David’s son Solomon took the throne because David chose him over his other sons. He was the only one of them that seemed to have any desire to walk with God. Solomon’s reign was known for three things: his wisdom, his building of the temple, and his fall into idolatry. We don’t hear much about Solomon’s early years until he is about ready to take the throne. Solomon is one of three kings in the royal lineage in which the king’s age of when he ascended to the throne is not given. We don’t know how old Solomon was when he became king, but we do know he was young. Being the son of Bathsheba, he was born after David’s adultery and murder of Uriah, which was well into David’s rule as king. So let us examine the backdrop to Solomon’s reign and why he made the choices he made.
David reigned seven years in Hebron over just the tribe of Judah and then 33 years at Jerusalem over all Israel. While in Hebron, David’s oldest children were born, including Amnon and Absalom. If they were to be adults when their story in 2 Samuel 13-19 takes place, this would have to be a minimum of 20-30 years into David’s reign. The Bathsheba incident took place before this. Presuming Solomon was 20 years old when he became king (as Solomon’s son, Rehoboam was born one year before Solomon became king, this leaves a small window), this means that the adultery and murder of Uriah was not very long after David built his palace after conquering Jerusalem. If so, then Solomon would have been a child when Absalom murdered Amnon and when he executed his plot to overthrow David three years later. He would have learned first-hand the dangers of political upheaval and the rivalry between brothers could be severe. Solomon would end up having to deal with an older brother in Adonijah who tried to usurp the throne clearly given to Solomon.
Solomon would learn of the conspiracies against his father David in his youth. In 1 Kings 2, we see Solomon dealing with Adonijah who sought to steal David’s throne, Joab whom murdered Abner and Amasa, two generals who were good men overall, and Shimei who cursed David as he fled Jerusalem from Absalom. David was not aware that Joab had murdered Abner and Amasa in both power grabs for himself but also an unhealthy zeal for David and protecting his throne, all done in the flesh. David didn’t have the courage to deal with them directly, but he let Solomon choose how to deal with them. He gave each of them a chance, and none of them acted wisely.
Solomon would receive all the blueprints and instructions for building the temple. As we see in how Solomon did things, he did not merely do it because it was his father’s primary dream. He did it because he also wanted to do it. He saw David’s loyalty to God and how his prayer life and worship is what drove him and motivated him. He would have been with David during the exile from Jerusalem during Absalom’s rebellion, and he would have seen how David handled the pressure – by turning to God. I believe this is one of the motivators for Solomon seeking wisdom too. He knew of the treachery of Absalom and had just dealt with three men who betrayed his father. So, he needed wisdom, not just to rule but for his own safety, too.
Solomon was also known for doing excessively large sacrifices. The day he prayed for wisdom, he offered over a thousand animals for sacrifice and even more when the Temple was built. God never chided Solomon for the size of his sacrifice, but I wonder if Solomon missed the point of them. When Hezekiah offered sacrifices, he offered seven bulls and seven rams and it was explicitly as a sign of complete repentance. We only see Solomon sacrificing for dedication. I may be reading too much into this, but where would this idea come from? Well, Solomon likely was alive when David did his census and purposefully bought the threshing floor and the oxen for the sacrifice because he would not give a sacrifice that would cost him nothing. So I can picture Solomon learning that sacrifice was a very important thing, even if he missed the purpose. David didn’t miss it but I don’t see that carried on down the lines often.
Solomon’s downfall was caused by his lust for women. He had 700 wives and 300 concubines. David had 9 wives and a harem of concubines. But David’s rejection of God’s command to kings in particular to not multiply wives only caused Solomon to swing that door wide open. It was this polygamous practice that led to Solomon’s downfall into idolatry. He saw David with multiple wives and saw no reason to hold back himself. However, David never married outside of Israel. Solomon married many from outside Israel, primarily the daughter of a pharaoh of Egypt, whom he built a separate palace for.
We do not know when Solomon’s idolatry took place in his life, but we can presume it was in the last 10 years of his reign. We also don’t know when Solomon wrote Proverbs and Ecclesiastes or if he repented of that idolatry in relation to those incidents. I suspect Ecclesiastes was written near the end of Solomon’s life as he realized he had chased after everything but found it was worth nothing except for God. It is interesting to think about when Proverbs 1-9 was written, because those chapters deal heavily with adultery. Remember that Rehoboam was alive for the entirely of Solomon’s 40-year reign and became king at age 41. So, when did he receive that instruction? As a boy before Solomon really began taking on wives? In the middle of that in his teens to early adults when that was going on? Or after the idolatry took its root and Solomon was warning Rehoboam due to his years of experience in finding it of no value? I don’t know.
David had planted the seeds for Solomon’s life, both good and bad. What David did, Solomon did even greater. David worshiped at the tabernacle. Solomon built the Temple. David sought to teach wisdom, and Solomon asked for wisdom. David did not parent his oldest well, and Solomon saw the dangers of that. David had multiple wives, and Solomon had many more. Be careful what seeds you plant. You can plant all the good seeds you want, but if you sow some bad seeds, then those few bad seeds could undo the entire crop. Solomon’s reign was undone due to his many wives. Let us be careful not to plant such seeds to our children and the next generation.
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