Solomon's Reign.
I K. Chs. 1-12; II Chron. Chs.1-9.
The Riddle of Solomon's Character. Few Biblical characters manifested
such contradictory elements of character. Early in life he manifested
an earnest, conscientious and religious spirit. He was prayerful and
sought above all else wisdom and that for the good reason that he
might be able to rule well. He built the temple and thereby magnified
the worship of Jehovah.
His prayer at the dedication of this temple were not only humble and
fervent but were expressive of the very highest loyalty to Jehovah as
the one supreme God and to all the high purposes of the divine will in
Israel. But in spite of all this he put upon the people such heavy
burdens of taxation as to crush them. He trampled under foot the
democratic ideals of the nation and adopted the policy of oriental
despots which tended to make free-born citizens mere slaves of the
king. He lived a life of the basest sort of self-indulgence. He
depended upon foreign alliances rather than upon Jehovah to save his
nation. He married many strange wives and through them was led to
establish in Israel the worship of strange Gods. I K. 11:1-8. On the
whole his reign was such as to undo what had been accomplished by
David and proved disastrous. Although counted the wisest he proved to
be in many ways the most foolish king that ever ruled over Israel.
His Policies. As a ruler it is easy to think of his policies under
three heads, (1) _His home policy_. This was one of absolution. He
became a despot and robbed the people of their freedom and put them
under a yoke of oppression by imposing upon them heavy burdens of tax
that he might carry out his unholy plans for selfish indulgence. (2)
_His foreign policy_. This was a policy of diplomacy. By means of
intermarriage, by the establishment of commercial relations and by the
adoption of the customs and religions of other nations he bound them
in friendly alliance. (3) _His religious policy_. This was a policy of
concentration. He built die temple and, through the splendor of its
worship, tried to concentrate all worship upon Mount Moriah. This
desire may also have contributed to his erection of altars to foreign
deities.
Solomon's Building Enterprise. The greatest of all his building
accomplishments was the temple. It is almost impossible to conceive of
its magnificence. According to the most modern computation the
precious materials, such as gold with which it was embellished,
amounted to something like six hundred million dollars. Next in
importance was his palace, which in size and time of construction
surpassed that of the temple. This palace consisted of several halls,
the chief of which were: The Forest of Lebanon, the Hall of Pillars,
and the Hall of Judgment. Near the palace was the residence of the
king himself and his Egyptian Queen-a house that would compare well
with the royal palaces of her native land. Indeed all Moriah and the
ground about its base were covered with immense structures.
Besides the temple, palace and other great buildings at the capitol,
Solomon undertook various other great building enterprises. He built
many great cities not only in the territory of ancient Palestine but
in his now extended empire. The most famous of these were Tadmor or
Palmyra and Baalath, or Baalbic. The former built at an oasis of the
Syrian desert seems to have been a sort of trade emporium for the
traders of Syria and the Euphrates to exchange wares with the
merchants of Egypt. The latter was near Lebanon and was chiefly
notable for its temple of the sun which was one of the finest edifices
of Syria.
It would be difficult to put too high a value upon the influence
wrought by these vast building enterprises. It can hardly be doubted
that the building of the temple was the most important single event of
the period of the United Kingdom. From this time on Israel ceased to
look back to Sinai and regard Jerusalem as the dwelling place of
Jehovah. Its priesthood and services became the support of all the
coming kings. The prophets proclaimed their immortal messages from its
sacred precincts and through it was nurtured the pure religion of
Jehovah.
Solomon's Writings. During this period as in the previous one literary
culture made a great advance. Solomon, like David his father,
possessed extraordinary literary gifts and as a writer had large
influence. Three books of the Scripture are ascribed to him. (1) _The
Book of Proverbs_. There is no reason to believe, however, that he
wrote all of them. It is a collection of proverbs or rather several
collections. Some were written by Solomon, collected by him from the
wise sayings of others and still others were added collections of
later times. (2) _Ecclesiastes_. The purpose of this book seems to be
to show the result of successful worldliness and self-gratification
compared with a life of godliness. It is intended to show that the
realization of all one's aim and hopes and aspirations in the matters
of wealth, pleasure and honor will not bring satisfaction to the
heart. (3) _The Song of Solomon_. To the Jews of that time this book
set forth the whole of the history of Israel; to the Christian it sets
forth the fullness of love that unites the believer and his Savior as
bride and bridegroom; to all the world it is a call to cast out those
unworthy ideals and monstrous practices that threaten to undermine
society and the home.
Nations Surrounding Israel. The life of any people is always
influenced by the nations around them. During this period Israel had
intercourse with many other nations. (1) _Phoenicia_. This commercial
people, through Hiram of Tyre, one of its kings, supplied the cedar
wood and the skilled laborers who made possible the building of the
temple. (2) _Egypt_. Solomon married a daughter of Pharoah and carried
on with Egypt an extensive commerce and for his wife's sake no doubt
introduced the worship of Egyptian gods. (3) _Assyria_. This country
as well as Egypt had lost much of her former power and was not in a
position to antagonize Solomon. (4) Among the other nations with which
Solomon had dealings may be mentioned _Sheba_, thought to be in the
most southern part of Arabia, _Ophir_ and _Tarshish_, and from the
nature of articles purchased and the three years required for the
voyage he is thought to have sent trading vessels to _India_.
Evidences of National Decay. From the brief history of this period
given us by the biblical writers it is evident that the nation began
to disintegrate before the death of Solomon. Among the more apparent
signs of decay were several revolts: (1) that of Hadad the Edomite,
who threw off the Hebrew part of Edom independently: (2) that of Adad,
the Midianite, who defiled the authority of Solomon; (3) that of
Rezon, the Aramean, who revolted and became master of Damascus around
which grew up an important kingdom; (4) that of Jeroboam, an
Ephraimite, who was an officer of Solomon at Jerusalem and while
unsuccessful showed the existence of a deep-seated discontent in
Jerusalem itself. It is significant that the prophet Ahijah of Shiloh
encouraged Jeroboam by telling him that, on account of the idolatry
fostered by Solomon, ten tribes would be removed from Solomon's son
and committed to him. This indicates that the prophets saw that
disunion alone would preserve the liberties and pure religion of
Israel.
Lessons of the Period. (1) All national methods bring disaster if God
is left out of account. (2) Material progress is absolutely of no
value without a spiritual life. (3) National prosperity always
endangers the nation. (4) The wisest and best of men may go wrong, if
they subject themselves to evil influences. (5) Temples or houses of
worship are of value in giving dignity to faith and in preserving the
spirit of worship. (6) If the common people feel that they are
unjustly treated nothing will prevent the disintegration of the
nation. (7) Religion that does not issue in proper ethics will suffer
at the hands of true ethics. (8) The security of society depends upon
simple justice.
For Study and Discussion. (1) The several incidents attending
Solomon's accession to the throne, I K. Chs. 1-2. (2) David's last
charge to Solomon, I K. Ch. 3; 4:29:34. (4) [sic] Solomon's temple:
(a) Its size and plan; (b) Its equipment; (c) Its dedication. (5)
Solomon's prayer at the dedication of the temple, I K. Ch. 8: II
Chron. Ch. 6. Look for a revelation of his character, religious spirit
and conception of God. (6) Solomon's sins, I K. Ch. 11. (7) Solomon's
treatment of his foes I K, 2:19-46. (8). What Solomon did to stimulate
trade, I K. 9:26-10:13; 10:22-29. (9) Statements in Ecclesiastes that
point to Solomon as author or to experiences he had. (10) Statements
in Song of Solomon that throw light upon the times or seem to refer to
Solomon and his experiences.