Sermon Tone Analysis

*KING SOLOMON*

 

*1 KINGS 3:1-15 (NIV) \\ **3**     SOLOMON MADE AN ALLIANCE WITH PHARAOH KING OF EGYPT AND MARRIED HIS DAUGHTER.

HE BROUGHT HER TO THE CITY OF DAVID UNTIL HE FINISHED BUILDING HIS PALACE AND THE TEMPLE OF THE LORD, AND THE WALL AROUND JERUSALEM.

2 THE PEOPLE, HOWEVER, WERE STILL SACRIFICING AT THE HIGH PLACES, BECAUSE A TEMPLE HAD NOT YET BEEN BUILT FOR THE NAME OF THE LORD. 3 SOLOMON SHOWED HIS LOVE FOR THE LORD BY WALKING ACCORDING TO THE STATUTES OF HIS FATHER DAVID, EXCEPT THAT HE OFFERED SACRIFICES AND BURNED INCENSE ON THE HIGH PLACES.

*

 

 

 

 

 (3:1-3) *INTRODUCTION*:

 

DOES WISDOM DWELL ON THE EARTH TODAY?

ARE THERE MANY WISE MEN OR WOMEN SERVING IN GOVERNMENT, BUSINESS, EDUCATION, OR OTHER LEADERSHIP POSITIONS?

ARE THERE MANY HUSBANDS AND WIVES WHO POSSESS GENUINE WISDOM,

WHO DEVELOP WISE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN THEMSELVES AND WITH THEIR CHILDREN?

WISDOM IS THE ABILITY TO UNDERSTAND

AND TO DISCERN WHAT TO DO, HOW TO DO IT,

AND WHEN TO DO IT.

 

WISDOM KNOWS WHAT TO DO AND DOES IT.

 

WISDOM KNOWS RIGHT FROM WRONG,

AND ALWAYS DOES WHAT IS RIGHT.

WISDOM RECOGNIZES WICKEDNESS

AND HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH SIN AND EVIL.

WISDOM KNOWS WHAT RESPONSIBLE BEHAVIOR IS

AND LIVES RESPONSIBLY,

TURNING AWAY FROM ALL ACTS OF IRRESPONSIBILITY.

WISDOM WAS THE GREAT CONCERN OF SOLOMON.

REMEMBER THAT SOLOMON HAD JUST CONSOLIDATED THE POWER OF HIS THRONE.

HE HAD SHATTERED A REBELLION, A COUP AGAINST THE THRONE BY HIS HALF-BROTHER ADONIJAH.

AND HE HAD EXECUTED ALL THE POWERFUL, INFLUENTIAL CONSPIRATORS WHO HAD SUPPORTED THE UPRISING OF ADONIJAH.

THE NATION WAS NOW UNIFIED UNDER HIS LEADERSHIP, AND PEACE SWEPT THROUGH THE LAND.

SOLOMON'S FATHER, KING DAVID, HAD RECENTLY DIED, AND SOLOMON SAT ALL ALONE UPON THE THRONE OF THE NATION.

SENSING DEEP INADEQUACY AND HELPLESSNESS TO HANDLE THE TASK LAID OUT BEFORE HIM,

 

HE FELT THE NEED TO SEEK THE FACE OF THE LORD.

HE DESPERATELY NEEDED WISDOM,

HE NEEDED THE ABILITY TO UNDERSTAND

AND DISCERN WHAT TO DO

AS HE GOVERNED THE GREAT NATION ISRAEL.

THIS IS THE SUBJECT OF THIS GREAT PASSAGE OF SCRIPTURE:

 

/THE REQUEST FOR WISDOM BY SOLOMON /

/AND HIS WISE JUSTICE: /

/A LESSON ON WISDOM AND DISCERNMENT/, 3:1-28.

1.

A GLIMPSE INTO THE ATTITUDE OF SOLOMON: PLANTING THE SEED THAT LEADS TO A CARNAL LIFE (VV.1-3).

*1.

