The Other Shoe Drops

1 Kings 11

            The end of Solomon’s story narrates three sources of trouble: many, many foreign wives; foreign powers not completely subdued; and a threat from within Solomon’s own administration. Let’s take them in reverse order.

            Jeroboam is introduced as a talented young man, whom Solomon promoted rapidly. Unfortunately for Jeroboam, the Lord singled him out as the man who would tear a large part of the kingdom from David’s house. Solomon must have heard about the Lord’s promise and he tried to kill Jeroboam, who escaped to Egypt. In a small way, Solomon’s reaction is similar to Saul’s, when the Lord announced that the latter would no longer be king. I suppose it’s easy to be on the Lord’s side when things are going your way, but when the Lord’s word speaks against you, it’s tough to accept it humbly…

            Then, there are enemies that were never fully conquered. David defeated the Edomites in 2 Samuel 8, but we read here that an heir to the throne escaped and found refuge in Egypt. (Considering that Solomon had struck an alliance with Egypt by marrying Pharaoh’s daughter, an awful lot of Solomon’s enemies seem to have refuge there!) Likewise, Rezon of Damascus represents the remnant from David’s conquests in Aram, also narrated in 2 Samuel 8. If I could spin for a second, the enemies of the kingdom remind me of sin, they have long deep roots. It’s a lifetime’s work to root them out.

            Finally, there is the main source of Solomon’s troubles, at least as far as the author of Kings is concerned: Solomon’s many foreign wives who lead him into idolatry. That it’s the main source of trouble is seen in the fact that Solomon’s idolatry is mentioned at the end of the chapter as the reason that the Lord is removing a large portion of the kingdom from Solomon.

            I’ve pondered over the years a tension in our faith. On the one hand, separation from the world seems the best way to avoid being led astray into the world’s false beliefs. On the other hand, how can we spread the faith if we don’t engage with those who don’t know the good news? In one place, St. Paul writes that we shouldn’t be unevenly yoked to an unbeliever (2 Corinthians 6:14), a passage many take as a warning against mixed marriages (although marriage is not mentioned). Yet in another place he says that an unbelieving spouse may become a believer through a believing husband or wife (1 Corinthians 7:14). Solomon certainly should not have married so many pagan wives; that was a condition of the Sinai covenant. But, in my mind, it remains an open and difficult question to what extent New Testament believers should engage the world. We need to guard our faith, but we also need to be in mission… 

Solomon’s Splendor (and Some Cracks)

1 Kings 9-10

            In response to Solomon building the temple, the Lord reiterates His promises. However, unlike 2 Samuel 7, here the Lord’s promises are very much couched in the language of the Sinai covenant: remain faithful and you’ll be blessed; prove faithless and you’ll be cursed. So, the Davidic line seems to operate under both covenants. On the one hand, the ultimate fulfillment of David’s line is Jesus, who is the great blessing for humanity, who fulfills the promise made to Abraham, and who reigns at God’s right hand forever. On the other hand, the kingdom is an institution tied to Moses’ covenant, and after Jesus does His work, it’s no longer necessary. Which is good, because despite Solomon’s splendor, we have serious notices that all is not well.

            And Solomon does have splendor. These two chapters spend a lot of time describing Solomon’s wealth. Units of weight were not consistent across the ancient world, but a good guess for a talent is about 75 pounds. So Hiram and the queen of Sheba delivered about 9 tons of gold between them and Solomon brought in roughly 25 tons of gold annually. I remember reading my children’s Bible when I was a boy and being fascinated by Solomon’s throne with its lions and the statement about apes and baboons. It was truly a golden age for Israel!

            Unfortunately, we have indications of cracks in the foundations. In chapter 3, we read that Solomon had made an alliance with Egypt and had married Pharaoh’s daughter to seal it. Also in chapter 3, when Solomon asked for wisdom, he was at the high place at Gibeon, not before the ark of the Lord. In today’s chapters, we read that Solomon had a huge force of conscripted, slave labor and that he had a huge force of chariots and horses. All of these show us that Solomon was falling into the ways of kingship common in the world around him, accumulating power, wealth, and security, just like all the non-Israelite kings. As Lord Action once famously noted, “Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely.” More on this tomorrow!

The Dedication of the Temple

1 Kings 8

            Solomon’s prayer of dedication is a great piece for understanding how God works. Solomon completely understands the omnipresence of God, that He is everywhere, that a temple made with human hands cannot possibly contain Him. Yet, Solomon also knows that the Lord graciously condescends to dwell in the temple, and He does so so that Israel will always know where to find His gracious presence. Solomon’s line in verse 29 sums it up: “May your eyes be open toward this place.”

