Wisdom of Solomon

I the Preacher was king over Israel in Jerusalem. 

Summa Theologica of Solomon

Truly the light is sweet, 

and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun:

The thing that hath been, 

it is that which shall be; 

and that which is done is that which shall be done: 

and there is no new thing under the sun.

Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, 

and on the labor that I had labored to do: 

and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, 

and there was no profit under the sun. 

--Therefore I hated life;--

because the work that is wrought under the sun is grievous unto me: for all is vanity and vexation of spirit.

I returned, and saw under the sun, 

that the race is not to the swift, 

nor the battle to the strong, 

neither yet bread to the wise, 

nor yet riches to men of understanding,

 nor yet favor to men of skill; 

--but time and chance happeneth to them all.--

And I turned myself to behold wisdom, 

and madness, and folly: 

for what can the man do that cometh after the king? 

even that which hath been already done.

Then I saw that wisdom excelleth folly, 

as far as light excelleth darkness.

The wise man's eyes are in his head; 

but the fool walketh in darkness: 

and I myself perceived also that one event happeneth to them all.

 Then said I in my heart,

* As it happeneth to the fool, 

*so it happeneth even to me; 

and why was I then more wise? 

Then I said in my heart, that this also is vanity.

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:

Fear (Respect) God,

and keep His commandments:

--for this is the whole duty of man.--

Ecclesiastes 1:12/11:7/1:9/2:11,17/9:11/2:12-15/12:14

--SUMMARY OF LIFE

--The Living Dog vs. Dead Lion

--Spiritual Love Metaphor

--Come Away

--The 2 Requests

--Solomon's UNWISE Move

--A Virtuous Woman

--Children

--Solomon's Wisdom: The 2 Mothers

--Queen of Sheba Tests Solomon's Wisdom

--Good Advice

--STATE OF THE DEAD

--Those 7

--The 4 Generations

--Mini Sermon on the Honeycomb

--A Time for Everything

--Solomon's Ending

--Word to the Wise

SUMMARY OF LIFE

Remember now thy Creator

in the days of thy youth,

While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, be not darkened, (eyes) nor the clouds return after the rain:

In the day when the keepers of the house (body of man) shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow themselves, (old age)

and the grinders cease because they are few, (teeth rot)

and those that look out of the windows be darkened,...(eyes grow dim). 

And the doors shall be shut in the streets, (mouth)

when the sound of the grinding is low, (hard to chew)

and he shall rise up at the voice of the bird, (sleep is not sound)

and all the daughters of music shall be brought low; (feeble speech). 

Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high,

and fears shall be in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, (hair turns white) 

and the grasshopper shall be a burden, (physically weak) 

and desire shall fail: (no appetite)

because man goeth to his long home, (nearing the grave)

Or ever the silver cord be loosed, (the chord of soul and body)

or the golden bowl be broken, (the system of life breaking)

or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, (the biological fountains of the system decay) 

or the wheel broken at the cistern. (the whole system of organs breaking down) and the mourners go about the streets:

Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was:

and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it. (Death)

Vanity of vanities,
saith the preacher;
all is vanity.

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:

Fear (Respect) 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.
Ecclesiastes 12:1-8,13,14

The Living Dog vs. Dead Lion

This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, 

that there is one event unto all: 

yea, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, 

and madness is in their heart while they live, 

and after that they go to the dead.

For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope: 

for a living dog is better than a dead lion.

Ecclesiastes 9:4

Spiritual Love Metaphor

By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loveth: 

I sought him, but I found him not.
I will rise now, and go about the city in the streets, 

and in the broad ways I will seek him whom my soul loveth: 

I sought him, but I found him not. 

The watchmen that go about the city found me: 

to whom I said, Saw ye him whom my soul loveth? 

It was but a little that I passed from them, 

but I found him whom my soul loveth: 

I held him, and would not let him go....

Q: Who is this that cometh out of the wilderness 

like pillars of smoke, 

perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, 

with all powders of the merchant? 

