Jesus is incredible because not only is He the answer to the oppression mentioned in 4:1-3, He also fully experienced it on the cross.
Look at Solomon’s words and picture Christ handed over to be crucified:
Again I saw all the oppressions that are done under the sun. And behold, the tears of the oppressed, and they had no one to comfort them! On the side of their oppressor there was power, and there was no one to comfort them. And I thought the dead who are already dead more fortunate than the living who are still alive. (4:1-3)
You want to see human evil? Look at the cross and you’ll find an innocent man bleeding and shaking. The righteous (Christ) was overpowered by unrighteousness. Does that sound like an event that is even possible for a righteous God in total control?
If I saw someone crucified I would probably think something like verse 3. “Better are the dead than this fellow”. At the end of “Braveheart” when William Wallace is tortured the crowd – who, upon Wallace's entry, mocked and threw rubbish – cries for mercy. Better is this one dead than to suffer what he is suffering.
Solomon raises a fundamental human question here: Why does suffering go on? If God is in control why does He allow women to be raped and people to be murdered? Like Solomon we look and see “all the oppressions that are done under the sun” (4:1). Things haven’t changed in the 2,000+ years since Solomon wrote this book.
The other day my roommate told me about a young woman about to be married, a grad student at an Ivy League school. One night she went into her building on campus to research (for which you need an access card) and she disappeared. Her body was found a week later in the walls of the building.
That kind of thing makes me want to cry out, “Why?” I’d almost rather she’d never been born than to experience that.
How is Jesus the answer to oppression like that? How can He possible undo such harm as afflicted upon that young woman? Or the Jews in World War II?
First, God is not uncaring. His “steadfast love endures forever” (Psalm 136). He is also good and is outraged at every rape, every murder, every story like the young woman’s. He’s seen every evil deed ever performed under the sun, and it angers Him. It grieves Him. It’s always grieved Him, from the beginning of evil in Genesis:
The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the LORD was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. (Gen. 6:5-6)
But not only with rape and murder and great evil does God’s anger stop. He hates all of it. He hates our pride and arrogance, He hates our selfishness and He goes as far as to say just hating someone is murdering them. Just lusting after a woman is adultery. God doesn’t just perceive outward evil, He sees what we do and say in our hearts and minds.
There is evil in the earth, and that’s not the way it was supposed to be. We cry out “Why?” when we see suffering and evil and I think that’s appropriate, but we need to realize something – we’re not “separate” from the evil that goes on. We are apart of it and contribute to it! From God’s perspective, sin is sin. I am no better than whoever murdered that young girl because I have sinned, I have evil within me. To be judged by God’s perfection reveals me to be a filthy, selfish, proud, arrogant, perverted, hateful person. I would rather eat a gallon of ice cream than share it, I would much rather enjoy lusting after every girl I see than respect their husbands. I have transgressed God’s law, and I am part of the oppression.
Jesus is the answer because in the oppression He suffered on the cross He accepted the right punishment for me, for us all. In order for God to be just He had to answer our sin and oppression, and He expels His full anger on the cross. His perfect Son becomes sin for us to free us from the oppression of being under sin. He also frees us from our desires that oppress others. We are made new in His blood and we are promised to be heirs of a kingdom where there is no sin and oppression, where people listen to God and God can be seen fully by a people not marred by sin, but a people made righteous and clean by Christ.
This last bit of the chapter is fascinating and is definitely about Christ:
Better was a poor and wise youth…
Jesus was poor, wise, and young when He died.
…than an old and foolish king who no longer knew how to take advice.
Very similar to our friend Solomon.
For he went from prison to the throne, though in his own kingdom he had been poor.
Jesus came to the earth in flesh – which, being God, must have been like prison – submitting to our daily needs and feelings, our struggles and our pain. In the world He created He was poor.
I saw all the living who move about under the sun, along with that youth who was to stand in the king’s place. There was no end of all the people, all of whom he led. (4:13-16)
This sounds like an image from Revelation – everyone streaming to Christ, with no end to the people:
After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” (Revelation 7:9-10)
Can’t wait to be there with Solomon, made new and pure by Jesus.
Showing posts with label King Solomon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label King Solomon. Show all posts
Tuesday, 22 September 2009
Sunday, 20 September 2009
Wrestling with Ecclessiastes 3
So far there seems to be an overwhelming bitterness in Solomon's tone. Everything seems unsatisfying, and there are a lot of observations followed by questions. If all of scripture is about Christ, then we know the answer to Solomon's questions is Jesus Christ. I have some questions, starting with verse 10:
I have seen the business that God has given to children of man to be busy with.
