Prominent among the primary causes that led Solomon
into extravagance and oppression was his failure to
maintain and foster the spirit of self-sacrifice.
When, at the foot of Sinai, Moses told the people of the
divine command, "Let them make Me a sanctuary; that I
may dwell among them," the response of the Israelites was
accompanied by the appropriate gifts. "They came, everyone
whose heart stirred him up, and everyone whom his
spirit made willing," and brought offerings. Exodus 25:8;
35:21. For the building of the sanctuary, great and extensive
preparations were necessary; a large amount of the most
precious and costly material was required, but the Lord
accepted only freewill offerings. "Of every man that giveth
it willingly with his heart ye shall take My offering," was
the command repeated by Moses to the congregation. Exodus 25:2.
Devotion to God and a spirit of sacrifice were the
first requisites in preparing a dwelling place for the Most
High.
A similar call to self-sacrifice was made when David
turned over to Solomon the responsibility of building the
temple. Of the assembled multitude David asked, "Who
then is willing to consecrate his service this day unto the
Lord?" 1 Chronicles 29:5. This call to consecration and
willing service should ever have been kept in mind by those
who had to do with the erection of the temple.
For the construction of the wilderness tabernacle, chosen
men were endowed by God with special skill and wisdom.
"Moses said unto the children of Israel, See, the Lord hath
called by name Bezaleel, . . . of the tribe of Judah; and
He hath filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in
understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of
workmanship. . . . And He hath put in his heart that he
may teach, both he, and Aholiab, . . . of the tribe of Dan.
Them hath He filled with wisdom of heart, to work all
manner of work, of the engraver, and of the cunning workman,
and of the embroiderer, . . . and of the weaver, even
of them that do any work. . . . Then wrought Bezaleel
and Aholiab, and every wisehearted man, in whom the
Lord put wisdom and understanding." Exodus 35:30-35;
36:1. Heavenly intelligences co-operated with the workmen
whom God Himself had chosen.
The descendants of these workmen inherited to a large
degree the talents conferred on their forefathers. For a time
these men of Judah and Dan remained humble and unselfish;
but gradually, almost imperceptibly, they lost their hold
upon God and their desire to serve Him unselfishly. They
asked higher wages for their services, because of their
superior skill as workmen in the finer arts. In some instances
their request was granted, but more often they found employment
in the surrounding nations. In place of the noble spirit of
self-sacrifice that had filled the hearts of their illustrious
ancestors, they indulged a spirit of covetousness, of grasping
for more and more. That their selfish desires might be
gratified, they used their God-given skill in the service of
heathen kings, and lent their talent to the perfecting of works
which were a dishonor to their Maker.
It was among these men that Solomon looked for a
master workman to superintend the construction of the
temple on Mount Moriah. Minute specifications, in writing,
regarding every portion of the sacred structure, had been
entrusted to the king; and he could have looked to God in
faith for consecrated helpers, to whom would have been
granted special skill for doing with exactness the work
required. But Solomon lost sight of this opportunity to
exercise faith in God. He sent to the king of Tyre for a
man, "cunning to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass,
and in iron, and in purple, and crimson, and blue, and that
can skill to grave with the cunning men . . . in Judah and
in Jerusalem." 2 Chronicles 2:7.
The Phoenician king responded by sending Huram, "the
son of a woman of the daughters of Dan, and his father
was a man of Tyre." Verse 14. Huram was a descendant,
on his mother's side, of Aholiab, to whom, hundreds of years
before, God had given special wisdom for the construction
of the tabernacle.
Thus at the head of Solomon's company of workmen
there was placed a man whose efforts were not prompted
by an unselfish desire to render service to God. He served
the god of this world, mammon. The very fibers of his
being were inwrought with the principles of selfishness.
Because of his unusual skill, Huram demanded large
wages. Gradually the wrong principles that he cherished
came to be accepted by his associates. As they labored with
him day after day, they yielded to the inclination to compare
his wages with their own, and they began to lose sight
of the holy character of their work. The spirit of self-denial
left them, and in its place came the spirit of covetousness.
