Solomon’s Wisdom
The fame of King Solomon has survived to today. Among the kings of Israel, his fame is perhaps only rivaled by his father, King David. His wisdom is so well known that even the occult has adopted the name of Solomon in their symbolism.
Where did this famous wisdom come from? It was a supernatural gifting from God.
At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night, and God said, “Ask what I shall give you.” And Solomon said, “You have shown great and steadfast love to your servant David my father, because he walked before you in faithfulness, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart toward you. And you have kept for him this great and steadfast love and have given him a son to sit on his throne this day. And now, O Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of David my father, although I am but a little child. I do not know how to go out or come in. And your servant is in the midst of your people whom you have chosen, a great people, too many to be numbered or counted for multitude. Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?”
It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this. And God said to him, “Because you have asked this, and have not asked for yourself long life or riches or the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right, behold, I now do according to your word. Behold, I give you a wise and discerning mind, so that none like you has been before you and none like you shall arise after you. I give you also what you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that no other king shall compare with you, all your days.
1 Kings 3:5-13
There are many accounts of his wisdom and some reached to the ear of the Queen of Sheba in his time, who in 1 Kings 10 is recorded to have travelled with gifts to see for herself if it were possible that what she had heard could be true. Not only does she admit that the rumors were true, but she even claims they had undersold the understanding that Solomon had!
Knowing Right From Wrong
Solomon was raised surrounded by knowledge about God. David had advisors who were loyal priests and his father himself was a man after God’s own heart. Add to that a wisdom that surpassed all others and certainly Solomon knew how to live a life pleasing to God!
In fact, we still read a lot of this wisdom recorded in scripture today. The book of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon were all authored by this man. Throughout these books, the reader is reminded to temper the desires of his flesh, knowing that he must answer to God.
It is safe to say that Solomon was a man who knew the dangers of temptation.
Snares Always Waiting
Yet in the very next chapter (1 Kings 11) after the account of the visit from the Queen of Sheba we have an account that seems almost to contradict that account of his wisdom!
Now King Solomon loved many foreign women, along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, from the nations concerning which the Lord had said to the people of Israel, “You shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you, for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love. He had 700 wives, who were princesses, and 300 concubines. And his wives turned away his heart. For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father.
1 Kings 11:1-4
If there was any man who “knew better” it was him. He had written about the dangers of seductive women. He had written also of the importance of remaining true to God. Yet the desires of his flesh still led him to women who ultimately succeeded in turning him to idolatry.
Keep Your Guard Up
It reminds me of the warning God gave to Cain.
If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.
Genesis 4:7
Sin is waiting within the flesh, tempting us into taking actions which are against our good. Though the desires may be natural, they are self-destructive. It’s not enough to just educate ourselves about right and wrong. We must seek to master those temptations.
Solomon had a lifetime of knowledge of God and a divine blessing of wisdom and yet he allowed himself to be led away by women who encouraged him to follow after other gods! It’s not that wisdom is useless. In fact, God’s word says we should value wisdom above any earthly wealth.
Yet that wisdom cannot help at all when we are carried along by passions.
More Than Learning
Many argue today that every bad behavior is simply a lack of education. If people’s heads were filled with all the dangers of doing evil and all the benefits of doing good, it is thought, they would always rationally choose the good. Surely if ideas could all be freely exchanged, people would naturally choose the best ones!
The problem with that thought is the assumption that people are purely rational creatures. While we do have the capacity to reason, we also have desires which can compel us to be unreasonable. Sinful desires, when nurtured, can lead people to levels of depravity so destructive a third party can only wonder how a person could become so detached from reality as to get that bad. Not all passion is evil though. The desires of the Spirit, to serve God no matter the cost, can lead people to do amazing works that nobody would have reasoned would be possible.
The desire to seek understanding is a noble one. However, we will never fully understand even ourselves until we acknowledge that man is not merely a calculating creature. We also have a spiritual life. We have within us a war in which the desires of the flesh are embattled against the desires of the Spirit.
We must seek to edify one another but we must also attempt to cultivate in one another a desire for godliness. Many are currently encouraging people to simply clamp down on all passions and behave rationally. Instead, we ought to promote people to be passionate about God according to knowledge!
