King Solomon

Solomon is credited as being the wisest King that ever lived..

Because you have asked this thing, and have not asked

long life for yourself, nor have asked riches for yourself,

nor have asked the life of your enemies, but have asked

for yourself understanding to discern justice, behold,

I have done according to your words; see, I have given

you a wise and understanding heart, so that there has not

been anyone like you before you, nor shall any like you

arise after you.

And I have also given you what you have not asked:

both riches and honor, so that there shall not be anyone

like you among the kings all your days.

1 Kings 3:11-14

Solomon was David's son who's mother was Bathesheba.

Solomon was also the one who built the temple, the temple

David himself wanted to build for the Lord God, but God

told David that his son would build it. Solomon was so wise

that people from all over came to seek his advice, so well respected

was Solomon that he even had Pharaoh's daughter as his wife

(Well one of his wives).

You may be thinking so what? well...while it was popular in those times

to have marriages between other nations, as it was a way of creating

alliances between the two nations involved,(the idea being

that through the marriage the two nations became an extended family)

It was not something the Egyptians did, they were totally against giving

their daughters to foreign kings. So obviously Solomon was looked

at with great esteem by the egyptians because it would obviously

be looked at as quite the privilege for him to be married to Pharaoh's

daughter.

Probably the most popular story of Solomon's wise judgment

is the story of the two "harlots"...

Now two women who were harlots came to the king,

and stood before him. And one woman said,

"O my lord, this woman and I dwell in the same house; and I

gave birth while she was in the house. Then it happened, the third day

after I had given birth, that this woman also gave birth.

And we were together; no one was with us in the house, except

the two of us in the house. And this woman's son died in the night,

because she lay on him. So she arose in the middle of the night

and took my son from my side, while your maidservant slept,

and laid him in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom.

And when I rose in the morning to nurse my son, there he was, dead.

But when I had examined him in the morning, indeed, he was not

my son whom I had borne."

Then the other woman said,

"NO! but the living one is my son, and the dead one is your son!"

And the first woman said,

"NO! but the dead one is your son, and the living one is my son!"

thus they spoke before the king. And the king said,

"The one says, 'This is my son, who lives, and your son is the dead one';

and the other says, 'NO! But your son is the dead one, and my son

is the living one.' "

Then the king said,

"Bring me a sword."

So they brought a sword before the king. And the king said,

"Divide the living child in two, and give half to one,

and half to the other."

Then the woman whose son was living spoke to the king, for

she yearned with compassion for her son; and she said,

"O my lord, give her the living child, and by no means kill him!"

But the other said,

"Let him be neither mine nor yours, but divide him."

So the king answered and said,

"Give the first woman the living child, and by no means kill him:

she is his mother."

And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had rendered; and they

feared the king, for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him

to administer justice.

1 Kings 3:16-28

Further more just as Solomon's father David was credited with writing

"Psalm's", Solomon is credited with writing "Proverbs" from the wisdom

granted to him by God. Israel thrived under Solomon and his wisdom..

And God gave Solomon wisdom and exceedingly great understanding,

and largeness of heart like the sand on the seashore. Thus Solomon's

wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the men of the East and all the wisdom

of Egypt. For he was wiser then all men- then Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman,

Chalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol; and his fame was in all the surrounding

nations. He spoke three thousand proverbs, and his songs were one thousand

and five. Also he spoke of trees, from the cedar tree of Lebanon even to

the hyssop that springs out of the wall; he spoke of animals, of birds,

of creeping things, and of fish. And men of all nations, from all the kings

of the earth who had heard of his wisdom, came to hear the wisdom

of solomon.

1 Kings 4:29-34

One person who came to see Solomon was the Queen of Sheba

(In modern times Sheba would be somewhere around ethiopia and

Yemen) showing that Solomon was obviously not just a wise man

to the Israelites and Egyptians, but just as the word of God says

he was considered wise amongst all nations that have heard

of him.

Now when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon

concerning the name of the LORD, she came to test him with hard questions. She came to Jerusalem with a very great retinue,

with camels that bore spices, very much gold,

and precious stones; and when she came to Solomon,

she spoke with him about all that was in her heart.

So Solomon answered all her questions;

there was nothing so difficult for the king that he could not

explain it to her. And when the queen of Sheba had seen

all the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built,

the food on his table, the seating of his servants,

the service of his waiters and their apparel,

his cupbearers, and his entryway by which he went up

to the house of the LORD, there was no more spirit in her.

Then she said to the king: "It was a true report which I heard

in my own land about your words and your wisdom.

However I did not believe the words until I came and saw

with my own eyes; and indeed the half was not told me.

Your wisdom and prosperity exceed the fame of which I heard.

Happy are your men and happy are these your servants, who stand continually before you and hear your wisdom!

Blessed be the LORD your God, who delighted in you, setting you on the throne of Israel! Because the LORD has loved Israel forever,

therefore He made you king, to do justice and righteousness."

Then she gave the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold,

spices in great quantity, and precious stones.

There never again came such abundance of spices as

the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.

1 Kings 10:1-10

God promised Solomon that as long as he didn't turn away from him

and worship other Gods that God would bless Solomon and Israel.

It turns out that's exactly what happened in Solomon's old age....

Solomon had seven hundred wives...most of which came from

other nations that did not worship God, even still some came from

nations God warned the Israelites not to intermarry with, because

they would turn their hearts away to other gods. In the end

Solomon's heart was not right with God as he let his wives

turn his heart to other gods, even with all the wisdom and the wealth

that God provided for Solomon he still turned away. Should be

a lesson in there somewhere right? Gods wisdom is something we can't even begin

to even try to comprehend, even us calling God "Wise" is a joke

as our understanding of wisdom is extremely limited. Our wisdom

is like the size of a grain of salt compared to Gods almighty wisdom.

...you can know all there is to know, you can be the smartest

person on this planet, but if you don't know God...you know nothing,

your "wisdom" is pointless.

The FEAR of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: [but] fools

despise wisdom and instruction.

Proverbs 1:7

Who said that? oh yeah......only the wisest king that ever lived.