He made the pillars thereof of silver, 

the bottom thereof of gold, 

the covering of it of purple, 

(The SANCTUARY--where the Plan of Redemption is Laid Out--the staves to hold it up were covered in GOLD, the sockets to connect it all were of SILVER, the ashes of the sacrifice were covered in PURPLE, He was the Pillar of Fire/SMOKE to lead His people "out of the WILDERNESS" with FRANKINCENSE used to cover the sacrifices and MYRRH was used in the Sanctuary as well as an ointment to anoint His feet in the Gospels and His body at death)

--the midst thereof being paved with love, 

--for the daughters of Jerusalem.

A: I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys.

Song of Solomon 3:1-4,6,10/:4,10

Come Away

Behold, thou art fair, my love; 

behold, thou art fair; 

My beloved spake, 

and said unto me, 

Rise up, my love, 

my fair one, 

and come away.
Song of Solomon 1:15/2:10

The 2 Requests
Two things have I required of thee;

deny me them not before I die:

--Remove far from me vanity and lies:
--give me neither poverty nor riches;
feed me with food convenient for me:

Proverbs 30:7,8

Solomon's UNWISE Move
But king Solomon loved many strange women, 

together with the daughter of Pharaoh, 

women of the Moabites, 

Ammonites, Edomites, 

Zidonians, and Hittites; 

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. 

For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. 

Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon. 

And likewise did he for all his strange wives, which burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods. And the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the LORD God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice,
1 Kings 11:1,3-5,5-9

A Virtuous Woman
Who can find a virtuous woman? 

for her price is far above rubies. 

The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her... 

She will do him good 

and not evil all the days of her life. 

She riseth also while it is yet night, 

and giveth meat to her household, 

and a portion to her maidens. 

She openeth her mouth with wisdom; 

and in her tongue is the law of kindness. 

Her children arise up, and call her blessed; 

her husband also, and he praiseth her. 

Many daughters have done virtuously, 

but thou excellest them all. 

Favor is deceitful, and beauty is vain: 

but a woman that feareth the LORD, 

she shall be praised.

Proverbs 31:10-12,15,26,28-30

Children

[A Song of degrees for Solomon.]
Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: 

and the fruit of the womb is his reward.
As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; 

so are children of the youth.
Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: 

Train up a child in the way he should go: 

and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
Psalm 127:3-5/Proverbs 22:6

Solomon's Wisdom: The 2 Mothers

Then came there two women, that were harlots, 

unto the king, and stood before him.
And the one woman said, 

O my lord, I and this woman dwell in one house; 

and I was delivered of a child with her in the house. 

And it came to pass the third day after that I was delivered, 

that this woman was delivered also: 

and we were together; 

there was no stranger with us in the house, 

save we two in the house. 

And this woman's child died in the night; 

because she overlaid it. 

And she arose at midnight, 

and took my son from beside me, 

while thine handmaid slept, 

and laid it in her bosom, 

and laid her dead child in my bosom. 

And when I rose in the morning to give my child suck, 

behold, it was dead: 

but when I had considered it in the morning, 

behold, it was not my son, which I did bear. 

And the other woman said, Nay; 

but the living is my son, and the dead is thy son. 

And this said, No; 

but the dead is thy son, and the living is my son. 

Thus they spake before the king 

Then said the king, 

The one saith, This is my son that liveth, and thy son is the dead: and the other saith, Nay; but thy son is the dead, and my son is the living. 

And the king said, 

Bring me a sword. 

And they brought a sword before the king. 

And the king said, 

Divide the living child in two, 

and give half to the one, and half to the other. 

*Then spake the woman whose the living child was unto the king, for her bowels yearned upon her son, and she said, 

O my lord, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it. 

*But the other said, 

Let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide it. 

Then the king answered and said, 

Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it: 

she is the mother thereof. 

And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared the king: for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to do judgment.
1 Kings 3:16-28

Queen of Sheba Tests Solomon's Wisdom
And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the LORD, she came to prove him with hard questions. 

