The Wisdom of Solomon, Part 2 (1 Kings 4-5)

Michiana Covenant Presbyterian Church

We saw in chapter three that Solomon recognized that in order to rule God's people, he needed wisdom – "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?"The thing that Adam grasped wrongly – the knowledge of good and evil – is the thing that Solomon asks for.Clearly, the knowledge of good and evil is not inherently wrong. It is a good thing for the son of God to know! There will be lots of echoes of Genesis throughout the story of Solomon – as the pattern of redemption continues to unfold!In Genesis 1-3 you get a snapshot of the basic pattern: God creates man for worship and fellowship with himself – man rebels and turns to other gods – and God promises that he will redeem and restore his people.This template appears in the story of Kingdom and Temple (in the days of David and Solomon) – the establishment of the Kingdom and the house of God which ends with the rebellion of the house of David, and the destruction of the temple, and the exile of Jerusalem.But this means that here in the story of Solomon, we are very much at the beginning of the story – we should expect to see New Creation language (even as we may also expect to see hints of another fall – another rebellion). The LORD had said to Pharoah through Moses, "Israel is my son – my firstborn." Now the LORD has said that he will adopt David's son as his own son – "I will be to him a Father, and he will be to me a son."Solomon, then, should be seen as a sort of second Adam, new Israel, son of God...