Hello Bible Adventurists,
Happy June and congratulations on finishing five months of our year-long journey. We see Solomon has finished the Temple after 7 years of construction and dedicated it. God showed His acceptance by filling the temple with a cloud of His presence and sending fire to consume the burnt offerings. Solomon had a lot of early political and economic success based on the foundation David left, and of course, the blessings God bestowed on him after his prayer for wisdom.
Now we read the writings of Solomon and get to sample his world renown wisdom. Most of his proverbs offer good common sense advice, but many have to do with advice, seemingly to a son, on how to choose a wife. While Solomon certainly had experience in this, I’m not sure I’d take relationship advice from a guy who had 700 wives and 300 concubines. These many wives would ultimately be his downfall.
Solomon married women from many of the pagan cultures with which the Exodus era Hebrews were commanded not to intermarry (see
Deuteronomy 7:3 and Joshua 23:12). He also allows them to bring their pagan practices with them, exactly why the Israelites were warned against intermarriage. That starts with the princess of Egypt who is allowed to bring her pagan gods with her. Solomon actually has to build her a separate palace so her idols would not be brought into the same area as the Arc of the Covenant. That should have been a warning sign. We see Solomon, through his wives, allows back in most, if not all, the Canaanite gods (1 Kings 11) that Joshua was supposed to expel. This even included Molech, who required child sacrifice and whom God admonishes by name in Leviticus 20. This pagan influence reintroduces the spiritual corruption that will eventually end in the curses Moses warned would happen if the Israelites turned from God.
It is a sad story to watch and I think Ecclesiastes shows that Solomon never found the joy and fulfillment in God that his father David had.
Thanks for being with us as we read. I hope you are enjoying the journey.
Tom