Introduction: Solomon was a great man; and even though he wasted many years, he is still considered a good king. Solomon had come full-circle. He was an amazing man and a man whom God had chosen to be king over His people. What are some of the accomplishments of this great man?
- God had appeared to Solomon twice and had blessed him more than any other man.
- He was wiser than all other men. He spoke 3,000 proverbs. He wrote 1,005 songs. He penned at least four Psalms. He wrote the books of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon. He built the largest and most extravagant temple ever built for the Lord.
When Jesus was teaching about provision in Matthew 6, He used Solomon as an example, because he was considered one of the wealthiest and influential men who had ever lived, "And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these." (Matthew 6:28,29)
Solomon was David's youngest son by his wife Bathsheba and was born at Jerusalem. David named him Solomon, which means "peaceable." Unlike his own kingdom, he wanted Solomon's reign over Israel to be filled with peace. Through Solomon, the kingdom did know peace, but Solomon did not know peace. Within his heart, there was a continual battle raging. The battle, that raged in his heart, is the battle that rages in our own. The spirit and the flesh both wanted total domination; and for many years, Solomon's flesh won. Perhaps one of the most revealing passages in all of the book of Ecclesiastes is Ecclesiastes 2:1-10, "I said in mine heart, Go to now, I will prove thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure: and, behold, this also is vanity. I said of laughter, It is mad: and of mirth, What doeth it? I sought in mine heart to give myself unto wine, yet acquainting mine heart with wisdom; and to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was that good for the sons of men, which they should do under the heaven all the days of their life. I made me great works; I builded me houses; I planted me vineyards: I made me gardens and orchards, and I planted trees in them of all kind of fruits: I made me pools of water, to water therewith the wood that bringeth forth trees: I got me servants and maidens, and had servants born in my house; also I had great possessions of great and small cattle above all that were in Jerusalem before me: I gathered me also silver and gold, and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces: I gat me men singers and women singers, and the delights of the sons of men, as musical instruments, and that of all sorts. So I was great, and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem: also my wisdom remained with me. And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them, I withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labour: and this was my portion of all my labour."
During his backslidden years, his heart was totally turned away from the Lord. One of his great weaknesses was women, "But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites; Of the nations concerning which the LORD said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: Solomon clave unto these in love. And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart. For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father." (1 Kings 11:1-4)
Solomon made some extremely bad choices. His bad choices brought him to the place where he wished he had never been born. Now that he's come full-circle, and now that he has shared his life testimony, he draws some final conclusions. In Ecclesiastes 12:13-14, Solomon says, "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil." His final conclusion was two-fold:
- Fear God.
- Keep God's commandments.
Solomon had spent many years living like a heathen man with no fear of God before his eyes, "The transgression of the wicked saith within my heart, that there is no fear of God before his eyes." (Psalms 36:1) Paul said the same thing in Romans 3:18, "There is no fear of God before their eyes." Let's take a serious look at Solomon's two-fold conclusion to the whole matter.
1. Fear God.
- Solomon now admonishes his audience to fear the Lord. Solomon, the wisest man in the world, did not keep this simple admonition himself.
- To "fear God" literally means "to be afraid of God." The word translated here as "fear" is used 314 times throughout the Old Testament: fear - 188 times, afraid - 78 times, terrible - 23 times, terrible thing - 6 times, dreadful - 5 times, reverence - 3 times, fearful - 2 times, terrible acts -1 time, and miscellaneous - 8 times.
- To fear God means to take God seriously at His Word. During my first summer home from college, my pastor gave me an office and a job at the church for the entire summer. I had a bus route and picked up some retarded children each Sunday. Some Sundays were great, and others were disastrous. It all depended on whether or not these retarded boys were obedient. On a particular Sunday, one of these boys sat next to me in church and decided to pinch the top of my hand during the sermon. I asked him to quit. He did but then pinched me again. So, I told him to quit, and he did but then pinched me again harder. I told him to quit, or I would have to spank him; and he did, but then he grabbed the top of my hand and stood up and twisted the skin! Man, that hurt! I said, "Alright, when the service is over, I'm going to spank you." He sat down and awaited his punishment. He did not enjoy the rest of the service. When it was over, I took him to my office and spanked him (of course, his parents had given not only permission but instruction to spank their boys should they disobey in church). The next Sunday, he and I were standing in the back of the auditorium; and during the course of a conversation, he said to the person I was talking to, "You had better do what he says, or he'll spank you, and he means it." This clearly illustrates what it means to fear God. It means that you believe God will do what He says and live accordingly.
2. Keep His commandments.
- This particular word for "keep" is used 468 times throughout the Old Testament. It literally means "to keep watch or to guard." It also means "to memorize."
- Solomon learned that fearing God was important but that one cannot fear God without obeying what God says.
- Solomon concluded that obedience to God is necessary for God's blessing. Solomon concluded the devil has no happy old people.
- Obedience to God is connected not only to fear but also to faith. For example, look at the faith proven by obedience in Hebrews 11:* 2, "For by it the elders obtained a good report."
* 3, "Through faith we understand..."
* 4, "By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain..."
* 5, "By faith Enoch...pleased God."
* 7, "By faith Noah...moved with fear, prepared an ark..."
* 8, "By faith Abraham...obeyed; and he went out."
* 9, "By faith he sojourned in the land of promise."
* 11, "Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed..."
* 17, "By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac..."
* 20, "By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come."
* 21, "By faith Jacob, when he was a dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph..."
* 22, "By faith Joseph...gave commandment concerning his bones."
* 23, "By faith Moses, when he was born was hid three months of his parents..."
* 24, "By faith Moses...refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter."
* 27, "By faith he forsook Egypt..."
* 28, "Through faith he kept the passover, and the sprinkling of blood..."
* 29, "By faith they passed through the Red sea as by dry land..."
* 30, "By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed..."
* 31, "By faith the harlot Rahab perished not...when she had received the spies with peace."
* 32-34, "And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets. Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions. Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens."
Notice with me that Solomon said that, to fear God and keep His commandments, was the "whole duty of man." Notice in your Bible with me that the word "duty" is in italics. This means that there were no translatable words to express this thought, so a word was thoughtfully and wisely added to complete the sentence. Solomon was rightly telling us that the whole duty of man, that is, the whole of man, was to do only two things: fear God, and keep His commandments.
Conclusion: Solomon had come full-circle. He ended where he started. Before Solomon became king, he feared God greatly and obeyed God's commandments. Then, he journeyed away from the will of God and lived like a heathen. This is evidenced by his lack of fear for God and lack of obedience to Him. Had he truly feared God and chosen to obey Him, he would never have wandered away from the will of God. But, no, he was knot-headed. Some would say that he was as stubborn as a mule. He refused to do what was right. His disobedience did not happen without consequence. Not only did he hurt himself and his kingdom but now he has to warn the people to whom he was a bad example. The admonition is clear as we conclude this book, that God's people should take God seriously at His Word and obey what He has said. If not, life will become meaningless and filled with vanity. The choice is yours!