Long Live The King

Solomon was the third in a line of three kings who ruled God’s kingdom, Israel.  In many ways, he was the greatest of the three kings with God giving him wisdom, wealth, and power.  In the end, though Solomon came to a surprising conclusion.

These are the words of the Teacher, King David's son, who ruled in Jerusalem. "Everything is meaningless," says the Teacher, "completely meaningless!" (Ecclesiastes 1:1-2 NLT)

The book of Ecclesiastes is confusing to read at first, especially when we are looking for wisdom from the man who received all wisdom from God.  As we saw this week, though, Solomon didn’t always follow that wisdom.  What about Ecclesiastes, then?  Is it a book of wisdom or is it more ranting from the man who walked away from God?  Perhaps some words from a later book will help.

Then I saw heaven opened, and a white horse was standing there. Its rider was named Faithful and True, for He judges fairly and wages a righteous war. His eyes were like flames of fire, and on His head were many crowns. A name was written on Him that no one understood except Himself. He wore a robe dipped in blood, and His title was the Word of God. The armies of heaven, dressed in the finest of pure white linen, followed Him on white horses. From His mouth came a sharp sword to strike down the nations. He will rule them with an iron rod. He will release the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty, like juice flowing from a winepress. On His robe at His thigh was written this title: King of all kings and Lord of all lords. (Revelation 19:11-16 NLT)

Solomon came to the end of a long and fruitful reign only to come to this conclusion: he was not king.  Yes, he was king of Israel.  That is for sure.  Yes, he was responsible for the millions of Israelites.  But he was not responsible for the Egyptians.  He was not responsible for the Moabites, Hittites, or any of the other “ites”. He was a king, but his reign was limited and, more importantly, subject to the reign of another King.  That King is the King of kings.  That Lord is the Lord of lords. That King will judge us all at the end of our lives.  Some will be found with the King.  Others will be found against the King.

They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful.” (Revelation 17:14 ESV)

Solomon was writing the book of Ecclesiastes after having learned this piece of wisdom.  He knew that all the worldly pursuits that we made important were really meaningless.  They would have an end.  The LORD’s reign, however, will never end.  We should be less concerned about what we can get or achieve in this life, then, and more concerned about what will happen when we face the real King.

That's the whole story. Here now is my final conclusion: Fear God and obey His commands, for this is everyone's duty. God will judge us for everything we do, including every secret thing, whether good or bad. (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 NLT)

Solomon came to this conclusion after he had married 1,000 wives, turned from The LORD, and knew what he gave up for temporary pleasures of this life.  This is why Solomon said, “Everything is meaningless.”  Now, Solomon passes his wisdom on to the rest of us so we won’t make the same mistakes.  The decision is in our hands now.  Will we fight the King or will we say, “Long live The King!”  Will our prayer be the model prayer given us by our King.

Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. (Matthew 6:10 ESV)

How about you?  Do you see the big picture – the longer perspective?  Do you see that Jesus is the King of kings?  Do you hide from or fight against this King? Or, do you proclaim, “Long live The King!”?

Marriage and Romance. NOT gods.

King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba whatever she asked for, besides all the customary gifts he had so generously given. Then she and all her attendants returned to their own land. (1 Kings 10:13 NLT)

Solomon certainly knew his way around the ladies.  Not only did he marry the Pharaoh’s daughter, but he wrote the only book of romantic love we find in the Bible.  Solomon understood all the intricacies of marriage and romance.

Now King Solomon loved many foreign women. Besides Pharaoh's daughter, he married women from Moab, Ammon, Edom, Sidon, and from among the Hittites...He had 700 wives of royal birth and 300 concubines. (1 Kings 11:1, 3a NLT)

Solomon didn’t just marry the Pharaoh’s daughter for political reasons.  He married 699 other women of royal birth for the same reason.  In addition to that, the married 300 other women who offered no political gain for him.  Perhaps they offered more “Song of Solomon” to him instead.  Whatever the reason, Solomon ended up with 1,000 wives…against God’s command.

