“God gave Solomon wisdom and very great insight, and a breath of understanding as measureless as the sands on the seashore.”
~ 1 Kings 4:29
Hi James and Ellen,
How wise do you think that you are? Do you think that you might be wiser than what Solomon was? The Kings Book historian says in 1 Kings 4 that Solomon was really wise. Do you know why Solomon was really wise? The Kings Book historian scribed in verse 29, “God gave Solomon wisdom and very great insight, and a breath of understanding as measureless as the sands on the seashore.” How does wisdom and being wise resonate with you? Having wisdom – which is being wise, is taking factual information and being able to apply this accrued information in real life situations. Do you think that there is a difference between being really wise and being really smart? Being really wise does not necessarily mean that a guy, gal or kid is really smart; being wise means being very prudent with the information that a guy, gal or kid has. Being smart does not necessarily mean that a guy, gal or kid is wise; being smart simply means that a guy, gal or kid probably has an above average intelligence. Solomon appears to have been very smart as well as being very wise. Do you think of yourselves as being smart kids? Until the arrival of God – as God the Son, as an incarnate guy on planet Earth, Solomon is considered to have been the wisest guy to have lived on planet Earth. Guys and gals everywhere knew about Solomon’s extraordinarily exceptional wisdom. Solomon had a repertoire of 3000 proverbs. Solomon scribed 1005 songs. Solomon knew plant life. Solomon knew animal life. Solomon knew bird life. Solomon knew reptile life. Solomon knew fish life. Guys went on their own volition and they were sent by their kings to Solomon’s palace that was located in the city of Jerusalem to listen to Solomon’s teaching. Over the forty years that Solomon was the appointed king over the Israelite people groups guys and gals – God’s specially chosen guys and gals, the land area of Israel expanded and Israel’s wealth increased.
When Solomon was asked by God what he would like to have, Solomon made a real good call. Do you know what Solomon chose? Instead of telling God that he would like to have a lot of money or be a king or . . . Solomon chose wisdom as what he would like to have from God if God was going to give him something to have. God gave Solomon a lifetime dose of super wisdom. Solomon’s dad was David. Solomon’s ma was Bathsheba. David left Solomon a legacy for him to follow. David left Solomon an inordinate amount of wealth. David left Solomon the schematic for an ornate temple to God that he wanted his kid to construct in the city of Jerusalem. When Solomon was appointed to be the Israelite people groups third king, Solomon picked guys who he knew that he could trust to be his chief officials in the important positions under him. Solomon picked Benaiah to be his commander in chief. Solomon picked Azariah to be his high priest. Solomon picked Zadok and Abiathar to be his priests. Solomon picked Zabud to be his personal priest and advisor. Solomon picked Elihoreph and Ahijah to be his secretaries. Solomon picked Jehoshaphat to be his recorder. Solomon picked Ahishar to be in charge of his palace. Solomon picked Azariah to be in charge of the district offices. Solomon picked Adoniram to be in charge of the forced labor. Solomon also picked twelve guys to be the twelve district governors. Each one of the different districts was to once a year supply Solomon’s palace with a set quota of provisions that included 30 cors of fine flour, 60 cors of meal, ten stall-fed cattle, 20 pasture-fed cattle, 100 sheep and goats along with deer, gazelles, roebucks and a variety of birds. Your grandpaa thinks that most of the guys, gals and kids who lived during the years that Solomon reigned as king over them were probably happy campers. The Kings Book historian says that the guys, gals and kids who were alive during Solomon’s reign as king ate and drank. There were no major conflicts. Every home had a vineyard and fig trees. The guys, gals and kids who were under Solomon’s reign as king probably felt protected because of the chariots and the 12000 horses that Solomon had. Each one of the different districts was to also once a year supply a quota of barley and straw for Solomon’s horses.
Solomon had everything that any guy could ever want to have. Solomon had position. Solomon was a king. Solomon had power. Solomon ruled over a very large area of land and over a lot of guys and gals. Solomon had prestige. Solomon was known everywhere. Solomon had enormous wealth. Solomon was able to organize. Solomon had loyal supporters. Solomon had God bless him with a dose of superior wisdom. When Solomon died, Solomon’s kid – Rehoboam, would replace him. Even though that is another story, Solomon had set the stage for the breakup of the land area that God gave to His specially chosen guys and gals to always to have to live in as their very own land. Even though Solomon was a great temporal ruler who had amazing intelligence and incomparable prosperity – and even though God had overdosed him with wisdom, Solomon would succumb to a pursuit of women, wealth and wine. Solomon’s life would not end well. What do you want from the life that God has given you? Is popularity, fun and money some of your life goals that are high on your list to pursue or are servanthood, sacrifice and surrender to God some of your life goals that are high on your list to pursue? If your grandmaa and grandpaa had not listened to the voice of God calling them into a missionary vocation, your grandmaa and grandpaa possibly could be living in a nice home right now, amassed an adequate nest egg and have gone to a variety of places to have fun. Even though your grandmaa and grandpaa do think about what it would be like to have and to do those things, your grandmaa and grandpaa know that true inner peace can only come from being God’s servants – doing what He expects them to do.
1 Kings 4 (795)