SOLOMON’S WEALTH AND WISDOM

Reading from 1 Kings Ch. 4 vs 20-34

Sometimes we ask God for things and he gives them to us and even adds more. There’s always more to how the things we ask for turn out and today we see how it turned out for Solomon. Some context would be that Solomon prayed before God and asked for wisdom to rule his people because he was younger and had never done it before and didn’t know how. His request pleased God and he gave him the knowledge and wisdom and added wealth on top. Solomon had different officers over different things and areas in the kingdom and they were to provide his food, each officer over a region for a particular month. He had really good systems and in this passage we get to see the details of everything from the wealth to the wisdom.

The passage starts with how Judah and Israel were as many as the sand by the sea, they ate and drank and were happy. I think to the time at the end of 2 Samuel when David run a census and the punishment was thousands of Israelites dying. Now they had multiplied and were flourishing, the times do change, things get better and we heal. Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates to the land of the philistines and to the border of Egypt and the people in these regions brought tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life. That was a very large area to rule, he had dominion over the region west of the Euphrates from Tiphsah to Gaza and over all the kings west of the Euphrates. When you really think of the multitude that was under him it’s amazing because they all gave tribute which meant not only was he in control over them but his wealth grew and grew. Him being over them also meant that he had peace all around him and his wealth was safe and he was basically flourishing and living in safety as a king and so was the nation of Judah and Israel.

The continuation from David’s reign was looking so good, there was lots of peace and increase, God really did answer and give him the riches as he said he would. The passage goes into detail about what it took to feed Solomon’s house for a day and it was a lot of stuff I assume would feed a small nation. I know his household was large, he must have started acquiring his wives at this point, but the food for a day involved, 30 cors of fine flour, 60 cors of meal, barley, 10 fat oxen, 20 pasture fed cattle, 100 sheep besides deer, gazelles, roebucks and fattened fowl. He had 40,000 stalls of horses and straw was provided for them. He had 12,000 horsemen and the officers provided provision for all of Solomon’s house and anyone who came to Solomon’s table. There was nothing lacking, they brought what was required each according to their duty. That’s a lot of food and that’s just for a single day, think about being able to provide that for a whole month or rather the whole year and we read that he flourished this way for his whole life. I’m not sure if you’re understanding the level of wealth the kingdom had, God was pouring and giving to him, and this was just the food aspect of it, imagine the possessions he had.

All that was the additional blessing from God but he did bless Solomon with what he had asked, he gave him wisdom and understanding beyond measure, and breadth of mind like the sand on the seashore. I think of the latter statement and I don’t even know how to break it down, he had insight and information beyond those of his time, his wisdom surpassed all the people of the east and the wisdom of Egypt. He was wiser than all the wise men of that time like Ethan the Ezrathite, Heman, Calcol, Darda, and the sons of Mahol. He wrote 3000 proverbs and 1005 songs, he would speak about different trees and plants, beasts, birds, reptiles and fish. We must not downplay this, think of the time he lived in and the lack of access or knowledge/information on various things but God just fills you up with everything. It must have been amazing to hear of the different things from someone who might not even have encountered them all. He had wisdom about life and its workings and about music.

Solomon’s name spread and he had so much fame that people from all nations came to hear his wisdom, kings from all the earth who heard about him travelled to hear him. It’s amazing when you think about how he prayed, he just went honestly before God because he didn’t want to mess up leading Gods people and now he was the wisest man and had immense wealth and prestige. I think about this and how we often don’t think about the implications or the wider effects of the things we pray and ask God for. We think limited most of the time because we think of our current problem and how it can be solved but God doesn’t think like us. He adds to everything and he thinks of us not just in our current moment but with regard for the time to come and he answers in vast ways not just addressing what we asked but at the issue completely.

God knows the kinds of environments that need to be created for things to actually go well for us and what we need to do or what guidance we must get for things to change. He does add things that we can’t explain or attribute to ourselves and transforms our simple requests to the unimaginable. We cannot limit God and we must be careful for we might get exactly what we ask for or way more, so pray honestly and with faith that the God you speak with can change things for you in ways you didn’t even think of like King Solomon. It might not happen there and then but with time things will change, just don’t lose your way when it happens. Remember you are loved by God!