Solomon: The Benefits of Fearing the Lord
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Warren Brosi
June 16, 2024
Dominant Thought: The wise fear God, but fools despise instructions.
Objectives:
I want my listeners to see the difference between wise and foolish living.
I want my listeners to feel encourage that Jesus is greater than Solomon.
I want my listeners to choose a way of wisdom to embrace and/or a way of folly to avoid.
Focus question: How do we fear God?
As we move through our 200 years of Hebrew history, we move into the third king of Israel, Solomon. Before we meet Solomon, we need to hear the words of God to Solomon’s father, David in 2 Samuel 7.
When your days are over and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom.
He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him with a rod wielded by men, with floggings inflicted by human hands.
But my love will never be taken away from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you.
Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.’ ”
God tells David that his kingdom will endure and his throne will be establish forever. He does say that he will punish him if he does wrong.
Then, in 1 Kings 2.1-2, we read about David’s commission to his son Solomon.
When the time drew near for David to die, he gave a charge to Solomon his son.
“I am about to go the way of all the earth,” he said. “So be strong, act like a man,
and observe what the Lord your God requires: Walk in obedience to him, and keep his decrees and commands, his laws and regulations, as written in the Law of Moses. Do this so that you may prosper in all you do and wherever you go
and that the Lord may keep his promise to me: ‘If your descendants watch how they live, and if they walk faithfully before me with all their heart and soul, you will never fail to have a successor on the throne of Israel.’
On this Father’s Day, we need to hear these words of a father to his son. We live in a day of confusion for men. Here David gives instructions to his son Solomon to walk in the ways of God and to keep his instructions so it will go well with him.
Solomon took much of that to heart as he wrote a number of proverbs in our Bible. One counts his proverbs as 3,000 and his songs at 1,005 (1 Kings 4.32).
Many of the Proverbs are written from a father to his son. One of the opening proverbs will serve as our guide for today. Proverbs 1.7.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Our main idea for today is, The wise fear God, but fools despise instructions. In listening to a lesson by Tim Mackie and Jon Collins share the Solomon’s life was described by both wisdom and folly (see episode here: https://bibleproject.com/podcast/solomon-wisest-fools/).
As we walk through the life of Solomon, I want to do so by looking at two sides of Solomon’s life. The first part celebrates how he followed his father’s instruction and his own counsel from Proverbs 1. Much of his life was described as fearing God. However, there are moments in his life where he neglected the instructions of God.
First, let’s look at the wise living of Solomon. As we look at the wisdom of Solomon, we’ll look at three examples of his wise living. There are several but we will highlight three.
First, we see Solomon loving God and asking for wisdom (1 Kings 3.1-9). Solomon makes an alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt, we could put that in the folly column as we’ll see later. But the writer states “Solomon showed his love for the LORD by waking according to the instructions given by his father David” (1 Kings 3.3). He’s following the great command, “Love the LORD your God with all your heart...” (Deuteronomy 6.5). He’s following the words of his dad (1 Kings 2.2-3). Even the advice from his own pen in Proverbs 1.7. We love God by walking in his ways and following His instructions.
God appears to Solomon and says, “Ask whatever you want me to give you” (1 Kings 3.5). What an offer. How would you respond? Many of us may default to temporary immediate things: I want to get out debt, a new car, house. Others may have relational requests: I want my kids to talk with me, a better marriage. Others: I want better health, feel better, happiness.
Here’s how Solomon replies, “I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties…give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this people of yours?” (1 Kings 3.7-9). He asks for wisdom to lead his people and the knowledge of right and wrong. Is that a request that is on your list?
James, the half brother of Jesus said, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who give generously to all without finding fault and it will be given to him” (James 1.5).
God grant his requests and heap us riches and prosperity on Solomon. First example of wise fearful living: loving God and asking for wisdom.
A second example of wise fearful living is Solomon’s prayer at the dedication of the temple in 1 Kings 8.56-61. Solomon is praying. Solomon is describing the different prayers that people will pray at the temple. The temple was the location where heaven and earth would meet. God would meet with His people. Solomon praises God who has given them rest. He asks God to be with them and never forsake them. He has a desire to walk in God’s commands, decrees, and laws. His desire is for all people on earth to know that the LORD is God and that there is no other.
In some ways, he’s remember creation—God has given us rest. He’s remembering the rescue through Moses. And now, he want everyone to follow after God. In this example, we see wise fearful living as praising God and desiring God.
Our third example of Solomon’s wise and fearful living is recorded in 1 Kings 10 when the Queen of Sheba comes to visit. This queen had heard of the fame of Solomon and his relationship to the LORD (1 Kings 10.1). She came to test him with hard questions. She brought a caravan of large gifts and Solomon answered all her questions. When she saw the wisdom of Solomon, his palace, the food, the officials, servants, cupbearers, and offerings at the temple, “she was overwhelmed” (1 Kings 10.5). The English Standard Version says, “there was no more breath in her.”
Then she declared, “How happy your people must be! How happy your officials, who continually stand before you and heart your wisdom. Praise be to the LORD your God, who has delighted in you and placed you on the throne of Israel. Because of the LORD’s eternal love for Israel, he has made you king to maintain justice and righteousness” (1 Kings 10.8-9).
