
thanks so much Anand maybe you also in all as you heard the riddle and wondered how you would solve it and heard the verb wise answer of King Solomon we’re calling the series and Solomon history’s richest man and I’m sorry to disappoint you if you come along today with the express purpose of hearing we justify that and give you my calculation of his net worth and so on but actually I was I tried to do that a couple of days ago and I realize I was incompetent II but actually you are the experts and here’s my challenge for you I would love to have a valuation of King Solomon’s estate with the tools that you have at your disposal but just to give you an idea of just how wealthy this man was just late look over chapter 4 chapter 4 verse 21 Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the ephrata stood and the Philistines to the board of Egypt they bought tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life Solomon’s provision for one day was 30 cause of flour and sixty cause of meal 10 oxen 20 pasture-fed cattle a hundred sheep besides dear gazelles robaxin fatten foutre always not worth mentioning at his dinner table he had dominion over all the region west of the freighters from teeth faster Gaza over all the king’s west de freitas he had peace on all sides around him duden Israel lived in safety from Dan to Beersheba every man under his victory and his vine and under his fig tree all the days of Solomon Solomon had 40,000 stools of horses for his chariots and twelve thousand horsemen and so on and so on he was an extraordinarily rich man he was extremely powerful man as we’ve read he had piece of every side and presided over a huge number of vassal states he was a great architect I had the privilege of traveling to the Middle East couple years ago when things were less hairy and visiting some of the archaeological works on cities built by King Solomon and they all get to the UNESCO World Heritage number one rated sites because they’re quite incredible for their architecture he was known for his military power so he had we read 40,000 stools of horses for his chariot before then Israel had been confined to the hill country they were fighting fit they were good at running up a hill but they couldn’t hold their own on the open plains around Megiddo but Solomon realized that the way to control this was to build chariots because you could cross vast areas very quickly so he was a major military figure i’m solomon was an incredibly wealthy man i’m looking to you to tell me just how wealthy by next week but actually he was also a very wise man and the thing that is celebrated most clearly in the biblical account about Solomon is his wisdom wisdom is not the same as intellect which we say prize today is not the same as IQ I want us to spend some time in this first study on Solomon looking at exactly what his wisdom was what is true wisdom and actually his wisdom is linked to his prosperity the fact that he was very successful is no doubt connected to the fact that he was wise but wisdom means more than shrewdness or business acumen we’re going to be looking at the wisdom of Solomon the wisdom of the Gods the wisdom of the Lord Jesus Christ and you get a great summary of it just at the end of chapter 4 maybe you could turn there and I love some of the comparisons here just by which the author emphasizes just how wise this man was God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding beyond measure and breadth of mind like the sand on the seashore said that Solomon’s wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all the people of the East and all the wisdom of Egypt he was wiser than all other men wise than Ethan the ezra height and Herman calcio and Dada the sons of Maho now I love this we don’t know who these people are but it’s as if you were to think of that the cleverest people that you know say a Garry Kasparov oh yeah who’s better at chess than him Carol Carol Vorderman yeah his mental epitope was much better than hers you think of the cleverest people that you can think of and say the Solomon trumps all of them then we get specific about his lip the output verse 32 he spoke 3,000 proverbs you can read some of them in the book of Proverbs in the Bible and his songs were 1005 I love that it’s not even as if he’s just rounding up in here about a thousand he raped a thousand and five songs and he spoke of trees this will plead some of the botanist here from the Sidra in lebanon to the hyssop that grows out the wall he spoke also of beasts and birds of reptiles and fish he was the renaissance man he was the horticulturist he was the student of the

