SOLOMON, Sylvester Hassell Solomon, the son of David, succeeded his father, and was crowned king B.C. 1014, in a time of profound peace, and equaled him in the length of his reign—forty years. He was much devoted to God in the first part of his reign. He built the temple, placed the ark within it, and dedicated it. He was seven years and a half in building it, and completed it B.C. 1004. Immense sacrifices were offered to God upon its dedication; the glory of God filled the house after the ark was carried into it, so that the priests could not minister because of the cloud; Solomon, kneeling, spread forth his hands towards heaven, and offered the prayer of dedication; after which he dismissed the people, who returned to their homes joyful and with glad hearts (I Kings 8:1-66).
This, no doubt, was the greatest and happiest day that the Hebrew nation ever witnessed. The hundreds of thousands who could not be present at the dedication considered themselves equally interested and alike participating in the joyful festivities of the occasion. Wisdom was specially given to Solomon. God asked him, before this time, what he would have, and he asked for wisdom to govern Israel well. They were God’s people—they were then a great people—and he desired wisdom to govern them well for their good and God’s glory.
He did not ask for long life, or for riches or honor, but for wisdom. The Lord granted his request, and, in addition to wisdom, conferred on him riches and honor exceeding that of all other men. The temple was a small structure in comparison to many others, both ancient and modern; but it was the most costly of all, chiefly on account of the quantity of gold and silver used in its construction.
In this respect it was a forcible type of the true church in all ages of the world, which, though so much smaller than the false church, is yet the most costly of all—having cost the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb slain from the foundation of the world, and being clothed with his imputed righteousness, which outshines by far all the righteousness of man.
After the dedication the Lord appeared unto Solomon again, assuring him that he had heard his prayer and had blessed the temple, and would establish his (Solomon’s) throne over Israel forever if he proved faithful; but, should he turn from the Lord and serve other gods, he would cut off Israel out of the land, and cast the house which he had hallowed out of his sight! (I Kings 9:2-7).
Now was the zenith of Hebrew greatness. The sun of national Israel had pierced the horizon when Abram was first called from “Ur of the Chaldees,” and had been gradually rising higher and higher—higher and higher still—for nearly a thousand years, until, at this auspicious period, he stood forth in his meridian splendor, shedding his benign rays over the beautiful land of Palestine, the garden-spot of the world, with all the tributary nations around it.
Added to this was the religious character of the people; who were loud in their praises of, and faithful in adoring, the only true God. Israel in spirit was but little annoyed by Israel after the flesh: the sons of Belial shrunk back from persecuting the sons of God, and all seemed united in love, peace and prosperity—from Dan to Beersheba, and from the great river to the sea. Spiritual Israel here had rest, indicative of that which remains for the people of God in heaven, and indicative of that rest which all experience when changed from the legal to the Christian dispensation, or translated from the kingdom of Satan into the kingdom of God’s dear Son.
But these halcyon days under the reign of Solomon were of short duration—God’s people must not expect a long continuance either of temporal or spiritual happiness in this poor, sinful world—both are fleeting in their character and soon pass away; but, while spiritual enjoyments are renewed from time to time until they are perfected by the transcendent glories of eternity, temporal enjoyments terminate at the grave.
Solomon transgressed the law of his God. He did not prove faithful to the end. He gave himself up to carnal pleasures. He made an affinity with Pharaoh, king of Egypt, by marrying his daughter, and took many wives from the heathen nations around him, all of which was expressly forbidden. His strange wives were idolaters, and he indulged them in idolatry. He built them high places for the worship of their deities, and joined some of them in their infamous worship.
With the decline of his zeal for God and the honor of his name came a decline of his earthly greatness. God made known to him his displeasure, and notified him of the downfall of his kingdom and the rending off the ten tribes in the days of his successors. He appeared not then to repent of his sins, but no doubt did before his death, which took place B.C. 975, when he was succeeded by his son Rehoboam (I Kings 12).
During the reigns of both David and Solomon, as at all other past times since the fall of Adam, while there were a few spiritual worshipers of God, the mass of the people either worshiped idols, or only outwardly worshiped God in accordance with the will, the example or the command of their rulers. “But the constant tendency was to idolatry; and the intercourse with foreign nations which Solomon maintained, as well as his own example, greatly increased the tendency. Under Solomon, indeed, idolatry struck its roots so deep that all the zeal of the reforming kings that followed him failed to eradicate it. It was not till the seventy years’ captivity of Babylon that the soil of Palestine was thoroughly purged of the roots of that noxious weed.”—W.G. Blaikie.
The question is sometimes asked, was Solomon a spiritual Israelite, a child of grace, an heir of God, and has he gone to heaven? We answer, Yes. All the writers of the books both in the Old and in the New Testaments were heaven-born and heaven-bound. God would not permit an unregenerate man, a heathen, a barbarian to write a book for him, and then place it in the sacred canon of Scripture. This would be a most preposterous thing. Besides, it is said that he “loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of David his father” (I Kings 3:3). And again, the Lord said of him, “He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his Father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men; but my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before thee” (II Sam 7:13-15).
The Lord made two special revelations to him, and gave him more wisdom than any other man; and this wisdom was spiritual as well as natural. And, in addition to all this, Solomon wrote three books that are preserved and handed down to us in the Old Testament, viz., the Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes, and Proverbs; in all of which there are evidences of a spiritual mind, and the unction of the Holy Spirit is clearly manifest.
We have said that during the reign of Solomon the sun of Israel’s greatness was at his height; and from his reign that sun began to decline, sinking lower and lower, until it finally set amidst the darkness and desolation that followed the destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman army under Titus (A.D. 70). The nationality was then overthrown, and the remnant of Israel scattered among the nations.” (Hassell)