Solomon, Even the Wise are Weak
I Kings 3:7-13
INTRODUCTION:
We’re in the middle of a 20-week series of Old Testament stories. So far we’ve studied several of the Old Testament Heroes … people like Abraham, Joseph, Moses, Ruth, and Joshua and some of the judges like Sampson and Ehud. Story after story shows how God gave grace and mercy to flawed men and women. Even the greatest Bible Heroes were flawed people.
The same is true for the man we’re going to talk about today. King Solomon was the wisest King on earth, but he had a besetting weakness. And in the end, Solomon’s weakness was his downfall. His sins had serious consequences … for him personally, and for the entire nation of Israel.
In our Bible study last week we talked about how your sins will always find you out. One question asked us to think of a time in childhood when we discovered that sin has consequences. One of our study members told a funny story… that involved an outhouse. (picture of outhouse) (A couple of weeks ago, Ronnie told an outhouse story, so I figure if he can, I can!)
Now, I won’t reveal the name of the man who told this story. But he said that way back … when he was a boy on his dad’s farm … he decided to try to smoke behind his dad’s back. They didn’t have real cigarettes … but he discovered he could roll coffee in a leaf and smoke it … and he really felt like he was getting by with something.
One day, he was in the Outhouse and lit up one of his coffee cigarettes. He was puffing away. Then he looked out through the chinks in the outhouse wall … and saw his dad coming to use the outhouse himself.
(Now, the next part of the story is the part that shows how your sins will find you out. But to get the point, you have to know that back then they used pages from the Sears and Roebuck catalog instead of toilet paper.)
So … back to the story … when he saw dad coming, he panicked. He tossed that lit cigarette down the hole … which was full of catalog paper … And the next thing he knew … (picture of outhouse on fire)
Well, that young boy learned that sins do have consequences! But I want to be sure you know that Keith McFarlain is NOT a smoker! (Whoops… I told his name.)
Every Bible Story illustrates both the grace of God AND the consequences of sin. Even King David … a man after God’s own heart … committed the sin of adultery with Bathsheba. His sin had terrible consequence when the child born to David and Bathsheba died.
But then God did what God always does. He brought good out of evil. HE gave mercy and grace. David and Bathsheba had other children … and one of their sons became the next King of Israel. His name was Solomon.
The people that lived during the reign of King Solomon were lucky! They lived through the golden-days of the Kingdom of Israel. During the 40 years that Solomon was on the throne, Israel became the shining star of the world. It was like God’s upper story and the lower story came together for a few brief years. People came from all over the world to see the beautiful Temple and to hear Solomon’s world-famous wisdom!
1. Solomon’s Wisdom
I Kings 3:3 tells that early in Solomon’s reign, the Lord appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.”
Solomon answered, “Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. … So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong.”
God was pleased with this request I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be. Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for—both wealth and honor—so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings. I Kings 3:7-13
Solomon started out so great! His humility allowed God to lift him up and give him all the blessings God wanted to give. I Kings Chapter 3 goes on to give an example of Solomon’s wisdom in judging a court case with two women and a baby. This story is so famous that most of you have probably heard it … if not, be sure to read about it as soon as you can. (But not yet, I’m still preaching)
Solomon’s greatest achievement was to build the Temple. This beautiful Temple replaced the Tent of the Tabernacle and became the dwelling place of God on earth. It took 13 years to build, and the Temple of Solomon stood for about 500 years before it was eventually destroyed by the Babylonian army.
Soon after the Temple was complete, I Kings 10 tells about a visit from the Queen of Sheba. This Queen is also mentioned in the written history of Ethiopia and Yemen, so that’s probably how far she traveled. I Kings 10:10 records: When the queen of Sheba heard about the fame of Solomon and his relationship to the Lord, she came to test Solomon with hard questions. It’s interesting that the reason she came was not just to hear wisdom and see wealth … she came because she had heard that this King had a unique relationship with his God.
Here was her response after examining Solomon: She said to the king, “The report I heard in my own country about your achievements and your wisdom is true. But I did not believe these things until I came and saw with my own eyes. Indeed, not even half was told me; in wisdom and wealth you have far exceeded the report I heard. How happy your people must be! How happy your officials, who continually stand before you and hear your wisdom! Praise be to the Lord your God, who has delighted in you and placed you on the throne of Israel. Because of the Lord’s eternal love for Israel, he has made you king to maintain justice and righteousness.” I Kings 10:6-9
She really summed it up! What impresses me the most is that her encounter with Solomon caused the Queen to praise the one true God. What she saw amazed her. She saw how happy citizens can be when a nation has a wise and godly leader.
