WISDOM OF THE UNWISE PART 2

 

(Art: King Solomon by Simeon Solomon (1874)

Solomon's is the ultimate story of corruption. His wealth was staggering. The scriptures suggest that Solomon received annually 666 talents of gold (1 Kings 10:14; 2 Chronicles 9:13). At today's prices that is $3,051,800,000 USD (over $3.05 billion). And herein begins Solomon's downfall. The riches turned him into a man of excess. The description of his wealth and extravagances is astonishing (1 Kings 10:14-23).

 

Solomon's reign enforced great economic changes in the kingdom and his massive building projects created serious problems: “He taxed the people heavily and used forced labour to complete his projects. The people began to complain and a deep resentment, especially in the northern tribes, began to fester......For the first time in Israel's history, there began to be a distinct difference between 'rich' and 'poor'. The king and his household were rich; the common people were poor. In between were the salaried civil servants and the merchants and artisans, many of whom had organised craft guilds by that time. Such class separations had not been known in the Israel where a shepherd boy like David could be anointed king - only 50 years earlier" (Great People of the Bible, pp 192-93, Old Testament Student Manual Vol 2., p 8).

 

Solomon’s riches were just the beginning. Where is the end for a man who has everything? Is everything ever enough? Such riches would turn you into believing you are limitless and invincible. In the end you would believe there is nothing that should be denied you and Solomon proved this to be true  For all his wisdom, Solomon became incredibly unwise for 'one was not wise, regardless of his vast learning, if his actions did not comply with his righteous beliefs' (Old Testament Student Manual, Vol. 2, p. 13).

 

Following the dedication of Solomon's temple, the Lord appeared to Solomon for the second time and acknowledging the dedicatory prayer, accepted the temple which Solomon dedicated to Him. At the same time, however, he issued a grave and serious warning to the king of Israel. He warned Solomon that if he and his children do not keep his commandments and if they go and serve other gods and worship them, that He will cut off Israel out of the land which He had given them, that He will destroy the temple which was built, and 'Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all people' (1 Kings 9:1-9). 

 

Imagine the Lord himself appearing to you and warning you about a calamity that will befall you if you stray, and you go and do exactly that. The beginning of the end came for Solomon when he made a marriage alliance with Pharoah and took his daughter for his wife.  This marriage alliance was the greatest act of Solomon's foolishness. It was the beginning of him marrying many idolatrous women out of the covenant and his many political alliances which signalled that he had more faith in them than in God who was willing to fight and win Israel's battles. You might say he was beginning to lose the plot.

 

Marrying foreign women who led him and all Israel into idolatry aborted Solomon’s ability to endure to the end and changed the course of Israel's history. This is the damage that one king can do to a whole nation. By introducing idolatry to the children of Israel, the history of Israel became a losing battle fought by prophets against the forces of disloyalty to God.

 

The greatest mistake Solomon made was that he went to his grave unrepentant, unlike his father David. He who loved the Lord, and even saw Him twice (1 Kings 3:5; 9:2), forsook the integrity of his heart and came to worship false gods who had no power to give him any of the blessings he received from the God of Israel.  He who had the greatest wisdom ended up being the most foolish.

 

So it is sometimes with us. We overlook what the Lord has done for us and what He is capable of giving us if we stay the course so we become foolish and dabble in sin. And this is the outcome of sin:

 

“…..sin makes you stupid, stupid because when we sin we become 'deaf, dumb and blind to the ways of the Lord. Stupid because habitual sin drives the Spirit away, leaving us outside the protective influence of the Holy Ghost. Stupid because it makes us incapable of drawing upon the powers of heaven. Being stupid costs a lot. Sin costs a lot too. It can cost time, money, peace of mind, progress, self-respect, your integrity and virtue, your family, the trust of those you love, and even your Church membership. Sin is just plain stupid. And the cost is off the charts. So repent now. Repent daily. If you want to be sanctified, repentance is not optional'. (Sheri L. Dew, You Were Born to Lead, You Were Born for Glory, BYU Speeches, Dec. 2003)

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

A KING TO FOLLOW

"He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself.

"After that he poureth water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples feet...

"So after he had washed their feet, and had taken his garments, and was set down again, he said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you?

"Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am.

"If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet.

"For I have given you and example, that ye should do as I have done to you." (John 13:4-15)

"And whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be the servant of all." (Mark 10:44)

How easy it would have been for the Saviour to wash his hands of the children of Israel when they rejected Him and asked for a king to rule and preside over them. How easy it would have been to turn his back on them and to walk away, but Jesus who is full of 'grace, equity and truth' (Alma 13:9), did not forsake the children of the covenant and sought to still be their king through the best men He could find, that His watchful eye might be over them 'with a stretched out arm; for his mercy endureth forever' (Psalm 136:12). 

Because they disregarded the power and might of the God who delivered them, and put their trust in the arm of the flesh, Israel faltered and stumbled in its prosperity and spiritual welfare. Worst of all, they lost unity as a nation. Following the death of Solomon, under the leadership of his very unwise son Rehoboam, who sought to increase the burdens of his people rather than decrease the oppression which his extravagant father afflicted Israel with, the house of Israel became divided, never to be the same again. Rehoboam refused to heed the counsel of wise old men who were counselors to his father, 'to serve the people and be their servant, then they will be thy servants for ever' (1 Kings 12:6,7). Rather than serve, he sought to elevate himself even further and because of this 10 tribes of Israel broke their alliance with the House of David and appointed Jeroboam as their king. And thus begins a new nation referred to as the Northern Kingdom consisting of 10 tribes while the tribes of Judah and Benjamin remained under the reign of House of David, a house which was preserved by the hand of the Lord to ensure the prophesied lineage of the Messiah.

Jeroboam, an Ephraimite, had been a military leader in the army of Israel under King Solomon. He was made an administrator over all the house of Joseph, that is, over the territorial districts of the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, two of the most powerful tribes in Israel. Ahijah, a prophet of that day, revealed to Jeroboam that he would become the ruler of 10 tribes which would be 'rent' from the house of David. He demonstrated this by rending Jeroboam's robe into 12 pieces and giving him 10, saying: "...thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, Behold I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give ten tribes to thee" (1 Kings 11:31). When this prophecy was made known to Solomon, he sought to kill Jeroboam who fled into Egypt and lived there in exile until Rehoboam ascended the throne and the 10 tribes who were dissatisfied with Rehoboam's 'attitude' brought him back and anointed him king. And thus began a history of darkness for the Northern Kingdom of Israel as Jeroboam established a state religion of idolatrous worship. (1 Kings 12:25-33). I imagine he was a man of great insecurity and floundering faith in God because he feared that he would lose the kingdom to Rehoboam if his subjects traveled to the temple in Jerusalem and decided to defect. Instead of securing his position by endearing the people to him, he used religion as a state engine to serve his political purposes. The question begs to be asked, why would his subjects want to go back to Rehoboam and his oppression which they rejected? You cannot help but wonder if Jeroboam at all possessed a logical mind. To keep the 10 tribes away from Jerusalem, he made 2 calves of gold, installed them in cities of Bethel and Dan and told the people: "It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold they gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt" (1 Kings 12:28). He reasoned 'this is no new religion, but this was the form of worship which our fathers used in the desert, with Aaron himself leading the way' (Old Testament Student Manual 1 Kings-Malachi, p. 44). And so the Northern Kingdom (now known as Israel) was led into idolatry by their very first king from which they never repented and which contributed to their downfall. Twenty monarchs ruled the Northern Kingdom from its beginning until its destruction by the Assyrians and all of them were characterized as evil or wicked by scriptural records (Old Testament Student Manual 1 Kings-Malachi, p. 33).

