The king must not build up a large stable of horses for himself or send his people to Egypt to buy horses, for the Lord has told you, “You must never return to Egypt.” The king must not take many wives for himself, because they will turn his heart away from the Lord. And he must not accumulate large amounts of wealth in silver and gold for himself. [Deuteronomy 17:16-17 (NLT)]
These words were among those the kings of Israel were to copy, keep on their person at all times, and read every day of their lives. Solomon was Israel’s third king and, while we can’t know about Saul or David, it certainly seems that by Solomon’s reign, the words of Deuteronomy had been forgotten or ignored.
Along with his 1,400 chariots, Solomon had 12,000 horses imported from Egypt and Cilicia. Those many horses were a sign a sign of Israel’s military might but they also were a direct violation of the Lord’s command. Worse, Solomon didn’t just return to Egypt to purchase horses; he went there for a queen—Pharaoh’s daughter! Although God had clearly instructed the Israelites not to marry foreigners, along with Pharaoh’s daughter, Solomon married Hittites, and women from Moab, Ammon, Edom, and Sidon. Apparently, foreign alliances took precedence over God’s commands. Even though the king wasn’t to take many wives, Solomon accumulated 700 of them (along with another 300 concubines).
As for God’s command not to amass large amounts of silver and gold, every year Solomon received 25 tons of gold as well as tax revenues from traders, merchants, and assorted kings and governors. Added to that was all the silver, gold, and precious gems brought to him as gifts by his many guests, like the 9,000 pounds of gold brought to him by the Queen of Sheba! Granted everyone probably has a slightly different opinion of what constitutes “large,” but I think we’d all agree that Solomon went over the top when it came to horses, wives, and wealth!
Solomon was the man who asked God for wisdom and often is called the wisest man who ever lived; yet, Alexander Whyte’s Dictionary of Bible Characters describes him as a “shipwreck” and “the most terrible tragedy in all the world.” Whyte continues, “If ever ship set sail on a sunny morning, but all that was left of her was a board or two on the shore that night, that ship was Solomon. A board or two of rare and precious wood, indeed; and some of them richly worked and overlaid with silver and gold—it was Solomon with his sermons, and his prayers, and his proverbs, and his songs, and his temple.”
During Solomon’s reign, the king wrote 1,005 songs and 3,000 proverbs, a magnificent Temple was built, and an undivided Israel experienced the peak of its power, prestige, and grandeur. These accomplishments are the “rare and precious wood” of which Whyte spoke. Nevertheless, in spite of Solomon’s stellar beginnings, the shipwreck began when ambition, wealth, pride, and lust took over his life. Along with disobeying God by amassing horses, wealth and wives, he built pagan shrines, worshipped pagan gods, worked and taxed his people excessively, and even failed to prepare Rehoboam for the throne. Solomon’s kingdom could have been blessed for all time but it was torn away because of his disobedience; by the end of his son’s reign, the kingdom was divided. I think of Alan Lerner’s words in Camelot: “Don’t let it be forgot that once there was a spot, for one brief, shining moment that was known as Camelot.” For one brief moment, Israel shone as well!
In Proverbs, we find the wise Solomon talking about discipline, good judgment, and the dangers of lust and greed. We read Wisdom’s warning that the simple, “must eat the bitter fruit of living their own way, choking on their own schemes.” Unfortunately, Solomon seemed better able to give advice than heed it and, in Ecclesiastes, we find him eating that “bitter fruit” with his words of remorse, dissatisfaction, and even self-contempt. They are the words of a man who, in spite of all his possessions and achievement, found no satisfaction in life.
Solomon’s downfall tells us that all the wisdom and wealth in the world mean nothing without the strength of character and discipline that come from God and obedience to His word. I wonder about those words from Deuteronomy that all of Israel’s kings were to copy, read daily, and apply to their reign—words that were to keep them from becoming proud and turning away from God. What, do you suppose, would have happened had Solomon actually done that?
If ever a blazing lighthouse was set up in the sea of life to warn every man and to teach every man, it was Solomon. [Alexander Whyte]
When I was in elementary school, the homeroom teacher would give us a list of spelling words to learn by Friday. Along with the week’s words, there usually was a spelling rule to learn which would help us spell them. Surely you remember the old maxim, “It’s i before e, except after c, or when sounded as a as in neighbor and weigh!” Applying that rule helped us know how to spell words like siege, yield, ceiling and rein.
In a series of negative commands regarding the harvest found in Deuteronomy and Leviticus, we find an ancient form of social justice/economic equity. A landowner was not to return for an overlooked bundle of grain left in the field, olives trees were not to be beaten more than once, grapes vines were not to be repicked after the first fruit was gathered, the edges of the fields were not to be harvested, and any produce dropped by the harvesters or fruit that had fallen or separated from the branch was not to be taken. As the remainders of the harvest, these gleanings were left for the poor.
When my father called me the apple of his eye, while I knew that meant he cherished me, I didn’t know the idiom originated in the Bible. The Hebrew expression used was ‘iyshown ‘ayin which literally means “little man of the eye.” The ancient metaphor most likely refers to the eye’s pupil—the opening through which light enters the eye. Because our eyes are both necessary and vulnerable, God provided us with reflexes that automatically shut them, turn our heads, or shield them with our hands as a means of protection. Throughout Scripture, the apple of the eye metaphor is used to mean something as precious as the pupil of the eye. With this in mind, the psalmist may be asking God to protect him as if he were the pupil of God’s eye. Supporting that interpretation, the psalmist switches metaphors by asking God for protection by hiding the man in the shadow of His wings. In line with this interpretation, the NLT and other thought-for-thought Bibles translate the above verse as, “Guard me as you would guard your own eyes.”
A friend once asked her mother which of her children was the favorite. I can’t imagine making such a query, wanting to hear the answer, or how I’d respond to the same question. Since I can’t even pick my favorite color, I certainly couldn’t pick my favorite child. Is it the one with the over-the-top personality who not only could sell ice cubes to Eskimos but convince them to double their order because of a possible shortage? Is my favorite the adventurous one with the wonderfully quirky sense of humor and a mind that puts Wikipedia to shame? Is my favorite the thoughtful child—the one whose faith, strength, and patience rival that of Job? If they were beverages, one child would be a doppio espresso; another spiced chai with ginger, cardamom, allspice, cinnamon and cloves; while the third would be calming chamomile tea with a touch of honey. Like those beverages, each of my children is interesting, pleasant, and delightfully unique. One challenged me, one grieved me, and one worried me. Do I love them less because of that? Absolutely not! While I love them equally, because they have been blessed with different personalities and abilities, I don’t always treat them the same. Nevertheless, I love all three of them, just each in their own special way!
When I was asked if I’d ever been hurt by a fellow believer, I had to reply that in my seventy plus years, I’ve been hurt (both intentionally and unintentionally) by all sorts of people, including the most devout of Christians. When asked if any Bible verse helped guide my response to the hurt, Ephesians 4:32 came to mind: “Be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.” I was then asked what I’d learned from my experiences. The first take-away, learned the hard way, was to immediately ask God to put His arm around my shoulder and His hand over my mouth before I said something stupid or nasty. The second was that, as tactless, unkind, petty, and rude that both Christians and non-Christians can be, they also can be right!
Devotions of the Heart 