The king must not take many wives for himself, because they will turn his heart away from the LORD. (Deuteronomy 17:17 NLT)

Now King Solomon loved many foreign women. Besides Pharaoh's daughter, he married women from Moab, Ammon, Edom, Sidon, and from among the Hittites. The LORD had clearly instructed the people of Israel, 'You must not marry them, because they will turn your hearts to their gods.' Yet Solomon insisted on loving them anyway. And in fact, they did turn his heart away from the LORD. (1 Kings 11:1-2, 3b NLT)

Solomon was given the very wisdom of The LORD.  Solomon threw it all away for marriage and romance.  Just like his father, David, Solomon let his libido be his god.  He let his lovers be his gods.  He let his wives be his gods.  Then, he started to worship their gods.

In Solomon's old age, they turned his heart to worship other gods instead of being completely faithful to the LORD his God, as his father, David, had been. Solomon worshiped Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molech, the detestable god of the Ammonites. In this way, Solomon did what was evil in the LORD's sight; he refused to follow the LORD completely, as his father, David, had done. On the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, he even built a pagan shrine for Chemosh, the detestable god of Moab, and another for Molech, the detestable god of the Ammonites. Solomon built such shrines for all his foreign wives to use for burning incense and sacrificing to their gods. (1 Kings 11:4-8 NLT)

How about you?  Do you allow marriage, romance, and your libido become your gods?  Or do you make them all subject to and obedient to The LORD God?

Romance is FROM God.

Solomon moved his wife, Pharaoh's daughter, from the City of David to the new palace he had built for her. Then he constructed the supporting terraces. (1 Kings 9:24 NLT)

Solomon must have loved his wife very much.  He built an entire palace just for her!  Of course, the marriage was a political move, ensuring that Pharaoh would not attack from Egypt.  (He wouldn’t attack Israel with his own daughter living there.) 

Solomon clearly thought romantically, though.  The Song of Solomon, a book in the Bible, is a romantic play/poem written by Solomon.  Some of the imagery doesn’t make sense to us today, but other parts are crystal clear even to current-day readers.

Kiss me and kiss me again, for your love is sweeter than wine. How fragrant your cologne; your name is like its spreading fragrance. No wonder all the young women love you! (Song of Solomon 1:2-3 NLT)

Solomon was a romantic.  He loved his wife.  Romance and marriage, however, are not some secret we need to hide from God.  Sometimes it seems like we think we do.  We forget that romance was God’s idea.  We forget that God designed us as sexual beings – male and female.  We forget that marriage is God’s design for romance, sexuality, and companionship.

This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one. (Genesis 2:24 NLT)

All too often, though, when we try to separate romance from God we are actually trying to hide our romantic actions from God.  We don’t want God to know the way we are living out this part of our design.  Solomon understood that romance was from God.  That’s why he included a warning in his “song” of romance.

Promise me, O women of Jerusalem, not to awaken love until the time is right...my vineyard is mine to give… (Song of Solomon 8:4, 12a NLT)

How about you?  Do you try to hide your romantic life from God?  Or, do you recognize that romance and marriage are gifts from God?

Material Blessings. NOT gods.

People from every nation came to consult him and to hear the wisdom God had given him. Year after year everyone who visited brought him gifts of silver and gold, clothing, weapons, spices, horses, and mules. Solomon built up a huge force of chariots and horses. He had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horses. He stationed some of them in the chariot cities and some near him in Jerusalem. The king made silver as plentiful in Jerusalem as stone. And valuable cedar timber was as common as the sycamore-fig trees that grow in the foothills of Judah. (1 Kings 10:24-27 NLT)

Solomon was given all the wisdom that he needed…and much more.  As The LORD promised, Solomon was also given riches and honor because he did not ask for them.  This was so Solomon could teach us about riches with the wisdom God had given him.

These are the words of the Teacher, King David's son, who ruled in Jerusalem. "Everything is meaningless," says the Teacher, "completely meaningless!" (Ecclesiastes 1:1-2 NLT)

It seems strange that the wealthiest, wisest man would proclaim that everything in life is meaningless.  I guess it’s true that money isn’t important if you have plenty of it.  Solomon, however, was living out a role in God’s plan that would give him a voice into the rest of our lives.  Solomon had all the wealth that anyone could want or ask for.  Then Solomon proclaimed that all of it was meaningless.  You see, God had already warned against the king becoming personally rich off the people.

