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Scripture Reading: 1 Kings 2:12-46; 3:1-28
My burden in these messages on 1 and 2 Kings is concerned not with the historical facts but with the intrinsic revelation in these books. We can know the historical facts simply by our reading. However, to know the intrinsic revelation conveyed and hidden in the holy Word, we need a spirit of wisdom and revelation (Eph. 1:17). We need a spirit of revelation to see the intrinsic content of the holy Word and a spirit of wisdom to understand it, to interpret it, and even to present it to others.
In this message we will begin to consider the reign of Solomon. Those who know something about the Bible and even the worldly people appraise Solomon very highly. On the one hand, I also appreciate Solomon. On the other hand, because I have seen the intrinsic revelation in the Scriptures, I feel sorry for Solomon, who eventually had a great failure. He was a wise king, and the nations came to listen to his word of wisdom. The reign of Solomon was, therefore, a time of glory and splendor. But Solomon loved many foreign women; he had seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines, and he built worship places for them (1 Kings 11:1-8). Such a thing, which is beyond our understanding, led to the loss of the good land.
Solomon reigned forty years in Jerusalem, from 1015-975 B.C. (2:12—11:42).
Solomon was begotten of David the king (2 Sam. 12:24).
Solomon was born of Bath-sheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite, and, hence, most probably a Hittite herself (Matt. 1:6b), a Gentile woman.
The origin of Solomon was thus from a very sinful source, pardoned by God (2 Sam. 11:1—12:15a).
Solomon had two names. The first, given by David, was Solomon, meaning "peaceable," "peaceful" (12:24a), indicating that David expected to have peace. Actually, he had no peace. In human history it is difficult to find a case like David's son Absalom's rebellion against his father. This was God's chastising hand over David. On the one hand, God forgave David, but on the other hand, He disciplined and chastised David according to His governmental righteousness.
Solomon's second name, Jedediah, given by God, means "beloved of Jehovah" (v. 25). On the one hand, God is righteous in His governmental dealing. On the other hand, God is loving and merciful, full of kindness, grace, and forgiveness. Solomon's second name indicates that he was loved by God.
First Kings 1:32-48 tells us how Solomon was enthroned.
Solomon's enthronement was ordained legitimately by his father, King David (vv. 32-37). Concerning Solomon David declared, "He shall come and sit upon my throne, and he shall reign in my place; for I have appointed him as leader over Israel and over Judah" (v. 35).
The enthronement of Solomon was carried out officially by Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the captain of the army (vv. 38-39).
Solomon's sitting upon the throne of the kingdom was accepted publicly by the people (vv. 40-47a).
Finally, the enthronement of Solomon was blessed with worship to God by his father David, the ordainer, who said, "Blessed by Jehovah, the God of Israel, who has given me today one to sit on my throne while my eyes may see it" (v. 48).
In 2:12-46 we see that Solomon ended the factors of rebellion for the establishment of his kingdom.
Adonijah attempted to usurp the throne of David and was subdued and pardoned by Solomon (1:5-10, 41-53). After some time he asked Solomon to give him a certain woman as his wife, and Solomon rejected him and sentenced him to death (2:13-24). Solomon used that occasion as a chance to end Adonijah's life.
Because Abiathar had joined the rebellion of Adonijah, Solomon discharged him from the post of high priest (vv. 26-27).
In verses 28 through 34 Solomon sentenced Joab to death. Joab was the captain of the army who helped Adonijah's usurping of the throne of David and who killed the innocent captains of the armies, Abner and Amasa (1:7; 2:32). Solomon executed Joab according to his father David's charge (vv. 5-6, 28-34).
Next, Solomon changed the captain of the army and the high priest in favor of the family of David by appointing Benaiah as captain of the army to replace Joab, and Zadok as the high priest to replace Abiathar (v. 35).
Finally, Solomon ended the factors of rebellion by sentencing Shimei to death (vv. 36-46a). Shimei cursed David when he was escaping from his son Absalom's rebellion (2 Sam. 16:5-13). Shimei later repented to David when David settled Absalom's rebellion, and David pardoned him (19:16-23). Solomon dealt with Shimei according to his father David's charge (8-9, 1 Kings 2:36-38). Shimei broke the oath he made to Solomon, and Solomon put him to death (vv. 39-46a).
After all the factors of rebellion had been cleared up, the throne of Solomon was fully established. Thus, the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon (vv. 46b, 12).
