1 Kings 3-4: “Solomon Assumes His Reign As King And Asks
The Lord For Wisdom”
By
1.INTRO:
1.1.
In our last study, we looked at chapter 2 of 1 Kings.
1.1.1.
David on his deathbed charged Solomon before the Lord about his
responsibility that he now had before the Lord as king. Then, he gave Solomon some wise advice about
bringing to justice some of the trouble makers in his kingdom so that he could
rid himself of those who might cause him trouble.
1.1.2.
In following David’s advice concerning how to handle a few individuals
in the kingdom, we saw that though Solomon was gracious and gave each of these
people (with the exception of Joab) one chance to change their ways and do
good, that they instead ended up showing that their true motives were bad and
Solomon gave each one of them a capital sentence. Because of the heinous nature of Joab’s sins he was not given a
second chance.
1.2.
In this study, we are going to look at chapters 3 and 4 of 1 Kings.
1.2.1.
Now that King David has passed away, we see the things that Solomon
began to do as he assumed sole rule over Israel at this time. Prior to this he had been reigning as a
co-regent with David, and David on his deathbed had been really calling the
shots.
1.2.2.
We will see how that though Solomon starts off well in walking with and
loving and obeying the Lord that he begins to deviate away from following the
commandments of the Lord.
1.2.3.
We will see that Solomon’s reign is one of great abundance, peace, and
prosperity for all Israel.
2.VS 3:1 - “1 Then Solomon
formed a marriage alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and took Pharaoh’s
daughter and brought her to the city of David until he had finished building
his own house and the house of the Lord
and the wall around Jerusalem.” - Solomon
immediately married Pharaoh’s daughter to form a political alliance with Egypt
2.1.
Here we see that the very first act of Solomon’s after coming to reign
at his father’s death is to make a political alliance with Egypt by marrying
the Pharaoh’s daughter.
2.2.
This political alliance with Egypt shows Israel’s strength and stature
amongst the nations, and possibly also Egypt’s decline (for they never made
these kinds of alliances).
2.3.
Some have said that since the scripture does not contain a rebuke of
Solomon by the Lord for this marriage that it must be the case that this woman
had become a Gentile proselyte before Solomon married her and thus the Lord
approved of this marriage. However,
this seems more to me to just be a pattern by Solomon which he continues to
repeat with yet more wives and political alliances that he makes.
2.4.
The “Second Generation” of God’s people take the
helm :
2.4.1.
Solomon was a young man of around 20 years old at
this point in time. He had always lived
in the palace, never fought a war, and had never known the hard shepherd's life
that his father had grown up in, for his life had always been a life of luxury.
2.4.2.
Solomon didn't want to have war, and his reign was
one of peace, and, this was important for the sake of the building of the
temple. However, Solomon sought to achieve peace himself instead of
trusting the Lord for it, and he did this through marriage after marriage for
the sake of creating political alliances.
But the Israelites were to make no political alliances with the
Canaanites in the land (Deut. 7:2;
Exod. 23:32).
2.4.3.
Whereas David had sought to live a life that was in
the world yet separate from the world, Solomon sought to secularize the
nation. He sought to take Israel to the heights commercially and thus made
many trade agreements and business deals. In other words, he sought to
compromise with the world.
2.4.3.1.
Quoting from Isaiah 52:11, the apostle Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians
6:16-17 that we as God’s people are to come out from amongst the heathen
peoples in our world around us and live our lives in holiness to the Lord, “16
Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the
temple of the living God; just as God said, “I will
dwell in them and walk among them;
And I will be their God, and
they shall be My people. 17 “Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate,”
says the Lord. “And do not touch what is
unclean; And I will welcome you.
2.4.4.
We will see that Solomon was given the opportunity
to ask for whatever he wished, and he wisely asked for wisdom to be able to
wisely govern God's people as king. However, it has been said that the
wisdom that he prayed for was not wisdom in running his life in general so much
as political savvy to be a great statesman. Because of how Solomon lived
his life someone called him, "The wisest fool there ever was!"
2.4.5.
Although Solomon had asked for wisdom he immediately
began to do all of the things which the law forbid Israel's kings to do:
multiply horses, chariots, and wives, and make political alliances through
marriage. He even did this after the Lord told him to copy the law for
himself [i.e. he knew better but did these things anyway].
2.4.5.1.
Israelites were told not to intermarry with the heathen nations in
Deuteronomy 7:3-4, “3 “Furthermore, you shall not intermarry with
them; you shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor shall you take their
daughters for your sons. 4 “For they will turn your sons away from
following Me to serve other gods; then the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you and He will quickly destroy
you.
2.4.5.2.
