Ecclesiastes: Solomon’s Situation
Within our study of Ecclesiastes it will seem apparent by the multitude of his confessions that King Solomon wrote the book after many backslidden years.
His strong prayer in 2nd Chronicles 6 & 7 is likely the longest and most quoted of all the prayers in the Old Testament. But as we will see, at this point in his life, he looked back and saw his departure from the source of all life, the Lord.
He looked as if he had a wonderfully fulfilling life, but in reflection he realized the deeds, pleasures, and accomplishments did not mean anything without a close relationship with the Creator. The world had stood and noticed all that Solomon had done, but he admits clearly and without shame that all he had done and possessed without having God was meaningless.
Throughout the book, we see Solomon use two consistent phrases:
“under the sun” used 27 times meaning “of the world”
“vanity” used 16 times meaning “mystery”
Solomon conveys to us the profound fact that when a person lives his life without God's grace, he will end up with a sad and unfulfilled life for something important is desperately missing.
It is accepted that Solomon died in his fifties, an indication that the Lord was displeased with him and had not extended the allowance of long life (as promised in Exodus 20:12) for those who obey His commandments.
Early in this king's reign, the Lord had appeared to him in a dream (1st Kings 3:5). At that time Solomon asked the Lord for a heart of “understanding”. He did NOT ask for wisdom. But the Lord was pleased with the request and gave him a “wise AND understanding heart (1st Kings 3:12 & 4:29).
After 20 years (1st Kings 9:10), during which time Solomon built the Temple for 7 years and his own palace for 13 years, God appeared to Solomon a second time (1st Kings 9:2) and God set before Solomon a CONDITION. God said, “If you will walk before me, as David your father walked, in integrity of heart, then I will establish the throne of your kingdom upon Israel forever” (1st Kings 9:4-5).
But Solomon did NOT continue to walk before God. Solomon compromised himself. God tells us in 1st Kings 11:5 that Solomon “... went after Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom, the abomination god of the Ammonites. And so Solomon “DID EVIL” in the sight of the Lord (verse 6). Solomon even built a high place (an altar) for Chemosh, the evil god of Moab and for the human sacrifice god Molech, in surrender to his strange wives (verses 7-8).
The result was that God was ANGRY with Solomon. Despite God appearing to Solomon twice, Solomon disobeyed the Lord willingly and sinfully.
When we read the rest of chapter 11 in 1st Kings, we see that God sent his prophet “Ahijah the Shilonite” to tell Jeroboam that 10 tribes would be taken from Solomon.
Solomon taxed the people far beyond excess and through that oppressive taxation he lived a life of regal splendor never seen before or since. When Solomon's son, Rehoboam, succeeded him as king after his death, he was asked by the people to lower the harsh taxes and he gave the royal reply that “... I will add to your yoke... my father hath chastened you with whips but I will chasten you with scorpions” (1st Kings 12:11).
So Israel rebelled and installed their own king, Jeroboam, and the 10 tribes were removed from the authority of the throne, just as God had promised. Afterward only the tribe of Judah remained under the throne. Rehoboam sought to align himself with the tribe of Benjamin to retake the 10 tribes but the Lord sent him a strong message against such action in 1st Kings 12:24 saying, “... Ye shall not... fight against your brethren the children of Israel... for this thing is from me”.
We see no evidence that Solomon repented of his path among the idols of his many wives, nor showed any remorse for the many shrines and altars he had built to them. Scripture tells us that all these things remained in place for over 300 years inside the Holy promised land until they were torn down by King Josiah (2nd Kings 23:13).
Ecclesiastes allows us a glimpse into the high price Solomon paid for his life turning away from God. He violated the Lord's original command not to multiply wives by marrying 700 women plus having 300 concubines. There is no scripture that seems to say that he led any of these women to God rather he allowed their idol worship and he himself joined in it. 1st Kings 11:4 tells us that “... he turned his heart to other gods...”. As a consequence of his turning away, after his death God divided the kingdom into two parts and thereafter the northern kingdom, Israel, was ruled mostly by wicked kings while Judah was ruled by descendants of David.
In his writings of the book of Ecclesiastes, we see no sign of humility from Solomon. He was powerful, strong, and held riches beyond measure but understood in later life that all these things of this world are without value if gained and held without God. In this book of much study, it has always been mentioned by teachers & students alike that this king was filled with himself. The book holds only 222 verses and in them Solomon uses the personal pronoun “I” 87 times in 65 verses. We see he uses “I” two times for every five verses. The focus is on himself and his personal views.
His wisdom allowed him power of observation but when he moved past those things he observes into things of his opinion, Solomon was WRONG many times as we will see in the study chapters.
THAT IS THE MIND WHICH PRODUCED ECCLESIASTES.
As we travel down these pathways with Solomon, we will see him reflect on most profound truths.
These are:
LIFE WITHOUT GOD IS MEANINGLESS (1:1 – 2:26)
LIFE WITHOUT GOD IS UNFAIR (3:1 – 5:20)
LIFE WITHOUT GOD IS UNFULFILLING (4:1 – 9:18)
LIFE WITH GOD IS THE ONLY LIFE THAT MAKES SENSE (9:1 – 12:14)
Despair seemed everywhere in life to this king. Nothing seemed to work right, at least where man was involved and lived life apart from the Lord. Even after a lifetime of searching, Solomon could not figure out everything. He encouraged us to do the wise thing, seek the Lord, from where wisdom, justice, joy, and life itself came.