Solomon passed the test. In this example we see wise fearful living as answered prayer. Solomon asked for wisdom. The queen of Sheba tests him and is overwhelmed by his wisdom. Solomon asked for the nations to know that the LORD is God. A queen from the nations praise the LORD and recognizes God’s eternal love. When you pray for wisdom and God’s desires, then those prayers will be answered.
Before moving to the other side of Solomon’s life, we need to go back to some instructions God gave Moses in Deuteronomy 17 when the people will ask for a king. God gives some clear instructions for the king. He gave some clear “do’s and don’ts”.
Here are some of the warnings and instructions from Deuteronomy 17.16-20. A) don’t acquire a great number of horses (Deut. 17.16). B) Don’t take many wives (Deut. 17.17). C) Write a copy of the law, to be with him and read it so he may learn to revere the LORD… (Deut. 17.19; Prov. 1.7). With those instructions in mind, let’s hear some more of Solomon’s story.
Second, let’s look at the foolish living of Solomon. We’ll highlight two examples of Solomon’s foolish living. Our first example is found in 1 Kings 5 where we read, “King Solomon conscripted laborers from all Israel—thirty thousand men” (1 Kings 5.13). The NIV says “conscripted laborers” and the ESV says, “forced labor.” This phrase is also repeated in 1 Kings 9.15. Solomon used forced labor to build the temple, his own palace, the terraces, and the wall of Jerusalem (1 Kings 9.15). In this list of his building projects, we read in 1 Kings 9.19, “as well as all his store cities and the towns for his chariots and his horses—whatever he desired to build in Jerusalem, in Lebanon and throughout all the territory he ruled.” A couple of verses later, the writer does balance the ledger in Solomon’s favor by writing, “Solomon did not make slaves of any of the Israelites...” (1 Kings 9.22). So, while he didn’t enslave his people, he did employ them willingly or unwillingly to build the temple, his palace and the store cities.
In 1 Kings 6.38-7.1, we read these summaries, “He had spent seven years building it [the temple of the LORD, 1 Kings 6.37]. It took Solomon thirteen years, however, to complete the construction of his palace.” So, he’s forcing people to do something good—build the temple. Yet, it appears his palace and structures took twice as long to build. The instructions were not to accumulate a great number of horses (Deuteronomy 17.16) and yet Solomon built entire cities for his chariots and horses (1 Kings 9.19).
The Scriptures offer us one other connection with the forced labor and store cities. We’ve seen a similar scene in Exodus 1.
So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor, and they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh.
Bruce Waltke, “The righteous (saddiq) are willing to disadvantage themselves to advantage the community; the wicked are willing to disadvantage the community to advantage themselves” (The Book of Proverbs: Chapters 1-15, Eerdmans, 2004, 97).
The question is, “Do you value things and use people or do you value people and use things?”
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Solomon despising God’s instructions by valuing things over people.
A second example of Solomon despising his fathers’ instructions both his earthly father and his heavenly Father is recorded in 1 Kings 11.1-6.
If you remember Solomon’s story begins describing his love for God (1 Kings 3.3). Now, in 1 Kings 11, Solomon loved many foreign women. And then you read the list and these nations are all enemies of God’s people. These nations do not honor the ways of God.
I was talking with my friend this week and he says that he has two criteria for his daughters when they marry: 1) They must be a Christian. Paul is clear that Christians should marry Christians (2 Corinthians 6.14). 2) A husband should love his wife as Christ loved the church (Ephesians 5.25).
Solomon was warned that foreign wives would turn your heart after their gods (1 Kings 11.2). In Deuteronomy, God warned, “He must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray” (Deuteronomy 17.17). And then the writer in 1 Kings 11 shares, “Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love…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” (1 Kings 11.2, 4).
Solomon despised the LORD’s instruction by allowing his heart to be led astray. We guard our hearts by staying close to the LORD and his instructions. Deuteronomy 17 instructed the king to write out on a scroll a copy of the law so that it would be with him (Deuteronomy 17.18-19).
He was to “read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the LORD his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees...” (Deuteronomy 17.19).
Some people called Solomon the wisest one who ever lived. Others have called him the wisest fool. As you look back over Solomon’s life, he has shining moments of wisdom and trust in our heavenly Father. He prayed for wisdom. He praised God at the dedication of the temple. He passed the tests of the Queen of Sheba. And yet, he also despised the instructions of God by amassing wealth at the cost of his people and followed after foreign gods in his relationships with women. Money and sex caught Solomon and trap many men today.
If only there was someone who could fully show us the way to God. If only there was someone who had all the best of Solomon, but didn’t slip into follow. It wouldn’t happen in the immediate generations. It would take some time, but then Jesus, the Son of God would come.
And in Matthew 12, Jesus remembers the Queen of Sheba’s visit to Solomon.
The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, and now something greater than Solomon is here.
Friends, our generation will be held accountable for how we respond to Jesus and his instructions. As great as Solomon was, his wealth was captured and hauled away. His temple was destroyed. But by God’s grace his kingdom endured to see Jesus, the greater one, show us that through Him we can walk faithfully with our Father. Jesus showed us how the wise fear God and warned us not to be fools who despise our Father’s instructions.
Jesus, greater than Solomon (Matthew 12.42).