Of the twenty rulers who reigned over the Southern Kingdom (now known as Judah) which consisted of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, from the death of Solomon to the fall of Jerusalem and the Jews' captivity and exile at the hands of the Babylonians, twelve are characterized in the scriptural record as evil or wicked. Only four advanced their nation economically and religiously. One of these righteous kings stands as a perfect example of a true leader and a servant of all. His story is one of unparalleled inspiration. This king's name was Jehoshaphat. The scriptures record that he "sought to the Lord God of his father, and walked in his commandments and not after the doings of Israel. Therefore the Lord established the kingdom in his hand; and all Judah brought to Jehoshaphat presents; and he had riches and honour in abundance" (2 Chronicles 17:3-5). Jehoshaphat was presented with a big problem during his reign which he handled with immense wisdom. Instead of pushing his own agenda, the scriptures record that he 'feared and set himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah' (2 Chronicles 20:3,4). Upon hearing that the armies of Moab and Ammon and the inhabitants of mount Seir were coming against him, Jehoshaphat first declared a fast and then gathered his people and offered an incredible prayer acknowledging before the God of Israel that they knew not what to do 'but our eyes are upon thee' (2 Chronicles 20:12). In other words, 'we cannot solve this problem but we know that you can'. And here is where it starts to get weird and wonderful. In answer to that prayer, the Spirit of the Lord came upon a totally unknown man in the crowd who prophesied that Judah need not fear and that the Lord God of Israel will fight that battle for them, that they should do nothing when they confront the armies and that they should 'fear not, nor be dismayed but stand still and see the salvation of the Lord' (2 Chronicles 20:17).  Instead of questioning the sanity of this man, both Jehoshaphat and the whole congregation of Judah fell on their faces and worshiped and praised God accepting this as an answer to their problem. The following morning they rose early and went into wilderness as if to fight but when they got there, instead of sharpening their swords, the king assembled a choir and instructed them to sing and praise God. At that, the Lord stepped in and 'set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab and mount Seir' (2 Chronicles 20:22). How exactly that happened, the scriptures do not tell, but they do tell us that these armies turned on each other and slaughtered every man there so that there was nobody to engage in battle with Judah. Instead of slaughter, Judah collected the spoils of the attacking armies for 3 days, more than they could carry; riches and precious jewels (2 Chronicles 20:25). It makes you wonder why they would carry their precious jewels with them into battle, but that they did and the Kingdom of Judah was blessed for trusting in the God of Israel to bail them out. On the fourth day they assembled themselves and gave thanks to God and returned to Jerusalem with 'psalteries and harps and trumpets unto the house of the Lord' (2 Chronicles 20:26-28).

The above example of leadership teaches us some important things we can apply in our lives:

1. When called to lead, we should emulate Christ and seek to save souls rather than seek for power and personal gain.
2. At all times we should be striving to bring those in our care to God ensuring that we will not be responsible for leading anyone astray.
3. We should always have 'our eyes upon God' and seek His counsel in all things.
4. Accept an answer to any dilemma we are faced with, no matter how weird it may seem, for God's ways are not our ways. The Spirit will testify to us if that answer is of Him.
5. Act on the instructions the Lord gives us and believe in them, no matter how strange.
6. Always, always be grateful and express that gratitude to God for His guidance.

When Jesus washed the disciples' feet, Peter was horrified and would not allow Him to wash his. The Saviour said to him: "If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me". Peter, coming to understand, immediately replied: "...Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head" (John 13:8,9). I think what the Saviour was saying to Peter was this: "Peter, if you do not let me serve you, you can't be mine because I was sent for this purpose" and Peter, loving the Lord, replied: "I am yours". I am astounded that a God who created worlds without number could lower himself in such humility to wash the feet of those so much less than Him. Does He not love us with un-surpassing love? He gathers us like a protective father gathers his children, with everlasting mercy, to serve us through His power to save, waiting and always waiting for us to come to Him and be gathered home.

THE WISDOM OF THE UNWISE

Solomon, the third king of Israel, continuing the golden age begun by his father David, reigned over Israel in extravagance and grandeur which lasted for 40 years. This is all the time it took to destroy Israel's course forever.

