August 31, 2021 – Click here to listen
My Bible study partner and I just finished studying the book of Proverbs and now we are beginning Ecclesiastes. Written by King Solomon, he was only second in wisdom to Jesus of anyone who ever lived or ever will live, this according to the Bible.
Solomon was enormously blessed by God for the first half of his life due to his love and zeal for God and was even allowed to build God’s temple in Jerusalem. But later in life, it seemed Satan lured him away and he completely lost his honor and integrity. Consequently, the second half of his life was filled with cynicism and he actively followed the world instead of God.
As a young dysfunctional man and baby Christian, I wanted a Godly mentor who could instruct me how to be successful and when I discovered that Solomon was deemed to be the richest and wisest man in the world, he was my choice. I read everything I could find about him and obviously spent much time reading what he directly wrote in the Bible including most of Proverbs.
I soon discovered that his life was a constant search for meaning. Unfortunately, he sought the world and all it offers including: possessions, his power as king, accomplishments, global fame, money, women, and being smarter than everyone else.
Perhaps his greatest downfall was women. He ended up with 700 wives and 300 concubines. (Egad! This did not seem too smart!) These women were comprised primarily of Israel’s enemies and God had expressly forbidden Israel from consorting or marrying them. He ignored those commands and they seduced and turned him away from God. He eventually built their satanic temples and allowed them and the people of Israel to worship their idols and false gods.
As one might imagine this did not set well with God and Solomon’s fall was swift and sad. At the time of his death of the 12 tribes of Israel that he once had led to greatness, only 2 remained that still followed his son. A kingdom blessed by God and founded by a wise and prosperous king was reduced to a broken-down heap of black sin.
I went to Israel and brought all kinds of photography equipment to record the great works he had built including vineyards, stables, temples, and palaces. I was utterly amazed that hardly anything remained save a few pillars here and there with vines growing on them. It suddenly dawned on me that I should not be pursuing building a worldly empire but a heavenly one because it was futile. And it put everything in perspective for me. Thank you, King Solomon!
I still cannot help but wonder what might have been if this man that was so gifted with wisdom by God would have continued to worship God his entire life. In the end the money, fame, power, wisdom, and great accomplishments in themselves meant nothing to him and he called them vanity.
And yet here we are today, and the entire world is still in pursuit of the same things. And as in Solomon’s day, not one of them gives meaning to life!
Laying up treasures for oneself on earth is futile according to Jesus. It is all vanity, and one day those worldly things will go the way of the great works of Solomon and return to dust. We will return to dust ourselves as well, but our Spirit will live on, and we will face God and every knee shall bow.
God’s kingdom is where our treasures should be stored. We are spiritual beings and not of this world. Think about your priorities this morning. Are you like Solomon or Jesus? Solomon who tried most everything the world could offer had these final words on the subject:
Eccl. 12:13
When all has been heard, the conclusion of the matter is this:
Fear God and keep His commandments, because this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, along with every hidden thing, whether good or evil . . .