The King Who Had it All
January 9, 2010
I want to start out by talking about a frog. Maybe you’re familiar with research that was done a number of years ago on frogs. The research basically goes like this . . . if you put a frog in a boiling pot of water, the frog will jump out, but if you put a frog in a pot of luke warm water, you can slowly turn the heat up on the frog and the frog will stay in the pot and you can boil that frog to death. Then you can have a wonderful plate of frog legs for dinner. I heard they taste like chicken.
So, what does that research mean? It tells us frogs can detect sudden changes in their environment, buy they cannot detect small incremental changes. By the time they recognize they’re in a dangerous situation, it’s too late. Their bodies are too weak to get out. Why do I give you this analogy? Well, this is the story of Solomon, and it’s his story we’re going to look at today.
Solomon starts off strong, like a frog. He jumps over lily pads like no other frog before him. He’s got royal frog blood in him. He’s the son of the great king. Any princess would consider it a privilege to kiss this frog. And as we’ll see, 700 princesses come to the altar and kiss this frog. He’s a strong frog, but one day, he jumps into a pot of lukewarm water. Slowly, it got hotter and hotter and Solomon got cooked.
Let’s start by looking at 1 Kings 1:1. If you have your copy of the Story, if you turn to Chapter 13, that would be great. We’re going to see how this chapter of the Story fits into the upper story of God’s big idea.
Long before Solomon, God started a nation with a man named Abraham. It was through this nation, called, Israel that God was trying to make His name known among the people. He wanted to show people His character, His heart and His plan. He wanted people to turn back to Him, so they could enjoy what had been lost when sin came into the world in the garden of Eden. It was very important that the Israelites cultivate their relationship with God, because they would be God’s witnesses to the world of His redeeming grace. Ultimately the plan is to get everyone back into a relationship with God, through the coming Savior, Jesus.
Eventually, the people wanted a king to lead them. They no longer wanted God to be their leader, so they were given a man named, Saul as their first king. Saul did not represent God’s nature very well. So God replaced Saul with a man named David. Even though David committed sins, he represented God’s character and nature very well. God knew David was a man after His own heart. We see this and we experience this through God’s forgiveness of David when he repented from his sins with Bathsheba.
Chapter 13 opens up with these words, 1When King David was very old, he could not keep warm even when they put covers over him. You know, the same thing happens to me and I thought about this passage, and I thought I’m getting old, is this my lot in life? Then I came to my senses and realized I live in Indiana in the winter. What else should I expect?
David was anointed king at 16 years old, and time passed and David became old; and it was time to pass on the kingdom to his son, Solomon. Solomon starts off with everything going his way. As the chapter title signifies, he was “The King who had it all.” The nation was in great shape.
Solomon starts off super strong. If you look at 1 Kings 3:5, we see that God comes to Solomon personally and tells Solomon, you can ask for anything you want, and I’ll give it to you, with no boundaries. If it was you and I, what would we ask for? Be truthful, you’re in church. God comes to you and nobody else is around, and God says, “Ask for whatever you want and I’ll give it to you.”
What are you going to ask for? You might ask for long life, or wealth, or power, or a nice car; Solomon asks for wisdom. Not wisdom for his own sake, but wisdom so that he’ll know how to discern right from wrong and how to lead according to God’s way. And God is super impressed with what Solomon asked for. So, God grants and implants super wisdom into Solomon. God takes it one step further and tells Solomon, since you asked for wisdom, I’m also going to give you wealth and honor.
In 1 Kings 3:16 (145), we see his wisdom at work. You may remember the story about two women who come to Solomon, both claiming a baby is theirs. How does Solomon handle this? Wisdom kicks in and he tells his men cut the baby in half, and give half to one alleged mother and give half to the other alleged mother. Well, the first alleged mother says this is fair, give ½ to each, but the other alleged mother says, ‘give the other woman the baby’ because she wants to preserve the life of the baby. Solomon concludes this is the heart of the true mother and he gives the baby to her. It’s a beautiful story, but don’t try this at home.
Solomon not only exercised wisdom, but he also wrote down the wisdom he had acquired and we still have the ability to read it today, it’s called the book of Proverbs. But not only did he write that book, he also wrote Ecclesiastes and the Song of Solomon. In particular in the book of Proverbs, he gave us short little statements filled with great wisdom. Interestingly, in his writing, Solomon identified all kind of lukewarm pots you should avoid. . . because if you don’t, you’ll get cooked.