What is this “business”? It’s not literal work, I don’t think, although Solomon talks about a life of work in Ecclesiastes 2:18-23. The first time he mentions this same phrase “business that God has given” is in chapter 1:
And I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven. It is an unhappy business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. (1:13)
So is the “business” the task we are given to understand God? Because of our sinfulness He is not with us the way He made us to be, so since the beginning of Adam’s fall man has had to “figure out” who God is. That’s philosophy.
When I was growing up I believed you couldn’t really know who God is for sure, you just had to speculate and figure Him out on your own. This is why there are so many different religions and philosophies, people say “This is God” or “I don’t like your god so I’m going to change him (or her, dang it!) to fit my own box.” Not all of these perspectives are right – and we can see how frustrating it is to define God with human logic. Perhaps this is what Solomon is talking about in 1:13.
But Solomon knew God! He grew up with a father, King David, who loved and revered God. Solomon had the Scriptures to learn about God. He even saw God twice. Is it the task of philosophy he is lamenting over?
Back in chapter 3, Solomon writes:
I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.
Maybe this business is referring to our life in a fallen world. God has been gracious and given us jobs, work, families, things to busy our lives iwht , but it still is terrible because He is not here with us. I wrote before that being a Christian can be awful at times because you realize you’re not with the one you love the most. It’s like your dad is off at war and until he gets back you’re not complete. There’s a vacuum in your life that He is supposed to fill but because of sin we have death and we are apart from God.
It’s almost more frustrating, then, that God makes everything “beautiful in its time” (3:11) because it reminds us of the beauty and the glory we’re missing out in.
The phrase that sticks out to me in this passage is “he has put eternity into man’s heart” (3:11). Maybe that’s the reason we hate death so much – it isn’t natural, or, it isn’t in our nature. We aren’t supposed to end, and we know that. Why is death so scary? If we were fine with “ending” why does every human being find death so unappealing, so hateful? We try to comfort ourselves with silly platitudes like “the circle of life” but that’s not comforting because that circle promises more life! It doesn’t express the finality of death that we are faced with. It promises a new beginning which doesn’t exist after death (that is, apart from Christ).
Some people say “I don’t want to live forever after death, I want to finely being at peace.” Yet in this line of thought they are expressing the desire to be “at peace” – clearly something that can only be felt when one exists. To be honest, I can’t even fathom what it would mean to not exist – what would happen to my consciousness? Would I feel nothing? Would I still be? Even non-Christians tend to think of some form of existence after death, usually in the form of peace or calm (which is funny, because this is exactly what we are promised in living forever with God).
So why is this sentence contrasted with “he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end” (3:11)? This text was written before Jesus, before His death – maybe Solomon is lamenting that this world sucks and it doesn’t make much sense that God appears to be sitting around doing nothing while evil and injustice happens every day. Why doesn’t God take care of sin? Solomon can’t see what’s going on.
Maybe Solomon thought that everything was about Israel – that was the way God would fix the world. And once Israel had a good king (like Solomon himself) everything would be fine. Israel could crush the bad guys in the world and build a kingdom for God. That should fix the world – but it didn’t. Solomon himself turned away from God and worshipped idols. Perhaps he realizes that although he started out righteous (in his eyes) he has ended up sinful.
Permit me some creative license. Maybe Solomon’s thoughts were like this: “I know the Lord is righteous and holy, and I know there is evil on the earth, but he set apart Israel to be His own people, through us He will bless the nations and fix them.
God has made me king of this nation and has given me great wisdom. If only people had wisdom, maybe then there would be no sin! How much sin and folly happens because of ignorance? I know the Lord and I fear Him, I wrote hundreds of proverbs about Him and I, in all my wisdom, said
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge;
fools despise wisdom and instruction. (Proverbs 1:7)
I was given knowledge by the Lord and I wrote proverbs for my people, wise sayings with true and good advice. I said
The integrity of the upright guards them,
but the crookedness of the treacherous destroys them. (Proverbs 11:3)
I’m the smartest man in the world and I can see that it’s good to be good and bad to be bad. The LORD our God has given us statutes and commandments, Israel, let us walk in them!
A good man obtains favor from the LORD,
but a man of evil devices he condemns. (Prov. 12:2)
See! I’ve got this all figured out! We need to be good and through my wisdom and others we can be on our way to a world without sin! The world as it should be! The world before the fall!
Where there is no guidance, a people falls,
but in an abundance of counselors there is safety (Prov. 11:14)"
I (Nathan) may be going a little far here, but it is a danger to get caught up in practical ways to deter sin, like “Don’t do it”.