zoological realm he was an incredibly wise man but I want us to see one two three four five six things about this wisdom of Solomon firstly it is a very valuable thing to be wise it’s perhaps more valuable than to have all the rich as we read of all of the money in the city wisdom is very precious and Solomon realizes this when he is asked by God a question I wonder what what you would say to this chapter 3 verse 5 at Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream and said ask what I still give you that is the equivalent isn’t it of rubbing your lamp and a genie coming out and saying you’ve got three wishes well it’s almost the equivalent you believe up one wish but the advantages this isn’t just the genie this is the God who made the world one wish what would you wish for what would you choose solomon says this verse 8 your servant is in the midst of your people whom you’ve chosen a great people too many to be numbered or counted for multitude give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people that I may discern between good and evil for who is able to govern this your great people it pleased the Lord that Solomon ask this and God said to him because you’ve asked this and I’ve not asked for yourself long life or riches or the life of your enemies but as after yourself understanding to discern what is right behold I now do according to your word I give you a wise and discerning mind so that no like you has been before you and unlike you should always after you I’ll give you also what you haven’t asked which is naana so that no other King so compared with you what would you like I’d like wisdom because you’ve asked wisdom you can have wisdom and be very wealthy as a bonus but wisdom was the right thing to ask for it was the right call says god that is the most precious thing that you could possibly have you were given the choice would I rather have an extra two hundred thousand of the bank account or be a little bit more wise God thinks the right answer is the second option wisdom is very valuable but notice here wisdom is altruistic who is able to govern this your great people give me a wise and discerning mind so that I may discern good and evil to govern them so i’m solomon doesn’t just say please make me clever give me a high IQ so that everyone is impressed by me and so actually i can make the right investment choices and then i’ll be able to make myself very wealthy now he answer wisdom first and foremost in order to govern well as a king and noticed that right government isn’t just about being clever it’s not just about having the best economic think tank who can think their way out of the eurozone crisis or whatever it might be actually in the Bible primarily wisdom is a moral category about knowing the difference between what is good and what is evil give me a wise in discerning mind he says to discern between good and evil we get a wonderful example of that don’t we with this these two women fighting over the live child bring me a sword he says cut the living child in two and then you can have half each it’s a brilliant answer out of this riddle immediately that the woman gives the line woman gives the child to the tree mother and notice verse 28 all is so heard of the judgment the King had rendered they stood in all of the king but they perceive that what do they perceive they perceived he was a jolly clever came he sold a very tricky riddle that’s true but the text says that they perceived that the wisdom of God was in him to do justice see wisdom isn’t just about being clever it’s about name what is right about knowing the difference between right and wrong in a practical solution you wouldn’t find the wise person tucked away as an academic just enjoying the books and lighting some kind of esoteric theory for his own amusement at the truly wise person is seeking to serve others and trying to make right moral judgments what would be good in the situation and what would be evil it’s valuable altruistic moral practical and it is a great blessing and just look down at verse chapter 4 verse

20 and ask yourself how many countries of the world you think this could be said of children is 0 as many as the sand of the sea they were populous they ate and drank and were happy just the throw a line actually but happiness ratings they’re one of the metrics aren’t they by which the the economy is trying to work out how country is doing and always it turns out paradoxically that the richest countries are the most miserable and some village in outer northern Sweden where it’s dark for half of the year and about one hour of daylight at this time of year and then suddenly paradoxically everything extremely happy and they will send their advisors to fly out there and find out what the secret is but the secret here is that here’s our people governed by a king who does what’s right there’s just this people live morally the right way and with that comes security and peace safety and great contentment it is a great blessing to be governed by a king who is so wise and then my inference from chapter 5 chapter 4 verse 34 throw a dotted around a bit my influence from chapter 4 verse 34 is that this kind of wisdom is quite unusual people of all nations came to hear the wisdom of Solomon from all the kings of the earth who’d heard about his wisdom it’s rare enough that people take notice not many people are as wise as this well I want to turn over cup pages we going to daughter out a bit less and drill down at the beginning of chapter 10 what we get a summary of some of these same themes and I think we can enjoy it because it is the arrival of the Queen of Sheba I should