            God is indeed everywhere, but His gracious character is not revealed everywhere. Many people love the outdoors and say they feel closest to God there. But the outdoors is a brutal place. A few years ago I was hiking at Pike Lake and I came across a veritable explosion of feathers. It was clear what had happened. A predator, most likely a coyote, had attacked and killed a turkey. I have a biography of President James Garfield on my desk. He was born and raised in Ohio’s Western Reserve, a place that today is beautiful to visit but in those days was a dangerous and trackless wilderness. Martin Luther, walking home in a thunderstorm was so scared for his life that he promised God he would become a monk if he lived. The point is, nature is not place of safety, peace, and grace.

            So, yes, of course, we can feel the presence of God in nature. But He graciously descends and dwells with us in the place where He specifically says. Jesus says in Matthew 18 “Where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am with them.” Christians have always understood that to mean the New Testament equivalent of the Temple: the Church. At Divine Service, God speaks His words of forgiveness; At Divine Service, Jesus promises to be truly present with His body and blood. That is the place where ‘God’s eyes are always open toward us.’

            No wonder, then, that St. Paul calls the Church the Temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19)!

Building the Temple

1 Kings 5-7

            The Temple is described very similarly to the Tabernacle. It is bigger: 90 feet long compared to 45. But the relative dimensions are the same—3 times as long as it is wide. In chapter 7, Solomon has furnishings made, notably an altar for incense, a table for bread, and lampstands. Apparently the only part of the original Tabernacle that survived the full 480 years from the exodus was the ark of the covenant. It’s clear that the Temple is meant to be a permanent replacement for the tent in which the Lord had dwelt all those years. (More on the theology of the temple tomorrow.)

            Personally, I found Solomon’s introductory letter to Hiram king of Tyre most interesting. In it, Solomon notes that David couldn’t build the temple because he never had rest from his enemies. We heard that David wanted to build the temple in 2 Samuel 7, and we’ll read in 1 Chronicles 22 that David made many preparations for the temple’s eventual construction. But the Lord had said that Solomon would be the one to build it, and now he can because the kingdom has rest from its enemies (5:4). I find it interesting that the name Solomon in Hebrew (Shlomo) sounds a great deal like the Hebrew word for peace (shalom).

            So, flash forward a thousand years, and the book of John describes Jesus as a new tabernacle (1:14) and as a second temple (2:19-22). And tellingly, Jesus, who is in His very body the gracious presence of God, is also the source of true peace. “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid” (14:27).

            When we talked so much about the tabernacle and the sacrifices in Leviticus, it was hard not to focus on the bloodiness of the whole thing. To be sure, there is bloodiness with Jesus; His passion and crucifixion are hardly tidy! But the focus should also include the peace that is created between God and humans, first in the sacrifices of Israel and finally in the sacrifice of Jesus.

            In find this sometimes, too, when I teach about the Lord’s Supper and the Real Presence of Jesus, that we eat and drink the body and blood of the Lord. People’s first reaction is often, “Gross!” (I explain that we eat and drink in a supernatural way, which is a topic for a different time.) But the larger point is to see the blessings that the Lord bestows through this holy supper, namely, forgiveness of sins, as Jesus says in the Words of Institution, and all that goes along with the forgiveness of sins.

            The temple is built by King Peace in a time of peace and its blessing is to establish and maintain peace between God and humans.

The Wisdom of Solomon

1 Kings 3-4

            Young Solomon famously asks for wisdom, “So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong” (1 Kings 3:9). In chapter 4, we find out that Solomon was intelligent, too, cataloguing all sorts of plant and animal life. Wisdom and intelligence are two different things. Yes, they are both related to the life of the mind, but they are two different facilities. Intelligence is about logic, categories, synthesizing information. Wisdom has a more practical bent. It asks, “What is this knowledge for? How is it appropriately used?” There’s a great line in the movie Jurassic Park that illustrates the difference. A character named Malcolm observes about cloning dinosaurs, “You were so concerned with whether you could that you never asked if you should.” Wisdom is about discerning the right path forward.

            In the Scriptures, wisdom is related to the Lord. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 1:7). If one is going to know how to apply knowledge, then one must have a spiritual and moral compass that understands the ways of the Lord.

            I’ve known plenty of intelligent people over the years, and some of them didn’t have any wisdom. I’ve known plenty of people over the years that the world would not describe as intelligent, but their wisdom was extraordinary. There was a man at the church I grew up in like that. He wasn’t well-educated; you could even dismiss him as simple. But he loved the Lord and he loved the Lord’s word and when he opened his mouth people listened—because he was wise.

