The Biblical Age of Kings #2: The Allure of Wisdom

By -
As we continue our study on the books of 1 & 2 Kings, we reach the apparent pinnacle of Israel's greatness in 1 Kings 4:29-34. (It's 5:9-14 in the Hebrew text). Solomon seems to be the greatest king ever for the small and otherwise insignificant nation of Israel. His wisdom, wealth and glory put Israel on the map of world powers. Solomon maximized the potential of Israel, at least in an economic and geopolitical sense. He was a master of public relations, churning out loads of artistic material and know-how, making him the envy of world leaders near and far.

This chapter and the surrounding narrative also contain a cynical undercurrent. While the story of Solomon speaks of great bounty and success, it also calls into question the nature of a Solomonic kingdom. God does not hold back in giving Solomon a wise mind and discerning heart, but this seems to produce in Solomon a man who suffers from memory loss. Although God is blessing him richly, he seems to quickly forget that "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge" (Prov 1:7). Solomon gets so accustomed to being the star of the show that he fails to properly honor God with humility and obedience in his personal life (11:1ff).

This brings up some interesting questions about wisdom. Why do people become so enamored with the wisdom of powerful rulers and celebrities? Is their wisdom really better than that of "simple" farmers, laborers, parents & others? What kind of wisdom should the people of God seek out? Is there a general category of Wisdom that all people should ideally seek out?

Some of the Old Testament's wisdom literature has been attributed to Solomon or tied to his school of thought: books such as Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs. The messages of these books seek to shape the character of Godly people. They seek to guide us between the poles of legalism and chaos. Clearly, that’s the purpose of God's Wisdom: to help us navigate the challenges of life & still come out standing on the other end. Wisdom opens our eyes to life's most meaningful and not just pressing concerns, and to help us understand the priority of the important over the tyranny of the urgent.

It's not clear whether Solomon himself ever fully understood this as the goal of wisdom. He clearly had access to all the wisdom a person could ever need. As biblical writers reflect on his life and his sayings, they see in Solomon both a worthy goal (initially) and a troublesome warning (in the end). In Jesus, however, we see the personification of Wisdom that Solomon ultimately failed at. While Solomon's vast knowledge and understanding increased his reputation and made him one of the marvels of the ancient world, his inability to apply wisdom to himself cost him and Israel dearly. Solomon may have been the perfect Renaissance man. He was the Dos Equis man before there ever was Dos Equis. But he failed at applying wisdom to his own life. Only in Jesus do we finally discover what Wisdom in the flesh really looks like. And only through Jesus do we have the chance to live a life shaped by Wisdom.

Comments

David H said…
I wonder how much of Solomon's fall into blindness to his own teaching relates to the unseen realm. The reign of David's son was idyllic until other gods deceived him, until his heart was turned away to foreign gods. The time to fall prey is thankfully past. Jesus triumphed over all the powers of darkness putting them on public display by the victory of the cross. And in His Kingdom are blessings forever.
April 8, 2016 at 11:35 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Galatians 4:1-7 & The Confusing Apostle Paul

By -
Image
Does Galatians 4:1-7 confuse anyone as much as it does me? After studying this for some time, I am prone to agree with the words of 2 Peter 3:16. "There are some things in [Paul's letters] hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other scriptures." I hope I'm not one of the ignorant and unstable people. But I'm in the camp of folks who can say that Paul's writings are occasionally hard to understand. Let me clarify what I'm having a hard time clarifying. I don't really think it's difficult to understand Paul's point in Gal 4:1-7. The broader context makes it clear. Paul says that the Law of Moses is inferior to the promise previously made to Abraham. Gentile Christians, he writes, are descendants of Abraham because they share the same faith in God (3:6-7) that Abraham had (Gen 15:6). They therefore don't need to obey Jewish rules and customs. That's his point. from Anthony...
Read more

Love It or List It: We Sold Our Church Building

By -
Image
On October 8, 2023, we held our last worship service in our home of 59 years. We're moving on to a temporary location while we wait for God to reveal where our more permanent home will be. It's been a journey for which there is no solid road map, but we feel blessed by what's happening. We formed a giant circle for the final song at our longtime, northeast Fresno home. In late January, our elders announced a shock decision. We would be selling our church building and moving on. Among the elders, it was an uncontentious and unambiguous decision. They 100% believed it was in the church's best interest to put our property on the market and find a new home. Many congregations have hard choices to make about aging properties that are oversized for today's churches. Selling seemed the most desirable option to our board in our circumstances. I wrote about that decision back in January. You can read about it here . I had an inside seat to their decision-making process. As a...
Read more

In Memoriam of Larry Locke, My Father

By -
Image
My dad Larry Locke took his final breath this afternoon. He was in the comfort of his own home in Lebanon, Tennessee. It was as beautiful a spring day as Middle Tennessee can provide. Lovely breeze. Chirping birds. Blooming flowers. But Dad had been unable for weeks to notice the glory of God's created world. He was ready to go and be with the Lord forever. Over the last 2+ years, Larry had struggled with dementia and previously undiagnosed depression. A lifelong runner, he had never spent a night in the hospital prior to this sickness. The loss of his vitality was a blow to all who knew and loved him. While his first hospitalization returned him to a level close to his old self, subsequent declines and hospital stays left him a shadow of the man we knew. His time for this life would number 76 years. Larry Locke was born in 1942 in Shelbyville, Tennessee. His father, W. H. Locke, owned a small diner. His mother, Pansy Worley Locke, had done office work but as a mother was mos...
Read more