The Lord Gives Solomon Wisdom
3:1 Solomon made an alliance by marriage with Pharaoh, king of Egypt; he married Pharaoh’s daughter. He brought her to the City of David until he could finish building his residence and the temple of the Lord and the wall around Jerusalem.
According to the Mosaic Law, it was illegal for kings to multiply wives or horses. Wives were multiplied by kings for political protection. A king would not attack a nation when his now daughter was being held as hostage by an enemy king. Horses were multiplied for protection. Fast horses and fast chariots were the most lethal weapons of war during this time period. God wanted his kings trusting in Him alone for protection, not in political allies or large armies.
Therefore, Solomon began his monarchy by breaking the Mosaic Law. He married an Egyptian wife so that his western border would be protected The multiplication of wives would later cause Solomon to lapse into idolatry.
3:2 Now the people were offering sacrifices at the high places, because in those days a temple had not yet been built to honor the Lord.
Ever since the Tower of Babel, the pagan nations offered their animal and human sacrifices in the highest places. After the dispersion of Babel, these pagan practices were taken into all of the nations of he ancient world. The Canaanites felt that the higher they offered their sacrifices, the better chance they had of gaining favor with their gods.
David eliminated idolatry in Israel. However, the idolatry must have continued behind closed doors. As soon as Solomon came to power, the high places were being rebuilt. All of the sacrifices were supposed to be offered at one place in which Jehovah chose. The current place of sacrifice was to be the Tabernacle, which was kept in the city of Gibeon at this time.
3:3 Solomon demonstrated his loyalty to the Lord by following the practices of his father David, except that he offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places.
Solomon was a second-rate king compared to David. Solomon not only tolerated worship in high places, but he participated in this worship himself. David never would have allowed this type of breach of worship. Although Solomon loved the Lord, he was not the same kind of a man as that of his father David.
3:4 The king went to Gibeon to offer sacrifices, for it had the most prominent of the high places. Solomon would offer up a thousand burnt sacrifices on the altar there.
The most popular high place in Israel was at Gibeon, which was about seven miles northwest of Jerusalem in the territory of Benjamin. The tabernacle of Moses and the original bronze altar were located in this city. Most of the sacrifices in the high places at this time were offered to Jehovah, but it was still a violation of the Mosaic Law. All of the sacrifices to Jehovah could only be offered at one place which Jehovah had chosen. At this time, it was the tabernacle in Gibeon.
3:5 One night in Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream. God said, “Tell me what I should give you.”
Before the Bible was complete, God often appeared to men in dreams. However, God no longer operates in this way. The written Word of God is His only current source of divine information. Satan wants men to look for divine information fromn dreams, prophecies, and tongues so that he can lead men astray. He does this by mixing truth with error. His major target is the charismatic church. He targets fragmented, carnal, and baby Christians who are not grounded in the entire council of the Word of God.
3:6 Solomon replied, “You demonstrated great loyalty to your servant, my father David, as he served you faithfully, properly, and sincerely. You have maintained this great loyalty to this day by allowing his son to sit on his throne.
Solomon thanked God for allowing him to sit on the throne. Solomon understood that he was sitting upon the throne because of the promises of the Davidic Covenant.
3:7 Now, O Lord my God, you have made your servant king in my father David’s place, even though I am only a young man and am inexperienced.
Solomon was only twenty years old when he became king. He did not have much experience in running a nation as great as Israel. He realized that he would not able to follow in the footsteps of David. He was totally inadequate for the job.
3:8 Your servant stands among your chosen people; they are a great nation that is too numerous to count or number.
Solomon inherited the most powerful and wealthiest nation in the world. The population of Israel at this time was around four million.
3:9 So give your servant a discerning mind so he can make judicial decisions for your people and distinguish right from wrong. Otherwise no one is able to make judicial decisions for this great nation of yours.”
Solomon asked for human wisdom so that he could make strong political decisions. He should have asked for spiritual discernment. Solomon would possess the greatest human political wisdom of any king in history. However, this great human wisdom would only lead him into idolatry. Spiritual discernment would have kept him out of idolatry and into God’s word and God’s will. Solomon should have asked for divine viewpoint instead of human viewpoint.
