Transcript
The Successor – King Solomon 1Kings 2:10-12; 13:3-14
Tomorrow marks the start of a new school year in our area. Which means this past week was likely full of school supply shopping, teacher meet and greets, and the retrieval of backpacks that haven’t seen the light of day since the last time they were used, 12 weeks prior. Not only are elementary, middle, and high school students returning, I can confirm the population of Richmond just grew by a few thousand new students this weekend who moved into their dorms on the campus of VCU just down the street. A few of us on staff volunteered to be a happy face to greet families and their student as they nervously pulled up on move-in day on Friday. We helped unload their vehicles, point them in the right direction, and sometimes we got to help deliver their things to their new dorm room. The excitement and nerves were palpable. I can’t say for sure whether the parents or their children were more nervous, but I bet you can guess.
The organizing of public schools in the United States during the 19th century has generally been viewed as a public good. After all, the more people who could learn to read, write and perform basic math, the more each local community could achieve. The success of a public school system would be realized if work, productivity, and wealth increased while crime and violence decreased.
There were also some who not only believed that the joy of learning was a virtue in and of itself but that all should desire it, whether or not it made any difference to a growing economy or public safety. In the 19th century, Transcendentalists like Ralph Waldo Emmerson, Henry David Thoreau, and Louisa May Alcott pushed for a wholistic kind of education that included the mind, soul, and body. According to Emmerson, a successful education should not necessarily make accountants, engineers, or attorneys, but “able, earnest, great-hearted men” and women.
Well, today, just in time for the beginning of a new school year, we turn the page on King David and meet his successor, Solomon, who is probably best known as the wise king. I am sure Solomon’s story then, will have something to say to us about our pursuit of wisdom, and what makes for a successful life. After all, don’t we hope that our education will make us both wise and successful? (and maybe a little great-hearted, too?)
In preparing for this sermon, I was curious what some of our youngest church attenders understood wisdom to be. So, last Sunday Amanda asked the children in attendance the question, “what makes someone wise?” They first determined that wisdom comes with age, so they pictured wise adults who:
- are smart
- make the right choices
- are nice, kind, and loving
- say things to keep you safe
- know what to do, and when to do it.
What impresses me about their list of wise attributes is that many of them are other focused. Other than feeling that wise people are also smart people, our children realize that we are relational people and the things we say and do can either have a positive or negative impact on others. Selfishness for our children is not a wise trait.
I’d like to add humility to the list of wise attributes. Knowing you don’t have all the answers is probably a good start on a path toward wisdom. I think Albert Einstein was credited with saying, “the more I learn, the less I realize I know.” Wisdom has a sort of humble quality about it that acknowledges its limitations and seeks to grow through experience – often bad experiences – and through the experiences of others.
Wise people often become leaders. To lead a group of people is a weighty thing, whether a 100-man football roster, a church committee, or a fledgling nation. The wins make a leader look brilliant, but the losses are more than a setback. It is then that your decision making begins to be questioned, whether you really have the trust of the people you lead, and if you have that extra something that all winners seem to possess. Sometimes that something extra turns out to be just fluff; a swager that is revealed to be more hubris than intelligence. Then there are those leaders whose insight and decision making, often in the leanest of times, earns them the trust and respect of those whom they lead. These are the men and women we revere.
And in the Old Testament there is David. And then there is Solomon, that rare person who seemingly met the moment, not only filling the throne of his father but surpassing it in his world-wide fame, his expansion of the kingdom, and most notably, his wisdom. At first glance, Solomon had what most anyone would label as success. Just listen to what 1 Kings 4 catalogues as Solomon’s provisions for only one day: Thirty cors or 420 bushels of choice flour, and 60 cors or 840 bushels of meal. Not only that, he has at his disposal ten fat oxen, twenty pasture-fed cattle, and one hundred sheep – for each day of the year! It was said that all who came to Solomon’s table were provided for – nothing was lacking. But not only did Solomon and his court eat well, so did Solomon’s 40,000 stalls of horses that pulled his chariots along with their 12,000 horsemen.
But Solomon did not just prosper, so did all that fell under his rule. 1 Kings 4 says that “During Solomon’s lifetime Judah and Israel lived in safety, from Dan even to Beer-Sheba, all of them under their vines and fig trees.” Beyond the boundaries of Israel, Solomon’s fame drew visitors from the known world. He was said to be wiser than anyone in the east and all the wisdom of Egypt. The author of I Kings credits Solomon with composing three thousand proverbs and 1,005 songs. Tradition holds him as the author of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon.
