Reading through the story of the temple impacted my relationship with God this past week. Solomon built a simple but beautiful structure, just two rooms with a shaded portico at the front and an elevated altar on the southeast side. The interior was covered with gold, but the rest was timber and stone.

Coming to God at the temple was so straightforward and simple:

• Bring your offerings, confess your sins and be forgiven
• Join the congregation in singing and praising God

The temple represented heaven where God’s eternal throne is. He is holy, angels surround him, and all the people of the earth gather before him. Anyone can approach him by bringing the sin offering Jesus provides and confessing his sins.

All we have to do is accept what Jesus has provided on our behalf. Then we are forgiven and accepted by God and we join the congregation of peaceful, joyful people who surround the Lord.

The temple also represents our own hearts. He comes to live in the deepest, holiest part of us when we confess and are forgiven for our sins. After that he is always with us. But we often have to stop at the altar for cleansing again.

A Personal Application

One morning this week I was trying to pray, but an unhappy memory kept intruding into my thoughts and interrupting my conversation with the Lord. I finally stopped and took a look at the memory. It included sinful attitudes on my part as well as hurtful actions by someone else. I thought I had confessed those old sins, but here I was, still troubled by the painful memory.

I thought about Solomon’s beautiful temple and I saw myself there, wanting to fellowship with God, but carrying hidden sin the Lord didn’t want near his temple. I still clung to a residue of pain, resentment and accusations from that past event.

I asked the Lord to cleanse me before I went any further in my time with him.

As I became silent and let the Lord do his work, it felt like he came and gently scrubbed my soul. Old memories faded and I let them go. I saw my sinful attitudes washed away and down the drain. I was set free and my conversation with the Lord picked up again.

Reading about the temple Solomon built did that for me.

Solomon’s Achievements

King Solomon spent twenty years building the temple, his palace and the wall of Jerusalem. Then he turned his attention to other projects. King Hiram had returned the twenty Galilean cities Solomon gave him, so Solomon rebuilt them and filled them with Israelites.

Jesus grew up in that region. It was a rich land with craftsmen, synagogues and high standards of education. Rabbis went to the region of Galilee to find promising students to train as their disciples. That’s where Jesus found most of his disciples.

Solomon went beyond Galilee and captured Hamath Zobah in his only recorded military campaign. He built storage cities there. He also built towns at Upper and Lower Horon, not far from Jerusalem, as secure places to keep his horses and chariots.

Solomon lived the land developer’s dream; wherever he wanted to build something he built it. His projects ranged throughout Lebanon and Israel. He conscripted laborers from among descendants of the Canaanites and he hired Israelites to supervise them. His fighting men, officers, and commanders were all Israelites.

Solomon’s Egyptian Wife

Solomon’s wife, the daughter of Pharaoh, lived in a special palace Solomon built for her. He said,

“My wife must not live in the palace of David king of Israel, because the places the ark of the Lord entered are holy.” 2 Chronicles 8:11

Egypt was a place of many gods and Solomon’s wife apparently had not converted to Israel’s God. Solomon wisely kept her away from the sacred places his father designated for worship.

Why did Solomon marry an unbelieving wife? It probably secured the alliance between Egypt and Israel. Pharaoh was so pleased with the marriage that he attacked and captured Gezer, a high place just west of Jerusalem, and gave it to his daughter as a wedding gift. Solomon rebuilt Gezer and put it to good use.

Despite the practical reasons for doing so, Solomon played with fire when he married outside Israel’s faith. God told his people not to unite with unbelievers. But for at least this time, Solomon continued to worship at the temple and observe all of the festivals of the Lord. He oversaw the divisions of the priests and Levites as they carried out their daily duties.

“. . . because this was what David the man of God had ordered. They did not deviate from the king’s commands to the priests or to the Levites.” 2 Chronicles 8:14-15

The Queen of Sheba

South of Israel, in the region of southwestern Arabia lived the great Queen of Sheba. She heard of Solomon’s wealth, wisdom and relationship with the Lord so she traveled to meet him and test him with hard questions. She came with gifts of spices, gold and precious stones, and she talked with Solomon about all that was on her mind. He was able to answer all of her questions, nothing was too hard for him, and she was overwhelmed.

“She said to the king, ‘The report I heard in my own country about your achievements and your wisdom is true. But I did not believe these things until I came and saw with my own eyes. Indeed, not even half was told to me; in wisdom and wealth you have far exceeded the report I heard . . . Praise be to the Lord your God, who has delighted in you and placed you on the throne of Israel.” 1 Kings 10:6-7, 9

The two sovereigns exchanged extravagant gifts with each other and the queen returned to her home country. It’s impossible to say for sure where Sheba was located, but Ethiopians believe it was their ancient queen who met Solomon. They also believe the queen and Solomon had a son together whose descendants became Ethiopia’s royal line.

Solomon’s Great Wealth

The amount of the wealth that streamed into Solomon’s kingdom was staggering. But he was not alone. We just read about the Queen of Sheba who was extremely wealthy, and we know that King Hiram was, too. Trade routes opened up between the Middle East and India and kings and queens acquired incredible wealth.

But Solomon was the richest of them all. God had promised that he would be when he asked for wisdom.

“The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for [wisdom]. So God said to him, ‘Since you have asked for this . . . I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be. Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for – both wealth and honor – so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings.” 1 Kings 3:10, 12-13

Solomon and Hiram ventured into trade together and every three years their investments provided huge returns. They sent ships down through the Red Sea into the Indian Ocean, trading at ports supplied by rich caravans eager to do business with them. The amount of gold that flowed into Israel was measured by the ton. Gold was so prevalent that silver became worthless.

Besides his material wealth, Solomon had riches of wisdom.

“King Solomon was greater in riches and wisdom than all the other kings of the earth. The whole world sought audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom God had put into his heart. Year after year, everyone who came brought a gift – articles of silver and gold, robes, weapons and spices, and horses and mules.” 1 Kings 10:23-25

Lessons from Solomon’s Life

What can we learn from Solomon’s story so far?

Solomon did two great things with his life. First, he asked for wisdom from God, and, second, he built the temple where he and his people could worship. Those were the only things Solomon asked God to help him with, but God also gave Solomon great wealth and influence. The whole world was drawn to him.

God entrusted Solomon with a lot! As we read on we will see how well Solomon did with his blessings, and how well he stuck with his original priorities, wisdom and worship. There is much to learn from his story.