What man, if his wife were to abandon him for another lover, would not only forgive her, but invite her back home to live with him?

 

What man, if his wife were to abandon him for another lover, would not only forgive her, but invite her back home to live with him?

Hosea was a prophet sent to Israel to demonstrate both how greatly God loves his people and how God’s people do not reciprocate this love.  2,800 years ago, in the 8th century BC, Hosea acts out God’s love for his people by marrying an adulterous woman named Gomer.

The Book of Hosea starts off very directly:

When the Lord began to speak through Hosea, the Lord said to him,

“Go, marry a promiscuous woman and have children with her, for like an adulterous wife this land is guilty of unfaithfulness to the Lord.”

So he married Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.

 

Then the Lord said to Hosea,

“Call him Jezreel, because I will soon punish the house of Jehu for the massacre at Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of Israel.

In that day I will break Israel’s bow in the Valley of Jezreel.”

Gomer conceived again and gave birth to a daughter.

Then the Lord said to Hosea,

“Call her Lo-Ruhamah (which means “not loved”), for I will no longer show love to Israel, that I should at all forgive them.

Yet I will show love to Judah;

and I will save them—

not by bow, sword or battle, or by horses and horsemen,

but I, the Lord their God, will save them.”

After she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah, Gomer had another son.

Then the Lord said,

“Call him Lo-Ammi (which means “not my people”), for you are not my people, and I am not your God.  (Hos 1:1-9) 

Hosea’s wife Gomer then abandons him, necessitating action on the part of her husband Hosea: 

The Lord said to me,

“Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another man and is an adulteress.  Love her as the Lord loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes.” 

So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and about a homer and a lethek of barley. Then I told her, “You are to live with me many days; you must not be a prostitute or be intimate with any man, and I will behave the same way toward you.” (Hos 3:1-3) 

The adulterous Gomer had forgotten her husband Hosea as the children of Israel had forgotten God (Hos 2:13).  However, Hosea had not forgotten his wife Gomer, and God had not forgotten the children of Israel. 

God is so longsuffering and merciful, gracious and compassionate that even when His people commit adultery against him by worshipping other gods and making idols and worshipping Him in a way He did not command, He does not divorce them. 

The failure of the children of Israel to worship God did not just demonstrate itself in false worship, but in other sins including cursing, lying, murder, stealing, adultery, deceit, theft, corruption, and fraud (Hos 4:1-2, 7:1, 9:9, 12:7). 

The proper response to Hosea was to plead guilty, but that response was not forthcoming. We are often not humble enough to accept negative feedback from anyone, let alone from God who is holy, perfect and without sin.  Half a century after Hosea’s ministry, the King of Assyria came and exiled the children of Israel forever, giving rise to the legend of the Ten Lost Tribes.

Even though most of us aren’t descendants of Israel and therefore God’s covenant with Israel may not apply to us, we can still apply Hosea to our own lives by realizing that by sinning we do not follow God’s laws and we are rebels against God and therefore deserving of judgement.  However, God can be longsuffering and merciful and gracious and compassionate to us as Hosea was with his wife Gomer.

800 years after Hosea, a common complaint lodged by the religious authorities against Jesus Christ was, “Jesus, why are you hanging out with all these prostitutes and tax collectors?  What’s wrong with you?” 

Jesus Christ answered by citing Hosea: 

“It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
(Mt 9:12b-13, cf. Hos 6:6) 

Also 800 years after Hosea, the apostle Paul, in his first letter to the church at Corinth, cites Hosea as further support that at death the adherents in Corinth will not face annihilation or go down to the grave.  Paul cites: 

“I will deliver this people from the power of the grave;

    I will redeem them from death.

Where, O death, are your plagues?

Where, O grave, is your destruction?

(Hos 13:14, cf. 1 Cor 15.55)

The book of Hosea ends with the following statement: 

Who is wise? Let them realize these things.

    Who is discerning? Let them understand.

The ways of the Lord are right;

    the righteous walk in them,

    but the rebellious stumble in them. (Hos 14:9)

The Day the King of Israel Built a Berlin Wall

Fifty years ago, in 1961, the Berlin Wall was constructed by communists to prevent people from fleeing from East Germany to the West.  It represents the Iron Curtain that separated Western Europe from the Eastern bloc during the Cold War.

In a similar fashion, 2,900 years ago in the 9th century BC, King Baasha of Israel built the original Berlin Wall in Ramah, five miles north of Jerusalem, to keep the people from going to Jerusalem in Judah.