Maybe in the sentence “eternity into man’s heart” we could imagine a pre-Christ mindset. “I know the Lord, I know He is good, I’ve got to do good too. I don’t want to be punished by God and I want to live so I will do good.” I don’t know what they thought would come after death but I think Solomon at least anticipated judgment:
God will judge the righteous and the wicked, for there is a time for every matter and for every work.
So it would be like we commonly believe today – there is a God, He’s good, don’t do evil or you’ll go to hell. Be good and you’ll go to heaven. Yay! Solomon writes:
I said in my heart with regard to the children of man that God is testing them that they may see that they themselves are but beasts. (Ecc. 3:18)
The worldview we commonly have is that the world is nothing but a testing ground for God to see which of us is good and which of us is bad. The problem with this system is if taken seriously by God – and God takes our sin seriously – then the results would be:
Good people: 0 Bad people: 6,000,000,000,000+ (or however many people have lived ever)
The number of good people admitted to heaven would be zero. We’ve all screwed up. Even Mr. Perfect Smartest-Guy-in-the-World King Solomon screws up and sins greatly. He realizes that even among the “good people” on earth there is sin:
Moreover, I saw under the sun that in the place of justice, even there was wickedness, and in the place of righteousness, even there was wickedness. (3:16)
Even the best people on earth are tainted by sin. Mother Theresa? She did something in her lifetime that was evil. For all her good works, she is not perfect.
Here Solomon sees our depravity and instead of remembering we are image bearers of God, he compares us to animals:
For what happens to the children of man and what happens to the beasts is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and man has no advantage over the beasts, for all is vanity. All go to one place. All are from the dust, and to dust all return. Who knows whether the spirit of man goes upward and the spirit of the beast goes down into the earth? (3:19-21)
So this leads Solomon to a great questions: “What is the point of it all?” God, what are You doing? So You’re good and You demand good. You punish the evil, but evil is everywhere! I’m the smartest guy in the world and I thought my wisdom would keep me walking in righteousness but I couldn’t help myself and I sinned! I thought I was a good guy and I’m a sinner. I thought You were testing us but instead we all deserve death and to go down to the depths. What’s the point? Should I just eat, drink, and be merry (3:12-13)?
The crappy thing on top of this is You’ve set eternity into my heart so I care about these things! I can’t just suck pleasure out of the world because You’ve got me pondering all this stuff and wondering what will happen when I die – because I don’t know! You’ve hidden stuff from us and I can’t see past death.
Who can bring him to see what will be after him? (3:22)
Who knows whether the spirit of man goes upward and the spirit of the beast goes down in the earth? (3:21)
Who?
And the most frustrating thing about this is:
I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. (3:14)
I can’t see what You’re doing and there’s nothing I can do to change it! Are You going to just condemn everyone and let evil run its course? It doesn’t matter – I have no control and it seems like I’m doomed in whatever happens."
I (Nathan) am twenty years old and am a new Christian – this stuff (the book of Ecclesiastes) is hard for me to grasp and I may have been way off base, but I know the answer to Solomon’s “who” question, by the grace of God today we know it.
The who is the only good man who has ever lived: Jesus Christ. Jesus comes and tells us what “the point of it all” is – not death, but life. We are supposed to be righteous – but by God’s strength, not our own. We have hope because we know that God has forgiven all of our sins through his Son, God has created a way to know Him through Jesus Christ. And in its through Jesus that our toil - “What gain has the worker from his toil?” (3:9) – turns into joy:
Slaves, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ…but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, rendering service with a goodwill as to the Lord and not to an, knowing that whatever good anyone does, he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free. (Ephesians 6:5, 6-8)
Our boring job turns into joy because it is a form of worship! We have Jesus to hang on to in the toughest times. In the boring times. Jesus to praise in the good, because we know the world is but a shadow of the things to come and that life comes from knowing Jesus Christ.
That is what we were made for – fellowship with the living God. And the beautiful thing is we are saved by grace – because we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, we have all rebelled against Him and no amount of good deeds, no amount of avoiding sin in the future can save us – by our own strength we will fail. It is foolish to put such faith in ourselves. We should put our faith only in the gospel, which renews me every day, which keeps me every day, which keeps me from guilt, shame, and evil – which makes me righteous before God!
Think about that. I – and people I know – could say with certainty that I do not deserve to stand blameless before God. My mother would certainly not call me blameless before her. And yet, through Christ, I am righteous before God. Because Jesus died in my place I am made new. What a profound mystery, what a horrible exchange (it would seem) for Christ – that He would lose his life and take on my sin, giving me his life and his righteousness.