To illustrate just how renowned Solomon was, I Kings chapter 10 tells of the Queen of Sheba paying Solomon a diplomatic visit, with a show of all her countries riches, strength, and wisdom in tow. There isn’t much known about Sheba. Perhaps it was located on the Arabian Peninsula, near present day Yemen. But this mysterious land may also be included to simply reveal the strength and reach of Solomon’s fame, wealth, and power that would cause an official delegation to travel from a far distance. We could compare her visit to the president hosting a state visit today in Washington, DC. No expense is held in these encounters – the fine china is polished, the menus planned months in advance, and president’s own band is ready to play “hail to the chief.” The festivities and the black-tie state dinner, however, are more than just a hospitable gesture. It serves as a reminder of the power and wealth the guest nation may have access to, if they play their cards right.
So, the Queen journeys to Jerusalem, admittedly skeptical of what she might find in King Solomon, whose reputation, the author points out, is due to his close connection to the name of the Lord. She comes to put his reputation to the test – to really see if he is all that others say he is. At their meeting, the text says that she asks him all that was on her mind. This may have included riddles, those kind of IQ questions meant to prove someone’s intellect – or lack thereof. But nothing could stump Solomon or ruffle his feathers. It seems he gave all the right answers.
With that, the queen took a look around, and it was as others had told her. The food was delicious, his staff was top notch, his servants impressive, and all that surrounded them oozed success. Not only that, but the burnt offerings that Solomon offered at God’s newly constructed house just doubly proved that he was blessed beyond measure. In fact, the text says it literally took her breath away! She had nothing left to say except, wow! What I heard about you – those reports I thought couldn’t be true – well, they weren’t. They paled in comparison to the reality I see before me. Then she began to sound a bit fanatical – and a little tone deaf, fawning over Solomon. “Boy, you wives must be lucky! So also your servants who get to hear daily your wisdom! And all because the Lord loves Israel.” It almost sounds like she is saying, boy, isn’t Israel and their God so lucky to have you!
After all this fawning, Queen Sheba and King Solomon finalize their treaty by trading incredible gifts that only the 1 percent of the 1 percent could dream of: vast amounts of gold, precious stones, and such quantities of spice that would never again be seen in all of Israel. For his part, Solomon gives the queen every desire of her heart. Such open-ended generosity leaves it completely to our imaginations what that possibly could include.
By all accounts, Solomon was impressive. To call Solomon a success would certainly be an understatement. That such a character is found in the Bible, and credited with much of the wisdom literature within its pages begs the question we all ask from time to time – especially during the first half of our life: What is the secret of success? How can we get but just a taste of such a life? That Solomon’s success was credited with God’s blessings just underscores one popular idea that devotion, or the lack of devotion to God, is the key to a person’s success or failure.
But if we assume this to be true, what about the many stories of Biblical heroes and modern-day saints that have followed in the way of God and suffered for it? Could it then also be possible that we are reading society’s values back into the scripture? Assuming that wealth, influence, power, and wisdom please God? Is this true? Is this what God found most important from the leader of his chosen people Israel? But if not, what shape do rewards from God take? Perhaps taking a closer look at the circumstances around Solomon’s quick rise to power may help take a simple correlation, that wealth and power equals God’s blessing, and add a little nuance – like the kind of nuance that confronts our day to day living.
Solomon’s rise only comes after attempts by two of David’s sons to seize the throne prematurely. We learned about Absolom’s attempt and failure last week. But another half-brother, Adonijah, who is next in line to the throne, also sought to rally much of the royal court to his side unbeknownst to an ailing king David. He appears very much in the mold of Absolom, regarded as handsome, having been spoiled by his father David his whole life, and like Absolom, made a big splash of his campaign by sending out the chariots, horses, and fifty men to run ahead of him as he made his way through Jerusalem.