In the case of Israel, Baasha had become king by killing King Nadab of Israel and all of his relatives.  The Bible recounts that he did evil in the eyes of the Lord.

In the case of Judah, or Southern Israel, Asa had become King by being descended from King David and inheriting the kingship peacefully after his father King Abijah died.  In general, King Asa did what was right in the eyes of the Lord.

The book of Kings recounts King Baasha’s building of the original Berlin Wall:

There was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel throughout their reigns. Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah and fortified Ramah to prevent anyone from leaving or entering the territory of Asa king of Judah.  (1 Kgs 15:16-17)

It was wrong for King Baasha to prevent anyone from leaving or entering the territory of Asa King of Judah.  It was imperative for the children of Israel to go to Jerusalem because there was a temple in Jerusalem – Solomon’s Temple.  The children of Israel, whether they lived in Israel or in Judah, had entered into a covenant with God that involved worshipping God at the place where God had placed His name: the Temple in Jerusalem. 

One of the repetitive sins of the children of Israel documented in the books of Kings, Chronicles and the Prophets, was that they offered up sacrifices upon every high hill and under every leafy tree rather than at the Temple in Jerusalem.

The book of Kings documents King Asa of Judah’s reaction to King Baasha of Israel’s building of the Berlin Wall:

Asa then took all the silver and gold that was left in the treasuries of the Lord’s temple and of his own palace. He entrusted it to his officials and sent them to Ben-Hadad son of Tabrimmon, the son of Hezion, the king of Aram, who was ruling in Damascus. “Let there be a treaty between me and you,” he said, “as there was between my father and your father. See, I am sending you a gift of silver and gold. Now break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel so he will withdraw from me.”

Ben-Hadad agreed with King Asa and sent the commanders of his forces against the towns of Israel. He conquered Ijon, Dan, Abel Beth Maakah and all Kinnereth in addition to Naphtali. When Baasha heard this, he stopped building Ramah and withdrew to Tirzah. Then King Asa issued an order to all Judah—no one was exempt—and they carried away from Ramah the stones and timber Baasha had been using there. With them King Asa built up Geba in Benjamin, and also Mizpah. (1 Kgs 15:18-22)

It was good for King Asa of Judah to destroy the Berlin Wall but he did it the wrong way – by paying off a foreign power rather than relying on God.  While evil King Baasha had built the Berlin Wall, omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent God had not done anything to remove it.

The Book of Chronicles documents:

At that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him: “Because you relied on the king of Aram and not on the Lord your God, the army of the king of Aram has escaped from your hand. Were not the Cushites and Libyans a mighty army with great numbers of chariots and horsemen? Yet when you relied on the Lord, he delivered them into your hand. For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. You have done a foolish thing, and from now on you will be at war.” (2 Chr 16:7-9)

Asa then compounds his sin by throwing the messenger in prison, a common response in the Bible when prophets confront people with the reality of their mistakes, their sins, and their evil acts.

The book of Chronicles documents:

Asa was angry with the seer because of this; he was so enraged that he put him in prison. At the same time Asa brutally oppressed some of the people. (2 Chr 16:10)

Before the Berlin Wall episode, King Asa was a good King.  He led Judah in entering into a covenant to seek the Lord, the God of their ancestors, with all their heart and soul.

The book of Kings and Chronicles documents many of Asa’s good works before he hired the King of Aram to destroy the Berlin Wall:

Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God. He removed the foreign altars and the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. He commanded Judah to seek the Lord, the God of their ancestors, and to obey his laws and commands. He removed the high places and incense altars in every town in Judah, and the kingdom was at peace under him. He built up the fortified cities of Judah, since the land was at peace. No one was at war with him during those years, for the Lord gave him rest. (2 Chr 14:2-6)

But King Asa’s reign ended badly.  He was diseased in his feet and instead of seeking God he relied solely on physicians, just as he had not sought God during the Berlin Wall episode.

Sometimes God permits Berlin Walls to be built by evil people, and sometimes it’s up to us to wait on God to remove the Berlin Walls in His own time.

God's Humourous Speech

I recently entered a humourous speech competition.  To be honest with you, I didn’t have the time to write a humourous speech because I was too busy praying to win the contest.

So here is the humourous speech I prepared from God!

And we begin in the Book of Genesis, Chapter 38:

At that time, Judah left his brothers and went down to stay with a man of Adullam named Hirah.  There Judah met the daughter of a Canaanite man named Shua.  He married her and made love to her; she became pregnant and gave birth to a son, who was named Er.  She conceived again and gave birth to a son and named him Onan.  She gave birth to still another son and named him Shelah.  It was at Kezib that she gave birth to him.

