Today marks 100 days into this journey through the Bible. I can honestly say that I have never made it this far in a “1 year Bible reading plan” before. It is usually about the middle to end of March that I would start falling away. Warm weather is here (perhaps not this year, but sometimes) and the desire to be outside or the busyness of school work always seemed to take over. That is, as I know, an excuse, but I am excited to say that we are at 100 days and still going strong!
Today is also a day of transition in the continuing narrative of God’s people. Solomon, as we have seen over the past few days, was made king over Israel in his father’s footsteps and grated abundant wisdom. Under his rule, all of Israel continues to prosper growing from the successes of his father David and increases in wealth and influence. We read that all of the nations of the world wanted to be in the presence of Solomon because of his great wisdom. One person in particular, the Queen of Sheba, comes to visit Solomon and verify for herself exactly who Solomon is and if the stories about his were true. She comes with great with, which she gives to Solomon after finding out about him, approximately 1/6 of his total income for that year. We read that Solomon’s total income in one year was 666 talents (a rather ominous number). To put this in perspective, roughly according to the price of gold today, Solomon himself was making over 1 Billion dollars a year!! This was apart from what “came from the explorers and from the business of the merchants, and from all the kings of the west and from the governors of the land.” One year. Solomon was easily generating more income than many of the big companies in America right now. Talk about prosperity.
Visit from the Queen of Sheba
Photo Credit: http://www.victorianweb.org/painting/poynter/paintings/16.html
Yet all is not champagne and rose pedals for Solomon… or perhaps it is, and that actually is the problem. A couple times now we’ve talked about Solomon’s infringement on the rules for the kings of Israel in Deuteronomy 17. The king was not to collect large amounts of money or have many wives. Solomon is clearly doing exactly the opposite, having 700 wives and another 300 concubines. And we read that what happens is exactly what the Law said would happen, Solomon’s heart turns from the Lord and he begins to worship the gods of this wives: Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of Moab, and Milcom the god of the Ammonites. This angers the Lord, and rightly so I think. God Himself appeared to Solomon not once (which should be more than enough), but TWICE, and yet Solomon still turns away. Because of this, the Lord says, the Kingdom will be ripped away from Solomon… well Solomon’s son… but not the whole Kingdom either. As I listen to God’s judgment on Solomon I kind of feel like its the punishment of an unresolved parent. “You’re grounded. For a day. And you can still have your friends over.” Yet this isn’t what God is saying at all. The judgment happens this way “for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem that I have chosen,” God states. This shows an incredible amount of faithfulness on the part of God to the covenant He has made with David and his house, one that extends forever.
And this is indeed what happens. Solomon’s son Rehoboam rises to the throne after the death of Solomon and quickly makes a mistake. Clearly the wisdom of Solomon is not a genetically passed down trait and the ability to recognize such wisdom is not one that Rehoboam excels at. As we had seen, Jeroboam has been given the kingship of the Northern Kingdom, what we will now know as “Israel” where as Rehoboam rules over the Southern Kingdom, what we will now know as “Judah.”
The Kingdom Divided
Photo Credit: http://biblemapper.com/gallery1_files/DividedKingdom_1_mark.jpg
As we enter into this time of transition, remember the words of the Lord to Jeroboam as he is given kingship over the Israel. God says through the prophet Ahijah, “…and if you will listen to all that I command you, and will walk in my ways, and do what is right in my eyes by keeping my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did, I will be with you and will build you a sure house, as I built for David, and I will give Israel to you.” Jeroboam has been given a promise from God that his rule will be blessed if he follows God and as soon as he has the throne he turns from God, not trusting in Him. He builds 2 Golden Calves and places them in the Kingdom of Israel so that his people won’t go to Jerusalem to worship God where they should be worshiping. This turn proves to be the beginning of the end for Israel. No king from this point on ever turns their face back to God.
Related articles
- “What should we learn from the life of Solomon?” (altruistico.wordpress.com)
- King Solomon ~Wisdom for today (cindylivingstoneministries.wordpress.com)
- Thought for the day from the book of Kings (taxresearch.org.uk)
- “Queen of Sheba?” (altruistico.wordpress.com)