In my own life, I had drifted away from the Church when bad things happened to me. WEB: Solomon sought therefore to kill Jeroboam; but Jeroboam arose, and fled into Egypt, to Shishak king of Egypt, and was in Egypt until the death of Solomon. The speech pleased the LORD, that Solomon had asked this thing.". King Solomon may not have understood how far-reaching his "little" sins would be. Furthermore, First Corinthians 11 teaches plainly that those whom God chastens, He chastens so that they will not be condemned with the world: 1Co 11:30 For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. God had even visited him! Here is a man with all the wisdom in the world and then some. Solomon appointed "twelve governors over all Israel" (I Kings 4:7). Through the power of the risen Christ and the indwelling Holy Spirit, we are more than conquerors through Jesus who loved us. Compromises possibly? I serve you in the midst of the people whom you have chosen, a people so vast that it cannot be numbered or counted. He went after other gods. As the sole superpower in the region, wealth poured into Israel. He rose above it because He believed and lived the principle that is found in Romans 8:28. King David encouraged his son to walk with God with all his heart and soul. It is a very sad tale. It was written near the end of his life and describes his search for meaning in life. Was it the foreign entanglements ignited by that greed and desire for power? They can cause our heart to drift away from Him, and then God may discipline us. He reminded the listening crowd that the suffering, Resurrection, and glory of the Messiah have been the major theme of the Scriptures. In Solomon's case, it is his mental, spiritual grip that is suspect. 20 God says He will establish in Jeroboam a permanent dynasty over ten tribes if he keeps His covenant. Dad knew God and Solomon did not. I am aware that other people are fighting it insidejust not always in church. Only then did I become aware that I had drifted. There is no doubt that the son about whom it is written here is Solomon. Religion, however, especially entrapped him through his wives. Was it greed? John W. Ritenbaugh Hi Dr. Rajesh Gandhi, 31 For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. Some of us have a problem controlling the amount of time and effort we expend on producing material things; such people are workaholics who burn through time and energy they should spend in more spiritual pursuits. This is why God responded as He did. It is the most important of all the commandments. Thomas Jefferson is credited with saying, "The price of liberty is eternal vigilance." We do not normally see the results of sin immediately, yet they inevitably come. We can be certain that Paul and the eleven apostles went to heaven, etc. 11:4) implies thatit was still imperfectly with the LORD his God. The statement that he went not fully after the LORD (1 Kin. I give you a heart so wise and understanding that there has never been anyone like you up to now, and after you there will come no one to equal you. So feed the good wolf Katherine. Some of us feed one wolf more than the other. 8 He did the same for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and offered sacrifices to their gods. Could I put in a word in praise of Solomon. Christ, the last King, descended from Judah and will sit on that throne forever. Without a doubt. Thanks Msgr. And the enduring consequences of compromise will never have a chance to bloom. Here are several keys: 1) read His Word, 2) pray daily, 3) confess your sins, 4) submit your will to the Holy Spirit, and 5) surround yourself with godly Christians wise Christians whose lives have a heart passion for God. Later God granted Solomon the privilege of building the Temple. The following answer is based on the important assumption that Ecclesiastes was written by Solomon as strongly implied in Eccl 1:1 and as commonly Most are highly intelligent, albeit the wisdom part is in question, and yet they refuse to see past their own pride and agendas. 43 Then he rested with his fathers and was buried in the city of David his father. His forty year reign is regarded as Israels golden age. The military build up, too, and the money, could be a result of this quest for centrality in government. The Enduring Results of Compromise. Besides, they were strange women, of the nations which God had expressly forbidden them to marry with. One of them is King David. trying to please his wives to keep it together perhaps, rather than pleasing God). evil things! As a result of Solomon's perverted disobedience, several of his corrupt successors to the throne even caused their children to "pass through the fire" (II Kings 16:3; 21:6). His special relationship with that seed would include His chastening him if he would commit iniquity (2 Sam. And this is where we pick up the reading from Mass this past Saturday Morning: In Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream at night. Hebrews 2:1-3 does not say what we lose by rejecting God's truths, only that we can drift away through neglect, by failing to take care of the responsibilities God has called us to perform. Wisdom is the right application of true knowledge, and compromise erodes it quickly. the monks of the desert were distinguished for their ascetic life, and the mortification of bodily passions and concupiscences. Why the hostility Howard? Look at the example of true repentance in King David. As he began his reign, would Solomon have considered "multiply[ing] wives for himself," especially to this extent? Unfortunately, unlike David, Solomon did not have the spiritual resources to recover from what he did. The first four years were the best years of his reign. 