38...THE GETTING & UN-GETTING OF WISDOM
 Based on 1 Kings (1K) (N1) Chs. 1-11...Read more there

As the aged & frail David is dying one of his sons, Adonijah, tries to usurp the throne. However the Prophet Nathan allies himself with Solomon's mother, Bathsheba, to thwart this. They plead with David to name Solomon as his successor. When David does this, Solomon is promptly taken into Jerusalem on David's mule & anointed king by Zadok the Priest (of later coronation music fame!) (N2). Adonijah's support immediately collapses. Solomon waits till David dies [Ch. 2:10] then has Adonijah executed to ensure his kingship is secure. That it is now secure we're told twice, (vv.12 & 46). Ch. 3 begins with the odd & unpromising news that Solomon marries a daughter of Egypt's Pharaoh - the Egyptians being former enslavers of the Hebrews. Is this a cynical political manoeuvre, a wise strategy, or a love-match? Who knows! We also learn that though Solomon loves YHWH, like many of his people he offers incense at altars set up on significant hill tops, 'high places', as there is no Temple yet & therefore no really centralised religion either. Then come two key events that set a pattern for the earlier part Solomon's reign. In the first he has a dream in which YHWH asks him what gifts he would like. Rather than power, wealth, etc. Solomon asks for an understanding mind & a discerning heart, & YHWH God grants these. Even though this is a dream, the reality is put to the test soon after in a famous story that in itself ensures we remember Solomon for his wisdom. Two women appear before him each claiming a male baby as their own. Solomon calls for a sword & orders the child to be cut in two & a half given to each of the women. He then wisely awards the child to the woman who begs him to give the child to the other woman rather than have her son killed! When word of this spreads, Solomon's stocks rise very high indeed!

Administrative matters take up Chs. 4 & 5 till Solomon prepares for the building of the Temple for God & a palace for himself. In Chs. 6--9 the Temple is built by conscripted labour. Then, with its furnishings, including the Ark of the Covenant, now, it is completed & dedicated. In Ch. 9 YHWH appears again to Solomon (cf. Ch. 3) & dedicates the Temple Himself but with a clear in-built threat! The famed Queen of Sheba - probably either in Arabia or North East Africa - visits Solomon to 'suss out' her new & powerful neighbour. She is very likely to have trade & treaties on her mind as well as anything else. She is impressed!

But by Ch. 11 Solomon falls from grace. With a vengeance! He becomes a womaniser on an unprecedented scale & allows pagan wives to sway him into following foreign pagan deities they bring with them as religious baggage. He seems to be placing an 'each-way' bet! YHWH God is not amused, & triggers the threat of Ch. 9 above. Solomon unbelievably rapidly fades from view, & dies seemingly without fanfare. One of Solomon's sons, Rehoboam succeeds to the throne. The royal family, though, has become dysfunctional & so has the country (N3).  But that's another story...39...Enter Elijah   

(N1) 1 & 2 Kings were originally one book.  (N2)  About 970 B.C.  (N3) Ch.11:41 refers to a 'Book of the Acts of Solomon'. Though long lost this is no doubt reflected in these early chapters of 1 K. 

Question: Does turning away from YHWH God personally & nationally still cause us to become dysfunctional?