In Deuteronomy 17:16-17 the Israelites were commanded that their kings
were not to multiply horses or wives to themselves, “16 “Moreover,
he shall not multiply horses for himself, nor shall he cause the people to
return to Egypt to multiply horses, since the Lord
has said to you, ‘You shall never again return that way.’ 17 “He
shall not multiply wives for himself, or else his heart will turn away; nor
shall he greatly increase silver and gold for himself.”
2.4.5.3. Several scriptures taught
the Israelite kings not to take chariots to themselves:
2.4.5.3.1.
Psalm 20:7, “7 Some boast in chariots and some in
horses, But we will boast in the name of the Lord,
our God.”
2.4.5.3.2.
Isaiah 31:1, “1 Woe to those who go down to Egypt for
help And rely on horses, And trust in chariots because they are many And
in horsemen because they are very strong, But they do not look to the Holy One
of Israel, nor seek the Lord!”
2.4.5.3.3.
2 Samuel 8:4, “4 David captured from him 1,700 horsemen
and 20,000 foot soldiers; and David hamstrung the chariot horses, but reserved enough
of them for 100 chariots.”
2.4.6.
Solomon always lived in luxury and he really saw the
kingdom as existing for his own benefit. He spent 7 years building the temple
but 13 years building his own palace. Later, when Solomon's son Rehoboam
began to reign the people came to Rehoboam asking him to release them from the
iron fisted oppression under Solomon (Solomon had made many conscripts for his
many projects).
2.4.7.
Eventually, all of the compromises that Solomon made, especially those
regarding the political alliance marriages ended up causing his heart to be
taken completely away from the Lord and he worshipped the gods of the nations,
the gods of his many wives. At the end of his life Solomon was a complete
failure and died a reprobate.
2.5.
These things which Solomon did are the very things
that the “second generation” of God's people are always tempted to do.
Every movement in church history has ended up making parallels with the things
that Solomon did, after the death of its leader. Every individual church also has the same propensity when the
“second generation” takes over. We in
every church and ministry that exists must be careful of this “second
generation” phenomena occurring over time.
2.6.
VS 3:2-4 - “2 The
people were still sacrificing on the high places, because there was no house
built for the name of the Lord
until those days. 3 Now Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of his father David, except he
sacrificed and burned incense on the high places. 4 The king went to
Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the great high place; Solomon offered a
thousand burnt offerings on that altar.” - Solomon
made a great sacrifice to the Lord in Gibeon
2.7.
Since the temple was not yet built it was not possible for God’s people
to perform the sacrifices in the temple that the Law of Moses prescribed. Plus, the Ark of the Lord was now in
Jerusalem while the Tabernacle itself was in Gibeon. So, since the people needed a place to make sacrifices to the
Lord they sacrificed to the Lord at the forbidden pagan “high places” during
this time.
2.8.
We see here that Solomon at least had a good start in his reign as king
and walk with God, for it says here that he ‘loved the Lord’ and that he
was ‘walking in the statutes of his father David, except the high places.’
2.8.1.
I might mention that this political alliance marriage to Pharaoh’s
daughter might be considered one of Solomon’s compromising sins at this
time. However, as was mentioned, there
is disagreement about whether or not the Lord accepted this marriage.
2.8.2.
Like Solomon, many have started their Christian life well only to be a
huge failure in the end. We must end
our Christian walk well and be sure to persevere faithful unto the end,
otherwise we shall have run our race in vain.
2.9.
We see that Solomon was very zealous at this point in time for the
worship of the Lord, so much so that he makes 1,000 burnt offerings on the
altar.
3.VS 3:5-14 - “5 In Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream at
night; and God said, “Ask what you wish me to give you.” 6 Then
Solomon said, “You have shown great lovingkindness to Your servant David my
father, according as he walked before You in truth and righteousness and
uprightness of heart toward You; and You have reserved for him this great lovingkindness,
that You have given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day. 7
“Now, O Lord my God, You
have made Your servant king in place of my father David, yet I am but a little
child; I do not know how to go out or come in. 8 “Your servant is in
the midst of Your people which You have chosen, a great people who are too many
to be numbered or counted. 9 “So give Your servant an understanding
heart to judge Your people to discern between good and evil. For who is able to
judge this great people of Yours?” 10 It was pleasing in the sight
of the Lord that Solomon had asked this thing. 11 God said to him,
“Because you have asked this thing and have not asked for yourself long life,
nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have you asked for the life of your
enemies, but have asked for yourself discernment to understand justice, 12
behold, I have done according to your words. Behold, I have given you a
wise and discerning heart, so that there has been no one like you before you,
nor shall one like you arise after you. 13 “I have also given you
what you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that there will not be any
among the kings like you all your days. 14 “If you walk in My ways,
keeping My statutes and commandments, as your father David walked, then I will
prolong your days.”” - The Lord appears to Solomon
in a dream and tells him to ask whatever he wishes, and because Solomon asks
for wisdom to govern God’s people the Lord gives him both wisdom along with
riches and honor
3.1.