            Young Solomon asks for wisdom. He asks to discern right and wrong and so to rule with justice. One could wish more of the world’s leaders made a similar prayer! Certainly to ask for a discerning heart, one rooted in the fear of the Lord, is still a good thing.

Introducing The Books of Kings and the Success of Solomon

1 Kings 1-2

            Taken together, 1 and 2 Kings will take us through about 400 years of history, from the accession of Solomon in 970 BC to the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BC. These books look at Israel’s history from a unique perspective, namely, the importance of the kings being faithful to the Lord and his covenant. Some of the kings that from a traditionally historical point of view would be very important barely register; other kings that history would usually overlook get a more extended treatment. For example, historically speaking, Omri, who reigned in the north for 12 years, established a dynasty, and extended Israel’s borders, is an important king who appears in non-biblical sources, and the author of kings couldn’t care less: Omri gets 6 verses in 1 Kings 16. Covenant faithfulness is what makes a king good.

            1 Kings starts with the death of Israel’s great king, David, the one who, despite his missteps and failures, is still a man after God’s own heart, and the accession of Solomon, who is faithful until the end of his life. Of course, there is intrigue around the succession. David is portrayed as old and infirm; perhaps he is out of the public eye; perhaps people think he’s gone dotty. Whatever the case, Adonijah, the oldest of David’s remaining sons, assumes he will be king and arranges his own coronation. David’s loyalists get wind of it, report it to David, and spur David to action, appointing Solomon as the next king.

            For the moment, Solomon spares Adonijah, but a purge is coming. David’s final instructions call for the punishment of Joab, who had so often intrigued against David. This may strike us as strange that David would call for the elimination of a general who had served him for so long, but David worries that the army will prove itself loyal to its commander, not its king. (It happens very often in human history. During the 1200-year history of the Roman Empire, many, many emperors were first generals.) David also calls for punishment on Shimei, who had cursed him during Absalom’s rebellion. In this way, David keeps his promise of clemency but also ensures that those who disrespect the throne are punished.

            Adonijah is the first to die, but really only because he continued to intrigue against Solomon. He asks for Abishag the Shunammite, who had tended David in his old age. 1 Kings 1:4 specifically says that there were no sexual relations between Abishag and David, but nobody else in the kingdom is going to know that; everyone else will assume that Abishag was David’s concubine. Adonijah’s request, then, is tantamount to placing a claim on the throne. (Remember that Absalom slept with David’s concubines to establish his claim.)

            It’s violent. It’s political. It’s tainted with human ambition and human vengeance. But by the end of chapter 2, Solomon’s reign is secure.

David and the Census

2 Samuel 24

            The end of 2 Samuel and another sentence that gives us pause: “The Lord incited David against Israel.”

            The chapter starts with the Lord’s anger burning against Israel. We don’t know why. They certainly have a history of idolatry. The center of this book has related how they rebelled against David, the Lord’s anointed. We just don’t know. I think it’s important that the Lord used David as the instrument of His wrath, so He wasn’t just riling David up for no reason.

            But still, it says the Lord incited David. James 1:13-14 is very clear that God does not tempt people to sin. And, in the parallel account in 1 Chronicles 21, the Chronicler writes, “Satan rose up against Israel and incited David…” So, what we have is a complicated picture. There’s an underlying sin in Israel, which the Lord needs to eradicate. Satan is involved somehow both against Israel and against David. And the Lord is in the mess accomplishing His purposes. Maybe that’s the thing we need to think about. Maybe we should spend less time worrying about the righteousness of God; maybe we should just take for granted that the Lord is and acts righteously, that He’s the very definition of righteousness. And maybe we should ponder that somehow in the mess of human sin and powers that oppose His plans and purposes, the Lord somehow manages to accomplish what He wants—in this case calling Israel to repentance.

            Let me highlight two other quick things. First, the problem with the census is that it shows a reliance on military power as humans measure it rather than on relying on the Lord. Remember how the Lord reduced Gideon’s army from 32,000 to 300 exactly for this reason, so that Israel couldn’t boast in her own power (Judges 7:1-3). Remember, too, Deuteronomy’s prohibition on the king owning horses (17:16), which again was a matter of military strength. Second, the plague stops at the threshing floor of Araunah, and that becomes the site for the temple. From 2 Samuel 7 to this last section of 2 Samuel, the future construction of the temple has been in the background. So, Solomon’s great work, which we’ll read about later this week, has had its roots laid down for a long time.