In calling together military generals, bureaucratic officials, and the high priest, Adonijah holds a great coronation feast. But he intentionally leaves the prophet Nathan, the priest Zadok, Benaiah, a key military leader, Solomon, and his mother Bathsheba off the invitation list. At the behest of Nathan, Bathsheba brings the surprise coronation to David’s attention, planting in his mind an alleged promise not mentioned earlier in the Biblical narrative. Nathan urges Bathsheba to remind David that he promised Bathsheba at the birth of Solomon, that one day her son Solomon would sit in David’s place on the throne of Israel.
Hearing that another coup is afoot, David becomes sympathetic to the pleas of Bathsheba, which is quickly corroborated by Nathan. David orders those who have remined loyal to him to make a very public announcement anointing Solomon king of Israel, allowing Solomon to ride David’s royal mule and sit on David’s throne, all while blowing horns and shouting Long live King Solomon! Once word gets to Adonijah, his coronation party fleas in fear and Adonijah runs to the alter of the Lord, seeking mercy from the newly crowned king. In other words, Nathan and Bathsheba, on behalf of Solomon, out maneuver Adonijah.
What follows is a lot of palace intrigue and a little revenge enacted upon those who were not loyal to David. But before he dies, David charges Solomon with instructions as Israel’s new king. In 1 Kings chapter 2 he says:
“Be strong and courageous and keep charge of the Lord your God, walking in his ways and keeping his statutes, his commandments, his ordinances, and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, so that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn. Then the Lord will establish his word that he spoke concerning me: ‘If your heirs take heed to their way, to walk before me in faithfulness with all their heart and with all their soul, there shall not fail you a successor on the throne of Israel.’”
This charge to Solomon is a summation of much of the wisdom of the Torah, that special agreement God made with Moses on behalf of Israel. It’s a kind of theological summary of Israel’s purpose. In fact, this kind of language is used repeatedly as Solomon consolidates his rule, builds the temple, and expands his power. It takes its que from the book of Deuteronomy as Moses encourages Israel in Deuteronomy 4 to “seek the Lord your God, and you will find him if you search after him with all your heart and soul.”
This charge is repeated by God to Solomon upon granting Solomon’s request for wisdom, again by God, as Solomon seeks to build the temple, and a third time by God after Solomon has dedicated the temple to God. The repetition of this command makes it clear what is most important to God and how the people of Israel are to understand a successful, rewarding life. Success does not come from going it alone and building your own fame through strategic alliances that view others only for what they have to offer. The Torah stresses that life is created to be very good, but the good life can only be fully understood through trusting your whole life to God. All our other relationships are based on how we view and relate to God – whether we understand God as a granter of wishes or as a steadfast presence in times of joy and trouble. So, will we view other people, cultures, and nations, with suspicion, with cynicism, or with graciousness?
But seeking God is not the only instructions David offers. As soon as the theological rationale is covered, a practical one is mentioned too. David reminds Solomon, “Don’t You remember what Joab did – how he dealt with two commanders of the armies of Israel, murdering them during a time of peace. You will do well to keep an eye on him. Use your wisdom, but do not let him reach old age in peace. And Shimei, the Benjaminite who cursed me when I was fleeing Jerusalem during Absalom’s revolt, the one I swore I would not put to death – now that you are the king, don’t consider him guiltless. Do what you what you deem best, because you are a wise man.”
These surprising instructions reflect a tension between David’s commitment to God and the political reality that there are people around every corner ready to take advantage of any slip up or weakness they perceive. Such a political reality, common sense teaches, requires a shrewdness in order to consolidate and maintain power.
With the reality of competition all around, it is no surprise that once David dies, Solomon chooses to act shrewdly, eliminating his internal enemies and making alliances with possible threats from the outside. He marries Pharaoh’s daughter as a type of bargaining chip while he builds his own type of Egyptian-like empire, his own royal palace, a temple to the Lord, and the wall around Jerusalem. He not only supports but actively offers sacrifices at shrines around Jerusalem called high places. Israel’s God was often worshiped at these high places prior to the completion of the temple, but so were other gods, possibly those of his eventual 1,000 foreign wives to whom he is credited as loving. So, at the outset of Solomon’s storied reign, we see he also utilizes violence to secure his rule and compromises God’s commandments, statutes, and ordinances in his marriage to foreign wives and in the worship of foreign gods.