really a primed simpe the organist to play this for us like when we did indianna jaymes and he kindly played us the Raiders March but he hasn’t been forewarned but you know the famous chain the arrival of the Queen of Sheba and often played for possessions at the end of weddings well here is the Queen arriving I don’t think to an organ tune but appropriately enough you can imagine that in your in your mind and she’s an example actually what we just read about of people of all over the world hearing of this of the wisdom of Solomon and coming to see and that is what she does when the Queen of Sheba chapter 10 verse 1 heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord she came to test him with hard questions I love that she’s not so easily impressed i’ve heard you’re a wise guy i’m not so sure so I thought up the hardest exam paper that anyone has ever been set and I’ve come to and sit the exam with you I’ll be in vigil ating make sure you didn’t get out your mobile phones look on google and see how you did and but just as an incentive to make sure you concentrate on the exam verse 2 she came with the very great retinue with camels boeing spices and very much gold and precious stones and i guess to impress solomon it’s going to be quite a big present haven’t used it what do you buy for the man who has everything but she tries her best she came to Solomon she told him all that was on her mind and Solomon answered all her questions there was nothing hidden from the king that he couldn’t explain to her and when the Queen of Sheba had seen all the wisdom of Solomon the house that he built the food of his table the seating of his officials the attendance of his servants their clothing his cut bearish his burnt offerings that he offered in the house the Lord there was no more breath in her first of two famous phrases that come from this passage literally it took her breath away the first time anyone’s ever said that in literature and it was about the cream of Queen of Sheba marveling at how wise this man was look out and see if you can spot the second well-known phrase verse 6 she said to the king the report was true that I heard in my own land of your words in your wisdom but I didn’t believe the reports until I came and we’re own eyes and see it and behold the half was not told me or to translate I wasn’t told the half of it first it comes anywhere in literature I don’t think she’s talking about the baby at this stage was until the half of it but about his wisdom and then sheshe sunrises what we’ve already seen your wisdom and prosperity surpassed the report I heard happy at your servants happier your men who continually stand before you and hear your wisdom blessed be the Lord your God he’s delighted in you and set you on the throne of Israel because the Lord lovely saw forever he’s made you King that you may execute say

my dear again justice and righteousness it is a great thing to be wise it’s valuable God thought it more valuable than had he asked her riches or a long life what would you choose i wonder if God gave you that question what would you like me to do for you wisdom was the right answer where’s the not to be self-serving but to serve others say that I may govern this great people says Solomon and to govern them not just with brilliant economic insight but with right moral judgments to know the difference between what is good and what is evil even in practical situations like settling disputes for people who come to you and that kind of wisdom will at least that kind of wisdom in your king is a great blessing people for all of the world come and see it so unusual as they came to find out what made Solomon say wise but the last point there on the sheet is really the most important one which is to say that true wisdom comes from God should be obvious didn’t it but it wasn’t that Solomon studied hard or had exactly the right combination of genes in his two parents that came together to give him that neurological advantage it was the God asked him a question what would you like he said please could I have some wisdom and God decided to give it to him it was God’s gift of wisdom and it wasn’t so much just a gift to him as a gift to all of the people my favorite verse we were studying this last year in our small groups here in Helens my favorite verse came to be chapter 9 verse 9 so I chapter 10 verse 9 sorry I hear the rustling of pages think he should be on the same page still so chapter 10 verse 9 blessed be the Lord your God says the Queen of Sheba visiting from afar who has delighted in you and set you on the throne of Israel because the Lord loved Israel forever he’s made you King just think about that versal moment because God loves Israel the nation he made you King to give Solomon wisdom wasn’t only a gift for Solomon but it was a gift for all of the people who lived in his country in fact it was a sign that God must really love that country to give him a government like this everyone’s happy everyone’s at peace everyone is ruled justly there’s no corruption there’s no more compromise and I think we scarcely can imagine what that’s like I’m not being particularly