Finally, Jesus satisfies our desire for truth: He tells us who God is, He makes us worshippers in “spirit and in truth” – for it is vain to worship a lie. Jesus offers clarity, peace, and joy. Jesus suffered it all for the joy set before him, so that he could come to each of us when we ask “What happens when we die?” and with a smile on his face, say “Believe in me, and you will have eternal life with the God everlasting. He’s your Father, He loves you, I love you, and I’m inviting you home.”
I have seen the business that God has given to children of man to be busy with.
What is this “business”? It’s not literal work, I don’t think, although Solomon talks about a life of work in Ecclesiastes 2:18-23. The first time he mentions this same phrase “business that God has given” is in chapter 1:
And I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven. It is an unhappy business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. (1:13)
So is the “business” the task we are given to understand God? Because of our sinfulness He is not with us the way He made us to be, so since the beginning of Adam’s fall man has had to “figure out” who God is. That’s philosophy.
When I was growing up I believed you couldn’t really know who God is for sure, you just had to speculate and figure Him out on your own. This is why there are so many different religions and philosophies, people say “This is God” or “I don’t like your god so I’m going to change him (or her, dang it!) to fit my own box.” Not all of these perspectives are right – and we can see how frustrating it is to define God with human logic. Perhaps this is what Solomon is talking about in 1:13.
But Solomon knew God! He grew up with a father, King David, who loved and revered God. Solomon had the Scriptures to learn about God. He even saw God twice. Is it the task of philosophy he is lamenting over?
Back in chapter 3, Solomon writes:
I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.
Maybe this business is referring to our life in a fallen world. God has been gracious and given us jobs, work, families, things to busy our lives iwht , but it still is terrible because He is not here with us. I wrote before that being a Christian can be awful at times because you realize you’re not with the one you love the most. It’s like your dad is off at war and until he gets back you’re not complete. There’s a vacuum in your life that He is supposed to fill but because of sin we have death and we are apart from God.
It’s almost more frustrating, then, that God makes everything “beautiful in its time” (3:11) because it reminds us of the beauty and the glory we’re missing out in.
The phrase that sticks out to me in this passage is “he has put eternity into man’s heart” (3:11). Maybe that’s the reason we hate death so much – it isn’t natural, or, it isn’t in our nature. We aren’t supposed to end, and we know that. Why is death so scary? If we were fine with “ending” why does every human being find death so unappealing, so hateful? We try to comfort ourselves with silly platitudes like “the circle of life” but that’s not comforting because that circle promises more life! It doesn’t express the finality of death that we are faced with. It promises a new beginning which doesn’t exist after death (that is, apart from Christ).
Some people say “I don’t want to live forever after death, I want to finely being at peace.” Yet in this line of thought they are expressing the desire to be “at peace” – clearly something that can only be felt when one exists. To be honest, I can’t even fathom what it would mean to not exist – what would happen to my consciousness? Would I feel nothing? Would I still be? Even non-Christians tend to think of some form of existence after death, usually in the form of peace or calm (which is funny, because this is exactly what we are promised in living forever with God).
So why is this sentence contrasted with “he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end” (3:11)? This text was written before Jesus, before His death – maybe Solomon is lamenting that this world sucks and it doesn’t make much sense that God appears to be sitting around doing nothing while evil and injustice happens every day. Why doesn’t God take care of sin? Solomon can’t see what’s going on.
Maybe Solomon thought that everything was about Israel – that was the way God would fix the world. And once Israel had a good king (like Solomon himself) everything would be fine. Israel could crush the bad guys in the world and build a kingdom for God. That should fix the world – but it didn’t. Solomon himself turned away from God and worshipped idols. Perhaps he realizes that although he started out righteous (in his eyes) he has ended up sinful.
Permit me some creative license. Maybe Solomon’s thoughts were like this: “I know the Lord is righteous and holy, and I know there is evil on the earth, but he set apart Israel to be His own people, through us He will bless the nations and fix them.
God has made me king of this nation and has given me great wisdom. If only people had wisdom, maybe then there would be no sin! How much sin and folly happens because of ignorance? I know the Lord and I fear Him, I wrote hundreds of proverbs about Him and I, in all my wisdom, said
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge;
fools despise wisdom and instruction. (Proverbs 1:7)
I was given knowledge by the Lord and I wrote proverbs for my people, wise sayings with true and good advice. I said
The integrity of the upright guards them,
but the crookedness of the treacherous destroys them. (Proverbs 11:3)
I’m the smartest man in the world and I can see that it’s good to be good and bad to be bad. The LORD our God has given us statutes and commandments, Israel, let us walk in them!