3:10 The Lord was pleased that Solomon made this request.
Jehovah was pleased that Solomon asked for political wisdom.
3:11 God said to him, “Because you asked for the ability to make wise judicial decisions, and not for long life, or riches, or vengeance on your enemies, 3:12 I grant your request, and give you a wise and discerning mind superior to that of anyone who has preceded or will succeed you.
God gave Solomon the greatest political wisdom of any man in history.
3:13 Furthermore, I am giving you what you did not request – riches and honor so that you will be the greatest king of your generation.
Jehovah made Solomon the wealthiest and most honored king in his generation.
3:14 If you follow my instructions by obeying my rules and regulations, just as your father David did, then I will grant you long life.”
David was the standard of all kings. If Solomon followed God’s instructions, then he would have been given a long life. He did not follow God’s instructions, so he died at seventy years old.
3:15 Solomon then woke up and realized it was a dream. He went to Jerusalem, stood before the ark of the Lord’s covenant, offered up burnt sacrifices, presented peace offerings, and held a feast for all his servants.
Solomon was so inspired by this revelation, that he turned from the high places and began worshiping at the divinely-appointed place of worship, which was the tabernacle. At this time, the tabernacle was in Gibeon. However, the ark of the covenant was in Jerusalem. All of the offerings at the tabernacle pointed to Christ. The burnt offering spoke of the identity of Christ. The peace offerings spoke of the atonement of Christ.
Solomon Demonstrates His Wisdom
3:16 Then two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him.
King Solomon even heard the case of prostitutes.
3:17 One of the women said, “My master, this woman and I live in the same house. I had a baby while she was with me in the house.
Prostitution was against the Mosaic Law. Solomon was tolerating prostitution. The nation of Israel was beginning to decay.
3:18 Then three days after I had my baby, this woman also had a baby. We were alone; there was no one else in the house except the two of us.
Both prostitutes gave birth to children within three days of each other.
3:19 This woman’s child suffocated during the night when she rolled on top of him.
One of the mothers rolled over and suffocated her baby during the night.
3:20 She got up in the middle of the night and took my son from my side, while your servant was sleeping. She put him in her arms, and put her dead son in my arms.
The mother switched the babies. This kind of devious behavior showed the moral decay of the people in Israel.
3:21 I got up in the morning to nurse my son, and there he was, dead! But when I examined him carefully in the morning, I realized it was not my baby.”
The other mother awoke and found out that her baby had been switched.
3:22 The other woman said, “No! My son is alive; your son is dead!” But the first woman replied, “No, your son is dead; my son is alive.” Each presented her case before the king.
Each mother claimed the live baby. They took their case before the king.
3:23 The king said, “One says, ‘My son is alive; your son is dead,’ while the other says, ‘No, your son is dead; my son is alive.’”
The king repeated the details of the case.
3:24 The king ordered, “Get me a sword!” So they placed a sword before the king.
King Solomon asked for a sword.
3:25 The king then said, “Cut the living child in two, and give half to one and half to the other!”
Solomon judged that the baby was to be cut in half and given to each mother. Ancient pagan kings were cruel. They had to make harsh judgements so that the people would fear them. These types of harsh judgements kept kings in power. King Solomon's court decision would have been viewed as good Machiavellian protocol.
3:26 The real mother spoke up to the king, for her motherly instincts were aroused. She said, “My master, give her the living child! Whatever you do, don’t kill him!” But the other woman said, “Neither one of us will have him! Let them cut him in two!”
Solomon understood the motherly instincts of the real mother.
3:27 The king responded, “Give the first woman the living child; don’t kill him. She is the mother.”
Solomon used the human wisdom in which God had given him to solve this case. Solomon was an expert on human personality.
3:28 When all Israel heard about the judicial decision which the king had rendered, they respected the king, for they realized that he possessed supernatural wisdom to make judicial decisions.
Solomon did not possess spiritual discernment, but Israel recognized his supernatural human wisdom.