these new chosen people, through Jesus, God established a new covenant to be kept. We see Jesus establish this new covenant the night before he was crucified at the Passover meal (Luke 22:14-20). But how many Christians know of this new covenant? Did you know about it and how to keep it? What then should we do to know this covenant so that we can keep it and be saved?
Remember, it was disobedience and lack of care for God’s covenant that caused King Solomon and the Israelites to betray God. The wisest king, Solomon, started well with God, but later turned to idols and became the reason why the entire kingdom of Israel was destroyed.
We have to make sure that we don’t make a similar mistake. Let’s make sure we know and keep the covenant that Jesus shed his blood for, because God will definitely keep His words even if we fail to. We should be different than the chosen people of the past. Let us learn from history and from the life of King Solomon and be those that bring glory to God instead of heartache.
Written by Your Soul and Heaven
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