A good man obtains favor from the LORD,
but a man of evil devices he condemns. (Prov. 12:2)
See! I’ve got this all figured out! We need to be good and through my wisdom and others we can be on our way to a world without sin! The world as it should be! The world before the fall!
Where there is no guidance, a people falls,
but in an abundance of counselors there is safety (Prov. 11:14)"
I (Nathan) may be going a little far here, but it is a danger to get caught up in practical ways to deter sin, like “Don’t do it”.
Maybe in the sentence “eternity into man’s heart” we could imagine a pre-Christ mindset. “I know the Lord, I know He is good, I’ve got to do good too. I don’t want to be punished by God and I want to live so I will do good.” I don’t know what they thought would come after death but I think Solomon at least anticipated judgment:
God will judge the righteous and the wicked, for there is a time for every matter and for every work.
So it would be like we commonly believe today – there is a God, He’s good, don’t do evil or you’ll go to hell. Be good and you’ll go to heaven. Yay! Solomon writes:
I said in my heart with regard to the children of man that God is testing them that they may see that they themselves are but beasts. (Ecc. 3:18)
The worldview we commonly have is that the world is nothing but a testing ground for God to see which of us is good and which of us is bad. The problem with this system is if taken seriously by God – and God takes our sin seriously – then the results would be:
Good people: 0 Bad people: 6,000,000,000,000+ (or however many people have lived ever)
The number of good people admitted to heaven would be zero. We’ve all screwed up. Even Mr. Perfect Smartest-Guy-in-the-World King Solomon screws up and sins greatly. He realizes that even among the “good people” on earth there is sin:
Moreover, I saw under the sun that in the place of justice, even there was wickedness, and in the place of righteousness, even there was wickedness. (3:16)
Even the best people on earth are tainted by sin. Mother Theresa? She did something in her lifetime that was evil. For all her good works, she is not perfect.
Here Solomon sees our depravity and instead of remembering we are image bearers of God, he compares us to animals:
For what happens to the children of man and what happens to the beasts is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and man has no advantage over the beasts, for all is vanity. All go to one place. All are from the dust, and to dust all return. Who knows whether the spirit of man goes upward and the spirit of the beast goes down into the earth? (3:19-21)
So this leads Solomon to a great questions: “What is the point of it all?” God, what are You doing? So You’re good and You demand good. You punish the evil, but evil is everywhere! I’m the smartest guy in the world and I thought my wisdom would keep me walking in righteousness but I couldn’t help myself and I sinned! I thought I was a good guy and I’m a sinner. I thought You were testing us but instead we all deserve death and to go down to the depths. What’s the point? Should I just eat, drink, and be merry (3:12-13)?
The crappy thing on top of this is You’ve set eternity into my heart so I care about these things! I can’t just suck pleasure out of the world because You’ve got me pondering all this stuff and wondering what will happen when I die – because I don’t know! You’ve hidden stuff from us and I can’t see past death.
Who can bring him to see what will be after him? (3:22)
Who knows whether the spirit of man goes upward and the spirit of the beast goes down in the earth? (3:21)
Who?
And the most frustrating thing about this is:
I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. (3:14)
I can’t see what You’re doing and there’s nothing I can do to change it! Are You going to just condemn everyone and let evil run its course? It doesn’t matter – I have no control and it seems like I’m doomed in whatever happens."
I (Nathan) am twenty years old and am a new Christian – this stuff (the book of Ecclesiastes) is hard for me to grasp and I may have been way off base, but I know the answer to Solomon’s “who” question, by the grace of God today we know it.
The who is the only good man who has ever lived: Jesus Christ. Jesus comes and tells us what “the point of it all” is – not death, but life. We are supposed to be righteous – but by God’s strength, not our own. We have hope because we know that God has forgiven all of our sins through his Son, God has created a way to know Him through Jesus Christ. And in its through Jesus that our toil - “What gain has the worker from his toil?” (3:9) – turns into joy:
Slaves, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ…but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, rendering service with a goodwill as to the Lord and not to an, knowing that whatever good anyone does, he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free. (Ephesians 6:5, 6-8)
Our boring job turns into joy because it is a form of worship! We have Jesus to hang on to in the toughest times. In the boring times. Jesus to praise in the good, because we know the world is but a shadow of the things to come and that life comes from knowing Jesus Christ.
That is what we were made for – fellowship with the living God. And the beautiful thing is we are saved by grace – because we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, we have all rebelled against Him and no amount of good deeds, no amount of avoiding sin in the future can save us – by our own strength we will fail. It is foolish to put such faith in ourselves. We should put our faith only in the gospel, which renews me every day, which keeps me every day, which keeps me from guilt, shame, and evil – which makes me righteous before God!
