The temple was done and it was time to build a nation. So Solomon conquered cities and set them up as specialty cities. There were storage cities, fortification cities, chariot cities, cavalry cities, and more. Every city the whole town was about fulfilling the mission of that city to support the greater work of Israel.
Then Solomon established the festivals that were required. The sacrifices and offerings were brought at the beginning of each week (the Sabbath), the beginning of each month (the New Moon), and the three annual festivals (Unleavend Bread, Festival of Weeks and the Festival of Booths).
Next he put the priests and their divisions to their service in the temple. And then the Levites “over their responsibilities to offer praise and to minister before the priests” (2 Chr 8:14). On a side note I love that. ‘Their responsibility was to offer praise.’
Then he set the gatekeepers for their work. This was a noble family tradition and if you’ve ever been to Israel, one of the gatekeepers of a church there has held the responsibility for hundreds of years.
But then there’s that rat. The mole. And it isn’t a person, but it was Solomon’s compromise. One that would lead to his downfall. It was the foreign women that he lusted after. In particular, he brought into the camp Pharaoh’s daughter as his wife. A deal with a foreign nation through marriage, and the marrying of a foreign wife which was strictly forbidden for Israel.
For all of Solomon’s obedience, wisdom, and glory, he fell as a slave to the spirit of lust.
I was thinking of “progressive Christianity” today and this is the same thing. It is the rewriting of God’s laws so that sexual liberties are no longer called sin. This is what Solomon did and still happens today. It’s a ‘God, you can have everything but my sex life.’
As Solomon said, ‘there’s nothing new under the sun.’
Yet why will we never learn?