Judah got a wife for Er, his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the Lord’s sight; so the Lord put him to death.

Then Judah said to Onan, “Sleep with your brother’s wife and fulfill your duty to her as a brother-in-law to raise up offspring for your brother.”  But Onan knew that the child would not be his; so whenever he slept with his brother’s wife, he spilled his seed on the ground to keep from providing offspring for his brother.  What he did was wicked in the Lord’s sight; so the Lord put him to death also.

Judah then said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Live as a widow in your father’s household until my son Shelah grows up.”  For he thought, “He may die too, just like his brothers.”  So Tamar went to live in her father’s household.

After a long time Judah’s wife, the daughter of Shua, died.  When Judah had recovered from his grief, he went up to Timnah, to the men who were shearing his sheep, and his friend Hirah the Adullamite went with him.

When Tamar was told, “Your father-in-law is on his way to Timnah to shear his sheep,” she took off her widow’s clothes, covered herself with a veil to disguise herself, and then sat down at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah.  For she saw that, though Shelah had now grown up, she had not been given to him as his wife.

When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute, for she had covered her face.  Not realizing that she was his daughter-in-law, he went over to her by the roadside and said, “Come now, let me sleep with you.”

“And what will you give me to sleep with you?” she asked.

“I’ll send you a young goat from my flock,” he said.

“Will you give me something as a pledge until you send it?” she

asked.

He said, “What pledge should I give you?”

“Your seal and its cord, and the staff in your hand,” she answered.

So he gave them to her and slept with her, and she became pregnant by him.  After she left, she took off her veil and put on her widow’s clothes again.

Meanwhile Judah sent the young goat by his friend the Adullamite in order to get his pledge back from the woman, but he did not find her.  He asked the men who lived there, “Where is the shrine prostitute who was beside the road at Enaim?”

“There hasn’t been any shrine prostitute here,” they said.

So he went back to Judah and said, “I didn’t find her. Besides, the men who lived there said, ‘There hasn’t been any shrine prostitute here.’”

Then Judah said, “Let her keep what she has, or we will become a laughingstock.  After all, I did send her this young goat, but you didn’t find her.”

About three months later Judah was told, “Your daughter-in-law Tamar is guilty of prostitution, and as a result she is now pregnant.”

Judah said, “Bring her out and have her burned to death!”

As she was being brought out, she sent a message to her father-in-law.  “I am pregnant by the man who owns these,” she said.  And she added, “See if you recognize whose seal and cord and staff these are.”

Judah recognized them and said, “She is more righteous than I, since I wouldn’t give her to my son Shelah.” And he did not sleep with her again.

There’s a happy ending to God’s humorous speech.

The Book of Ruth documents the life of Ruth who was a Moabite, a woman whose people were banned from the assembly of God to the tenth generation because they were enemies of Israel (Deut 23:3).  Like Tamar, she married a descendent of Judah who died.

While Judah refuses to redeem the widowed Tamar by having her marry his third and only surviving son, hundreds of years later, Boaz, a descendent of Judah, does redeem Ruth the Moabite after she is widowed.  The redemption takes place in Bethlehem in Judah, where Jesus Christ would be born 1,000 years later.

The elders and the all the people of Bethlehem who witness Boaz redeeming Ruth testify, “Through the offspring the Lord gives you by this young woman, may your family be like that of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah.” (Ruth 4:12)

Even though Judah had lain with his widowed daughter in law Tamar thinking she was a prostitute, God had blessed this immoral and sinful union with Perez.

And from Perez, hundreds of years later came Boaz who redeemed Ruth,

and from Boaz and Ruth came Obed,
and from Obed came King David,
and from all of these, came Jesus Christ the redeemer,
the son of David, the son of Judah, the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Adam, the son of God.

May we all share Ruth the Moabite’s confession to her mother-in-law after she was widowed:

“Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay.  Your people will be my people and your God my God.” (Ruth 1:16)

God’s humorous speech as documented in the Book of Genesis, Chapter 38.

I lost the contest.

Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you

The Book of Exodus states the Fifth Commandment as:

“Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.” (Ex 20:12)

The Book of Deuteronomy states the Fifth Commandments as:

“Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live long and that it may go well with you in the land the Lord your God is giving you.” (Deut 5:16)

And yet many people today believe that instead of children being accountable to their parents, that parents are accountable to their children.  After all, we have Children’s Aid Societies and not Parents’ Aid Societies.  We have Child Protection Acts and not Parent Protection Acts.  Regrettably, some children are neglected, physically abused, sexually abused, and even murdered.