The night after Solomon made all of the sacrifices to the Lord, the
Lord appears to him in a dream and asks Solomon this question. It appears that since Solomon didn’t have a
Nathan or a Gad in his life, like his father David, so that he could receive a
word from the Lord, that the Lord spoke to him in a dream at times.
3.2.
Solomon could have asked for many selfish and self-serving things from
the Lord when he was given the chance to have a wish granted. However, being only 20 years old and humble at
this point in his life he realized that he was but ‘a little child’ in
his understanding and therefore was not adequate in himself for the task of
governing over God’s people. Solomon
therefore asked for wisdom from the Lord that he would need to govern the
people wisely.
3.2.1.
None of us are adequate for serving the Lord and thus we need to
appropriate for ourselves all of heaven’s resources that are available for
us. We need the power of the Spirit, the
giftings of the Spirit, and the leading of the Spirit in our lives.
3.3.
As was mentioned, though Solomon did have a love for the Lord it wasn’t
as strong as the love that his father David had for the Lord. Solomon asked for wisdom here not so much
for himself and so that he might be a wise person in his conduct and actions
before the Lord, but rather wisdom for the governing of God’s people. In other words, Solomon wanted to become a
great statesman and politician and therefore he asked for wisdom to handle
these responsibilities.
3.4.
Solomon also asks for an ‘understanding heart.’ It was believed in Solomon’s day that wisdom
was a matter of the heart and thus he desired an ‘understanding heart.’
3.5.
Solomon’s selfless request pleased the Lord for it was a good thing in
the sight of the Lord for him to have wisdom in his governing over God’s
people.
3.6.
Because Solomon’s request was unselfish the Lord chose to also give him
riches and honor. Receiving riches and
honor would involve a stewardship from the Lord for Solomon to handle
responsibly. Solomon went on to have
greater riches than perhaps anyone in history has amassed. However, it appears that he squandered most
of them upon himself.
4.VS 15 - “15 Then Solomon
awoke, and behold, it was a dream. And he came to Jerusalem and stood before
the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and made peace
offerings, and made a feast for all his servants.” - Solomon awoke from his dream and then offered a sacrifice to the
Lord
4.1.
This dream in which the Lord spoke to him was so real to Solomon that
he thought that it was real until he woke up.
4.2.
After waking up, Solomon came to Jerusalem to the Ark of the Covenant
and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings to the Lord. Perhaps Solomon reflected on the fact that
the Lord was to dwell on the Ark not in the Tabernacle (if they were separate).
4.3.
Solomon was so thankful that the Lord had spoken to him that he also
made a big feast for all of his servants.
5.VS 3:16-28 - “16 Then two women
who were harlots came to the king and stood before him. 17 The one
woman said, “Oh, my lord, this woman and I live in the same house; and I gave
birth to a child while she was in the house. 18 “It happened
on the third day after I gave birth, that this woman also gave birth to a
child, and we were together. There was no stranger with us in the house, only
the two of us in the house. 19 “This woman’s son died in the night,
because she lay on it. 20 “So she arose in the middle of the night
and took my son from beside me while your maidservant slept, and laid him in
her bosom, and laid her dead son in my bosom. 21 “When I rose in the
morning to nurse my son, behold, he was dead; but when I looked at him
carefully in the morning, behold, he was not my son, whom I had borne.” 22
Then the other woman said, “No! For the living one is my son, and the
dead one is your son.” But the first woman said, “No! For the dead one is your
son, and the living one is my son.” Thus they spoke before the king. 23 Then
the king said, “The one says, ‘This is my son who is living, and your son is
the dead one’; and the other says, ‘No! For your son is the dead one, and my
son is the living one.’ ” 24 The king said, “Get me a sword.” So
they brought a sword before the king. 25 The king said, “Divide the
living child in two, and give half to the one and half to the other.” 26 Then
the woman whose child was the living one spoke to the king, for she was
deeply stirred over her son and said, “Oh, my lord, give her the living child,
and by no means kill him.” But the other said, “He shall be neither mine nor
yours; divide him!” 27 Then the king said, “Give the first
woman the living child, and by no means kill him. She is his mother.” 28 When
all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had handed down, they feared
the king, for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to administer justice.” - The first test of the wisdom the Lord gave to Solomon occurs
5.1.