down on David Cameron or present government but we don’t have any concept of a government that’s without corruption where wisdom is always altruistic when they politician ever seeks to feather their own nests or line their own pockets we’ve barely a concept of a king whose first and foremost their decision is what is morally right an economic system governed entirely by moral judgments we can’t imagine that and actually Israel could barely imagine it because it is a very rare thing even within their own history and tragically it was quite a temporary thing even in Solomon’s day these are the high days the high points of Israel’s history but actually in just a couple of chapters time everything begins to unravel and in the next generation there’s a civil war there after Israel and the naught is ruled over by King off the king who does what is evil in the sight of the Lord King Caesar themselves kinky were kinky a greedy for gain kills Kings who are willing to make moral compromises for expediency in fact if you read only one kings you’ll find news that you recognize from the Western media it looks much much more familiar the Bible’s not raised tinted on ieave it nazar thing doesn’t come around very often once in a lifetime actually once in the entire history of a nation a king like this and even this king stuffs up we’ll see why in two weeks time you can probably guess from the title Solomon’s wisdom Solomon’s worship Solomon’s wives and the plural is ominous and that will be his downfall but its god-given it’s beautiful you wanted I read this and say I want to go

like this I think at the sweep tur and successor jeremy corbyn tells us people 12 government like this whether or not they’re naive to put their trust in him for such high hopes but people want integrity and moral goodness can he deliver I wonder and the Bible say wisdom truism is very very rare but it comes from God and it’s found securely and permanently only in the Lord Jesus the wonderful way about the way that by was written is because God is in charge of all of history he plans all of history to teach us the lessons of the gospel so even hundreds of years before Jesus comes more than 900 years before Jesus and the time of Solomon God as he plans history he’s already explaining what Jesus we like so earlier on in the book of 2 Samuel God promised her David Solomon’s father that his son would sit on his throne forever ever since David we’ve been expecting a son of David it will be an eternal King and Solomon of course is our first hope because he is a son of David and he does pretty well we’re thinking this could be the king he lost forever it turns out not as was in a couple of chapters so then we start following the line maybe it’s the son of the son of David or the son of the son of the son of day we start a massive genealogy and of course the Jewish people were very keen to do this tracing meticulously the lineage of David to see who this King might be and the long comes King Jesus if you doubt his genealogy read the first chapter of the New Testament where you is traced all the way back to Solomon and to Davis and here comes King Jesus at the son of David the greatest Solomon the wisest King that ever lived in houma hidden says the New Testament all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge but notice that doesn’t mean just that Jesus is clever are they my guess is that he would beat you at Scrabble if he challenged him to a game it’s not cheese just that Jesus he’s rich though now is the king of all creation of course he’s more prosperous than Solomon ever was as the whole of the nation’s or his inheritance but it doesn’t mean Jesus has something that is precious and altruistic to serve others he has right moral judgment he knows the difference between good and evil and he proposes to govern his kingdom along those lines no corruption but justice peace security and just a glimpse at life under Solomon makes me think I would like to live under an administration like that one so along comes Jesus saying I’m the king the son of David would you like to be in my kingdom as I rule with justice and righteousness and peace and the wise answer is yes please please come back this week we’re looking at Solomon’s worship hits construction of one of the wonders of the ancient world the Temple in Jerusalem we’re not just going to look at the architectural designs but what the temple was for and once again how that pointed us forward to the Lord Jesus I never leaders in prayer as we finish the Queen of Sheba said blessed be the Lord your God who has delighted in you and set you on the throne of Israel because the Lord loved Israel forever he has made you king that you may execute justice and righteousness and heavenly father how we can copy that same prayer and say it must be that you loved us forever that you would choose to give us such a king such a rare and wise and altruistic King as the Lord Jesus Christ all having read this glimpse of history we were very attracted to the idea of living in his kingdom and we pray that you would help us to follow him and trust in him for Jesus name sake amen you you