Food for Thought
Solomon… the good,
the bad, the ugly
prepared by
David
Churchill
Ask
people about their favorite Bible characters and you'll soon
hear someone mention Solomon and his God-given wisdom & wealth.
They might even remember that he served as king of Israel after
his father David and wrote Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, and
much of Proverbs.
Scripture offers us details about
Solomon's good start as king.
•
Loved the Lord – 1 Kings 3:3.
• Asked
God for "an
understanding heart to judge Your people",
that he "may
discern between good and evil"…
which pleased God to grant – 1 Kings 3:9-13.
• Expanded
Israel's influence & respect among the nations – 1 Kings
4:20-34.
• Built
the temple – 1 Kings 6:1-14.
• Foretold
of Israel's future captivity – I Kings 8:46-53
The Old Testament also reveals
about the bad mistakes Solomon practiced as king.
•
Did not worship God within the pattern God had authorized
the Israelites – 1 Kings 3:2-4.
• Spent
more time and effort building his own house than the Lord's temple
(13 vs 7 years) – 1 Kings 6:37-7:1.
• Rejected
God's guidelines & purpose for marriage – 1 Kings 3:1;
11:1-3.
Likewise, the Bible candidly records
the details of Solomon's ugly finish.
•
Abandoned God's promise, so God abandoned him – 1
Kings 3:14; 6:11-13; 11:4-8; 11:9-13.
• The
people remembered Solomon as a burden – 1 Kings 12:4.
• Jesus
credits only God for Solomon's wisdom & wealth and credits
those seeking God's wisdom as wise – Matthew 6:28-30; 12:42;
Luke 11:31; 12:27-28.
• Unlike
Abraham, Moses, David, Elijah, and many other OT characters remembered
well in the New Testament, Solomon is never recommended as a
good example to imitate.
The warnings to us?
•
God's recorded wisdom avails us nothing if we fail to use
it.
• Even
after we gain God's favor, we will lose it again if we refuse
to repent from our favorite sins.
• We
cannot please the Lord by imitating bad "heroes" like
Solomon who've fallen away from the Lord. |