Solomon Is an Example of…

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 11:4, NIV).

The account of Solomon in 1 Kings 1-11 shows that we can trust God to keep His promises. It also shows us that we can trust that His warnings are accurate. When God said to Moses in the Law that the Israelites were not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods (1 Kings 11:2, see Exodus 34:16 and Deuteronomy 7:3-4, NIV) He was not guessing or making a bet, He was telling them what would happen.

In a way, Solomon had everything going for him. He had the example of a father who loved him, loved God, and who followed God’s commands so well that David became the standard by which all the future kings of Judah were measured. God set Solomon as king in a time of peace. God appeared to him twice (1 Kings 3:5 and 9:2), granting him wisdom, wealth, fame, and political success. Solomon was reckoned to be the wisest and wealthiest man of his time, and was known for his relationship with God (1 Kings 10:1). If any man should have been expected to be able to avoid falling into the worship, sacrifice, and promotion of other gods it was Solomon.

Many see his falling into idolatry as surprising and unexpected. How are we supposed to reconcile this with the role model Solomon of the previous chapters?

There is a huge problem reconciling one end of his life with the other if you are trying to view Solomon as a moral example that we should follow. There is no problem, however, if you change your view from looking at Solomon as a moral example we should follow to an example of God’s grace.

What I have been learning is that the Sunday school versions of these people as great heroes to be emulated and admired as faithful righteous examples falls a wee bit far from the tree of reality. Take Solomon for example. Yes, it is true he did some good things, like when God offered to give him whatever he asked for and chose wisdom so he could be a good king. God set him up with an amazing amount of wealth to build the Temple, but he spent far more time and money on his own houses and lavish lifestyle. In Deuteronomy 17:16-20 (NIV) God laid out these requirements for future kings:

The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make the people return to Egypt to get more of them, for the LORD has told you, “You are not to go back that way again.” He must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray. He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold.

When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the Levitical priests. It is to be with him, and he is 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 and not consider himself better than his fellow Israelites and turn from the law to the right or to the left. Then he and his descendants will reign a long time over his kingdom in Israel.

The account of Solomon shows that he did not follow any of this very well. He had 666 talents of gold in regular revenue every year—that’s about $856 million a year…and that wasn’t all his income, just what was set income! (1 Kings 10:14-15). He also amassed 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horses (1 Kings 10:26). 700 wives and 300 concubines also seems to be pretty irreconcilable with He must not take many wives no matter how liberally one may wish interpret “not take many.”

And Solomon did allow himself to be led astray by his wives…and not just a little. He did a beautiful perfect 10 swan dive into the deep end of the idolatry pool.

He followed Ashtoreth the moon goddess of the Phoenicians who was associated with fertility, sexuality, and war.

He also followed and built shrines for Molek, the chief god of the Ammonites, whose worship included the killing of children as burnt offerings; and for Chemosh the destroyer, the head of the pantheon of Moab. Chemosh’s worship was in line with that of Molek; in fact, many historians believe Chemosh and Molek were different variations of the same deity.

Solomon not only paid for the building of these pagan shrines, but he worshipped there himself, made sacrifices to them, and paid for all of his wives to do the same…no small thing being that he had 700 wives.

Solomon was no role model. What the story of Solomon teaches is that God’s grace towards him and love for him was all grace. What I have been learning from Solomon is that the things we often wish for to “make our problems go away” like having wisdom, wealth, living in a time of peace, and having God personally appear to you, won’t deliver us from our sin. It is not enough. It is grace or nothing. That is how serious the problem of sin is. We are unable to keep God’s Law. If we are going to have a relationship with God, if we are going to experience His blessings and know His love, it must be by grace—He has to give it to us because He wants to, knowing that we don’t deserve it and never will. As Preston Sprinkle said in his book Charis: God’s Scandalous Grace for Us, you can’t make God love you.

In the end I believe Solomon learned this, but it was at a heavy cost. Solomon ended up losing a lot and cost his son the united kingdom. But he never lost God’s love for him, because His love for Solomon was never based in Solomon’s character, behavior, or righteousness. It was all grace. Solomon is an example of how great God’s grace is for those He loves. And that is very good news.

Now all has been heard;
here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments,
for this is the duty of all mankind.
For God will bring every deed into judgment,
including every hidden thing,
whether it is good or evil (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14-15, NIV).