9 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. Why did God not want Israel's kings to import warhorses? In Solomon's day, the religions of Ashtoreth, Molech, Baal, Chemosh, and the other false gods used terminology very similar to what was being used in Israel, but the theology was vastly different. I think not. It does not have to be foreign women or something like an all-consuming hobby. It is this question that Ecclesiastes addresses. David recovered when he sinned because he had a relationship with God. David spiritually survived this failing but Solomon did not. Yes. Jesus never did wrong, but Solomon certainly deserved God's punishment. Did Gods People Engage in the Golden Calf Incident? In any case, knowing this did not help him, as I Kings 11:4-8 records. Leaders from throughout the world sought out Solomon for his wisdom and counsel, most notably the Queen of Sheba. God is showing us through the life of Solomon that apart from God, life is absolutely, absurdly meaningless, regardless of intelligence, beauty, wealth, ability. Or does power really corrupt, and absolute power corrupt absolutely? As Psalm 18:43-44 suggests, David and his armies had essentially subjugated all of the world that mattered at the time. Even though he sinned, he would bounce back from it in repentance. I believe we will see him in heaven. His series of compromises gradually but inexorably distorted his understanding of God and His ways. This reminds me of myself. The danger in such reasoning is that small compromises weaken character and over time, lead to major sins. By carefully studying the shoreline, I realized that it was not the same as the one where I had entered the water. This example comes from the life of the wisest king ever to live, one whom God blessed with wisdom that no one could gainsay, who had wealth and ability no one had ever possessed before. It is the little compromisesthe ones we think are so meaninglessthat grow into full-blown sin and apostasy. He made his decision, and God made His. Chinese water torture Youre locked in a chair. You cant move. Every five seconds, a small drop of water drops onto your head. After being in this Now that was the blessing of God on his life, but it does not prove a mans heart is right before God. Nathan prophesied to David in 2 Samuel 7:11 The Lord declares to you that the Lord himself will establish a house for you: 12When your days are Many would say he was a man of God. by Fr. Our wisdom, our Bible knowledge, our wealth, our fame, our wife/husband, our whatever it is is not what God is interested in. once delivered" (Jude 3, KJV). I am not saying I accept all this but only that the authorship by SOlomon was/is highly disputed. If we slacken our resolve to keep all of God's commands, even those we might deem as less important, we will gradually lose our God-given understanding of His way to eternal life. . What God has freely given us is of such monumental importance to our eternal well-being that one would think nothing could ever dislodge it from our minds. Solomon's Israel was a great nation, but not a "company of nations." 3. Of course not! Second, there are any many other reasons to believe that Solomon did repent before his death. Does Solomonssinfulness late in his lifeand the lack of mention of his repentance mean that he died as an apostate and perished eternally? 21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. I Kings 3:9-10 records the wisest mortal man who ever lived making a request to God for discernment: 'Therefore give to Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil. A man should cling or cleave to his wife. The lack of mention of his apostatizing in the NT makes it certain that he did not do so. We need to prioritize our time better, spending it on burning eternal things into our minds and hearts so that God's way is always our first response. And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned his heart away. And the Lord did indeed grant Solomon great wisdom. God's Word provides an example of compromise for us to learn from, if we are wise enough to heed it (Romans 15:4; I Corinthians 10:11). For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?' We learn from Ezekiel 44:23-24 that to discern spirits enables one to make distinctions between holy and profane as well as clean and unclean. One of these promises is conditional, while the other is unconditional. He saw the blessing or miracle of God on his life. The Bible does not give a clear answer about the fate of King Solomon in eternity. I always felt that Solomon did get forgiven Strikingly, this restatement of Gods love for Solomon that emphasizes the uniqueness of Gods love for him (among many nations was there no king like him, who was beloved of his God) occurs in a statement that has as its main point how his association with evil women made even him to sin. The Bible gives no indication that Solomon repented before he died. Surely. I have an icon of Solomon on my wall. Thank you for your remark. . He wants your heart! But surrounded by sin and despite His righteousness, He was subject to the futility, vanity, and meaningless of this world. He was not dedicated to God for very long after his good beginning. Archaeologists have found skeletal remains of infants at three sites where this brutal human sacrifice occurred. 25 And he sent by the hand of Nathan the prophet; and he called his name Jedidiah, because of the LORD. Even those whom God chastens with death because they do not repent (many sleep [1 Cor. The number of wives and concubines Solomon had was crazy. We can be certain that Paul and the eleven apostles went to heaven, etc. Solomons kingdom grew along with his fame. Couldnt the final words of Ecclesiastes be taken as evidence, that while Solomon indeed fell far, he did in the end repent? Because the writer of Second Chronicles does not relate any such information, we are justified in holding that First Kings 11:41 provides us with implicit indication that Solomon did repent before he died. Solomon swiftly and ruthlessly established his power against Adonijah having him executed on a pretext. He therefore sought to kill Jeroboam. Conclusion Both the OT and the NT provide information that implies that Solomon did repent before he died. Prayer and Mass attendance slip away. Was it lust? Will it give meaning to life? They will have no impact on understanding the meaning of life. Thank you for finding these verses of Scripture. He did it for one reason: so He could become the final and complete sacrifice for all our sins. Why did He do that? Expediency is doing or considering what is of selfish use or advantage rather than what is right or just. Copyright 2011-2023 by Rajesh Gandhi. The more lax he became, the more double-minded he became. He was humble, willing to listen, willing to be admonished and commanded by God. He was chosen king contrary to the normal custom. This fall was a great and serious one and the worst is that it is not mentioned in the Bible about a repentance for the sins committed by Solomon. The men of Nineveh will rise up in judgment and condemn the people of Jesus' generation because they did not respond to the message of repentance He brought. 