Good weekend to you my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
Legacy and Reputation are two very powerful words in the human journey, and you and I are today living in BOTH of those words. Legacy is what was passed to us by our ancestors, which we are now building upon and which we will someday pass to our descendants, isn’t that true? Reputation is uniquely ours, which we shape every day, with every choice, every word, every action. I wonder how often you think about that, and how much effort you and I are investing to be certain that our descendants will be proud of both the legacy and reputation we will pass to them at the end of our lives?
I’ve invested the past 10 editions of “Walking with Jesus” in helping us look closely at one of the most remarkable men in human history, King Solomon. Twice he had encounters with God which helped shape his life purpose, values and the impact he had on the world of his time. (2 Chronicles 1 & 7) The Bible declares him to be among the wisest, if not THE wisest human being of all time, because Solomon had an anointing of God given wisdom unlike that God ever gave to anyone else. Here is a remarkable statement which summaries King Solomon’s life: “King Solomon was greater in riches and wisdom than all the other kings of the earth. All the kings of the world sought audience with King Solomon to hear the wisdom God had put in his heart. Year after year everyone who came brought a gift – articles of silver and gold, robes and weapons, spices and horses…” (2 Chronicles 9:22-24) King Solomon reigned in Jerusalem from about 970bc – 930bc. The great Temple was only one of many magnificent construction projects which transformed the skyline of Jerusalem during Solomon’s reign. There was peace and prosperity through all Israel and even the surrounding nations during those 40 years of King Solomon.
One simple phrase summarizes Solomon’s death: “Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel 40 years. Then he rested with his fathers and was buried in the city of David his father. And Rehoboam his son succeeded him as king.” (2 Chronicles 9:30,31) I presume there was a great funeral procession and a very significant tomb built over his place of burial, and a prolonged period of mourning Solomon’s passing, although there is no mention of that in the Chronicles record. However, this is a wonderful example of where we discover the value of placing the historical records of 1 & 2 Kings alongside the historical records of 1 & 2 Chronicles. 1 Kings 11 dedicates an entire chapter to what is summarized in only two verses in 2 Chronicles 9. We need to spend some time today taking a very close look at what God says to us about Solomon’s Legacy and Reputation as reported in 1 Kings 11. In truth, it’s hard to read for it stands in stark contrast to what we read in 2 Chronicles.
1 Kings 11:1 uses a very powerful and painful word: HOWEVER, to call us to understand the larger and darker reality of what happened as Solomon built his Legacy and Reputation. “King Solomon, HOWEVER, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh’s daughter – Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites. They were from nations about which the LORD God had told the Israelites, ‘You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.’ Nevertheless, Solmon held fast to them in love. He had 700 wives of royal birth and 300 concubines, and his wives led him astray. As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father was….” (1 Kings 11:1-4)
Oh my! Do you hear both a failed Legacy and a failed Reputation? Do you see the comparison between father and son, David and Solomon and the devotion of their heart to God? King David had warned his son Solomon as he passed the kingship to Solomon: “And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve HIM with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will be found by you, but if you forsake the LORD, He will reject you…” (1 Chronicles 28:9) Can you see how Solomon began well, but badly failed the legacy his father David had passed to him? As we see, Solomon’s legacy which he then passed to his son, was nothing to be proud of in regard to women or faithfulness to God.
And what about Solomon’s Reputation? Can you see the great contrast between the wisdom and wealth of his kingship and the peace and prosperity of his reign over Israel, but sadly Solomon was an abject failure with romance and spirituality? Have you ever met someone who talks with wisdom but behaves with shame? King Solomon wrote most of the Bible book of Proverbs and one of the most powerful statements there is Proverbs 4:23 “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of your life.” That’s a very important statement, a highly valuable life principle, but clearly Solomon failed very badly for he did NOT guard his heart. In fact, did you notice the record says: “As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the LORD his God…”
So, what happened to this wise, wonderful man who had not one but TWO personal encounters with God? Clearly Solomon allowed his love for women, who had no regard for God and worshiped idols, to draw his heart away from God. And that, my friends, has been a problem for godly men ever since in every part of the world. Love and Lust can ruin a man, do you agree? Love and Lust have in fact ruined many, many Legacies and Reputations of men who began well with God but failed miserably and ended their lives in profound shame.
Not only did King Solomon allow women who had NO interest in the God of Israel to capture his heart in love and lust, they drew Solomon into joining them in worship of idols and repulsive worship of demonic forces. (1 Kings 11:5,6) And as terrible as that was, Solomon’s love and lust for these women and his pride and available wealth caused him to build temples for the idols of these women!! (1 Kings 11:7,8) Now remember, the God who had twice appeared to Solomon, and who had sent fire from heaven at the dedication ceremony of the great Temple, and had filled that Temple with His holy Presence, was watching carefully all that Solomon was doing. The record says, “On a hill east of Jerusalem Solomon built a high place for Chemosh, the detestable god of Moab and for Molech the detestable god of the Amorites.” Now pause a second and think about that. Do you know what the hill east of Jerusalem is? It’s the Mount of Olives on which is the Garden of Gethsemane; (Matt. 25:36-56) and the path where Jesus rode the donkey on Palm Sunday (Luke 19:28-44) and also the place from which resurrected Jesus ascended back to heaven in full view of His disciples! (Acts 2:9-11) Now think about that friends!
Jesus was watching from heaven when Solomon built those places for worship of demonic idols, knowing full well that in less than 1000 years He, Jesus Christ, would be there in that city Jerusalem, in that Garden of Gethsemane, riding the donkey over that hill, giving His life on the cross, so any person could be rescued from the sin bondage that enslaves them!
I want us to pause right here and ponder the implications of this for you and me! Jesus is watching the Legacy and Reputation you and I are building with our words, attitudes, choices and actions every day. Jesus is able to see the future, so Jesus can see how our legacy and reputation will affect our children and grandchildren and great grandchildren, and the communities in which we live, the businesses where we work, the churches we are part of. So, what is Jesus seeing as He looks and you and me and the years out ahead of us as we pass our Legacies and our Reputations to our descendants? I urge us to spend some time talking with Jesus about this, reflecting on what happened to wise and wealthy King Solomon.
No song today my friends, we have a lot to think about, regarding our Legacy and our Reputation, don’t we?
Today’s Scripture: 1 Kings 11:1-8.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
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Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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