Something to consider is the respective roles of Adam, of Israel, and of Solomon. All three are referred to as the son of God, and all three are given a charge in relation to the dwelling place of God. Adam was charged with being God’s representative throughout the whole of God’s creation, and if he properly performed in this role, the glory of God would fill the whole of the world. Adam failed. Israel was then charged with being the representative of God in the land that had been promised to Abraham. God had said that He desired to dwell among His people, and would do so as long as they obeyed Him and fulfilled the basic requirements of their covenant obligation. Israel would fail at this from almost the very beginning. Solomon was charged with building a Temple in Jerusalem that would be a dwelling place for God. While the Temple was constructed, and while the Lord did fill the Temple with His glory, in the end, though there was a time of great prosperity and blessing for Israel during his reign, Solomon would fail, falling to idolatry.
“When Solomon became old, his wives shifted his allegiance to other gods; he was not wholeheartedly devoted to the Lord his God, as his father David had been. Solomon worshiped the Sidonian goddess Astarte and the detestable Ammonite god Milcom. Solomon did evil in the Lord’s sight; he did not remain loyal to the Lord… The Lord was angry with Solomon because he had shifted his allegiance away from the Lord, the God of Israel… So the Lord said to Solomon, ‘Because you insist on doing these things and have not kept the covenantal rules I gave you, I will surely tear the kingdom away from you’.” (1 Kings 11:4b-5a,9a,11a) This idolatry would lead to the division of the kingdom of Israel into north and south, and the dual monarchies that would persist until their respective destructions and exiles.
When the Temple had been dedicated, God promised to make it the place of His presence. At the same time, He issued a warning for Solomon, saying “if you or your sons ever turn away from Me, fail to obey the regulations and rules I instructed you to keep, and decide to serve and worship other gods, then I will remove Israel from the land I have given them, I will abandon this Temple I have consecrated with My presence, and Israel will be mocked and ridiculed among the nations” (9:6-7). God added “This Temple will become a heap of ruins” (9:8a). Do we not hear the same warning being given to Adam and to Israel? These sons of God were all given responsibilities, and all three would fall short of those responsibilities through which they were to reflect the glory of God and through which God would gain worship and praise. Indeed, Adam’s temple (creation) would fall into ruin. Israel’s temple (it’s promised land) would fall into ruin. Solomon’s temple (the Temple) would fall into ruin. For all of the good that was done during his reign, it was Solomon’s idolatry that set the nation on course for the eventual destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple at the hands of the Babylonians. For all of the good that Adam did, in service of his Creator, it was his idolatry that brought destruction into the world. For all of the good that Israel had done, carrying out at least a portion of the Lord’s commands in taking and subduing their promised land, it was their idolatry that routinely and repeatedly and finally brought about destruction.
Before coming to that however, Solomon served his Lord well. As was said, kingdoms paid tribute to Israel, as God blessed Israel for its faithfulness. “People from all nations came to hear Solomon’s display of wisdom; they came from all the kings of the earth who heard about his wisdom” (4:34). The queen of Sheba was one of those that came to Solomon, having heard of his reputation. It is said that when she heard him and saw all of his wealth, that “she was amazed” (10:5b). She would go on to say, “Because of the Lord’s eternal love for Israel, He made you king so you could make just and right decisions” (10:9b). This brings us back to the words of Jesus. Do we not hear echoes of these words from the queen when Jesus says, “For this is the way God loved the world: He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16)?
Why did God raise up Solomon and gift him with such wisdom and wealth? It was so that His people Israel, along with all peoples and nations, would come to believe in Him. Solomon, as the son of God, was yet another example of God’s love for the world, and he was gifted in such a profound way so that He would be blessed, so that Israel would be blessed, so that Israel would, in turn, be a blessing to the world by being an example of unparalleled divine blessing. God’s design in this was to cause all peoples, through His people, to forsake their idolatry and turn in worship to the One that was their Creator, in Whose image they had been created. In so doing, the tide of evil would be stemmed and the perishing of the peoples of the world and the creation could be restrained. The divine blessings (reflective of Deuteronomy 28) granted to Solomon and Israel were representative of the gifts of eternal life that God desired to grant to all peoples, restoring them to the place and status from which Adam had fallen. Unfortunately, though Solomon had experienced God’s power and presence (on two occasions---11:9), much like Adam and Israel had experienced that power and presence, he did not believe God. What was the result? He fell into the aforementioned idolatry, and because of that, Israel effectively perished, and the blessing of God that had been so strong upon them (eternal life) would be lost.
No comments:
Post a Comment