"The king must not build up a large stable of horses for himself or send his people to Egypt to buy horses…And he must not accumulate large amounts of wealth in silver and gold for himself. (Deuteronomy 17:16-17 NLT)

Yet God gave wealth and fame to Solomon as a gift.  Why?  Because then Solomon would have our attention when he warned against the pursuit of wealth.  Who, better than Solomon, could communicate the problems with making money more important than God?

“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. (Matthew 6:24-33 ESV)

Jesus was able to teach the same lesson many, many years after Solomon had lived.  Solomon in all his glory was not clothed as beautifully as the birds of the air of the lilies of the field.  God cares for them.  God will care for us much more.  We shouldn’t pursue money.  We should pursue God.  When we seek God’s kingdom and righteousness, we are given all the money we need.  Material blessings are gifts from God.  They are not gods.

Don't let the excitement of youth cause you to forget your Creator. Honor Him in your youth before you grow old... (Ecclesiastes 12:1 NLT)

How about you?  Do you pursue money?  Do you pursue it more than God?  Are material blessings in your life a gift from God, or do you pursue them as gods?

Material Blessings from God

King Hiram helped Solomon build the temple of The LORD.  He provided all the lumber that Solomon wanted for the project.  Solomon gave Hiram food for his nation in return.  In the end, “Hiram had sent the king 9,000 pounds of gold” (1 Kings 9:14 [HCSB]).

This kind of expression of appreciation became common with Solomon.  The queen of Sheba came to visit Solomon to find out if he was as wise as everyone had said.  When she completed her trip, she “gave the king a gift of 9,000 pounds of gold, great quantities of spices, and precious jewels. Never again were so many spices brought in as those the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon. (In addition, Hiram's ships brought gold from Ophir, and they also brought rich cargoes of red sandalwood and precious jewels” (1 Kings 10:10-11 [NLT]).

Solomon used these early riches to build the temple of The LORD.  After the temple, though, he built himself a palace.   The palace took twice as long to build as The LORD’s temple took.  Maybe this was because he had less workers on the project, but it was probably something else.  His house was bigger than The LORD’s.  Not only that, he built a special palace for his wife: pharaoh’s daughter.

King Solomon also built a fleet of ships at Ezion-geber, a port near Elath in the land of Edom, along the shore of the Red Sea. Hiram sent experienced crews of sailors to sail the ships with Solomon's men. They sailed to Ophir and brought back to Solomon some sixteen tons of gold. (1 Kings 9:26-28 NLT)

Solomon also rebuilt cities.  One was for pharaoh’s daughter.  Some of the cities were just to keep all his stuff in.  He built cities just to hold the thousands of horses and chariots that he had for his army.

Each year Solomon received about 25 tons of gold. This did not include the additional revenue he received from merchants and traders, all the kings of Arabia, and the governors of the land. (1 Kings 10:14-15 NLT)

In the beginning, the material blessings were used to give honor to The LORD.  Over time, though, the material blessings became a symbol of Solomon’s wealth and personal power.  The money stopped being a blessing from God and started being all about Solomon.

All of King Solomon's drinking cups were solid gold, as were all the utensils in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon. They were not made of silver, for silver was considered worthless in Solomon's day! The king had a fleet of trading ships that sailed with Hiram's fleet. Once every three years the ships returned, loaded with gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks. So King Solomon became richer and wiser than any other king on earth. (1 Kings 10:21-23 NLT)

How about you?  Have you received material blessings from God?  How have you put them to use?  What are your material blessings about?

Conditional Blessings

Then the LORD appeared to Solomon a second time, as He had done before at Gibeon. (1 Kings 9:2 NLT)

When The LORD shows up, we pay attention.  When The LORD speaks, we listen.  It’s just the right thing to do.  The LORD is appearing to Solomon in a face-to-face manner for the second time, now.  The first time, Solomon asked for and received wisdom.  Now, The LORD wants to talk about Solomon’s future.

