There is an amazing backdrop to the portion of this story that I want to focus in on – God appears to Solomon several times and Solomon can be found kneeling and worshipping the Lord, and with a LOUD voice blessing the entire congregation of Israel. Does it get any better than this?
This section starts out with a big contrast between two promises revealed by the Lord who is essentially telling Solomon if you follow me I will bless you, but if you abandon me I will rip apart your Kingdom. Ouch! Couldn’t be any clearer than that! Only a fool would ignore this warning, right? Maybe like me, you are thinking, well duh of course Solomon is going to take the right course of action. Like a good novel or dramatic juicy TV mini-series I was hooked and could not stop thinking about the outcome as I turned the pages. As the story unfolded I found myself both cheering and aghast at the actions taken by our beloved and wise Solomon!
First Promise - The Lord tells Solomon – “If you follow me with integrity and godliness, as David your father did, obeying all my commands, decrees and regulations, then I will establish the throne of your dynasty over Israel forever. For I made this promise to your father, David: One of your descendants will always sit on the throne of Israel.
Second Promise - But if you or your descendants abandon me and disobey the commands and decrees I have given you, and if you serve and worship other gods, then I will uproot Israel from this land that I have given them. I will reject this Temple that I have made holy to honor my name and I will make Israel an object of mockery and ridicule among the nations. And when people ask why I did this, the answer will be “Because his people abandoned the Lord their God, who brought their ancestors out of Egypt, and they worshiped other gods instead, and bowed down to them. That is why the Lord has brought all these disasters on them.”
It took 20 years for King Solomon to build the Temple and his palace. Solomon earned a reputation for bringing honor to the name of the Lord which eventually brought him to the attention of the Queen of Sheba.
The Queen of Sheba arrived with many gifts and was full of flattery for Solomon. Solomon became very wealthy and was known throughout the land as having extraordinary wisdom. We would see over time that Solomon had a great weakness for women. In Solomon’s old age the women turned his heart to worship other gods instead of being completely faithful to the Lord his God, as his father, David, had been. Solomon did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, he refused to follow the Lord completely.
- I wonder if he thought his partial allegiance was enough?
- Or did he give himself credit for all his former accomplishments and years of faithfulness, so now he could slide?
It made me think about our lives today. Oh sure we are not building a Temple or ruling a nation but God still desires us to live a life of integrity and godliness. I know I have been guilty of obeying Him in some things and then not in others. How different is that from King Solomon who gave the Lord only partial allegiance in his later life?
Questions to ask ourselves:
1) Is a life of integrity based only on circumstances and feelings?
2) Is Godliness a characteristic that changes from day to day?
3) Do past good deeds absolve us from obedience today?
4) What is His promise for each of us today?