*(3:1-3) *CARNALITY, CAUSED BY— MIND, CARNAL, CAUSED BY— ATTITUDE, CARNAL, CAUSED BY— ATTITUDE, CARNAL, EXAMPLE OF— CARNALITY, EXAMPLE OF— SOLOMON, CARNALITY— HIGH PLACES, DISCUSSED*:

 

 

A GLIMPSE INTO THE ATTITUDE OF SOLOMON DURING THE EARLY YEARS OF HIS REIGN IS GIVEN BY SCRIPTURE.

AND THE SEEDS THAT LEAD TO A WORLDLY,

CARNAL LIFE ARE ALREADY SEEN IMPLANTED IN THE HEART OF SOLOMON.

THREE ATTITUDES IN PARTICULAR ARE SPELLED OUT:

 

*1.

SOLOMON HAD AN ATTITUDE THAT ALLOWED HIM *

*TO MAKE A POLITICAL ALLIANCE WITH EGYPT *

*AND TO MARRY AN UNBELIEVER (**1 KINGS 3:1**).

*

 

UNDER DAVID'S REIGN AND NOW SOLOMON'S, ISRAEL HAD GAINED WORLDWIDE PROMINENCE—

 

SO MUCH SO THAT EVEN EGYPT WAS WILLING TO MAKE A PEACE ALLIANCE WITH SOLOMON.

BY THIS PACT, SOLOMON WAS ABLE TO SECURE THE SOUTHERN BORDER OF THE NATION.

HIS MARRIAGE TO PHARAOH'S DAUGHTER WAS OBVIOUSLY A POLITICAL MARRIAGE,

A MARRIAGE THAT SEALED THE ALLIANCE.

*BUT NOTICE, WHAT MAY BE POLITICALLY SAVY, *

*MAY NOT BE SPIRITUALLY SMART.*

SOLOMON WAS MARRYING AN UNBELIEVER,

BRINGING AN UNBELIEVER INTO THE PALACE AS HIS WIFE.

HE WAS EXPOSING HIMSELF AND THE NATION TO HER FALSE GODS AND FALSE RELIGION.

HE WAS NOT AS CAREFUL AS HE SHOULD HAVE BEEN IN PROTECTING HIMSELF

AND THE ISRAELITES FROM IDOLATROUS BELIEFS.

A WORLDLY, CARNAL SEED WAS ALREADY PLANTED IN THE ATTITUDE AND HEART OF SOLOMON.

*2.SOLOMON HAD AN INDUSTRIOUS ATTITUDE THAT DROVE HIM TO UNDERTAKE MASSIVE, EXTRAVAGANT BUILDING PROJECTS (**1 KINGS 3:1**).

*

 

HE WAS INDUSTRIOUS, AND FOR THIS HE WAS TO BE COMMENDED.

FOR IT WAS HIS INDUSTRIOUS SPIRIT THAT DROVE HIM TO COMPLETE THE BUILDING OF HIS OWN PALACE,

THE TEMPLE OF THE LORD,

AND THE WALL THAT SURROUNDED THE ENTIRE CITY OF JERUSALEM.

ONCE HE HAD COMPLETED THESE BUILDING PROJECTS,

HE BUILT A SPECIAL HOUSE OR PALACE FOR HIS WIFE (1 KINGS 7:1-51).

BUT NOTE THIS FACT: SEVERAL FACTORS SUGGEST AN EXTRAVAGANT, INDULGENT, AND UNRESTRAINED ATTITUDE AND SPIRIT WITHIN SOLOMON:

 

1.

THE ORNATE, COSTLY STRUCTURE AND FURNISHINGS OF HIS BUILDINGS (1 KINGS 7:1-51; 9:10-28; 10:14-29)

 

2.

THE HEAVY TAXATION HE PLACED ON THE PEOPLE IN ORDER TO COMPLETE HIS PROJECTS (1 KINGS 10:14)

 

3.

THE LABOR POLICIES HE ADOPTED, WHICH INCLUDED /FORCED/, /SLAVE /LABOR AND /DRAFTED /LABOR (1 KINGS 9:20-23)

 

 

 

 

THE EXTRAVAGANCE OF SOLOMON,

THIS SEED OF CARNALITY THAT WAS PLANTED WITHIN HIS HEART,

 

WAS TO LEAD TO A LIFE OF LUXURY, PLEASURE, COMPROMISE, AND DISOBEDIENCE (1 KINGS 9:10-28; 11:1-43).