The result was a demand for higher wages, which was
granted.
The baleful influences thus set in operation permeated
all branches of the Lord's service, and extended throughout
the kingdom. The high wages demanded and received
gave to many an opportunity to indulge in luxury and
extravagance. The poor were oppressed by the rich; the spirit
of self-sacrifice was well-nigh lost. In the far-reaching effects
of these influences may be traced one of the principal causes
of the terrible apostasy of him who once was numbered
among the wisest of mortals.
The sharp contrast between the spirit and motives of the
people building the wilderness tabernacle, and of those
engaged in erecting Solomon's temple, has a lesson of deep
significance. The self-seeking that characterized the workers
on the temple finds its counterpart today in the selfishness
that rules in the world. The spirit of covetousness, of seeking
for the highest position and the highest wage, is rife.
The willing service and joyous self-denial of the tabernacle
workers is seldom met with. But this is the only spirit that
should actuate the followers of Jesus. Our divine Master
has given an example of how His disciples are to work. To
those whom He bade, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers
of men" (Matthew 4:19), He offered no stated sum
as a reward for their services. They were to share with Him
in self-denial and sacrifice.
Not for the wages we receive are we to labor. The motive
that prompts us to work for God should have in it nothing
akin to self-serving. Unselfish devotion and a spirit of sacrifice
have always been and always will be the first requisite
of acceptable service. Our Lord and Master designs that not
one thread of selfishness shall be woven into His work. Into
our efforts we are to bring the tact and skill, the exactitude
and wisdom, that the God of perfection required of the
builders of the earthly tabernacle; yet in all our labors we
are to remember that the greatest talents or the most splendid
services are acceptable only when self is laid upon the altar,
a living, consuming sacrifice.
Another of the deviations from right principles that
finally led to the downfall of Israel's king was his yielding
to the temptation to take to himself the glory that belongs
to God alone.
From the day that Solomon was entrusted with the work
of building the temple, to the time of its completion, his
avowed purpose was "to build an house for the name of
the Lord God of Israel." 2 Chronicles 6:7. This purpose
was fully recognized before the assembled hosts of Israel
at the time of the dedication of the temple. In his prayer
the king acknowledged that Jehovah had said, "My name
shall be there." 1 Kings 8:29.
One of the most touching portions of Solomon's dedicatory
prayer was his plea to God for the strangers that should
come from countries afar to learn more of Him whose fame
had been spread abroad among the nations. "They shall
hear," the king pleaded, "of Thy great name, and of Thy
strong hand, and of Thy stretched-out arm." In behalf of
every one of these stranger worshipers Solomon had petitioned:
"Hear Thou, . . . and do according to all that the
stranger calleth to Thee for: that all people of the earth
may know Thy name, to fear Thee, as do Thy people Israel;
and that they may know that this house, which I have
builded, is called by Thy name." Verses 42, 43.
At the close of the service, Solomon had exhorted Israel
to be faithful and true to God, in order that "all the people
of the earth may know," he said, "that the Lord is God, and
that there is none else." Verse 60.
A Greater than Solomon was the designer of the temple;
the wisdom and glory of God stood there revealed. Those
who were unacquainted with this fact naturally admired
and praised Solomon as the architect and builder; but the
king disclaimed any honor for its conception or erection.
Thus it was when the Queen of Sheba came to visit
Solomon. Hearing of his wisdom and of the magnificent
temple he had built, she determined "to prove him with
hard questions" and to see for herself his famous works.
Attended by a retinue of servants, and with camels bearing
"spices, and gold in abundance, and precious stones," she
made the long journey to Jerusalem. "And when she was
come to Solomon, she communed with him of all that was
in her heart." She talked with him of the mysteries of
nature; and Solomon taught her of the God of nature, the
great Creator, who dwells in the highest heaven and rules
over all. "Solomon told her all her questions: there was
not anything hid from the king, which he told her not."