I came across a 2003 University of Western Ontario report entitled Child Protection Legislation in Ontario: Past, Present and Future?  Its abstract reads, “Ontario has undergone significant shifts in child welfare policy emphasizing different approaches toward promoting the safety and welfare for children.  This article examines shifts in child welfare policy over the past 200 hundred years and the manner in which these shifts reflect changing views of children, of family as a social unit and of society.”

Rest assured that the Bible was nowhere on the list of the report’s references.  We seem to be moving to a society in which parents honour their children rather than one in which children honour their parents.  And the statistics in the report show an increasing number of children in the care of the Children’s Aid Society.

When God revealed the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai, honour your father and your mother was the fifth commandment.  Honour your father and your mother comes after the four commandments to honour God and before the commandments to not murder and not commit adultery.

Failing to honour your father and your mother was a serious offence in the theocracy of Ancient Israel.  If you stole money from someone, your could repay four or five times what you stole.  If you testified falsely against someone in court, you could serve the sentence intended for the falsely accused.  But if you failed to honour your father and your mother, the penalty was death.

Imagine you had a Get Out of Jail Free Card – or in the case of Ancient Israel, a Get Out of Stoning Free Card – you could take your pick: you could either murder, commit adultery, or fail to honour your father or your mother.

The Book of Exodus provides specific penalties for failing to honour one’s father and mother:

“Anyone who attacks their father or mother is to be put to death.”

(Ex 21:15)

“Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.”

(Ex 21:17)

The Book of Leviticus gives additional information on this commandment:

Positively:

“Each of you must respect your mother and father, and you must observe my Sabbaths. I am the Lord your God.” (Lev 19:3)

And negatively:

“Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.  Because they have cursed their father or mother, their blood will be on their own head.” (Lev 20:9)

Just after Israel crossed the Jordan into the Promised Land, the children of Israel repeated ten curses upon those who violate the Law.  The second curse, right after the curse upon anyone setting up an idol, was:

“Cursed is anyone who dishonors their father or mother.”

(Deut 27:16a)

The Book of Deuteronomy probably provides the most frightening example of what happens to someone who does not obey his father and mother within the theocracy of Ancient Israel.  It reads:

If someone has a stubborn and rebellious son who does not obey his father and mother and will not listen to them when they discipline him, his father and mother shall take hold of him and bring him to the elders at the gate of his town.  They shall say to the elders, “This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious.  He will not obey us. He is a glutton and a drunkard.”  Then all the men of his town are to stone him to death.  You must purge the evil from among you.  All Israel will hear of it and be afraid. (Deut 21:18-21)

The Book of Proverbs, written 500 years after the revelation of the Law, adds:

“If someone curses their father or mother,

their lamp will be snuffed out in pitch darkness.” (Prov 20:20)

1,500 years after the revelation of the Law, the Apostle Paul, who was a Jewish Christian, told non-Jewish Gentile Christians:

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.

“Honor your father and mother”— which is the first commandment with a promise— “so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.” (Eph 6:1-3); and,

Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the

Lord.  (Col 3:20)

Because people are always inventing reasons and excuses to avoid following God’s commandments, Jesus Christ criticized people who had invented ceremonies and traditions to prevent the honouring of father and mother.  Jesus says:

“You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions!  For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and, ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’  But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is Corban (that is, devoted to God) — then you no longer let them do anything for their father or mother. (Mk 7:9-12, cf. Mt 15:3-8)

 
This thing is certain – honour your father and mother.

If God Can Humble Nebuchadnezzar, God Can Humble Anybody

Many people have heard of Nebuchadnezzar, the famous King of the Babylonian Empire that ruled the world in 600 BC.  Nebuchadnezzar is famous for his Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

Saddam Hussein is rumoured to have considered himself to be a reincarnation of Nebuchadnezzar.  He had the inscription “To King Nebuchadnezzar in the reign of Saddam Hussein” inscribed on the bricks of his reconstruction of the ancient city of Babylon in Iraq, and named one of his Republican Guard divisions after him.

Nebuchadnezzar is also one of the most infamous characters in the Old Testament because of his role in destroying Jerusalem and the Temple and taking the Jews out of Judah and out of Jerusalem hundreds of miles away to Babylon for a 70 year captivity.

Nebuchadnezzar figures prominently in the Book of Daniel.  Daniel was one of the Jewish youths who was caught up in the exile to Babylon.  His captors rename him Belteshazzar, after the name of the god of Babylon, Bel.

