At the end of the previous study we read ‘The kingdom was now firmly established in Solomon’s hands.’ (1 Kings 2:46) So, without looking, what do we expect to see recorded of him as we start the next chapter?
Well, its probably not what we expected – so we will need to unpick the first three verses first!
Read 1 Kings 3:1-3
1 Solomon made an alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt and married his daughter. He brought her to the City of David until he finished building his palace and the temple of the Lord, and the wall around Jerusalem. 2 The people, however, were still sacrificing at the high places, because a temple had not yet been built for the Name of the Lord. 3 Solomon showed his love for the Lord by walking according to the instructions given him by his father David, except that he offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places.
I have to admit I was taken aback by the first phrase, especially as it is followed so quickly by the first part of verse 3. What is going on?
Previously I had thought that marrying foreign women was forbidden, but I soon found that actually it had always been considered acceptable practice (Genesis 41:45; Exodus 2:21; Numbers 12:1; Ruth 4:13; Matthew 1:5). It was only marriage with those from the Canaanite nations that were expressly prohibited (Exodus 34:11-16; Deuteronomy 7:3).
It is generally thought that the Egyptian 21st dynasty at that time was becoming weak, and Pharaoh was probably in need of assurance that powerful, successful Israel would not attack them! Some also think that Solomon’s new wife was probably happy to transfer her allegiance to the God of Israel. Also Solomon is not censured here for his choice, and she is not included with the wives of Solomon who led him astray in chapter 11.
(It is thought that Psalm 45 was written for Solomon’s wedding, and then used as a wedding song for future kings.)
But then we have verses 2 and 3. What can you tell me about ‘High Places’?
When the People of God entered Canaan they were instructed to ‘drive out all the inhabitants of the land before you. Destroy all their carved images and their cast idols, and demolish all their high places.’ (Numbers 33:52). As these sites had always been associated with the worship of gods like Asherah and Baal, they were to be totally destroyed.
During the period of the Judges, regular worship at the Tabernacle became less important. They even took the Ark of the Covenant, the supreme symbol of God’s presence, into battle against the Philistines in the mistaken belief that it would prove that God was fightimg on their side. The Philistines promptly captured it. When it was finally restored to Israel, they simply ‘put it in storage’. (1 Samuel 7:1)
But there were still priests and people who held firm to their belief in God, and who needed places locally where they could offer their sacrifices. It must have seemed sensible to them to reclaim some of these ‘high places’ for the worship of the True God, and they therefore built their own altars there.
At that time this practice was not condemned. When Saul was looking for lost donkeys and was looking for the prophet Samuel, he was told that Samuel was due to come to bless the sacrifice at the local High Place (1 Samuel 9:12-14).
Deuteronomy 12:2-12 contains specific instructions: v10 '. . . he will give you rest from all your enemies around you so that you will live in safety. 11 Then to the place the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for his Name . . .'. Only with the coming of Solomon was the land truly at peace, and God had revealed to David where his permanent Dwelling-place should be.
Once the Temple had been built, worship at these ‘High Places’ was discouraged.
However following the death of Solomon and the division of his kingdom into Israel in the north and Judah in the south, Jeroboam, the new king of Israel, did not want his people travelling to Jerusalem in order to worship at the Temple, so not only did he set up idols for the people to worship, but
1 Kings 13:33 has:
33 Even after this, Jeroboam did not change his evil ways, but once more appointed priests for the high places from all sorts of people. Anyone who wanted to become a priest he consecrated for the high places. 34 This was the sin of the house of Jeroboam that led to its downfall and to its destruction from the face of the earth.
It seems that all the kings that followed him followed his example, although by the time Ahab came to power, some of these altars had been reclaimed for the true worship of God. His wife Jezebel considered them such an affront to the pagan gods of Baal and Asherah, and she had them destroyed. It was one of these, on mount Carmel, that Elijah rebuilt and again used to sacrifice to the one true God (1 Kings 18:30-32).
The original instructions from God concerning where his people were to worship was very specific (Deuteronomy 12:2-11) although verses 14 and 21 may possibly have provided options for people who found that the Temple was ‘too far away’.
Returning to Solomon and our study, the writer of 1 Kings (who obviously already knew what he would have to write in chapter 11) , was not convinced that these practices were beneficial.
‘3 Solomon showed his love for the Lord by walking according to the instructions given him by his father David, except that he offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places.’
We can’t move on without picking up on yet another phrase, and this is at the start of verse 4.
But before we consider this, it is worth reading part of the charge that David gave Solomon:
1 Chronicles 28:4-9
4 ‘Yet the Lord, the God of Israel, chose me from my whole family to be king over Israel for ever. He chose Judah as leader, and from the tribe of Judah he chose my family, and from my father’s sons he was pleased to make me king over all Israel. 5 Of all my sons – and the Lord has given me many – he has chosen my son Solomon to sit on the throne of the kingdom of the Lord over Israel. 6 He said to me, “Solomon your son is the one who will build my house and my courts, for I have chosen him to be my son, and I will be his father. 7 I will establish his kingdom for ever if he is unswerving in carrying out my commands and laws, as is being done at this time.”
