Solomon - Wisdom, Understanding, Knowledge and Counsel

How Solomon's Wisdom Reflects Jesus Christ.
Solomon’s reign and wisdom are a shadow of the reign of the King of Kings. Of all the men that had lived, Solomon was the wisest of men according to 1 Kings 10:23, “So King Solomon surpassed all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom.” He was not perfect!  Only One is! The Lord! He judged righteously and many came from far away just to listen to his wisdom. But even Solomon cannot compare with the soon coming rule of the King of Kings, Jesus Christ! Solomon broke several of the Lord’s commands like marrying multiple wives and sacrificing in the high places and he even worshiped idols with some of his foreign wives! But when you study the life of Solomon you can’t help but see that God’s Grace is ever present with him! We will be taking a closer look at those things in a future lesson. 

Ultimately, as with the rest of the Scriptures, this is all about the one who would come from the line of Jesse, David and Solomon!  The one who would be born of a virgin who was descended from this lineage that began with Jesse, David and then Solomon.  Isaiah 11:1-5 gives us some insight into all of this – “Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, And a branch from his roots will bear fruit. The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding…”  There are many ideas about this dead stem or stump (depending on your translation).  What is sure is that David, the son of Jesse, continued the line of Christ with Solomon.  And then a branch is mentioned.  Jesus is the branch! The One through whom the line descended from Jesse bares fruit.  The branch born from Jesse’s stem that produced this branch (Jesus) that bore the fruit (you and I) through His death, burial and resurrection!  All of the parables Jesus told about seed, vines, branches, and even when He said that unless a seed falls to the ground (dead) it cannot produce new life, begin to make a little more sense (John 12:24)!  Even the creation itself teaches that God brings life from death and confirms these lessons that are contained in His Word!  Even the food that you have eaten is a lesson from the Lord! By studying David and Solomon and becoming more Bible literate, we can begin to understand the New Testament in a more clear and better way!  We can connect these clear pictures in the life of Solomon to that of Christ bringing life for us through His death!  That is worth noticing!

As we will learn in a future lesson, wisdom, understanding, knowledge and counsel are key characteristics of the life of Solomon and his life paints a picture for us of the coming reign of King Jesus!   Solomon reflects a picture of that future Kingdom and as we will see, he also reflects the Grace given to mankind.  Solomon is not perfect!  But God is!  Solomon does not deserve God’s Grace, but God gives it!  Solomon’s walk became watered-down, but God lifts him up!  If He can do that for Solomon 1,000 years on the other side of the cross, then what can He do for you on this side of the cross?  Need wisdom?  Of course you do! Give your life to Him and ask Him for it!  You might be surprised at His answer!