Think about that. I – and people I know – could say with certainty that I do not deserve to stand blameless before God. My mother would certainly not call me blameless before her. And yet, through Christ, I am righteous before God. Because Jesus died in my place I am made new. What a profound mystery, what a horrible exchange (it would seem) for Christ – that He would lose his life and take on my sin, giving me his life and his righteousness.
Finally, Jesus satisfies our desire for truth: He tells us who God is, He makes us worshippers in “spirit and in truth” – for it is vain to worship a lie. Jesus offers clarity, peace, and joy. Jesus suffered it all for the joy set before him, so that he could come to each of us when we ask “What happens when we die?” and with a smile on his face, say “Believe in me, and you will have eternal life with the God everlasting. He’s your Father, He loves you, I love you, and I’m inviting you home.”
Sunday, 6 September 2009
We Need a King (A Wise One): 1 Kings 3 & 4
I read: 1 Kings 3 & 4
Up until this point in Israel’s history things have been pretty hard and difficult because they keep resisting or forgetting about God their King. In the book of Judges the people repeatedly fall into chaos and sin, doing whatever they esteem is right, which leads to big problems.
Israel has always done its best with a leader. God is supposed to be enough, and He is, but the people are too sinful and need a mediator like Moses or a leader like Joshua to Shepard and keep them.
It is fitting that when Israel cries out for a King God sends a shepard. This shepard boy, David, was also a talented musician and later wrote a Psalm about the true Shepard of Christ:
The LORD is my Shepard; I shall
not want.
He makes me lie down in green
pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
for his name’s sake. (Psalm 23:1-3)
From what I’ve heard sheep are dumb animals. They need a Shepard. They need someone to guide them away from stupid decisions, from danger, from things that destroy. It’s surprising how sheep-like humans can be. In Judges we see a people that repeatedly do dumb, sheep-like things and it’s easy to condemn them but it’s important to remember we are just like them. We do incredibly stupid things. We need a Shepard, a King, to guide us, and that is Christ. Thankfully God also blesses us with types of Christs throughout history who Shepard and save their people from harm. But the ultimate fulfillment of that role is Jesus. The Christian life enjoys pastors who Shepard and guide their people towards Christ.
So we need a King, a good King. It is much better than a democracy. Look at America. Half of America hates the other half because their ideas about policies are wrong. So the more we talk about things the more we can discuss and agree to disagree and blah blah blah a lot of people argue with each other about who is right. I’m not saying it’s horrible, I like America, but can you imagine if the Kingdom of God was a democracy? Look at church boards, nothing would ever get done. The people would split over the decision of what color everyone’s robes should be. No, Jesus says “white” for the way He’s purified us. That’s that. We need an authoritative leader to grab us and guide us, one in whom we can always put our trust.
Our Shepard and King was born 2,000 years ago, and although in His lifetime He does not “compare” (in worldly terms) with King Solomon, that is, the life King Solomon led; we can see in Solomon the type of Christ to come. There are many parallels. Ultimately Christ would be the better Solomon because He alone would walk in faithfulness, righteousness, and in uprightness of heart before God (qualities of David in 1 Kings 3:6).
Solomon became king as a young man and he is humble enough to admit his youth and inexperience. God gives Him the incredible invitation to ask for anything, anything at all. Even in his naïveté God gives Solomon the wisdom to realize that what he doesn’t need is a long life, or to have his enemies crushed (1 Kings 3:11). No, if enemies are removed there will be more enemies. Rather, those things like how to deal with enemies are a result of knowing and discerning between good and evil. Solomon says to God:
“And now, O LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place of David my father, although I am but a little child. I do not know how to go out or come in…
Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?” (1 Kings 3:7, 9)
This is great, and in it we can already see God’s gift of wisdom for Solomon to realize he needs more wisdom. It’s similar that in order to ask for grace you already need to have it! Because it is only by God’s grace and the wonderful Holy Spirit that we realize our need for grace.
Here we see the importance of wisdom, a theme of scripture because it is an attribute of Jesus. He is wise and like the famous story in 1 Kings 3:16-28 (where two women claim to be the mother of a baby) Jesus can see through our lies and stories and can cut to the heart of the matter and justice. Justice is so frustrating in this world because we aren’t all-knowing and can’t always discern who did right and who did wrong. Thankfully Jesus can and will never make a mistake. In fact in His perfect justice we see a great paradox, that while He is all-knowing and will never declare the guilty innocent, He will by His blood on the cross declare that very thing! The criminal’s punishment is taken by the judge, if we accept that and ask for Him to do so. What wisdom beyond worldly wisdom.