And she came to Jerusalem with a very great train, with camels

that bare spices, and very much gold, and precious stones: and when she was come to Solomon, she communed with him of all that was in her heart.
And Solomon told her all her questions: there was not any thing hid from the king, which he told her not. 

And when the queen of Sheba had seen all Solomon's wisdom, and the house that he had built, And the meat of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the attendance of his ministers, and their apparel, and his cupbearers, and his ascent by which he went up unto the house of the LORD; there was no more spirit in her. And she said to the king, 

It was a true report that I heard in mine own land of thy acts and

of thy wisdom. 

Howbeit I believed not the words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it: and, behold, the half was not told me: thy wisdom and prosperity exceedeth the fame which I heard. 

Blessed be the LORD thy God, which delighted in thee, to set thee on the throne of Israel: because the LORD loved Israel for ever, therefore made He thee king, to do judgment and justice. 

And she gave the king an hundred and twenty talents of gold, and of spices very great store, and precious stones: there came no more such abundance of spices as these which the queen of Sheba gave to king Solomon. And king Solomon gave unto the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatsoever she asked, beside that which Solomon gave her of his royal bounty. So she turned and went to her own country, she and her servants.
1 Kings 10:1-7,9,10,13

Good Advice

1- If thou hast done foolishly in lifting up thyself,
2- or if thou hast thought evil,
lay thine hand upon thy mouth.
Proverbs 30:32

STATE OF THE DEAD

I considered all the living which walk under the sun, 

There is no end of all the people, 

even of all that have been before them: 

they also that come after shall not rejoice in him. 

Surely this also is vanity 

and vexation of spirit.
*For the living know that they shall die: 

*but the dead know not any thing, 

*neither have they any more a reward; 

*for the memory of them is forgotten. 

Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun.
Ecclesiastes 4:15,16/9:5,6

Those 7
These six things doth the LORD hate: 

yea, seven are an abomination unto him:
1-A proud look, 

2-a lying tongue, 

3-and hands that shed innocent blood, 

4-An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, 

5-feet that be swift in running to mischief,
6-A false witness that speaketh lies, 

7-and he that soweth discord among brethren.

Pride goeth before destruction, 

and an haughty spirit before a fall.

The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: 

pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, 

and the froward mouth, do I hate. 

I love them that love Me; 

and those that seek me early shall find Me.

Proverbs 6:16-19/16:8/8:13,17

The 4 Generations

There are 4 types of Generations in the flow of history that repeat in order---Adaptive, Idealist, Reactive and Civic.

Solomon seems to have been on to something thousands of years ago.
*There is a generation that curseth their father, and doth not bless their mother.

*There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness.
*There is a generation, O how lofty are their eyes! and their eyelids are lifted up.
*There is a generation, whose teeth are as swords, and their jaw teeth as knives, to devour the poor from off the earth, and the needy from among men.
Proverbs 30:11-14

Mini Sermon on the Honeycomb

The full soul loatheth an honeycomb; 

but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet. 

Proverbs 27:7

"The rules which apply to the bodily appetite equally hold true of the mind.
I. Let us begin then with the assured truth that Jesus Christ is Himself sweeter than the honeycomb. 

Sweet is liberty to the captive, 

and when the Son makes you free you are free indeed; 

sweet is pardon to the condemned, 

and Jesus proclaims full forgiveness and salvation; 

sweet is health to the sick, 

and Jesus is the great physician of souls; 

sweet is light to those who are in darkness and to eyes that are dim, and Jesus is both sun to our darkness and eyes to our blindness: 

He is sweet because whenever He comes into a man's heart, He

breathes into it the sweetness of abounding peace. 

One thing that proves how sweet He is is this—He removes all bitterness from the heart which truly receives Him.
II. Secondly—there are those who loathe the sweetness of our Lord. Some loathe him so as to trample on him, and this I find to be the translation given in the margin, “The full soul tramples on a honeycomb.” 

Often this loathing is shown by an utter indifference to the gospel. Some people are full with enjoying the world. 

