Hello to all my faithful readers! Flint JAHbone here with a new cerebration. Sorry for the long wait from my last post to this one. With the internet having been down and all it’s been really hard. This latest blog is just a thought I’ve been tossing around, so let me know what you think.
Recently I was reading about Solomon and his glory and wisdom and it did only one thing for me as I read it. I found myself getting irritated with Solomon as I read, and this was a strange reaction for me. In the past when I read of Solomon I’ve seen him as this cool dude who is super-intelligent, so innovative and he really cleaned house when he first started as king. But this time, not only was I irritated with him, but it showed me the utter disgust I have for myself and our modern “church”. Being unsure what to think, and reflecting on what was really bothering me, I prayed, “LORD what can all this mean?” One huge resounding question, which seemed to be the irritant, tumbled around in my mind. “Why is Solomon living in the lap of luxury while his father toiled day and night to establish this kingdom?”
There is a lot of good things that can be spoken of about Solomon. He asked the Lord for wisdom when he was offered anything he wanted; was filled with wisdom and couldn’t be thwarted by any question. The Queen of Sheba heard of his wisdom and went to him. When she saw the splendor of his kingdom and his wisdom she exclaimed that he was great, she also included God in there at the end.
The truth of the matter is that if God is on a list of things to thank, things to do or of priorities, though we’ll mention He’s first, He’s most likely last. For David YHWH was everything. (see my blogs “The Problem with Jehovah 1, 2, 3 for more on this topic of God being on lists or being everything)
David bled for his kingdom. Did battle for his kingdom. Sacrificed for his kingdom. Became a man of no reputation for his kingdom. Became a commoner for his kingdom. This lifestyle and these actions show that David loved his kingdom and would die for her.
He appreciated her because he toiled, because he went through hardship and because he conquered for her.
Solomon reaped the benefits of his father being so committed and he started out in the same manner but he and Israel became spoiled.
Solomon means “peaceful” so it is thought that he is a “Christ Type”. I would argue that he isn’t, but that he represents something else.
You see, the reason Solomon’s Kingdom was the “Peaceful Kingdom” is because David had already done battle with Israel’s/The People of God’s enemies.
Let’s look at a few things building my case. We’ll, as usual, look to the scriptures and Jesus.
Jesus Quotes:
Matthew 10:34-39
34 “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. 36 And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household. 37 Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
Luke 2:14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”
This verse seems to be proclaiming that there will be peace for God’s people, or “with whom He is pleased.”
So peace does come, but at what cost?
I said earlier that I didn’t believe that in this case Solomon was the “Christ-type” but rather something else. I believe in this scenario, that David is the “Christ-type” and that Solomon’s Kingdom, or the Peaceful Kingdom, is a result of David’s conquest. Interestingly enough Jesus is the one who came to do battle. As we saw earlier He came to bring a sword, he came to do battle! Matthew tells us He came to seek and save that which was lost, but John, in his epistle, told us how He planned to do so.
1 John 3:8b The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.
Jesus came to do battle so as to bring peace to the Kingdom He was changing and developing.
So David, not Solomon, is the Christ type in this scenario. So what does that make Solomon?
… read the next one to find out …
- end part 1
Great, now where is part two?
Nice cliff hanger, now where is the second part?