The Man That Had 1,000 wives and concubines (Biblical Stories Explained)

the story of solomon is rather sad one of the disappointments in the bible when solomon came to the throne perhaps as young as 20 years old he had great promise he received great opportunity however the final account of solomon's life is one of disappointment 1. his promising start his exciting start king solomon's reign began on a high note his father declared him to be the king his given name means peace he was david and bathsheba's son one of the tragic consequences of a sinful web was the death of their first child solomon was the second child so he was born into a family that valued forgiveness you may have benefited from your parents knowledge of the lord solomon was raised in a palace that was rife with strife he sat in the front row watching as his older brothers amnan and absalom wreaked havoc in fact as david lay dying his brother adenija declared himself king nathan the prophet and bathsheba's quick actions cemented solomon's claim to the throne solomon became king his father delivered a farewell speech one kings two one to four when the time drew near for david to die he gave a charge to solomon his son two i am about to go the way of all the earth he said so be strong act like a man three and observe what the lord your god requires walk in obedience to him and keep his decrees and commands his laws and regulations as written in the law of moses do this so that you may prosper in all you do and wherever you go for and that the lord may keep his promise to me if your descendants watch how they live and if they walk faithfully before me with all their heart and soul you will never fail to have a successor on the throne of israel his father gave him a farewell speech in which he basically said live for the lord what a wise piece of advice for the young man solomon appears to have followed that advice 1st kings 3 3 and solomon loved the lord walking in the statutes of david his father only he sacrificed and burned incense in high places solomon's heart was fixed towards the lord at this point in his life in a dream god appeared to solomon 1st kings 3 5 at gibeon the lord appeared to solomon during the night in a dream and god said ask for whatever you want me to give you god frequently communicated with the israelites through dreams in the old testament god now primarily communicates with us through his son the lord jesus the living word as revealed in the scriptures the written word hebrews 1 1. god who at various times and in various ways spoken time passed to the fathers by the prophets the lord told solomon ask what shall i give you god was giving solomon a blank check and saying fill it in what do you want what if the lord woke you up tonight and said ask me whatever you want what would you say your honest answer will reveal a great deal about yourself consider everything solomon could have asked for but consider what solomon said he prayed to god for wisdom so that he could be the king he needed to be god was overjoyed by solomon's response in response to prayer solomon became the wisest man who ever lived he also became one of history's wealthiest men first kings 3 7-15 now lord my god you have made your servant king in place of my father david but i am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties your servant is here among the people you have chosen a great people too numerous to count or number so give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong for who is able to govern this great people of yours the lord was pleased that solomon had asked for this so god said to him since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice i will do what you have asked i will give you a wise and discerning heart so that there will never have been anyone like you nor will there ever be moreover i will give you what you have not asked for both wealth and honor so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings and if you walk in obedience to me and keep my decrees and commands as david your father did i will give you a long life then solomon awoke and he realized it had been a dream solomon was a great king and an excellent administrator he constructed the magnificent temple that his father had envisioned in the 480th year after the israelites came out of egypt in the fourth year of solomon's reign over israel in the month of zeef the second month he began to build the temple of the lord the temple that king solomon built for the lord was 60 cubits long 20 wide and 30 high the portico at the front of the main hall of the temple extended the width of the temple that is 20 cubits and projected 10 cubits from the front of the temple he made narrow windows high up in the temple walls against the walls of the main hall and inner sanctuary he built a structure around the building in which there were side rooms the lowest floor was five cubits wide the middle floor six cubits and the third floor seven he made offset ledges around the outside of the temple so that nothing would be inserted into the temple walls in building the temple only blocks dressed at the quarry were used and no hammer chisel or any other iron tool was heard at the temple site while it was being built the entrance to the lowest floor was on the south side of the temple a stairway led up to the middle level and from there to the third so he built the temple and completed it roofing it with beams and cedar planks and he built the side rooms all along the temple the height of each was five cubits and they were attached to the temple by beams of cedar solomon offered a magnificent dedication prayer what a promising beginning 1. kings 8 22-53 then solomon stood before the altar of the lord in front of the whole assembly of israel spread out his hands toward heaven and said lord the god of israel there is no god like you in heaven above or on earth below you who keep your covenant of love with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way you have kept your promise to your servant david my father with your mouth you have promised and with your hand you have fulfilled it as it is today now lord the god of israel keep for your servant david my father the promises you made to him when you said you shall never fail to have a successor to sit before me on the throne of israel if only your descendants are careful in all they do to walk before me faithfully as you have done and now god of israel led your word that you promised your servant david my father come true but will god really dwell on earth the heavens even the highest heaven cannot contain you how much less this temple i have built yet give attention to your servant's prayer and his plea for mercy lord my god hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is praying in your presence this day may your eyes be open toward this temple night and day this place of which you said my name shall be there so that you will hear the prayer your servant prays toward this place hear the supplication of your servant and of your people israel when they pray toward this place hear from heaven your dwelling place and when you hear forgive when anyone wrongs their neighbor