Perhaps this is an ironic topic on what is called hump day, but welcome. Today we will discuss 1 Kings 10-11.
Relationships
There was a time in my life I was what one may call – a player. It was not by design, it just turned out that way.
I have always loved women. All women! My first wife was a couple of years younger than I was. My current (real) wife is quite a few years younger than me.
Both my second and third wives were several years older than I was. Age didn’t matter.
I dated women of other races and cultures. My third wife was Jewish.
Having three older sisters and witnessing the deep hurt men inflicted upon them shaped my love for women. I have always had a lot of empathy. I never wanted to be like those men, even as a child.
Every woman I dated, I wanted to be monogamous with. I was always looking or a long term, serious relationship. It just turned out that I would not meet my proper wife until I was thirty-two. We have been together now for half my life.
Chapter 10 begins with the Queen of Sheba. We learn in chapter 11 that Solomon had a thousand wives, but we pick up one of his secrets in verse 10:2. When she came to talk to him, he listened! He heard all that was on her mind.
The problem I have with social media is the shallowness of conversations. We live in sound bites. We count people as “friends” whom we never know.
Many people have this same relationship with the Lord. They know they don’t want to go to hell, so they trust Him to be their Savior. But, they never get to “know” Him.
God wants to have a personal relationship with each of us. We are His bride. I don’t know how Solomon kept up with a thousand wives. God differs from us. He can have a deep, meaningful relationship with billions of people. Unlike us, He faces no limitations.
Leadership
Solomon’s wisdom and wealth impressed the Queen of Sheba. She felt this way because he had taken the time to hear all that was in her heart.
God has far more riches and much greater wisdom. We learn this when we take the time to talk to Him. He is a superb listener and wants us to tell Him all that is in our hearts.
According to an article I read online (1) the average length of a man’s prayer is ninety-seven seconds. Although people may accuse women of talking too much, their average prayer is only seventy-six seconds.
Maybe we assume that God already knows everything, which is true (see Heb 4:13). But think about your relationship with your children. Just because you know they are going through something, don’t you still want them to tell you about it?
The Queen of Sheba was like many of us. Until she sat down with Solomon and poured her heart out to him, she didn’t believe the reports she had heard about his wisdom (v10:7)
In verse 10:9, we learn the responsibility of leadership. She says to Solomon, “because of the Lord’s eternal love for Israel, he has made you king to maintain justice and righteousness,” (NIV).
Over the last few decades in America, we have forgotten this. We have focused on equality instead of justice.
Equality suggests everyone deserves the same reward. Being fast enough to win the race shouldn’t mean you get the bigger prize.
Consequences
Justice would differ. It says each of us deserves what we have earned.
We don’t want justice because the wages of sin is death! (Rom 6:23). We want mercy.
To gain mercy, we need righteousness. None of us are righteous, not one (Rom 3:10).
God wants us to bring this to Him. To talk about, or confess, that we are not righteous.
He will take our sinfulness and replace it with His righteousness (2 Cor. 5:21).
We see many reasons Solomon received God’s punishment in chapter 11. He was told not to intermarry with women from other countries. They would bring their gods. While adept at hearing women’s concerns, his spiritual attentiveness was lacking.
Because of this, he did not walk in the footsteps of David. Therefore, God tore the Israel apart and took it from his son.
He left a remnant from which He provided Jesus. God’s mercies never fail.
We may want justice from our leaders. From God, we need mercy. Have you sought His righteousness?
He is waiting to hear from you.