This section of Solomon’s early life parallels Jesus’ early life, particularly in Luke 2:52:
And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.
The effects of a good king are many, and in Solomon’s kingdom we get a tiny portrait of Jesus’ eternal kingdom. Here are some verse from chapters 3 and 4 that describe the kingdom under Solomon that stuck out to me:
Judah and Israel were as many as the sand of the sea. (1 Kings 4:20a)
Children are a blessing, and so is population. God wants His kingdom to be crowded.
They ate and drank and were happy. (1 Kings 4:20b)
They brought tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life. (1 Kings 4:21b)
But Christ will never die again, so His kingdom is without end, and if He raises us with Him, we will serve Him forever.
They let nothing be lacking. (1 Kings 4:27)
I’m guessing there will be no room anywhere in heaven that has cheap carpet and crappy wallpaper, something God hasn’t gotten around to cleaning up. There’s something to be said for flair and design for kings. Every kingdom in the history of the world has done it. It’s a way of somehow capturing and physically manifesting the glory of the leader. America’s got the White House, Egypt built pyramids (for its dead leaders).
I’m studying in London right now and yesterday I went down to Buckingham palace with some friends. When you get to the palace, things begin to change. The streets begin to look a little nicer, there are huge walls, iron fences with gold symbols, all this stuff that declares Britain’s glory. The Queen’s house is different than the houses down the street. We came in from the side and didn’t realize that in front of the palace is a long road called the Mall which leads to a huge gate in Trafalgar square. That gate declares to the crazy taxi driver going through it that he is entering an important area.
I am confident that Christ’s reign will have the most pomp and glory of any king ever. Seeing Buckingham palace yesterday prompts me to wonder what Christ’s kingdom will be like.
And people of all nations came to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and from all the kings of the earth, who had heard of his wisdom. (1 Kings 4:34)
All peoples flock to Christ and will hear His wisdom and worship His glory, from the poorest of the poor to the richest king, they are all subjects of the true King.
Me praying:
God, thank You that You are in charge and rule from Your throne in perfect righteousness and love. You have never made a bad decision and have never done wrong. For You are perfect. Even evil in this world You turn to good. Help me to pay tribute and submit to You daily. Help me to practically live as Your servant. Christ make me obedient like You. God may I not be a bad servant. Here in London I feel like Solomon – I see work to do, so much ministry and I feel overwhelmed. Please bless me with Your wisdom and Your grace that I may glorify You. Thank You Jesus for Your humble submission to the Father and for Your pursuit of His will. Help me and anyone who is reading this to reveal a bit of Your kingdom through love, patience, and joy. Holy Spirit work in us and help us to abide in Christ. I love You and bow down in awe of You, my King. AMEN.
Up until this point in Israel’s history things have been pretty hard and difficult because they keep resisting or forgetting about God their King. In the book of Judges the people repeatedly fall into chaos and sin, doing whatever they esteem is right, which leads to big problems.
Israel has always done its best with a leader. God is supposed to be enough, and He is, but the people are too sinful and need a mediator like Moses or a leader like Joshua to Shepard and keep them.
It is fitting that when Israel cries out for a King God sends a shepard. This shepard boy, David, was also a talented musician and later wrote a Psalm about the true Shepard of Christ:
The LORD is my Shepard; I shall
not want.
He makes me lie down in green
pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
for his name’s sake. (Psalm 23:1-3)
From what I’ve heard sheep are dumb animals. They need a Shepard. They need someone to guide them away from stupid decisions, from danger, from things that destroy. It’s surprising how sheep-like humans can be. In Judges we see a people that repeatedly do dumb, sheep-like things and it’s easy to condemn them but it’s important to remember we are just like them. We do incredibly stupid things. We need a Shepard, a King, to guide us, and that is Christ. Thankfully God also blesses us with types of Christs throughout history who Shepard and save their people from harm. But the ultimate fulfillment of that role is Jesus. The Christian life enjoys pastors who Shepard and guide their people towards Christ.
So we need a King, a good King. It is much better than a democracy. Look at America. Half of America hates the other half because their ideas about policies are wrong. So the more we talk about things the more we can discuss and agree to disagree and blah blah blah a lot of people argue with each other about who is right. I’m not saying it’s horrible, I like America, but can you imagine if the Kingdom of God was a democracy? Look at church boards, nothing would ever get done. The people would split over the decision of what color everyone’s robes should be. No, Jesus says “white” for the way He’s purified us. That’s that. We need an authoritative leader to grab us and guide us, one in whom we can always put our trust.