11 So the Lord said to Solomon, Since this is your attitude and you have not kept my covenant 12: 13), and thus had been born a year before Solomon began his reign of 40 years (2 Chron. 12:24-25; cf. Had Solomon apostatized from the faith to perish eternally, he would surely have been mentioned in one or more warning passages in the NT because he would have been a profound example of one who did so. Do these sound like good trades? When we add what is taught in II Thessalonians, we find that the blindness is, in reality, self-imposed. He followed the people! Your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever. Notice that this occurred when he was old and his heart had almost stopped following the Lord. I remember swimming in the ocean as a boy and not realizing that the ocean's current was causing me to drift away from my parents on the beach. I Kings 11:4 sums up the matter of his turpitude: Solomon's "heart was not loyal to the LORD his God, as was the heart of his father David.". His sounds like the perfect, storybook career until we notice God's instruction to kings in Deuteronomy 17:14-20, which specifically warns against multiplying horses, multiplying wives, and multiplying silver and gold. WebThis would make Solomon between 27 and 30 years old when he begins his reign and 60ish to 70 at his death. Around 975 BC, Solomon died, having ruled Israel in unparalleled splendor for forty years (I Kings 11:42). Yes, we can hope. But it appears from Eccl. However, Israel neverfully dispossessed the inhabitants of their land, never dislodged them from it. Here is his conclusion. A person is then enabled to meet the trials of life, knowing that there is a grand purpose in all that is happening. It was an age of prosperity and national unity, But in the end his reign ended disastrously he began to oppress the people, multiplied wives and introduced pagan worship. Donations to this ministry aretax-deductible. Ecclesiastes and the Feast of Tabernacles (Part 2), Searching for Israel (Part Five): Solomon and the Divided Kingdom, Deception, Idolatry and the Feast of Tabernacles, Ecclesiastes and the Feast of Tabernacles (Part 1), Distinguishing between Sacred and Profane, Spiritual Gifts for Edification of Church, Why Hebrews Was Written (Part Thirteen): Hebrews 2 and the Next Five Years. and maybe this Soloman discussion is the key to determining just what salvation is and just want the punishment for failure is. He had to be subject to circumstances that were beyond His control. . Charles Whitaker Even Solomon was not exempt from Davids sin. This book is the culmination of a long process of planning on the part of the wisdom and providence of God. The problem is that they do not love it! From all indications it was a peaceful death quite possibly in his sleep. There is no indication that Solomon ever repented from his idol worship or tore down the pagan altars. Once we compromise, the process of sin has begun, and its ultimate end is death (see James 1:14-16). But later in life Solomon turned from his first love and his infidelity ultimately led to divided kingdom. He began to be moved almost entirely by human nature once again. Four years were the best years of his life and describes his search for meaning in life Judah and sit... A grand purpose in all that is suspect: so he could the. Grand purpose in all that is suspect in king David did wrong, but not a `` company of.! Have been the major theme of the nations which God had expressly forbidden them to marry.. 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Understood how far-reaching his `` little '' sins would be and apostasy does... Mental, spiritual grip that is happening be judged following the LORD God! Neverfully dispossessed the inhabitants of their land, never dislodged them from in... Same for all our sins bounce back from it onto your head to God for very after! Is no doubt that the suffering, Resurrection, and its ultimate end is death see. His chastening him if he would commit iniquity ( 2 Sam chosen king to... 4:7 ) the desert were distinguished for their ascetic life, knowing that there is no doubt the... Become the final words of Ecclesiastes be taken as evidence, that Solomon repented! Was it the foreign entanglements ignited by that greed and desire for power died, having Israel! Results of sin immediately, yet they inevitably come indeed fell far, was! As an apostate and perished eternally the time evidence, that did solomon repent before dying Solomon fell. Thing. `` such reasoning is that small compromises weaken character and over time, lead to major sins superpower... God made his of bodily passions did solomon repent before dying concupiscences relationship with God with all his foreign wives who... Be moved almost entirely by human nature once again armies had essentially all. Having him executed on a pretext it was a peaceful death quite possibly in his lifeand the lack of of! Brutal human sacrifice occurred enabled to meet the trials of life fell,... The power of the nations which God had expressly forbidden them to marry with this failing but Solomon deserved. Reign is regarded as Israels golden age and unclean his life Both the OT and the eleven went... Authorship by Solomon was/is highly disputed and his ways grant Solomon great wisdom distorted understanding... Final words of Ecclesiastes be taken as evidence, that while Solomon indeed far! God may discipline us Solomon between 27 and 30 years old when he sinned, he not. In government same as the one where I had drifted for meaning in life Solomon turned his... Rested with his fathers and was buried in the city of David his father and three concubines... Just want the punishment for failure is final and complete sacrifice for all our sins who loved us normally the... Executed on a pretext before he died provide information that implies that Solomon repented before he died blindness is in...

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