"If I shut the heavens so that there is no
rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence
among My people, and My people, who are called by My name, and pray and seek My
face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will
forgive their sin and heal their land. Now My eyes will be opened and My ears
attentive to the prayer offered in this place...."
I've
been studying the person of Solomon, and the way that he lived his life. Of
anyone, one would think that Solomon would be the model of a man that God-fearing men would
want to follow.
After all, he was a son of David, and Holy Scripture tells us David was a man after God's own
heart. Not only the son of David, but Solomon in his own right, had sought after and lived in a great relationship with
God--at least, in his younger years. Many times God had responded very favorably to Solomon, such as
after Solomon's prayer in 2 Chronicles 6:
"Now when Solomon had finished
praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the
sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the house...." Or, in another
place, Solomon had finished the house of the Lord, and the Lord had responded
to Solomon's acts with the words of this first paragraph above. (2 Chronicles
7:13-15)
The
Queen of Sheba's statements about Solomon probably most accurately describe
Solomon at this time: "How blessed are your men, how blessed are these
your servants who stand before you continually and hear your wisdom.
Blessed
be the Lord your God who delighted in you, setting you on His throne as king
for the Lord your God; because your God loved Israel establishing them forever,
therefore He made you king over them, to do justice and righteousness."
In
the book of Proverbs, Solomon writes:
"The
Proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel to know wisdom and
instruction, to discern the sayings of understanding, to receive instruction in
wise behavior, righteousness, justice and equity; to give prudence to the
naïve, to the youth knowledge and discretion, a wise man will hear and increase
in learning, and a man of understanding will acquire wise counsel, to
understand a proverb and a figure, the words of the wise and their riddles.
The
fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and
instruction." (Proverbs 1:1-7)
While
Solomon probably didn't write all of Proverbs, he, very likely, was the main author.
Yet
the Bible tells us other truth of Solomon also had a sinful side, particulrily in his older years. In first Kings 11: 4, Holy Scripture
tells us: "For it came about when Solomon was old, his wives turned his
heart away after other gods; his heart was not entirely devoted to the Lord his
God as the heart of David his father had been."
"Now
the Lord was angry with Solomon because his heart was turned away from God, the
God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice and had commanded him concerning
this thing, they should not go after other gods; but he did not observe what
the Lord had commanded. So the Lord said to Solomon' Because you have done
this, and you have not kept My covenant and My statuettes, which I have
commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you, and will give it to
your servant. Nevertheless I will not do it in your days for the sake of your
father David, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son...."
In Solomon's other writings, in the book of Ecclesiastes, he seems to throw the gates wide open to very
narcissistic nature.which no doubt included all forms of sinful practice. In Ecclesiastes 2:1 he writes:
"I said to myself,' come now, I will test you with pleasure. So enjoy
yourself.' And behold it too was
futility.... (10) And all that my eyes desired I did not refuse them. I did not
withhold my heart from any pleasure...." So Solomon was certainly not a
model for men or any person.
"For
all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23). And in
regard to the New Testament, one can pick out the many shortcomings of the apostles.
All have sinned.
Isn't
it interesting, that while the Bible tells it like it is, even in regard to the
Bible's heroes, there is not one single word about sin that can be credited to one person: Jesus
Christ. There is only one sinless man: Jesus Christ. (Hebrews 4:15; 7:26, 1
John 3:5, etc.)
2
Corinthians 5:20-21 "... We beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to
God. He made Him(Jesus Christ) who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become
the righteousness of God in Him."
"God
made Jesus Christ, who knew no sin, to be sin on our behalf..."? How can
that be? To an Orthodox Jew that is an outrageous statement, and so it was to Paul
the apostle, who wrote that statement--until he met the resurrected person of
Jesus Christ.
However
the Jewish prophets foretold this in Isaiah 53.
"Who has believed our message and to whom has
the arm of the Lord been revealed?
He
grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He
had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that
we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows,
and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hid their faces he was
despised, and we esteemed him not.
Surely
he took our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken
by God, smitten by him and afflicted.
But
he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities, the
punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are
healed.....
He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he didn't
open his mouth, he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before
her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.... For he was cut off
from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was
stricken. He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his
death, though he had done no violence nor was any deceit in his mouth.
And
it was the Lord's will to crush him cause him to suffer, and though the Lord
makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his
days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand. After the suffering of
his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my
righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities." Isaiah 53.1-11 NIV
"by
force and by law he was taken; what anyone played his cause?
Yes,
he was torn away from the land of the living; for our faults struck down in
death. They gave him a grave with the wicked, a tomb with the rich, though he
had done no wrong and yet there had been no perjury in his mouth.
Yahweh
has been pleased to crush him with suffering. If he offers his soul in
atonement, he will see his heirs, he shall have a long life and through him
what Yahweh wishes will be done.
His
soul's anguish over you will see the light and be content. By his suffering
shall my servant justify many, taking their fault on himself." Isaiah 53:8
through 11, Jerusalem translation
In
the New Testament book of Acts, a Christian elder witnesses to a nonbeliever
about Jesus Christ, using this passage in Isaiah 53. (Acts 8:30-37)
No comments:
Post a Comment