Calling and Purpose 37—Solomon—One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

We are told in 1 Chronicles 27-29 that King David had plans to build the Lord a Temple—a “place of rest for the ark of the covenant of the Lord.”  But, the Lord told David that instead Solomon was chosen to be the one to erect the Temple.  David then gives this charge and warning to his son Solomon:  “And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart and understands every desire and every thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever. Consider now, for the Lord has chosen you to build a house as the sanctuary…Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the temple of the Lord is finished. The divisions of the priests and Levites are ready for all the work on the temple of God, and every willing person skilled in any craft will help you in all the work. The officials and all the people will obey your every command.”

 Soon afterward, a “young and inexperienced” Solomon was anointed as King to succeed David.  We learn that “The Lord highly exalted Solomon in the sight of all Israel and bestowed on him royal splendor such as no king over Israel ever had before.”  Not only that, in 1 Kings 3, Solomon prayed that God will give him “a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?” God is pleased with Solomon’s request and bestows on him wisdom and discernment AND wealth and honor—that he would be unequaled in his lifetime. 2 Chronicles 1:1 says that “the Lord his God was with him and made him exceedingly great.”

 We are given examples of Solomon’s God-given wisdom many times in Scripture, including:  “All the kings of the earth sought audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom God had put in his heart” (2 Chronicles 9:23);  “God gave Solomon wisdom and very great insight, and a breadth of understanding as measureless as the sand on the seashore. Solomon’s wisdom was greater than the wisdom of all the people of the East, and greater than all the wisdom of Egypt. He was wiser than anyone else” (1 Kings 4:29-30).

 Solomon was not only wise but also knowledgeable—about plants and animals and about human nature.  He is the author of Proverbs and Song of Solomon: “And his fame spread to all the surrounding nations. He spoke three thousand proverbs and his songs numbered a thousand and five. He spoke about plant life, from the cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of walls. He also spoke about animals and birds, reptiles and fish. From all nations people came to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, sent by all the kings of the world, who had heard of his wisdom” (1 Kings 4:32-34)

 His wealth is also described in great detail—surpassing that of all other rulers:  “King Solomon was greater in riches and wisdom than all the other kings of the earth” (1 Kings 10:23).

 However, the beginnings of a chink in Solomon’s seemingly perfect armor appeared early in his rule as we read in 1 Kings 3:3: “Solomon showed his love for the Lord by walking according to the instructions given him by his father David, except that he offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places.”

 In addition, “King Solomon loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh’s daughter—Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites. They were from nations about which the Lord had told the Israelites, ‘You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.’ Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love. He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray. As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been…So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the Lord; he did not follow the Lord completely, as David his father had done” (1 Kings 11:1-6).

 These passages do not describe a simple set of indiscretions or one-time incidents.  He amassed wives and concubines as he did wealth.  He not only added worship of a pantheon of false gods, included in the list of those he bowed down to were those known as the most horrific:  Ashtoreth—goddess of fertility, sexuality, and war; Molek—involving child sacrifice—detestable to the Lord; Chemosh—the national god of the Moabites.  He even built places of worship for them—as he had done for God Almighty, and some of the Israelites continued in worship of these idols for some 400 years. He ultimately turned away from God in disobedience to the Lord’s commands.

 As a result “The Lord became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice. Although he had forbidden Solomon to follow other gods, Solomon did not keep the Lord’s command. So the Lord said to Solomon, “Since this is your attitude and you have not kept my covenant and my decrees, which I commanded you, I will most certainly tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your subordinates. Nevertheless, for the sake of David your father, I will not do it during your lifetime. I will tear it out of the hand of your son. Yet I will not tear the whole kingdom from him, but will give him one tribe for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen” (1 Kings 11:9-13).

 Near the end of Solomon’s reign, the Lord raised up adversaries, including Jeroboam, the one who would eventually wrest most of the kingdom from Rehoboam, Solomon’s son. After Solomon’s death, Jeroboam became the leader of ten tribes of Israel—known as the Northern Kingdom;  Rehoboam ruled over just one tribe—Judah—known as the Southern Kingdom. The twelve tribes of Israel were never again reunited under one king.

 After a 40-year reign which primarily saw peace and prosperity, in spite of renowned wisdom, and because of his unfaithfulness to the Lord, Solomon’s reign ends with God’s judgment, war, and a forever split kingdom.

 Solomon goes from a spectacular and heady purpose of being king over Israel, building the Temple of the Lord, faithfulness to God, and having great God-given wisdom to losing his way—allowing distractions and the idolatrous pursuits of others to divert him from his calling and purpose.  Things are never the same again.  Solomon’s story not only ends with his own unfaithfulness to the One True God, but also in the tragedy of a split kingdom and widespread worship of other gods by the Chosen People of God.

·       What is your God-given purpose?

·       How do David’s words to Solomon:  “Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you…” encourage you in your purpose?

·       What gifts has the Lord given you to use to accomplish your purpose?

·       How might your gifts or talents or context become a temptation to you to not be faithful to God or His calling?

·       What people in your life might be drawing you away from loving Jesus completely?

·       What other distractions are drawing you away from loving Jesus completely?

For more on calling and purpose, see the Gifts-Calling-Purpose blog.  Check out other resources and a six-week workbook at GodGiftsYou.com.

Shirley Giles Davis, author of the God. Gifts. You. Your Unique Calling and Design workbook, is a consultant, coach, facilitator who has worked with faith-based organizations, nonprofit agencies, and law enforcement leadership for over 30 years.  Shirley has been EquipConnectServe Director at First Pres Boulder since 1999.  She has worked with leaders and organizations in 47 of the United States as well as having clients outside the U.S.  Contact Shirley

Photo © Shirley Giles Davis, all rights reserved.