Here are some questions I might pose to my Sabbath School class in order to get discussion started:

1. In his early days, what did Solomon have going for him?

2. Where did Solomon go wrong?

I am impressed by Solomon's humbleness. It seems there is a great respect to God and to his father, David. For so many of us the struggle with intellectual pride keeps us from finding true wisdom. Solomon understood that true wisdom must begin with a surrendered will to God.

I noticed how this story closely ties obediance to the relationship with God.

Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of David his father...

...if thou wilt walk in my ways, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as thy father David did walk (1 Kings 3:3, 14)

You see a different Solomon than i do. As i see it, Solomon and humility are an oxymoron. After Solomon asked for the wisdom to rule the people, he assumed that it had been granted to him....and he could take it from there. If you want case studies in humility....look at Moses , or even David. Neither would even tie their shoes without talking to God. Maybe that's an exaggeration, but just for fun, count the times Solomon asked God's advice...then compare to how often Moses and David talked to Him. Whenever Moses instructed the people, it wasn't from his own wisdom....it was from a "thus saith the LORD." In the King James version..."Thus saith the LORD"...appears 414 times. None of which were spoken by Solomon.

Just wondering...was Solomon the SPIRITUAL leader of the Israelites, as Moses was? (Or was Moses not?)

It just seems to me that wisdom in leaders could be governmental, spiritual, or both.

That depends at what stage you were looking at Solomon. As I read the bible, Solomon was originally humble. When God asked him what he wanted God to do, Solomon did not ask for silver and gold, only for the wisdom to be able to rule as God wanted him to rule.

Just read the prayer that he prayed at the dedication of the temple -- and that was AT LEAST 7 years after he had begun to reign.

It was a gradual decline in Solomon's walk with God that saw him change from a caring, wise king to an uncaring, dictator.

Solomon was humble when he first came to the throne. His request to God for wisdom was, indeed, a humble request.

At the dedication of the temple (some 8 or so years later) he was still a humble king. Just read the prayer that he prayed.

His downward fall was so gradual that he did not realise how far he had fallen from God. But God was still there -- waiting for the moment when He could touch Solomon's heart, and bring him back to His heart.

It shows how careful we must be to always cling to our Saviour so that we, too, do not gradually lose that closeness to God.

Beryl

Great question...I think the burning bush experience, and his constant contact with God, definitely qualifies Moses as the spiritual leader. There is a big difference in a spiritual leader ordained by God, and an earthly king, demanded by men. Solomon was picked by God, But having an earthly king for the Israelites was not God's original plan. Asking for a king was probably the second most insulting rejection that Israel imposed on God. He hadn't forgotten it by the time Solomon was appointed. Allowing them to have their king was Divine Tough Love. True, God voluntarily promised Solomon great wealth, but that could be viewed as God giving him enough rope to hang himself. Did God know that the love of money is the root of all evil? God had to let them find for themselves (and demonstrate to anyone watching the story unfold) that anything less than Jesus for a King will never work.

Some folks confuse humility with insecurity. I ask you to re-read the account of his request for wisdom. 2 Chronicles 1 9-12. When we ask for wisdom, then tell God the specific wisdom we want, we are suggesting that we already have the wisdom to know what to pray for. Solomon's request was very focused on giving him the tools to be a great leader....It might have been better to pray for a contrite heart...to be made an empty vessel, then God would have given him the knowledge to have better control of his personal affairs. (in addition to being a great leader)

It's always easier to analyze another persons problems. I am aware that i am not qualified to take Solomon's sandals off. The point is...this story is here to make a point to us... I think we are supposed to see the problems he had, in hopes that we might not make the same mistakes.

Well, God was so pleased with Solomon's request that GOD HIMSELF added all the other things. So, I am not about to criticise God for being pleased with Solomon's humility -- that of a child. Jesus told us to become as little children -- a child will take the word of a trusted person. I am trusting the Word of God.

God bless,

Beryl

Compromise is what took Solomon from a humble child to a worldly king. Little by little compromise will take each of us away from God in the very same way if we let it. Today "strange women" is not as common as other temptations like worldly entertainment and luxery.

While the king had a great deal of spiritual influence, be it positive or negative, the Levites especially the priests were supposed to be THE spiritual leaders. Solomon's apostasy started the downward spiral of the kingdom that led to the split.

Gerry

Today the temptation is still there. I can't tell you how many of our graduates have married outside the church with the same results as Solomon. But then my father never would have become a Seventh-day Adventist if my mother hadn't married him outside the church. I guess God overrules in such cases.

Very good discussion everyone, some interesting thoughts. Solomon in his youth is much like his father David in his love for God and in all to similar actions in later years with women. He too has to learn as each of us does that it is God who is faithful to forgive us and waits with open arms our return even after our failures. Makes me wonder if David's keeping the commandments and statues of God was more "holding on to them" after all you see the same pattern played out from father to son, at least it seems that way to me.

respectfully,
annie

Hi, Annie,

In thinking about that father and son combination, I see some differences between David and solomon (apart from the atrocious number of wives and concubines!). To me it seems as though when David sinned, he was very responsive to God's "pricking his conscience". So many times we find him regretting his sin, asking for forgiveness -- and receiving it.

On the other hand, we don't read of Solomon regretting anything -- except when he wrote Ecclesiastes. God would surely have pricked his conscience as he began his downward spiral. Did he ignore those warnings? It would appear that he did.

It never pays to ignore God's warnings.

Beryl

I would just like to add that the "strange women" syndrome has been a very destructive link in this culture today. Just look at the behavior of the young women in the media today. Look at the clothes little kids are wearing today and tell me that sin and perversion aren't rampant because of "strange women" in influential industries. Sexual depravity is on an upward spiral and schoolrooms and daycares are not safe havens for our children anymore.
annie

This morning I was supervising my government class students while they did a project in the computer lab. For some reason, I paid a great deal of attention to the images used on the MSN home page (like a lot of other pages). Almost every one of them featured a young woman dressed to allure men into sex.