After defeating Jerusalem, Nebuchadnezzar has a dream one night, and when his magicians, enchanters, sorcerers and astrologers can’t correctly interpret it, he orders the execution of all of Babylon’s wise men.

After Daniel saves the day by correctly interpreting Nebuchadnezzar’s dream:

… King Nebuchadnezzar (falls) prostrate before Daniel and (pays) him honor and (orders) that an offering and incense be presented to him.  The king (says) to Daniel, “Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, for you were able to reveal this mystery.” (Dan 2:46-47)

Later on, Nebuchadnezzar makes a gigantic gold statue and orders everybody to fall down and worship it or die.  When three Jews, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, refuse to worship the image, they are thrown into a furnace of fire.  When they miraculously survive, Nebuchadnezzar confesses:

“Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants!  They trusted in him and defied the king’s command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God.  Therefore I decree that the people of any nation or language who say anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego be cut into pieces and their houses be turned into piles of rubble, for no other god can save in this way.” (Dan 3:28-29)

After Daniel correctly interprets another dream of Nebuchadnezzar when, once again, the magicians, enchanters, astrologers and diviners cannot interpret it, Nebuchadnezzar confesses to everybody in his empire:

It is my pleasure to tell you about the miraculous signs and wonders that the Most High God has performed for me.

How great are his signs,

how mighty his wonders!

His kingdom is an eternal kingdom;

his dominion endures from generation to generation. (Dan 4:2-3)

Nebuchadnezzar eventually becomes so powerful that his heart becomes arrogant and hardened with pride (Dan 5:20).  God decides to greatly humble Nebuchadnezzar by driving him to insanity and taking away his kingdom for seven years.

Daniel explains that:

… he was deposed from his royal throne and stripped of his glory.

He was driven away from people and given the mind of an animal;

he lived with the wild donkeys and ate grass like the ox;

and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven,

his hair grew like the feathers of an eagle and his nails like the

claws of a bird.  until he acknowledged that the Most High God is

sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and sets over them anyone

he wishes.

(Dan 4:33b, 5:20-21)

After God restores Nebuchadnezzar’s sanity and his throne, Nebuchadnezzar says:

I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity

was restored. Then I praised the Most High; I honored and

glorified him who lives forever.

His dominion is an eternal dominion;

his kingdom endures from generation

to generation.

All the peoples of the earth

are regarded as nothing.

He does as he pleases

with the powers of heaven

and the peoples of the earth.

No one can hold back his hand

or say to him: “What have you done?”

Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just.  And those who walk in pride he is able to humble. (Dan 4:34, 35, 37, 5:20-21)

Before Nebuchadnezzar, the last guy who attempted to destroy Jerusalem was King Sennacherib of Assyria.  He came up against Jerusalem in 700 BC, but God killed off 185,000 of his troops.  King Sennacherib then went home to the temple of his god Nisrok and two of his sons murdered him.  In contrast, one hundred years later in 600 BC, Nebuchadnezzar does succeed in destroying Jerusalem and the Temple; and yet God reveals Himself to him.  In bringing Nebuchadnezzar to repentance, God was very merciful to him.

We Can Learn From King Solomon

We have a lot to learn from King Solomon who lived 3,000 years ago – the greatest human king who ever lived. 

The Book of Kings recounts how great life was under King Solomon:

The people of Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand on the seashore; they ate, they drank and they were happy.  And Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates River to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt.  These countries brought tribute and were Solomon’s subjects all his life.

(1 Kings, chapter 4, verses 20-21)

The Book of Kings continues:

During Solomon’s lifetime Judah and Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, lived in safety, everyone under their own vine and under their own fig tree.  Solomon accumulated chariots and horses; he had fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand horses, which he kept in the chariot cities and also with him in Jerusalem.  The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar as plentiful as sycamore-fig trees in the foothills.

(1 Kings, chapter 4, verse 25, and 1 Kings chapter 10, verses 26-27)

God gave Solomon wisdom and very great insight, and a breadth of understanding as measureless as the sand on the seashore.

Solomon’s wisdom was greater than the wisdom of all the people of the East, and greater than all the wisdom of Egypt.

And his fame spread to all the surrounding nations. 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.

(1 Kings, chapter 4, verses 29-30, 31b, 34)

The Book of Chronicles also describes King Solomon’s reign:

Solomon son of David established himself firmly over his kingdom, for the Lord his God was with him and made him exceedingly great.

