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Royalty and Ruin
A Prophetic Warning Startles Solomon
At last a prophet delivered to Solomon the startling message,
“I will surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your
servant. Nevertheless I will not do it in your days, for the sake of
your father David; I will tear it out of the hand of your son.”
Verses
11, 12
.
Awakened as from a dream by this sentence of judgment,
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Solomon began to see how foolish he had been. With mind and
body enfeebled, he turned from earth’s polluted water sources to
drink once more at the fountain of life. Because he seemed unable
to turn from folly, the fear of utter ruin had long troubled him. But
now, in the message given him, he detected a ray of hope. God stood
ready to deliver him from a slavery more cruel than the grave, and
from which he had no power to free himself.
Solomon Acknowledges His Sin
In repentance Solomon began to retrace his steps toward the
high position of purity and holiness from which he had fallen. He
could never hope to escape the terrible results of sin, but he would
humbly confess the error of his ways and warn others so that they
would not be hopelessly lost because of the evil influences he had
set in operation. The truly repentant person thinks of those he or
she has led into evil and tries to lead them back to the true path.
Such people do not gloss over their own wayward course, but lift
the danger signal so that others may take warning.
Solomon acknowledged that “the hearts of the sons of men are
full of evil; madness is in their hearts.” “Though a sinner does evil a
hundred times, and his days are prolonged, yet I surely know that it
will be well with those who fear God. ... But it will not be well with
the wicked; nor will he prolong his days.”
Ecclesiastes 9:3
;
8:12, 13
.
By inspiration the king recorded the history of his wasted years
with their lessons of warning. In this way his lifework was not
wholly lost. With lowliness, in his later years Solomon “taught the
people knowledge; yes, he pondered and sought out and set in order
many proverbs.” He “sought to find acceptable words; and what was
written was upright—words of truth.”
Ecclesiastes 12:9, 10
.