2. Solomon’s Writing
Solomon was truly a King who had it all. He had wisdom and wealth, and besides that, he was a prolific writer and musician. I Kings 4:32 says He spoke three thousand proverbs and his songs numbered a thousand and five. He was also a botanist and a biologist. Vs 33 He spoke about plant life, from the cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of walls. He also spoke about animals and birds, reptiles and fish.
Solomon was the author of 3 books of the Bible: Proverbs, Song of Solomon, and Ecclesiastes.
Ecclesiastes is a book of philosophy. Solomon wrote about the search for meaning in life. He had the resources to try everything … and he did. He tried education, wisdom, romantic love, hedonism and pleasure of all types, materialism and hard work, creativity and art. He summed it up by saying, “Meaningless! Meaningless! Everything is meaningless!” Ecclesiastes 12:8 (elaborate – most of us make this discovery – house, masters)
Ecclesiastes 12:13 gives Solomon’s final conclusion: 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. I have to say “amen” to that!
Song of Solomon is a book of poetry and prophecy. Solomon was a musician (like his father, David) and parts of this book may have been put to music. These were the romantic love songs of the day. (elaborate: Teenagers showed interest when I preached on Song of Solomon in the past)
Proverbs is a collection of wise sayings. Monica put some of these on screen during the music today. These proverbs cover all areas of life – relationships, finances, work, ethics, home life. It still stands as the world’s greatest collection of wise sayings. And Solomon’s reputation stands as the wisest of all Kings.
3. Solomon’s Weakness
I Kings 10:23-24 says King Solomon was greater in riches and wisdom than all the other kings of the earth. The whole world sought audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom God had put in his heart.
So how is it that we read this just a few verses later: 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. Although he had forbidden Solomon to follow other gods, Solomon did not keep the Lord’s command. I Kings 11:9-10
As it turned out, even the wisest man had a weakness. In Solomon’s case, his weakness was women. He ended up with 700 wives and 300 concubines --- now that’s a BIG weakness! Now, you can try to excuse him by saying this was the custom of Kings in those days. In fact, this was the way treaties were ratified between Kings. You made a treaty with a foreign King, and you married one of his daughters to seal the deal.
But that doesn’t get Solomon off the hook. In I Kings 11:2, God commanded Solomon: “You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.” And then it goes on to say: Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love.
Solomon wasn’t making a big sacrifice for the sake of the nation. He wasn’t thinking, “Oh, this is tough, but I have to sacrifice and marry all these women to secure peace in Israel.”
No, he wanted all those women. And Solomon knew better! You can see this in some of his Proverbs, like these:
Let your wife be a fountain of blessing for you. Rejoice in the wife of your youth … Let her alone satisfy you. Proverbs 5:17-18
A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies. Proverbs 31:10
Contrast that with some other sayings of Solomon:
I was still searching but not finding-- I found one [upright] man among a thousand, but not one [upright] woman among them all. Ecclesiastes:7:28 This gives a hint of how Solomon felt after dealing with a thousand women … and it also says something about Solomon’s taste in women – He picked a thousand and couldn’t get it right once!
Proverbs 27:15 says, A nagging wife is like the dripping of a leaky roof in a rainstorm; (Solomon must have felt like it was a monsoon!)
Proverbs 31:3 Do not spend your strength on women, your vigor on those who ruin kings.
Solomon should know … because that’s exactly what happened to him. He started out so well … and from all appearances, things went great for most of his life. But I Kings 11:4 says, As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God…
Because of this, God appeared to Solomon a third time, and this time the message was not good. God explained that the good days for the Kingdom were about to end. Solomon’s heart had become divided, and because of that, Solomon’s kingdom would soon be divided. That will be the next part of The Story.
CONCLUSION:
Solomon’s life gives an important warning for all of us. There is not a single person … no matter how wise and upstanding they may be … who is without weakness.
None of us can afford to compromise with sin. Too often we think we can ignore God’s will in just one area of life as long as we follow Him in other ways. Or we think we can take a little “vacation” from God just for a few days or a few hours. But sin always has its consequences, no matter who you are.
Like Solomon, our compromises are often in our personal lives … and especially in our homes. How many families have broken up because the parents made little compromises that added up to disaster. The first steps toward disaster can be a little as a second glance --- or a click of a mouse at the computer.
Look at the lyrics to this song by Casting Crowns called “Slow Fade.”
Be careful little eyes what you see
It's the second glance that ties your hands as darkness pulls the strings
Be careful little feet where you go
For it's the little feet behind you that are sure to follow
Be careful little ears what you hear
When flattery leads to compromise, the end is always near
Be careful little lips what you say
For empty words and promises lead broken hearts astray
It's a slow fade when you give yourself away
It's a slow fade when black and white have turned to gray
Thoughts invade, choices are made, a price will be paid
When you give yourself away
People never crumble in a day
It's a slow fade, it's a slow fade