A case is brought before Solomon to judge. There were two prostitutes.
Both of the women had given birth to a child within three days of each
other. One of the women had laid on her
child in the middle of the night and the child had suffocated. The woman went and took the child of the
other woman and placed her dead son in the other woman’s arms. Then, when the women woke up in the morning
the woman with the dead child looked at the child closely and realized that it
was not her child it was the other woman’s child. Both women claimed that the living child was their’s and
evidently the case had not been able to be decided in the regular civil
courts. Solomon would have to rely upon
some other worldly wisdom in order to decide the case.
5.2.
Solomon realized that a woman has an instinctually great love for her
children such that she is willing to sacrifice almost anything for them. Therefore, Solomon decides to tell a man to
come and take a sword and cut the child in half and give ½ to each of the
women. The real mother would tell him
to not harm the child but to give him to the other woman. In this way, Solomon would know who the real
mother of the child was.
5.3.
Solomon’s plan worked just as he had devised and the real mother of the
son said to not harm the child but to give him to the other woman. Therefore, Solomon ordered that the child be
given to the woman who was willing to give the child to the other woman rather
that the woman who thought that it would be a good idea to divide the child in
half. We don’t know what justice was
carried out against the woman who had lied and kidnapped, but some sentence was
surely delivered by Solomon.
5.4.
We see here that Solomon now gained a reputation all throughout Israel
for the wisdom of God that was given him to administer justice.
6.VS 4:1-19 - “1 Now King Solomon
was king over all Israel. 2 These were his officials: Azariah the
son of Zadok was the priest; 3 Elihoreph and Ahijah, the sons
of Shisha were secretaries; Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was the
recorder; 4 and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the
army; and Zadok and Abiathar were priests; 5 and Azariah the
son of Nathan was over the deputies; and Zabud the son of Nathan, a priest,
was the king’s friend; 6 and Ahishar was over the household;
and Adoniram the son of Abda was over the men subject to forced labor. 7
Solomon had twelve deputies over all Israel, who provided for the king
and his household; each man had to provide for a month in the year. 8 These
are their names: Ben-hur, in the hill country of Ephraim; 9 Ben-deker
in Makaz and Shaalbim and Beth-shemesh and Elonbeth-hanan; 10 Ben-hesed,
in Arubboth (Socoh was his and all the land of Hepher); 11 Ben-abinadab,
in all the height of Dor (Taphath the daughter of Solomon was his wife);
12 Baana the son of Ahilud, in Taanach and Megiddo, and all
Beth-shean which is beside Zarethan below Jezreel, from Beth-shean to
Abel-meholah as far as the other side of Jokmeam; 13 Ben-geber, in
Ramoth-gilead (the towns of Jair, the son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead were
his: the region of Argob, which is in Bashan, sixty great cities with walls and
bronze bars were his); 14 Ahinadab the son of Iddo, in Mahanaim;
15 Ahimaaz, in Naphtali (he also married Basemath the daughter of
Solomon); 16 Baana the son of Hushai, in Asher and Bealoth; 17 Jehoshaphat
the son of Paruah, in Issachar; 18 Shimei the son of Ela, in
Benjamin; 19 Geber the son of Uri, in the land of Gilead, the
country of Sihon king of the Amorites and of Og king of Bashan; and he was the
only deputy who was in the land.” - The
officers in Solomon’s kingdom are named
6.1.
Solomon was wise in that he had learned to delegate leadership to
others instead of try and do everything himself.
6.2.
Some of the officers of the new kingdom under Solomon were from his
father David’s regime: Zadok, Benaiah.
6.3.
Abiathar the priest is mentioned is mentioned however Solomon had
previously defrocked him of all of his priestly and political powers because of
his following Adonijah in his coup attempt to become king over Israel (instead
of Solomon).
6.4.
Solomon’s household was so big and he lived in such luxury that 12
deputies from all over Israel took care of the needs of that household.
7.VS 4:20 - “20 Judah and Israel were
as numerous as the sand that is on the seashore in abundance; they were
eating and drinking and rejoicing.” - Judah and
Israel were numerous in abundance and prospered
7.1.
Peace and prosperity described the nation of Israel under the reign of
Solomon.
8.VS 4:21-24 - “21 Now Solomon ruled
over all the kingdoms from the River to the land of the Philistines and
to the border of Egypt; they brought tribute and served Solomon all the
days of his life. 22 Solomon’s
provision for one day was thirty kors of fine flour and sixty kors of meal, 23
ten fat oxen, twenty pasture-fed oxen, a hundred sheep besides deer,
gazelles, roebucks, and fattened fowl. 24 For he had dominion over
everything west of the River, from Tiphsah even to Gaza, over all the kings
west of the River; and he had peace on all sides around about him.” - Solomon ruled over all of the kingdoms from the Jordan River on
the east to the land of the Philistines on the west, and all of the way down to
Egypt in the south
8.1.