1 Kings 10:1-3;2 Chronicles 9:1, 2.
"When the Queen of Sheba had seen all Solomon's wisdom,
and the house that he had built, . . . there was no
more spirit in her." "It was a true report," she acknowledged,
"which I heard in mine own land of thine acts, and of thy
wisdom: howbeit I believed not their 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. Happy are thy men, happy are these thy
servants, which stand continually before thee, and that
hear thy wisdom." 1 Kings 10:4-8; 2 Chronicles 9:3-6.
By the time of the close of her visit the queen had been
so fully taught by Solomon as to the source of his wisdom and
prosperity that she was constrained, not to extol the human
agent, but to exclaim, "Blessed be the Lord thy God, which
delighted in thee, to set thee on the throne of Israel: because
the Lord loved Israel forever, therefore made He thee king,
to do judgment and justice." 1 Kings 10:9. This is the
impression that God designed should be made upon all
peoples. And when "all the kings of the earth sought the
presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom, that God had
put in his heart" (2 Chronicles 9:23), Solomon for a time
honored God by reverently pointing them to the Creator of
the heavens and the earth, the Ruler of the universe, the
All-wise.
Had Solomon continued in humility of mind to turn
the attention of men from himself to the One who had
given him wisdom and riches and honor, what a history
might have been his! But while the pen of inspiration
records his virtues, it also bears faithful witness to his
downfall. Raised to pinnacle of greatness and surrounded with
the gifts of fortune, Solomon became dizzy, lost his balance,
and fell. Constantly extolled by men of the world, he was
at length unable to withstand the flattery offered him. The
wisdom entrusted to him that he might glorify the Giver,
filled him with pride. He finally permitted men to speak
of him as the one most worthy of praise for the matchless
splendor of the building planned and erected for the
honor of "the name of the Lord God of Israel."
Thus it was that the temple of Jehovah came to be known
throughout the nations as "Solomon's temple." The human
agent had taken to himself the glory that belonged to the
One "higher than the highest." Ecclesiastes 5:8. Even to
this day the temple of which Solomon declared, "This
house which I have built is called by Thy name" (2 Chronicles
6:33), is oftenest spoken of, not as the temple of Jehovah,
but as "Solomon's temple."
Man cannot show greater weakness than by allowing
men to ascribe to him the honor for gifts that are Heaven-bestowed.
The true Christian will make God first and
last and best in everything. No ambitious motives will chill
his love for God; steadily, perseveringly, will he cause honor
to redound to his heavenly Father. It is when we are faithful
in exalting the name of God that our impulses are under
divine supervision, and we are enabled to develop spiritual
and intellectual power.
Jesus, the divine Master, ever exalted the name of His
heavenly Father. He taught His disciples to pray, "Our
Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name." Matthew
6:9, A.R.V. And they were not to forget to acknowledge,
"Thine is . . . the glory." Verse 13. So careful was the
great Healer to direct attention from Himself to the Source
of His power, that the wondering multitude, "when they
saw the dumb to speak, the maimed to be whole, the lame
to walk, and the blind to see," did not glorify Him, but
"glorified the God of Israel." Matthew 15:31. In the wonderful
prayer that Christ offered just before His crucifixion,
He declared, "I have glorified Thee on the earth." "Glorify
Thy Son," He pleaded, "that Thy Son also may glorify
Thee." "O righteous Father, the world hath not known
Thee: but I have known Thee, and these have known
that Thou hast sent Me. And I have declared unto them
Thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith
Thou hast loved Me may be in them, and I in them."
John 17:1, 4, 25, 26.
"Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his
wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let
not the rich man glory in his riches: but let him that glorieth
glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth Me,
that I am the Lord which exercise loving-kindness, judgment,
and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I
delight, saith the Lord." Jeremiah 9:23, 24.