Our Shepard and King was born 2,000 years ago, and although in His lifetime He does not “compare” (in worldly terms) with King Solomon, that is, the life King Solomon led; we can see in Solomon the type of Christ to come. There are many parallels. Ultimately Christ would be the better Solomon because He alone would walk in faithfulness, righteousness, and in uprightness of heart before God (qualities of David in 1 Kings 3:6).
Solomon became king as a young man and he is humble enough to admit his youth and inexperience. God gives Him the incredible invitation to ask for anything, anything at all. Even in his naïveté God gives Solomon the wisdom to realize that what he doesn’t need is a long life, or to have his enemies crushed (1 Kings 3:11). No, if enemies are removed there will be more enemies. Rather, those things like how to deal with enemies are a result of knowing and discerning between good and evil. Solomon says to God:
“And now, O LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place of David my father, although I am but a little child. I do not know how to go out or come in…
Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?” (1 Kings 3:7, 9)
This is great, and in it we can already see God’s gift of wisdom for Solomon to realize he needs more wisdom. It’s similar that in order to ask for grace you already need to have it! Because it is only by God’s grace and the wonderful Holy Spirit that we realize our need for grace.
Here we see the importance of wisdom, a theme of scripture because it is an attribute of Jesus. He is wise and like the famous story in 1 Kings 3:16-28 (where two women claim to be the mother of a baby) Jesus can see through our lies and stories and can cut to the heart of the matter and justice. Justice is so frustrating in this world because we aren’t all-knowing and can’t always discern who did right and who did wrong. Thankfully Jesus can and will never make a mistake. In fact in His perfect justice we see a great paradox, that while He is all-knowing and will never declare the guilty innocent, He will by His blood on the cross declare that very thing! The criminal’s punishment is taken by the judge, if we accept that and ask for Him to do so. What wisdom beyond worldly wisdom.
This section of Solomon’s early life parallels Jesus’ early life, particularly in Luke 2:52:
And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.
The effects of a good king are many, and in Solomon’s kingdom we get a tiny portrait of Jesus’ eternal kingdom. Here are some verse from chapters 3 and 4 that describe the kingdom under Solomon that stuck out to me:
Judah and Israel were as many as the sand of the sea. (1 Kings 4:20a)
Children are a blessing, and so is population. God wants His kingdom to be crowded.
They ate and drank and were happy. (1 Kings 4:20b)
They brought tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life. (1 Kings 4:21b)
But Christ will never die again, so His kingdom is without end, and if He raises us with Him, we will serve Him forever.
They let nothing be lacking. (1 Kings 4:27)
I’m guessing there will be no room anywhere in heaven that has cheap carpet and crappy wallpaper, something God hasn’t gotten around to cleaning up. There’s something to be said for flair and design for kings. Every kingdom in the history of the world has done it. It’s a way of somehow capturing and physically manifesting the glory of the leader. America’s got the White House, Egypt built pyramids (for its dead leaders).
I’m studying in London right now and yesterday I went down to Buckingham palace with some friends. When you get to the palace, things begin to change. The streets begin to look a little nicer, there are huge walls, iron fences with gold symbols, all this stuff that declares Britain’s glory. The Queen’s house is different than the houses down the street. We came in from the side and didn’t realize that in front of the palace is a long road called the Mall which leads to a huge gate in Trafalgar square. That gate declares to the crazy taxi driver going through it that he is entering an important area.
I am confident that Christ’s reign will have the most pomp and glory of any king ever. Seeing Buckingham palace yesterday prompts me to wonder what Christ’s kingdom will be like.
And people of all nations came to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and from all the kings of the earth, who had heard of his wisdom. (1 Kings 4:34)
All peoples flock to Christ and will hear His wisdom and worship His glory, from the poorest of the poor to the richest king, they are all subjects of the true King.
Me praying:
God, thank You that You are in charge and rule from Your throne in perfect righteousness and love. You have never made a bad decision and have never done wrong. For You are perfect. Even evil in this world You turn to good. Help me to pay tribute and submit to You daily. Help me to practically live as Your servant. Christ make me obedient like You. God may I not be a bad servant. Here in London I feel like Solomon – I see work to do, so much ministry and I feel overwhelmed. Please bless me with Your wisdom and Your grace that I may glorify You. Thank You Jesus for Your humble submission to the Father and for Your pursuit of His will. Help me and anyone who is reading this to reveal a bit of Your kingdom through love, patience, and joy. Holy Spirit work in us and help us to abide in Christ. I love You and bow down in awe of You, my King. AMEN.
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