It appears that Solomon might have ruled over all of the kingdoms
within the entire land originally promised to Abraham.
8.2.
Solomon had incredible prosperity.
The incredible number of those sustained by Solomon in his palace can be
seen in the provisions needed for each day:
8.2.1.
300 bushels of flour (30 kors of fine flour translates to 300 bushels).
8.2.2.
600 bushels of meal (60 kors of meal translates to 600 bushels).
8.2.3.
10 fat oxen.
8.2.4.
20 pasture fed oxen.
8.2.5.
100 sheep.
8.2.6.
Deer, gazelles, roebucks, and fattened fowl.
9.VS 4:25 - “25 So Judah and
Israel lived in safety, every man under his vine and his fig tree, from Dan
even to Beersheba, all the days of Solomon.” -
Judah and Israel lived in safety
9.1.
Safety and prosperity was enjoyed by all Israelites. Each man even had his own fig tree that he
could enjoy.
10.VS 4:26 - “26 Solomon had
40,000 stalls of horses for his chariots, and 12,000 horsemen.” - Solomon obtained 40,000 horses, 12,000 horsemen and many chariots
10.1.
The Lord had specifically commanded that the kings of Israel not
multiply to themselves horses and chariots, for their trust was to be in the
Lord. However, this is exactly what
Solomon did.
10.2.
Solomon is typical of all of God’s people who try to live their lives for
the Lord in the power of their own strength rather than in the strength of His
might.
11.VS 4:27-28 - “27 Those deputies
provided for King Solomon and all who came to King Solomon’s table, each in his
month; they left nothing lacking. 28 They also brought barley and
straw for the horses and swift steeds to the place where it should be, each
according to his charge.” - The deputies provided for
King Solomon and all who came to his table
12.VS 4:29-31 - “29 Now God gave
Solomon wisdom and very great discernment and breadth of mind, like the sand
that is on the seashore. 30 Solomon’s wisdom surpassed the wisdom of
all the sons of the east and all the wisdom of Egypt. 31 For he was
wiser than all men, than Ethan the Ezrahite, Heman, Calcol and Darda, the sons of
Mahol; and his fame was known in all the surrounding nations.” - God gave Solomon great wisdom, discernment and breadth of mind
and great fame because of these
12.1.
The ‘east’ was where the world considered that the wisest men
lived, yet we see here that Solomon’s wisdom exceeded those of the east as well
as those in ‘Egypt.’
12.2.
Solomon had more wisdom that all of those whom the world considered
wise at this time.
13.VS 4:32 - “32 He also spoke
3,000 proverbs, and his songs were 1,005.” -
Solomon created many proverbs and wrote many songs
13.1.
In the book of Proverbs there are only about 600 individual proverbs
that are attributed to Solomon, so the rest of the 2,400 proverbs that Solomon
wrote are lost forever.
13.2.
Solomon also wrote 1,005 songs, however in the scriptures we have only
the Song of Solomon, and perhaps two Psalms which are attributable to Solomon.
14.VS 4:33-34 - “33 He spoke of
trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon even to the hyssop that grows on the
wall; he spoke also of animals and birds and creeping things and fish. 34 Men
came from all peoples to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all the kings of the
earth who had heard of his wisdom.” - Solomon
studied science
14.1.
Solomon not only was a great and prolific song writer and had great
wisdom, he was also quite a scientist for his day. He studied many areas of science and many came from all ends of
the earth to hear his wisdom even on these subjects.
14.2.
J. Vernon McGee has written that because of Solomon’s study in these
scientific fields that Solomon was really a pioneer in many areas, for he was a
“dendrologist,” a “zoologist,” a “ornithologist,” and “entomologist,”
and an “icthyologist.”
15.CONCLUSIONS:
15.1.
We Christians must learn from Solomon’s example and not trust in our own
strength, intellect, wisdom, and abilities in order to be successful for the
Lord and fulfill His plans He has for us.
15.2.
We in the church must be careful not to allow the “Second Generation”
phenomena to ruin the work of God that we have poured our hearts and lives
into.
15.3.
Solomon began to deviate from the commands of scripture regarding what
kings were and were not to do and this became his downfall. We need to be careful to be obedient doers
of all of God’s commands in His word, for in doing so shall we honor the Lord
and be successful and fruitful in all of our service to Him.