Solomon married the daughter of the king of Egypt (3:1). In doing this he followed his father in indulging his lust to gain a Gentile wife.
This was the breaking of the separation of God's holy people from the people of Satan's cosmos — the evil world.
In marrying the daughter of the king of Egypt, Solomon was not regulated and restricted by the law of God. In Exodus 34:16, Deuteronomy 7:3, and Joshua 23:12 God charged Israel not to marry the Gentiles, because the Gentiles would cause them to worship idols. But Solomon openly broke this ordinance of God.
In this matter Solomon was disobedient to God in carrying out God's economy. God's economy included wiping out all the idol-worshipping Gentiles in the land. It was therefore not reasonable for Solomon to marry the daughter of a Gentile king.
Solomon's marrying an Egyptian was a sign of indulgence in the lust of the flesh.
Solomon's marriage to an Egyptian also laid a foundation for his future fall in corruption and ruin.
One very positive point concerning Solomon was his seeking for God (1 Kings 3:2-4). He loved Jehovah and walked in the statutes of David his father (v. 3a).
On the one hand, Solomon was seeking God. On the other hand, he sacrificed and burned incense in the high places (vv. 3b-4; cf. Deut. 12:5-14). In the Old Testament "high places" is a negative term, for it refers to the places where the Gentile people, the Canaanites, worshipped their idols. In this matter Solomon was foolish and lacking in vision.
First Kings 3:5-15 describes Solomon's seeking for wisdom.
Jehovah appeared to Solomon in a dream and promised to give him whatever he would ask (v. 5).
Solomon asked Jehovah to give him wisdom and an understanding heart to judge God's people (vv. 6-9). Wisdom is a matter in our spirit, and understanding is a matter in our mind. The expression "an understanding heart" (v. 9) actually refers to an understanding in our mind because the mind is the main part of the heart. Quite often we may have wisdom in our spirit but are lacking the capacity to understand in our mind. Thus, we need God's wisdom in our spirit and God's understanding in our mind.
Solomon asked God not for prosperity nor for longevity but for wisdom that he might know how to behave himself among God's people for God's kingdom. Solomon's request pleased God, and God promised to give him a heart of wisdom and understanding (vv. 10-12). In addition, God promised to give him riches and glory and longevity, things for which he did not ask (vv. 13-14).
Through this dream in which God appeared to him, Solomon understood where he should offer to God. He did this after he went back to Jerusalem, and he made a feast for all his servants (v. 15).
In verses 16 through 28 Solomon judged the case of the two harlots' quarreling about the genuine motherhood of a son (vv. 16-22). Solomon decided to cut the son into two pieces and give a piece to each (vv. 23-25). By his judgment the genuine mother and the false one were exposed (vv. 26-27). Such a wise judgment convinced all Israel and caused them to respect Solomon because they saw that the wisdom of God was within him (v. 28).
Solomon became a man of wisdom and also a man of understanding. However, because he took many pagan women and worshipped their idols and built places for the people to worship idols, he lost his God-given wisdom and his God-given understanding. He became very foolish and brought in damage to his kingdom.
Such a history indicates to us that God's dealing with His people is very strict and very detailed. God deals with each of us in a strict, detailed way. We should not forget that whatever we do is the sowing of a seed. There will be a result, an outcome, of what we sow. Even a little negligence will produce a result. Thus, we must learn to fear God.
It is true that God is loving, kind, full of grace, and full of forgiveness. However, He is also the righteous God, and He is righteous in a detailed way. If we do not act in the way God wants us to act, He will have no chance to make His home in our hearts. Our doing, our behaving, affects God in His dealing with us. Therefore, we all need to be very careful in our behavior. We need to learn the lesson not to speak a wrong word or an idle word. We are people in God's hands, even in God Himself. God will not be careless in dealing with us but will be very careful. So we must learn to be careful, even in small things.
Because the kings all did wrong things, their enjoyment in the good land was cut off. Today we also are kings, reigning with Christ. Our intentions, desires, character, habits, and behavior affect our enjoyment of Christ. Because we are kings, for us to be cut off from the enjoyment of Christ means that we are cut off from the top enjoyment of Christ, and will cause us to lose our kingship. Thus, we must be careful, even in the smallest thing. We should walk according to the spirit in everything (Rom. 8:4).
