Mapu Jamir, IAS (Retd.)
Dimapur
Solomon stood exalted in the world as a towering flawless personality. There was no one as great, as wise, as rich and as envied as Solomon. It was a touch of God that carved Solomon’s place in history. No man began with more promise than Solomon. So great was God’s faith in Solomon that He gave him a blank cheque opportunity to ask for whatever he wanted and because of the purity of Solomon’s request-wisdom to rule God’s people – God gave far more abundantly beyond all that he asked or imagined. However, Solomon stood as a mute reminder that a great beginning is no guarantee of a great ending. Solomon drifted and finally defected several times from God as done by many today. This is erosion in one’s life. From a distance Solomon looked well polished, but a closer look revealed the surging washed out integrity and morality. Solomon had gold crown so also had clay feet. His rich and famous life style had subsequently led to moral bankruptcy as well.
Under Solomon, Jerusalem glistened like a brilliant gem where peace shone for forty years. Indeed, during his reign Jerusalem was “a city set on a hill” – a light to the world. His fame inundated the entire Middle East and Africa. So incredible were the reports that the queen Of Sheba herself journeyed from her kingdom in Africa to verify the flood of rumors. Her breath was literally taken away when she saw Solomon’s wisdom and glory.
In the early stages of Solomon’s reign, it was explicitly clear that God was with him. Humility, integrity and loyalty were the qualities he had. Solomon was a Renaissance man in every sense of the word – his interests were broad and his intelligence deep. His interests included writing, music, botany and various branches of zoology. In Solomon, we find authentic spirituality wedded to academic excellence. Solomon was a skilled administrator. Solomon’s administrative gifts were also utilized in the architectural realm e.g. the Temple he built for the Lord. Like all leaders, Solomon was a diplomat and had alliances. One such alliance was with Hiram the king of Tyre. Solomon too was an excellent business man and his business extended as far as Egypt.
Fortune, fame, friends, and fulfilled fantasies became his daily delights. And all that his eyes desired he did not refuse them. He did not withhold his heart from any pleasure. Solomon like all of us had feet of clay and that feet of clay began to wash out beneath him. David, the father of Solomon exhorts us in Psalm 103, “And all that is within me, bless His Holy name. Bless the Lord, Oh my soul, and forget none of His benefits.” Solomon forgot God, we do it daily, and when Israel entered the Promised Land, they forgot that it was God who had brought them there. God’s warning to them, however, was clear. Solomon did not pay heed to his father’s advice. Forgetting God is the first step to falling away from God’s mercy.
Bored and disillusioned, nothing satisfied Solomon any longer and nothing stimulated him. A closer look revealed a sign of erosion – a chip here, a crack here, and a compromise here, he was crumbling. Very few things deteriorate suddenly. No church suddenly splits, no marriage suddenly dissolves, no child suddenly become delinquent, no friendship suddenly ends, and no building suddenly collapses. It happens slowly, grain by grain and compromise by compromise.
The first sign of erosion we see in Solomon’s character is a little chip of compromise through marriage alliance with Pharaoh King of Egypt. Solomon brought his daughter to the city of David. The marriage was a union of two nations – not of two people. It was based on political diplomacy – not love. Such marriage was against God’s instruction to Israel not to marry foreigners who worshipped other gods. Solomon tolerated what God condemned and embraced what God abhorred. However, Solomon’s relationship with God was not totally cut off for he said, “my wife shall not dwell in the house of David king of Israel because the places are holy where the ark of the Lord had entered. Solomon knew that a woman from an unholy background had no business being in a holy place. He found a place for her somewhere in his kingdom. Having made a place in his kingdom and in his heart he opened a Pandora’s Box of idolatry, and innumerable other iniquities.
In business transaction too Solomon traded several cities in exchange for building materials with his friend Hiram. Later, when Hiram inspected his acquired real estate he found that he has been cheated by Solomon. Hiram attempted to reconcile matters with Solomon but Solomon made no effort to admit the wrong doing. Again we see signs of Solomon’s character eroding in a shady business deal and ill treatment of a friend. Solomon was into corruption.
Further King Solomon loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh. Throughout the writings of Moses God warned against this practice of marrying foreign women. But Solomon ignored it. As a result his seductive wives adulterated his heart. And with the introduction of more foreign wives a spirit of religious infidelity infiltrated the nation. Solomon built alters of sacrifice for them who burned incense and made sacrifices to their gods.
Solomon was over exposed to the material world early in his reign. In his youth he was very spiritual but gradually lost his sensitivity towards God. He was over indulged which led to irresponsibility. David did the fighting while Solomon received the benefits. Solomon was over promoted – pushed up too fast which led to weak professionalism. All these weaknesses are present today in our society and are practiced by our rulers, leaders and politicians of all colours, shapes and sizes. Power had corrupted the pure heart of the state. “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Today, no man is good enough to be trusted with unlimited power. Power is a heady wine that will intoxicate the best of hearts, dull the best of minds and blur the best of vision. Naga society is replete with the wreckages of nepotism, corruption and back door transaction due to unaccountable authority. Sadly Solomon was no exception. We have many Solomons today in our midst.
Finally, God was angry with Solomon – and was for good reason. All because Solomon turned away from God and did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. Therefore, the angry God said to Solomon, “I will surely tear the kingdom from you and will give it to your servant.” It is no surprise that Solomon would eventually harvest what he sowed. As a brutal reminder of his defiant days three men cast long shadows across Solomon’s death bed – Hadad from Edom, Rezon from Damascus and Jeroboam from Israel. Although his forty years reign was a golden age of peace for Israel, as the sun set on his life the dark clouds of judgment were gathering and closing in on him.
Erosion is not limited to soil along the banks of a river. It can happen in life as well. It sweeps away character slowly and silently. Solomon who became a king also became a fool all because of his spiritual defection. And for the rest of his life, he was busy mopping up the consequences. The life history of Solomon is a serious reminder for all of us to take early preventive measures. Let the year 2018 be the year to start soul conservation project and repair the foundation of our relationship with the Lord before downfall like Solomon.
