The Lavishness of Obedience
“Above all else, guard you heart, for everything you do flows from it.” Proverbs 4:23
King Solomon gave us the book of Proverbs. In 1 Kings 3:5 God told Solomon to ask whatever he wanted and God would give it to him. Solomon asked for wisdom. The very wisdom we talked about last month was granted to Solomon in such abundance that we read of him being the wisest man who ever lived. Out of everything Solomon could have requested, he desired for God’s mind to be able to rule the kingdom. God was so pleased with him that He not only gave Solomon unparalleled wisdom, but also wealth, honor, and long life if he walked in obedience. The last post I wrote about how God is able to give us immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine (Eph 3:20). This is a prime example.
The kingdom David left to Solomon was at its height. It was wealthy. All the tribes lived in their own homes (1 Kings 4:25). With his wisdom, Solomon was able to acquire the materials needed to build the temple (1 Kings 5). He built the temple for God in seven years then spent 13 years building himself a palace. He also built the wall of Jerusalem and several cities.
He was also a master in administration. He used the foreigners living in the land as slaves and the Israelites as his army, government, officers, and captains (1 Kings 9:21-23). He formed alliances with neighboring kingdoms opening trade routes to bring in exotic goods from other countries (1 Kings 10:11-12).
His great success brought him great wealth. His annual income was 2 billion US dollars (1 Kings 10:14). He sat on a great throne of pure ivory overlaid with gold (1 Kings 10:18) and drank from gold goblets (1 Kings 10:21). All his household items were pure gold. Nothing was made from silver because he made it as common as stones (1 Kings 10:27). Everyone who visited him brought him gifts (silver, gold, robes, weapons, spices, horses and mules) (1 kings 10:25).
While we can see the heights the nation of Israel reached for their obedience, we can also see the devastation that came from Solomon turning away from God. He built his first wife, who was an Egyptian, a palace and allowed her to bring her culture and religious practices into the nation. 1 Kings 3 shows us he married her (which broke God’s law Deut 7:3-4) and worshipped in high places (which broke another law Deut 12:4). One foreign idol worshipping wife led to 700 wives and 300 concubines all of royal birth. 1 Kings 11:4 tells us that his wives turned his heart to other gods as he grew old. None of them were Israelites. We have to wonder how the wisest man in history made such a grave error.
Solomon wrote over 3000 proverbs and 1005 songs (1 kings 5:32) but turned away from the source of the wisdom. He built high places for Chemosh and Molek – both detestable goddesses that the Israelites would soon sacrifice their children to (1 Kings 11:7). God appeared to Solomon twice but Solomon didn’t heed the warnings. God raised up adversaries and after his death, the kingdom divided. And out of the 43 kings that reigned over the northern nation of Isreal and southern kingdom of Judah, there were 5 that followed God and 5 who teetered on the line of obedience. The rest were evil.
Any amount of wisdom we acquire won’t keep us from failing if we turn from God. Our focus throughout this journey is to become wise women who build our homes. This month we are going to focus on how our hearts affect our homes. The wisdom we receive from God doesn’t matter we aren’t obedient. We see this clearly in the life of Solomon. The state of Solomon’s heart was what mattered most.
Memory verse: Proverbs 4:23 Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.