Ordinary Time Week 12

Psalm: Psalm 111 or Psalm 34:9-14 
Old Testament: 1 Kings 2:10-12, 3:3-14 or Proverbs 9:1-6 
Gospel: John 6:51-58 
Epistle: Ephesians 5:15-20

We continue the story of David and his family this week. In 2 Kings 2, David dies and is succeeded by his son Solomon.  Our reading leaves out the end of chapter 2, but I think it is important to read over because it reveals how tenuous the David monarchy is at this point and some of the themes we have discussed in the past weeks about the royal family come through. After David's death, the first incident concerned the immediate line of succession. There was no guarantee that the next king of Israel would be from the line of David, and indeed, there is a rebellion after Solomon's reign which leads to the split of Israel--Judah in the south and Israel in the north. But after David, it seemed clear that the next king would be one of his sons and the heir-apparent was Adonijah, the eldest son alive it appears. Adonijah tried to force David's hand and attempt a coup almost declaring himself king before David's death. The coup however was not against David, but rather against his younger brother Solomon. Of course, we all know that Solomon becomes king, but what I didn't know was that immediately following David's death, he executed Adonijah; Joab, David's nephew and former general of the army; and Shimei, a man who at one time cursed David when he was running from Absalom, then begged for and received forgiveness from David, and finally on David's deathbed, was condemned by David to be killed for his deeds. So Solomon's reign started a lot more violently than I knew, and also marked a turning point from his father's reign.

In the actual reading from today in chapter 3, Solomon makes that well-known request from the Lord to receive wisdom above all else. By requesting wisdom, he actually showed that he had plenty of it to begin with. So what he received was more like a double portion, so that he is rumored to be the wisest person ever to live. In addition, the Lord was so pleased with Solomon's request that he also gave Solomon honor and riches. And then, the only gift that had a stipulation attached was the promise of long life, like David lived. In this case, however, Solomon only received long life he if walked in the ways of the Lord and followed the Lord's commandments and statutes. I don't know quite what to make of this stipulation. He reigned for 40 years just like David and conventionally is thought to have lived to be around 60, while David was around 70. Both also died of natural causes.

What is clear, however, is that Solomon turned from the Lord through the influences of his many foreign wives and concubines. He set up idols and places of worship to foreign gods and because of his sins, the kingdom was split into two when he died. In fact, the Lord says to Solomon,"Because you have done this, and you have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you, and will give it to your servant" (2 Kings 11:11). Maybe Solomon didn't turn to idolatry until later in life, so that is why he lived a relatively long life, or maybe we can take a metaphorical approach to the words "prolong your days" (3:14) to somehow mean the days of his descendants as king over a united Israel. Maybe there are some other options out there as well. I am just unsatisfied with the notes in my study Bible which basically say Solomon lived less years than David, so the blessing of long life wasn't received. I think the fact that they both reigned 40 years and that he lived to be 60 means we can't take that easy way out. Either way, David and Solomon are an interesting case study in what can happen when leaders of God's people fail to live up to the covenant and relationship God has set up for them.

Well again, I got caught up in some of the history and minutiae of David and Solomon's life and don't have to discuss the other passages.  I also haven't really said anything about how this relates to all of us today. The easy answer is don't get caught up with foreign women, and we can understand foreign women to mean ungodly women (or men), not actually people from a different country. There is a word of caution here for the Christian against marrying an unchristian person. There is also a lot be said for the effects of sin that we cannot anticipate before hand. No doubt Solomon went into each of these marriages thinking that it wasn't going to hurt anybody. By the 700th wife he probably thought, "How can 1 more be worse than the first 699?" He might have even thought, "How can allowing idols and temples to foreign gods be bad, if I only let me wives worship there? Surely, it won't be a sin if they are allowed to, but nobody else does." I am reminded of what my Sunday school teacher said today, "Rot has to start somewhere." Perhaps it started right there when Solomon allowed the first idol into the royal palace. Israel was, after all, to be the holy people of God, set apart from all the nations to worship Him, and then there were idols at the highest level of leadership.

So those are two things we can pull out of this story, but no doubt there are others. Many of us are married already, so there isn't must to say about not marrying a non-believer. But we also have to be careful who we hang out and and draw influence from. And that is the key, who we draw influence from. It is not as if we are not supposed to be around sinners and those in need of Christ, but it is whether we allow them to influence us or if we are we being an ambassador for Christ. And the second point: be careful with allowing the "rot" in even unconscious spaces. Let us pray that the Holy Spirit will be with us and give us wisdom and strength to live the life Christ has called us to.

Grace and Peace.