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Written by Wendy Neill
That’s an odd title for a post about wisdom, isn’t it? Solomon was the wisest man who ever walked the earth, so why would I tell you not to be like him?
In my daily Bible reading plan, I am currently in the books of Ecclesiastes and Proverbs, alongside 1 Kings and 2 Chronicles. Every time I get to these stories about Solomon, I get a knot in my stomach. His story is painful for me to read. Why? Because he had it all... and he gave it up.
Solomon’s father David had taught him about the Lord. “If you seek Him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever” (1 Chron. 28:9).
God himself blessed Solomon more than anyone on the earth and spoke to him personally: “I will give you a wise and discerning heart so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be. Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for - both riches and honor - so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings. And if you walk in my ways and obey my statutes and commands as David your father did, I will give you a long life” (1 Kings 3:12-14).
Solomon even preached this same message to all the people when he dedicated the temple: “May the Lord our God be with us as he was with our fathers; may he never leave us nor forsake us. May he turn our hearts to him to walk in all his ways and to keep the commands, decrees and regulations he gave our fathers” (1 Kings 8:57-58).
So far so good. This is a guy I want to emulate. But then comes the phrase that breaks my heart. Six words: “and his wives led him astray” (1 Kings 11:3b). Read the rest of that chapter to see what God had to say about it. I can’t bring myself to type it here. It makes me so sad.
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Wisdom combines knowledge, experience, and action. God spoke through the prophets to impart His wisdom and teaching, but the Israelites, and especially the teachers of the law, wandered far from God and misunderstood the spirit of all God taught. Holiness was not a set of rules, but about being set apart for a purpose. They were to worship the one, true Jehovah God and teach their children all God had done for his people. Love God and love others. They had lost sight of what it all boiled down to.
When Jesus came to earth, as God in the flesh, He embodied the wisdom of God—not only bringing everyone back to truth, but also living it out as a daily example. Christ reminds us that it is as much about who we are as what we say, do, think, or teach.
As Paul put it...
“...but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ [is] the power of God and the wisdom of God. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption” (1 Cor. 1:24, 30).