Solomon, who at the beginning of his reign, loved the God of Israel and covenanted with Him that he would walk in obedience throughout his reign and administration, blessed with incredible wisdom that exceeded that of any man, ended up being a man of foolishness. A man, fortunate enough to have the Lord appear to him twice and blessed with riches that far exceeded the riches of any man or king, sent Israel into temporal and spiritual bankruptcy. Within a year of his death, the land was divided into two kingdoms and the course of Israel's history was altered permanently (Old Testament Student Manual, Vol 2, p. 1)

Solomon followed in the footsteps of his father, lacking the tenacity to endure to the end. His is a story of tragedy of immense proportion not only because he caused his downfall but because he caused the downfall of a whole nation. Solomon excelled in two things: wisdom and riches. He ascended the throne at 20 years of age, reigning with his father as co-regent until David's death (1 Kings 1). His young age, inexperience and inherited responsibility weighed heavily on his mind as is evidenced in his conversation with the Lord at Gibeon where he went to offer sacrifices. The sacrifices which he offered to the God of Israel were excessive in number and are indicative of the great love he had for the Lord (1 Kings 3:3,4). Even in the beginning Solomon did things in a big way, offering 1,000 burnt offerings upon Gibeon's sacrificial altar. It was in this place of his great devotion that the Lord appeared to him in a dream and told him that whatever he wanted, the Lord would give it to him. Imagine God asking you such a question. What would you answer? Obviously that which is at the center of your heart. Solomon remembering the great responsibility that rested on his shoulders asked for wisdom that he might judge Israel in righteousness (1 Kings 3:9). He, however, did something more by his reply to God than his request for an understanding heart. He acknowledged the true King of Israel and lowered himself down to be nothing more than His servant by saying: "And thy servant is in the midst of thy people which thou hast chosen, a great people, that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude" (1 Kings 3:8). The request he made of God was not so that he coul judge his people but so that he could judge 'God's' people. He never referred to Israel as his people or his subjects. In one fell swoop he showed humility and acknowledged the God of Israel as his sovereign. This is in stark contrast to Saul, who's power as king went to his head.

Following such a demonstration of humility, God granted Solomon his wish making him the wisest man that has ever lived or ever will live and also promised him riches and honour which would make him a king with no equal (1 Kings 3:12,13). All God's promises to Solomon were realised. He became a man unrivaled by any upon the face of the earth. "For many years Solomon's sagacity blessed the lives of his people. Through this gift he successfully arbitrated difficult issues (1 Kings 3), built up peaceful relations with surrounding nations (1 Kings 5), attended to the thronging guests from every quarter of the earth who sought out his wisdom (1 Kings 4:10) and oversaw the establishment of Israel's first permanent temple (1 Kings 5:8). Indeed, Israel was blessed both materially and spiritually for many years of Solomon's reign" (Taylor D. Halverson, OT Lesson 26, Meridian Magazine).  Not only was Israel great in the eyes of other nations during Solomon's reign, it stood as a monument to the power of the true and living God as was expressed by Queen of Sheba who came to witness its' fame and the fame of its' king (1 Kings 10:9). Solomon judged Israel in righteousness and with exceeding wisdom. He is credited with 3,000 proverbs and 1,005 songs (1 Kings 4:32). The fame of his wisdom reached so far and wide that 'there came of all people to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all kings of the earth....' (1Kings 4:34)

Of all Solomon's achievements, the greatest was the building of the temple which the Lord promised David would be built by his son after him and to whom He gave explicit instructions, through revelation, for its' construction. Solomon built a splendid temple with the finest materials and dedicated it himself through an amazing dedicatory prayer once again affirming his devotion to the God of Israel (1 Kings 8:23-53). The temple was indeed magnificent, but not as magnificent as Solomon's house that he built for himself. The temple was in reality about the same size as the modern mini-temples we have today dotting the earth. Solomon's temple took 7 years to build and was about 100 feet long and 30 feet wide and 45 feet high. Modern mini-temples average about 110 feet by 80 feet, and are about 50 feet high. Compare that to the Salt Lake Temple which took 40 years to build and is 186.5 feet long and 118.8 feet wide and 210 feet high. Solomon's temple was, however, adorned with fine materials such as gold which was worth 108,000 talents in the Old Testament currency which translates to a worth of $41,796,000,000.00 of today's money (Ted Gibbons, OT Lesson 26, "King Solomon: Man of Wisdom, Man of Foolishness")