"As for you, if you will follow Me with integrity and godliness, as David your father did, obeying all My commands, decrees, and regulations, then I will establish the throne of your dynasty over Israel forever. For I made this promise to your father, David: 'One of your descendants will always sit on the throne of Israel.' (1 Kings 9:4-5 NLT)

These are two great meetings!  In the first one, God not only granted Solomon wisdom.  The LORD also promised to give Solomon riches and power, too.  Now, The LORD is promising blessings beyond Solomon’s lifetime.  Solomon’s descendants will reign as kings of Israel from generation to generation!

"But if you or your descendants abandon Me and disobey the commands and decrees I have given you, and if you serve and worship other gods, then I will uproot Israel from this land that I have given them. I will reject this Temple that I have made holy to honor My name. I will make Israel an object of mockery and ridicule among the nations. (1 Kings 9:6-7 NLT)

Sometimes, The LORD gives us good gifts just because The LORD is The LORD.  We have air to breathe, water to drink, and food to eat all because of the goodness of The LORD.  Sometimes, though, good gifts are offered to us as one side of a coin.  On one side we find the promise for more good gifts.  We call them blessings.  On the other side of the coin, though, is the promise for negative repercussions.  We call those curses.  Each one, though, is a promise from The LORD based on a set of conditions or choices.

And though this Temple is impressive now, all who pass by will be appalled and will shake their heads in amazement. They will ask, 'Why did the LORD do such terrible things to this land and to this Temple?' (1 Kings 9:8 NLT)

These conditional blessings (and curses) are all coming from a God who loves us and wants what is best for us.  That is why The LORD warns us against choices that will cause us pain, suffering, and death.  The warning itself is an act of love.  It is roughly equivalent to, “Don’t put your hand in the fire or you will get burned.  It will hurt and you could die.”  These promises (and warnings) are given to us out of the goodness of God.  They are given to us ahead of time because God loves us.  In the end, though, it is up to us.  We get to choose.

"And the answer will be, 'Because His people abandoned the LORD their God, who brought their ancestors out of Egypt, and they worshiped other gods instead and bowed down to them. That is why the LORD has brought all these disasters on them.'" (1 Kings 9:9 NLT)

How about you?  Do you see places where The LORD showers you with blessings regardless of whether you believe in or walk with God?  Do you see places in your life where the blessings (or curses) are conditional?  Which promises do you choose?

Now What?

So Solomon finished building the Temple of the LORD, as well as the royal palace. He completed everything he had planned to do. (1 Kings 9:1 NLT)

It’s a strange feeling immediately after completing a big (20-year) project.  It’s especially strange when the project was being directed by The LORD.  I wonder how Solomon felt after the building projects were completed.  Was there a sense of excitement?  Did he feel satisfied?  Was there a let-down?  Did he ask himself, “Now what?  What can I possibly do to top that?”  Whatever he thought, felt, or asked, he didn’t need to wait long for an answer.

Then the LORD appeared to Solomon a second time, as He had done before at Gibeon. The LORD said to him, "I have heard your prayer and your petition. I have set this Temple apart to be holy--this place you have built where My name will be honored forever. I will always watch over it, for it is dear to My heart. "As for you, if you will follow Me with integrity and godliness, as David your father did, obeying all My commands, decrees, and regulations, then I will establish the throne of your dynasty over Israel forever. For I made this promise to your father, David: 'One of your descendants will always sit on the throne of Israel.' (1 Kings 9:2-5 NLT)

Sometimes my biggest struggle is in trying to get ahead of The LORD.  God gives me enough vision to move toward the completion of a project (like Solomon with the temple), but I get frustrated when it takes seven years for the project to get done.  Then, when the project is complete, I find myself wondering, “Now what?”  In those moments of struggle or doubt, I need to turn to God.  The LORD provided the first plan.  The LORD provided the second plan.  The LORD provided the third plan.  The LORD will provide the next.  Blessed be the name of The LORD.

How about you?  Do you turn to The LORD for the “big projects” of your life?  Do you listen to The LORD in the details of those projects?  When the project is complete, do you ask, “Now what?”  Do you trust The LORD to provide your next steps?