*3.

SOLOMON HAD AN ATTITUDE THAT WAS DIVIDED SPIRITUALLY (**1 KINGS 3:2-3**).

*

 

HE ALLOWED THE PEOPLE TO CONTINUE WORSHIPPING AT THE HIGH PLACES THROUGHOUT ISRAEL.

HIGH PLACES WERE USUALLY OPEN-AIR SANCTUARIES WHERE ALTARS AND SHRINES WERE CONSTRUCTED FOR WORSHIP.

THESE OPEN-AIR SANCTUARIES HAD BEEN CONSTRUCTED BY THE CANAANITES ON VARIOUS HILLTOPS THROUGHOUT ALL ISRAEL,

INCLUDING THE COUNTRYSIDE, TOWNS, AND CITIES.

HOWEVER, GOD HAD FORBIDDEN THE ISRAELITES TO USE THE PAGAN ALTARS AND HIGH PLACES FOR WORSHIP OF THE LORD (NUMBERS 33:52; DEUT.

7:5; 12:2-6, 13).

THE REASON FOR THIS PROHIBITION, THIS COMMANDMENT, WAS TO PREVENT THE INFILTRATION OF FALSE WORSHIP INTO ISRAEL.

IF THEY WORSHIPPED AT THE HIGH PLACES,

THERE WOULD BE THE DANGER,

EVEN A TENDENCY, TO ALLOW THE INFILTRATION OF FALSE BELIEF AND PRACTICES INTO THEIR LIVES.

THUS THEY WERE TO DESTROY THE HIGH PLACES AND NEVER PARTICIPATE IN THE WORSHIP OF FALSE GODS.

THEY WERE NOT TO TAKE OVER THE PAGAN ALTARS

AND HIGH PLACES THAT HAD BEEN USED BY THE NATIONS THEY CONQUERED.

THEY WERE TO CONSTRUCT WORSHIP CENTERS ONLY AT THE PLACES CHOSEN BY GOD.

SOLOMON LOVED THE LORD AND OBEYED THE COMMANDMENTS OF THE LORD.

BUT IN THIS ONE AREA HE FAILED:

HE WORSHIPPED THE LORD AT THE HIGH PLACES,

 

NOT ONLY IN THE TENT OR WORSHIP CENTER BEFORE THE ARK OF GOD.

THE SEED OF A WORLDLY, CARNAL WORSHIP HAD BEEN IMPLANTED IN THE LIFE OF SOLOMON.

*THOUGHT 1*.

THE LESSON FOR US IS SELF-EVIDENT: WE MUST GUARD AGAINST THE SEEDS OF A WORLDLY, CARNAL LIFE.

WHEN THE URGES OF OUR FLESH ARE AROUSED, WE MUST RESTRAIN AND SUBJECT THEM.

WE MUST KEEP OUR BODIES UNDER CONTROL.

IF WE FAIL TO DISCIPLINE OUR BODIES, THE URGES OF OUR FLESH WILL RUN WILD, URGES SUCH AS...

| ·  EATING A THIRD OR FOURTH HELPING·  COMMITTING IMMORALITY·  READING PORNOGRAPHIC LITERATURE·  LOOKING WHEN WE SHOULD CONTROL OUR EYES·  STEALING OR SHOPLIFTING  | ·  DECEIVING OR LYING·  BECOMING ANGRY OR HOSTILE·  SEEKING REVENGE OR RETALIATION·  ASSAULTING OR MURDERING·  MISUSING OR ABUSING·  SUBJECTING OR ENSLAVING  |

THE LUST AND AROUSAL OF THE FLESH WILL LEAD TO A CARNAL LIFE.

FOR THIS REASON, WE MUST CONTROL, DISCIPLINE OURSELVES.

WE MUST GUARD, PROTECT OURSELVES AGAINST CARNALITY, A FLESHLY, WORLDLY LIFE.