Chronicles: Solomon’s Reign
David Done
We’ve reached the point in Chronicles where Daivd is now preparing to hand over the kingdom to his son Solomon. In fact, this is where we begin the book 2 Chronicles in the Bible. During the end of 1 Chronicles, David is preparing the surrounding nations to be aware of his son now being the new king over Israel and the remaining 6 chapters describe just how David does that. This happens right after David tells his son to build the temple for the Lord he was never able to build for God in chapter 22. The next chapter starts out by stating, “Now when David reached old age, he made his son Solomon king over Israel. And he gathered together all the leaders of Israel with the priests and the Levites.” 1 Chronicles 23:1-2. This transition into 2 Chronicles is officially where the reign of Solomon begins. But how exactly did Solomon rule? Was he a carbon copy of his father David? Or did he turn from the ways of David and pursue selfish desires as he did what was evil in the Lord’s sight? This is where the rest of the book of 2 Chronicles comes into play. To describe Solomon in the most simple terms, Christianity.com says, “King Solomon authored multiple books in the Old Testament, ruled over Israel, and is known for his wisdom from the Lord.” Solomon is clearly a huge figure in the Old Testament, but what else is he known for? Let’s find out.
Wisdom
To begin, we must look at the blessing that God gave Solomon from the very beginning of his reign. Many people know that Solomon was a very wise man, and the reason for this can be found in 2 Chronicles 1:7,10 “In that night God appeared to Solomon and said to him, “Ask what I shall give you.”...“Now give me wisdom and knowledge, so that I may go out and come in before this people, for who can rule this great people of Yours?” This is why the kingdom of Solomon was so blessed from the very beginning. Solomon proved to God that he was not after a prize or possessions from being king, but rather that he was after the heart of God by ruling His people in a manner that was wise and good. This brings us to another book of the Bible. 3 in fact. Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs. What does Solomon’s wisdom have to do with these 3 books you ask? Everything. Because he wrote them. If you ever sit down and read these books or even if you have already, you have seen a great amount of wisdom that is available to us today solely because of the wisdom that Solomon shared with us through these books. The book of Proverbs itself is known for having the most wise sayings and rules to live by in almost all of scripture. If you thought you were pretty wise before, you’ll realize you’ve never known anything once you finish this book. The guidance and wisdom that Solomon passes down to us through God’s word is something that we cannot take for granted. The same can be said about Ecclesiastes. In this book, Solomon would almost appear depressed as he discusses how life is simply short and unfair. And as sad of a theme as this would seem to be for a book of the Bible, it actually ends with hope amidst all the sorrow.
As someone who has been a youth pastor, I have actually had students tell me that this was one of their favorite books in the Bible. When I asked them why, they would simply say, ‘Because it’s real.’ Now I know that they were not saying that every other book in the Bible isn’t, they were just attracted to the fact that life being unfair and short is a matter that is even handled in the Bible. And just as the Bible itself ends with hope in Christ, Ecclesiastes does the same. There is no amount of sorrow in this world that could ever dim the light of hope that Christ is for those who are saved. Now the final book that Solomon writes is the Song of Songs. This book describes the love between a man and a woman who cannot wait to be married. Many people have guessed what the purpose of this book is by going to great lengths. Some have said that this is Christ’s love for the Church, others say that this is the love we should have for Christ or even vice versa. However, when read in the context of how it is written, it is clear that Solomon was describing a very romantic love on every page of this book. Perhaps the wisest man to ever walk the earth(besides Jesus) knew a little bit more about the power of romantic love than we do now and wanted to share that same knowledge and feeling with the rest of us. Regardless of which of these books you’ve read or haven’t read, there is no denying the wisdom that Solomon had and how impactful this wisdom is for us today.
Sin
But what about Solomon’s wrongdoings? Was Solomon only known for his wisdom or did he fall short in certain areas of his life too? Just like David, Solomon had his own struggles and sins that he dealt with. Perhaps the most famous sin of Solomon was polygamy. Solomon had relations with about 1,000 women as recorded in scripture, which is certainly not the design of marriage that God had set forth. Even more so than this, these women that Solomon loved so much turned his heart from God and led him to worship the idols that his wives worshiped as well. We can see both of these great sins in 1 Kings 11:3 when it says, “He had seven hundred wives, who were princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned his heart away.” This sin of worshiping other gods was so damaging, that it eventually split the nation of Israel in two. Your sin really does affect more than just you. Solomon’s reign is one that has some of the highest highs and the lowest lows. But what we can’t forget while reading this story is that Solomon was indeed used by God in a mighty way despite his shortcomings, and he still plays a vital role in this historic book thus far. The next time you read about Solomon, I hope you learn from his amazing wisdom literature, and from his life example as well.
Sources
[1] Blue Letter Bible. (n.d.). Blue Letter Bible. https://www.blueletterbible.org/
[2] Christianity.com Editorial Staff. (2024, February 15). King Solomon in the Bible: His story and Words of wisdom. Christianity.com. https://www.christianity.com/wiki/people/king-solomon-in-the-bible.html
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