Solomon's wealth was staggering. The scriptures suggest that Solomon received annually 666 talents of gold (1 Kings 10:14). At today's prices that is in the neighbourhood of around $15,000.000.00 (Ted Gibbons, OT Lesson 26). That is an exorbitant annual income even in today's day and age. And herein begins Solomon's downfall. The riches turn him into a man of excess. Whereas the temple took 7 years to build, his house took 13 years. The description of his wealth and extravagances is astonishing (1 Kings 10:14-23). In the end Solomon's reign enforced great economic changes in the kingdom and his massive building projects created serious problems. 'He taxed the people heavily and used forced labour to complete his massive projects. The people began to complain and a deep resentment, especially in the northern tribes, began to fester......For the first time in Israel's history, there began to be a distinct difference between 'rich' and 'poor'. The king and his household were rich; the common people were poor. In between were the salaried civil servants and the merchants and artisans, many of whom had organised craft guilds by that time. Such class separations had not been known in the Israel where a shepherd boy like David could be anointed king - only 50 years earlier" (Great People of the Bible, pp 192-93, Old Testament Student Manual Vol 2., p 8).

If wealth and riches which made Solomon a man of excess, were the beginning of his downfall, marrying 'strange' women became the finishing touch of his foolishness. For all his wisdom, Solomon became incredibly unwise for 'one was not wise, regardless of his vast learning, if his actions did not comply with his righteous beliefs' (Old Testament Student Manual, Vol. 2, p. 13). Following the dedication of Solomon's temple, the Lord appeared to Solomon for the second time and acknowledging the dedicatory prayer, accepted the temple which Solomon dedicated to Him. At the same time, however, he issued a grave and serious warning to the king of Israel. He warned Solomon that if he and his children do not keep his commandments and if they go and serve other gods and worship them, that He will cut off Israel out of the land which He had given them, that He will destroy the temple which was built, and 'Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all people' (1 Kings 9:6,7). 

It is interesting to me that the Lord appeared to Solomon for the first time following Solomon's marriage alliance with Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Solomon married Pharaoh's daughter, brought her to Jerusalem and even built her a house when he built his palace and the temple. This marriage alliance was the greatest act of Solomon's foolishness. It was the beginning of him marrying many idolatrous women out of the covenant and the beginning of his many political alliances which signaled that he had more faith in these alliances than in God who was willing to fight and win Israel's battles. You might say he was beginning to lose the plot. God who knows all things from beginning to the end knew that Solomon was heading in the direction he should not want to go. So why make the promise of wisdom and wealth and honour if it was going to lead him to his demise? I suspect it was because the Lord knew that Solomon would in the end deny the one true and living God so he made Solomon's greatness proportionate to his fall. Marrying foreign women who led him and all Israel into idolatry aborted Solomon's ability to endure to the end and changed the course of Israel's history. "We cannot begin to calculate the damage Solomon did by introducing idolatry to the children of Israel. From that point on, the history of Israel was a losing battle fought by prophets against the forces of disloyalty to God. The same is true of us in our own spheres. Faithfulness to our covenants can bring untold blessings to ourselves and our families. Turning aside from these covenants will bring untold misery, struggle, and conflict. The story of Solomon is a cautionary tale to every man and woman in the kingdom of God" ((Breck England, OT Lesson 26, Meridian Magazine).

The greatest mistake Solomon made was that he went to his grave unrepentant, unlike his father David. He who loved the Lord forsook the integrity of his heart and came to worship false gods who had no power to give him any of the blessings he received from the God of Israel.  He who had the greatest wisdom ended up being the most foolish. So it is sometimes with us. We overlook what the Lord has done for us and what He is capable of giving us if we stay the course. So we become foolish and dabble in sin and we allow sin to make us stupid, stupid because when we sin we become 'deaf, dumb and blind to the ways of the Lord. Stupid because habitual sin drives the Spirit away, leaving us outside the protective influence of the Holy Ghost. Stupid because it makes us incapable of drawing upon the powers of heaven. Being stupid costs a lot' (Sheri L. Dew)..........is not this foolish? is not this forsaking of wisdom?.........'sin costs a lot too. It can cost time, money, peace of mind, progress, self-respect, your integrity and virtue, your family, the trust of those you love, and even your Church membership. Sin is just plain stupid. And the cost is off the charts. So repent now. Repent daily. If you want to be sanctified, repentance is not optional'. (Sheri L. Dew, You Were Born to Lead, You Were Born for Glory, BYU Speeches, Dec. 2003)