And it was at one of the principal high places in Gibeon, where Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings to God, that the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream and said, “ask me for something – what should I give you?” And it is there that Solomon showers God with complements of God’s faithfulness to his father, David, and recalls how God has kept the promise to place David’s son on his throne. And then what does Solomon ask for from God but wisdom – literally a listening heart. The kind that allows him to discern between good and evil – for he says “I am just a child, and I do not yet know how to go out and come in.” And this pleased the Lord, so much so that the Lord not only granted him a listening heart but also the wealth and long life that no one would have blamed him for asking. In fact, God says that no other king will compare with Solomon and his life will be long, if he will only keep God’s statutes and walk in God’s ways. If he only had.
By many standards, Solomon had a fabulous life. And according to 1 Kings, he earnestly loved and desired to walk with the Lord. But by the end of Solomon’s life, the enemies he anxiously sought to contain and the legacy that he desired to leave crumbled as he tried to both walk closely with the Lord while also walking with the ways of the rival nations that surrounded him. His success impressed the queen of Sheba but broke the heart of the Lord.
Solomon’s dilemma is our dilemma, too. His desire for wisdom reminds me of two significant points in the biblical story where a quest for wisdom could also be compromised by a quest for security. Perhaps where security is confused with wisdom. At the very beginning, Adam and Eve represent the kind of relationship God intends between humanity and God. They walk with God without anything being hidden. But the one thing they cannot possess, the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, leads them to a cunning alliance with a serpent who convinces them that perhaps God isn’t so trustworthy. So, they seize on the fruit and in doing so discover that in fact God is good and their evil actions have broken their trust in God’s goodness. Theologian Jurgen Moltmann said that as creatures bearing God’s image, Adam and Eve’s sin, and ours too, happens when we take our gaze off God and place it on something else that cannot bear its weight. Our desire for greatness on our own terms leads to destruction.
But there was another man whom God called his beloved child, in whom God was well pleased. Following his baptism, Jesus went into the wilderness to face a prolonged period of testing. As God’s beloved son, Jesus was preparing to face the very temptations that we often deal with and succumb to. Henri Nowen, in his short book, In the Name of Jesus, labels these as the temptation to be relevant, the temptation to be spectacular, and the temptation to be powerful. Each of these temptations take our focus away from God and place them on we, who cannot bear our own expectations.
But in the wilderness, Jesus came face to face with every kind of human desire to make of ourselves more than we can bear. Any of the wilderness temptations were within Jesus’ realm of possibility. Imagine how simple it would have been to make bread out of stones or to use his divinity to become a powerful leader in the mold of Solomon. These temptations were not abstractions to him any more than we face temptations to exaggerate a job application, to take credit for someone else’s work, or disparage a coworker in the hopes we will receive the promotion instead. But rather than giving in to be more than God asked of him, Jesus gains wisdom from these experiences allowing them to carry him through his ministry.
The wilderness was not the last time Jesus would face temptation. As the crowds began to swell at every miracle, even centurions sought his healing power and priests sought his wisdom under the cloak of night. Imagine how easy it would have been to use divine power in the face of the temple authorities and the Roman authorities. Jesus could have created a show of power and authority to remove all doubt as to who he really was. And had it come to it, he still could have saved himself from the humiliation and pain of the cruel roman cross. But then who would have Jesus been to you and me other than another name in the annals of powerful royals who led through fear and might and exploitation? Instead, Jesus is alive today and relevant to each of us because rather than prove himself fit according to the values of human power and prestige, Jesus kept his trust and gaze on his father, suffering at the hands of unjust leaders, exposing the limit of their power and the shallowness of their wisdom through an empty tomb.
What is wisdom? Proverbs 1:7, credited to Solomon says, “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom.” Not a fear that calls into question our security before God but instead a proper relationship motivated by humble gratitude. The prideful boast of their bootstraps while the humble give thanks for the times that when they most needed it, God placed someone in their paths to pick them up and help them find their way again.
God asked of Solomon and asks each of us for our all. Can we rely completely and totally on God, or like Solomon, do we need to hedge our bets? The more responsibility we attain, the more wealth we acquire, and the more people who count on us, the choice between complete trust in the Lord and taking control of our own destiny isn’t as simple and neat as the promise sounded on the day we made it.
So, while I am sure we will continue to navigate our desire to be relevant, spectacular, and powerful, it is the name and person of Jesus who stands as the example and guide against these temptations. It’s Jesus’ path, though narrow and demanding at first glance, where we will find wisdom which leads to a full life.
