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King Solomon was king all over Israel: I Kings 4:1

3 min read

Every child who has gone to Sunday School and church, has heard of Solomon, the son of David. Nathan the prophet named the child Jedidiah, because of the Lord, for the Lord loved him, II Samuel 12:24-25. We don't read much about Solomon after his birth, until he is made king over Israel. He was an obedient son and carried out the request, and desires of his father David. He sent Benaiah to take care of Joab and also had Shimei killed after he broke his agreement with Solomon.

After Solomon had the kingdom secured and those who opposed him were killed, he made an alliance with Egypt. He married the daughter of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and brought her to Jerusalem, the City of David. This appears to be the first flaw, or sign of weakness in Solomon's personality. This early behavior is very questionable because of God's directives when the Israelites came out of Egypt.

In Deuteronomy 17:5-20, the Lord gave warnings about many things that Solomon was about to do. When you set a king over you, "he shall not return to Egypt to multiply horses to himself, neither shall he multiply wives to himself, lest his heart turn away; nor shall he greatly multiply gold and silver for himself," paraphrased. The key words in that sentence seem to be "return" and "greatly multiply."

Every kingdom needs silver and gold, but when a king greatly multiplies it for his own honor, glory, and pride, he has put something ahead of God, or in the place of God. God had delivered His people from (out of) Egypt, He did not want His people to go back! Even after God sent judgment on His people, through the Babylonians, God did not want Jeremiah and the remnant that was to left to return to Egypt, Jeremiah 42:7-22.

This entire situation presents a lot of questions. If Solomon was beginning to go in the wrong direction at this early age, why didn't God send Nathan the prophet, like He did to David. In II Samuel 6:6-7, Uzzah put out his hand to support the ark and God struck him dead; it certainly seemed to be done in helpful ignorance. But Solomon was going against God's directions and was not reproved for it.

In spite of this early warning sign in the life of Solomon, he went on to build the temple according to David's instructions. In

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