(2 Chronicles, chapter 1, verse 1)

King Solomon was greater in riches and wisdom than all the other kings of the earth.

(2 Chronicles, chapter 9, verse 22)

Solomon spent seven years building the Temple in Jerusalem and 13 years building an ornate palace for himself.

The Queen of Sheba visited Solomon and testified of his greatness.

The Book of Kings recounts:

When the queen of Sheba heard about the fame of Solomon and his relationship to the Lord, she came to test Solomon with hard questions.  Solomon answered all her questions; nothing was too hard for the king to explain to her.  When the queen of Sheba saw all the wisdom of Solomon and the palace he had built, the food on his table, the seating of his officials, the attending servants in their robes, his cupbearers, and the burnt offerings he made at the temple of the Lord, she was overwhelmed.

She said to the king,

“The report I heard in my own country about your achievements and your wisdom is true. But I did not believe these things until I came and saw with my own eyes. Indeed, not even half was told me; in wisdom and wealth you have far exceeded the report I heard.  How happy your people must be!  How happy your officials, who continually stand before you and hear your wisdom!  Praise be to the Lord your God, who has delighted in you and placed you on the throne of Israel.  Because of the Lord’s eternal love for Israel, he has made you king to maintain justice and righteousness.”

(1 Kings, chapter 1, verses 1 and 3-9)

1,000 years after Solomon lived, and 600 years after Solomon’s Temple was destroyed by the Babylonians, Jesus Christ comes on the scene.  Unlike Solomon, Jesus did not live in a palace – he did not even own a hut or a tent.  Solomon’s fame was so great in Jesus’ time that He referred to the Queen of Sheba’s visit to Solomon in His condemnation of the people of His day:

“The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, and now something greater than Solomon is here.”

(Gospel of Matthew, chapter 12, verse 42 and Gospel of Luke, chapter 11, verse 31)

However, Solomon’s greatness and his wisdom are not the end of the story.  For King Solomon had a downfall.

The Book of Kings recounts:

King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh’s daughter—Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites.  They were from nations about which the Lord had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.”  Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love.  He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray.

As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been.  He followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molek the detestable god of the Ammonites.  So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the Lord; he did not follow the Lord completely, as David his father had done.

The Lord became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice.  Although he had forbidden Solomon to follow other gods, Solomon did not keep the Lord’s command. So the Lord said to Solomon, “Since this is your attitude and you have not kept my covenant and my decrees, which I commanded you, I will most certainly tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your subordinates.

(1 Kings, chapter 11, verses 1 to 6)

And God raised up adversaries against Solomon.

What can we learn from King Solomon and all the wisdom that God gave him?

The Book of Proverbs, written by Solomon, documents:

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

(Book of Proverbs, chapter 1, verse 7)

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

(Book of Proverbs, chapter 9, verse 10)

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;

(Book of Proverbs, chapter 3, verse 5)

The Book of Ecclesiastes, written by Solomon, advises:

“Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher.

“Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.”

What do people gain from all their labors at which they toil under the sun?

Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever.

(Ecclesiastes chapter 1, verses 2-4)

I (Solomon) undertook great projects:

I built houses for myself and planted vineyards.

I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them.

I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees.

I bought male and female slaves and had other slaves who were born in my house.
I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me.

I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces.

I acquired male and female singers, and a harem as well—

the delights of a man’s heart.

I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me.

In all this my wisdom stayed with me.

I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure.

My heart took delight in all my labor, and this was the reward for all my toil.

 

Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve,

everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.  So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me.  All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.

(Book of Ecclesiastes, chapter 2, verses 4-11 and 17)

Surely the fate of human beings is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both:

As one dies, so dies the other.

All have the same breath;

humans have no advantage over animals.

Everything is meaningless.

All go to the same place;

all come from dust,

and to dust all return.

(Book of Ecclesiastes, chapter 3, verses 19 to 20)

Everyone comes naked from their mother’s womb,

and as everyone comes, so they depart.

They take nothing from their toil that they can carry in their hands.

Indeed, there is no one on earth who is righteous,

no one who does what is right and never sins.

God created mankind upright, but they have gone in search of many schemes.”

(Book of Ecclesiastes, chapter 5, verse 15 and chapter 7, verses 20 and 29)

“Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher.

“Everything is meaningless!”

Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter:

Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind.

For God will bring every deed into judgment,

including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.

(Book of Ecclesiastes, chapter 12, verses 8, 13, and 14)

We can learn from King Solomon. Don’t waste your life like he wasted his.