They have wealth and they are perfectly content with it; 

or they have no wealth but still they are pleased with the grovelling pursuits of their class....they think not of divine things. They are full of the world and therefore loathe the honeycomb. 

There are doctrines also which are very distasteful to carnal minds.

III. And so I close with the third point, which is this —there are some who do appreciate the sweetness of Christ. 

Those who hunger are those then who know the sweetness of Christ—pray for a good appetite for Christ, and when you have it keep it. Do not spoil it with the unsatisfying dainties of the world, or by sucking down modern notions and skeptical philosophies—those gingerbreads and unhealthy sweetmeats so much cried up now-a-days. 

Do not waste a good appetite upon anything less sweet 

than the true honeycomb." 

Charles Spurgeon

A Time for Everything

To every thing there is a season, 

and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

A time to be born, 

and a time to die; 

a time to plant, 

and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

A time to kill, 

and a time to heal; 

a time to break down, 

and a time to build up;

A time to weep, 

and a time to laugh; 

a time to mourn, 

and a time to dance;

A time to cast away stones, 

and a time to gather stones together; 

a time to embrace, 

and a time to refrain from embracing;

A time to get, 

and a time to lose; 

a time to keep, 

and a time to cast away;

A time to rend, 

and a time to sew; 

a time to keep silence, 

and a time to speak;

A time to love, 

and a time to hate; 

a time of war, 

and a time of peace.

I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, 

that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts.

For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; 

*even one thing befalleth them: 

as the one dieth, 

so dieth the other; 

All go unto one place; all are of the dust, 

and all turn to dust again.

Wherefore I perceive that there is nothing better, than that a man should rejoice in his own works; for that is his portion: for who shall bring him to see what shall be after him?
I said in mine heart, 

God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: 

for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8,18,19,20,22,17

Solomon's Ending
"At last the Lord, through a prophet, delivered to Solomon the

startling message: 

Forasmuch as this is done of thee, and thou hast not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded thee, I will surely rend the kingdom from thee, and will give it to thy servant. Notwithstanding in thy days I will not do it for David thy father’s sake: but I will rend it out of the hand of thy son. Verses 11, 12. 

Awakened as from a dream by this sentence of judgment pronounced against him and his house, Solomon with quickened conscience began to see his folly in its true light. 

Chastened in spirit, 

with mind and body enfeebled, 

he turned wearied and thirsting from earth’s broken cisterns, 

to drink once more at the fountain of life. 

For him at last the discipline of suffering had accomplished its work. Long had he been harassed by the fear of utter ruin because of in ability to turn from folly; but now he discerned in the message given him a ray of hope. 

God had not utterly cut him off, but stood ready to deliver him from a bondage more cruel than the grave, and from which he had had no power to free himself. 

In gratitude Solomon acknowledged the power and the loving kindness of the One who is higher than the highest Ecclesiastes 5:8; Solomon acknowledged that the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart. Ecclesiastes 9:3.

By the spirit of inspiration the king recorded for after generations the history of his wasted years with their lessons of warning.
Solomon’s repentance was sincere; 

but the harm that his example of evil-doing had wrought could not be undone. 

In the anguish of bitter reflection on the evil of his course, Solomon was constrained to declare, Wisdom is better than weapons of war: but one sinner destroyeth much good. Ecclesiastes 9:18.
One soul misled, forfeiting eternal bliss—who can estimate the loss! And yet one rash act, one thought less word, on our part may exert so deep an influence on the life of another that it will prove the ruin of his soul. 

*One blemish on the character may turn many away from Christ. 

*As the seed sown produces a harvest, and this in turn is sown, the harvest is multiplied. 

In our relation to others, this law holds true. 

*Every act, every word, is a seed that will bear fruit. 

*Thus the sowing of good and evil goes on for time and for eternity." 

E.G.W.

Word to the Wise:

For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

Ecclesiastes 12:14

A Young Solomon at the Temple Dedication: And the house which I build is great: for great is our God above all gods.  2 Chronicles 2:5