8 ‘So now I charge you in the sight of all Israel and of the assembly of the Lord, and in the hearing of our God: be careful to follow all the commands of the Lord your God, that you may possess this good land and pass it on as an inheritance to your descendants for ever.
9 ‘And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart and understands every desire and every thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you for ever.
David also said (verse 19)
19 ‘All this,’ David said, ‘I have in writing as a result of the Lord’s hand on me, and he enabled me to understand all the details of the plan.’
David enjoyed a close personal walk with the Lord. But was that true of Solomon? Often strong Christian parents despair that, although their children follow their examples, even attend church and observe its customs and practices – they don’t appear to have made a personal commitment to Jesus but rather seem to demonstrate a ‘second-hand’ faith.
God’s command to David, and David’s command to Solomon contained three ‘ifs’ – verses 7, and 9. Unfortunately events will show how important these were.
So now let’s continue our study –
Read 1 Kings 3:4-5
4 The king went to Gibeon to offer sacrifices, for that was the most important high place, and Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. 5 At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, ‘Ask for whatever you want me to give you.’
Why was Gibeon important? It was the current resting place for the Tabernacle and the bronze altar. (David had already moved the Ark of the Covenant to a tent in Jerusalem: 2 Samuel 6:12-17).
Not only was it an important place, Solomon’s actions were directly in accordance with God’s instructions to Moses in Leviticus 17:8-9
8 ‘Say to them: “Any Israelite or any foreigner residing among them who offers a burnt offering or sacrifice 9 and does not bring it to the entrance to the tent of meeting to sacrifice it to the Lord must be cut off from the people of Israel.
Whatever I may have suggested about Solomon, he was truly thankful to God. To provide a thousand burnt offerings was no small thing, and God always responds to every faltering step we make to approach him.
So now God spoke directly to Solomon, telling him he may ask whatever he wants!
Read 1 Kings 3:6-9
6 Solomon answered, ‘You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day.
7 ‘Now, 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. 8 Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. 9 So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?’
Here in England as I wrote this, we had just celebrated the Platinum Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II. On her 21st birthday she announced ‘I declare before you all that my whole life whether it be long or short shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong.’
I sense that the young King Solomon, also in his early 20s, had very similar intentions.
Read 1 Kings 3:10-15
10 The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. 11 So God said to him, ‘Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, 12 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. 13 Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for – both wealth and honour – so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings. 14 And if you walk in obedience to me and keep my decrees and commands as David your father did, I will give you a long life.’ 15 Then Solomon awoke – and he realised it had been a dream.
He returned to Jerusalem, stood before the ark of the Lord’s covenant and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. Then he gave a feast for all his court.
What a time of Pageant and Celebration, and at the heart of it, a new King intent on serving his nation and the God of his father David.
Immediately, Solomon was tested
Read 1 Kings 3:16-28
16 Now two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him. 17 One of them said, ‘Pardon me, my lord. This woman and I live in the same house. I had a baby while she was there with me. 18 The third day after my child was born, this woman also had a baby. We were alone; there was no one in the house but the two of us.
19 ‘During the night this woman’s son died because she lay on him. 20 So she got up in the middle of the night and took my son from my side while I your servant was asleep. She put him by her breast and put her dead son by my breast. 21 The next morning, I got up to nurse my son – and he was dead! But when I looked at him closely in the morning light, I saw that it wasn’t the son I had borne.’
22 The other woman said, ‘No! The living one is my son; the dead one is yours.’
But the first one insisted, ‘No! The dead one is yours; the living one is mine.’ And so they argued before the king.
23 The king said, ‘This one says, “My son is alive and your son is dead,” while that one says, “No! Your son is dead and mine is alive.”’
24 Then the king said, ‘Bring me a sword.’ So they brought a sword for the king. 25 He then gave an order: ‘Cut the living child in two and give half to one and half to the other.’
26 The woman whose son was alive was deeply moved out of love for her son and said to the king, ‘Please, my lord, give her the living baby! Don’t kill him!’
But the other said, ‘Neither I nor you shall have him. Cut him in two!’
27 Then the king gave his ruling: ‘Give the living baby to the first woman. Do not kill him; she is his mother.’
28 When all Israel heard the verdict the king had given, they held the king in awe, because they saw that he had wisdom from God to administer justice.
A simple, yet profound solution. (Some may question how it was that two prostitutes could have such easy access to the king – but at that time it was accepted practice to bring such difficult cases to the king for his decision.)
We’ll look at the first part of chapter 4 and Solomon’s officials next time, but for now :
Read 1 Kings 4:29-34
29 God gave Solomon wisdom and very great insight, and a breadth of understanding as measureless as the sand on the seashore. 30 Solomon’s wisdom was greater than the wisdom of all the people of the East, and greater than all the wisdom of Egypt. 31 He was wiser than anyone else, including Ethan the Ezrahite – wiser than Heman, Kalkol and Darda, the sons of Mahol. And his fame spread to all the surrounding nations.
32 He spoke three thousand proverbs and his songs numbered a thousand and five. 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. 34 From all nations people came to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, sent by all the kings of the world, who had heard of his wisdom.
How wonderful that the Creator himself gave Solomon 'wisdom and discernment' about his Creation, and what an encouraging start for Israel’s new king.