and is required to take an oath and they come and swear the oath before your altar in this temple then hear from heaven and act judge between your servants condemning the guilty by bringing down on their heads what they have done and vindicating the innocent by treating them in accordance with their innocence 2. his progressing sin solomon made two great mistakes 1 kings 11 1 king solomon however loved many foreign women besides pharaoh's daughter moabites ammonites sidonians and hittites his involvement with foreign women foreshadowed future problems many of those marriages were political alliances but immorality was clearly a factor as well a thousand women vied for his attention imagine the surprise when all of the in-laws showed up solomon's example fostered a culture of immorality in the kingdom one kings 11 3-7 he had 700 wives of royal birth and 300 concubines and his wives led him astray 4. as solomon grew old his wives turned his heart after other gods and his heart was not fully devoted to the lord his god as the heart of david his father had been 5. he followed ashtareth the goddess of the sidonians and malek the detestable god of the ammonites six so solomon did evil in the eyes of the lord he did not follow the lord completely as david his father had done on a hill east of jerusalem solomon built a high place for chimosh the detestable god of moab and for molech the detestable god of the ammonites these women brought gods with them and insisted on solomon partaking in pagan rituals many of which were sensual in nature all of this was done in the name of tolerance but it brought idolatry into the very heart of the nation of god's people and shifted the king's heart away from god 1 kings 11 7-14 then solomon built a high place for chimosh the abomination of moab on the hill that is east of jerusalem and for malek the abomination of the people of oman and he did likewise for all his foreign wives who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods so the lord became angry with solomon because his heart had turned from the lord god of israel who had appeared to him twice and had commanded him concerning this thing that he should not go after other gods but he did not keep what the lord had commanded eleven therefore the lord said to solomon because you have done this and have not kept my covenant and my statutes which i have commanded you i will surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant 12. nevertheless i will not do it in your days for the sake of your father david i will tear it out of the hand of your son thirteen however i will not tear away the whole kingdom i will give one tribe to your son for the sake of my servant david and for the sake of jerusalem which i have chosen 14. now the lord raised up an adversary against solomon her dad the edomite he was a descendant of the king in adam solomon's errors caused him to suffer in his final years god began to raise up foes for solomon 1 kings 11 23 to 26 and god raised up against solomon another adversary resin son of eliada who had fled from his master hadadezza king of zobar when david destroyed zabar's army rezan gathered a band of men around him and became their leader they went to damascus where they settled and took control resin was israel's adversary as long as solomon lived adding to the trouble caused by her dad so resin ruled in iran and was hostile toward israel also jeroboam son of nabat rebelled against the king he was one of solomon's officials an ephraimite from zeredah and his mother was a widow named zerowa solomon's biography ends in 11 41-43 to get the final chapter in solomon's life we go to another book in the bible 1 kings 11 41-43 as for the other events of solomon's reign all he did and the wisdom he displayed are they not written in the book of the annals of solomon 42 solomon reigned in jerusalem over all israel 40 years 43 then he rested with his ancestors and was buried in the city of david his father and rehoboam his son succeeded him as king three his pervading sadness song of solomon proverbs and ecclesiastes are the three bible books written by solomon he must have realized when he was old that his reign had devolved into immorality and idolatry he was just waiting to die and explain to god what a pointless life he had led ecclesiastes describes what life is like under the sun when you have no relationship with the son's creator solomon told us in ecclesiastes about all the things he tried in his pursuit of happiness people try the same things today he attempted to learn but discovered that you can have a full head and an empty heart ecclesiastes 1 17 then i applied myself to the understanding of wisdom and also of madness and folly but i learned that this too is a chasing after the wind he then tried laughing ecclesiastes 2 1. i said to myself come now i will test you with pleasure to find out what is good but that also proved to be meaningless his palace was filled with loud laughing and pleasure if you think a big party is a shortcut to joy in life you have misunderstood the whole point of living psalm 16 11 you will show me the path of life in your presence is fullness of joy at your right hand are pleasures forevermore you will never find real pleasure until you find a relationship with god solomon also tried luxury 2-4 his wealth was beyond calculation some of the most miserable people in the world are some of the wealthiest people in the world luxury is not going to make you happy ecclesiastes 2 3-6 i tried cheering myself with wine and embracing folly my mind still guiding me with wisdom i wanted to see what was good for people to do under the heavens during the few days of their lives i undertook great projects i built houses for myself and planted vineyards i made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them i made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees he experimented with lust but no amount of physical pleasure made him happy ecclesiastes 2 8 to 11. i am asked silva and gold for myself and the treasure of kings and provinces i acquired male and female singers and a harem as well the delights of a man's heart 9. i became greater by far than anyone in jerusalem before me in all this my wisdom stayed with me 10. i denied myself nothing my eyes desired i refused my heart no pleasure my heart took delight in all my labor and this was the reward for all my toil eleven yet when i surveyed all that my hands had done and what i had toiled to achieve everything was meaningless a chasing after the wind nothing was gained under the sun i believe we have solomon's personal testimony in the book of ecclesiastes he finally realized that the true source of contentment is the lord ecclesiastes 12 one remember your creator in the days of your youth before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say i find no pleasure in them

Channel: Grace Digital Network

Views: 1,660,841

Keywords: animated bible stories, bible, bible stories, bible stories for kids, bible story, biblical stories, christian stories, concubines, grace digital, king solomon, stories of the bible

Id: lW-YdgTnlVo

Length: 22min 13sec (1333 seconds)

Published: Sat Dec 04 2021