Turn to page 146-150, have different selections of Proverbs. He wrote,
Better to live in a desert, than with a quarrelsome and nagging wife. (Oh, that’s not the one I wanted. Doug was whispering to me prior to worship that he really liked that one.) Page 148
Sluggards do not plow in season. That’s the lukewarm pot. A sluggard who doesn’t plow at the appropriate time. Now here’s the boiling point . . . So at harvest time they look but find nothing. They got cooked. (20:4)
Food gained by fraud tastes sweet, that’s the lukewarm pot, when you gain food by being dishonest, initially it tastes sweet, but look at the end result, . . . but one ends up with a mouthful of gravel. (20:17)
Gossip betrays a confidence, that’s the cooking part. This is reverse of the others. You’ve talked too much and in the end you’ve damaged a friendship and relationship, now here’s where you got into the lukewarm pot . . . so avoid anyone who talks too much. (20:19)
Those who shut their ears to the cries of the poor, that’s the lukewarm pot, hearing the cry, and ignoring it, will also cry out and not be answered. You’ll be cooked as well. (21:13)
So Solomon identifies a number of lukewarm pots we should avoid, because if we don’t, we will certainly get cooked. The sad thing is, we often cook ourselves.
In Solomon’s 4th year, he builds the temple and does a great job of following God’s plan for the building of His temple. God’s presence resided in the Holy of Holies in that temple. God’s presence was with the Israelites under the leadership of Solomon. In 1 Kings 9:4-9, we read (154), that God visits Solomon a second time and I’m paraphrasing, God said,
“Solomon, if you continue to follow me, you will finish strong and you will pass on the kingdom to one of your sons; and it will be in the same great shape that your father passed on the kingdom to you. However, Solomon, if you do not follow me, you will get cooked and it will cause a spiral in the nation and the throne will be taken from your family.” Solomon heard these clear instructions from God.
Now if you look at page 155-156 (1 Kings 10). Solomon’s popularity is growing. People from everywhere are coming to visit him and learn from him. Everything he seems to touch is turning to gold. The Queen of Sheba comes and brings him gifts and is mesmerized by his wisdom.
This is the king who had it all. Then we look towards the end of his life. After 40 years of being king, in the end, he got cooked. In 1 Kings 11, we see all kinds of adversaries arising. Like so many others in the Bible, he starts off strong, but finishes poorly. Somewhere along the way, he jumped into that lukewarm pot of water. What he didn’t recognize is that there was a burner underneath that was slowly cooking.
We learn in 1 Kings 11:1, or page 157, what this lukewarm pot of water is.
1 King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh’s daughter—Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites.
2 They were from nations about which the LORD had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.” Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love.
3 He had 700 wives of royal birth and 300 concubines, and his wives led him astray.
4 As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father had been.
5 He followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molek the detestable god of the Ammonites.
6 So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the LORD; he did not follow the LORD completely, as David his father had done.
9 The LORD became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice.
Solomon jumped into a pot of lukewarm water which he knew not to jump into. So, the question is, how did he get into this mess?
He jumped in like anyone else would. He was attracted to it, and with all of his wisdom, he may have thought to himself, I’m too smart to allow this to get out of control. I’m different, I’m smarter and wiser than everyone else. If the situation gets out of hand, I’ll just jump out of the pot.
And Solomon was in that pot and slowly, he grew older. It happened slowly, it didn’t happen overnight, slowly, without even noticing what was happening. Just like the frog in the pot, Solomon didn’t recognize the incremental change in water temperature. So, by the time he got old and was weakened, it was too late, he was cooked.
The application of this message is pretty easy, isn’t it? We don’t want anyone in this room to get cooked like a frog.
I don’t think any of us wake up one day thinking I want to ruin my life, I want to jump into that pot and get served up on someone else’s plate. Nobody wakes up and says that, but we jump into that pot that feels good and seems pretty harmless at first, but when the heat gets turned up and we’re not aware of it, we get cooked.
For those of us who are followers of Jesus Christ, we not only want to keep you out of lukewarm pots for your sakes, but for the sakes of others. Just like Israel was to point people to God, the church too, is to point people to Jesus Christ as the One who brings salvation. People are relying on us to spread His message, because you just don’t know who needs to see Jesus alive in you, simply because you withstood the temptation to jump into the pot.
Often times when we get into the pot, it not only impacts our lives, but dramatically impacts the lives of family, friends and even people we don’t even know. We want to avoid that.
So, I want to give you a couple of really simple, practical steps to help you avoid jumping into the pot.
1. We should desire to finish strong. We should wake up every morning thanking God for our life, praying to God that you move through the day, and finish the day strong. You do it for the sake of your relationship with God, for the sake of your relationship with others.
2. You need to ask for wisdom. James 1 tells us, what God did for Solomon, He can do for you. James 1 tells us, if you ask for wisdom He will unreservedly give us the wisdom we ask for. God will give us the skill of applying His wisdom into our lives. But wisdom isn’t enough. If it wasn’t enough for Solomon who was the wisest man in the world, then it won’t be enough for us. We need to apply that wisdom into our daily lives. We know lots of smart people who do not so smart things. We don’t want to be included in that group.
3. You need to be in a community of people who will hold you accountable. Write down --- invite and accountable. We should invite a small group of people to hold us accountable. In essence, we’re asking them to call us out when they see us jumping into a pot of lukewarm water. We want them to help us so that we don’t make the mistake of a lifetime, just because it felt good at the moment. Because more often than not, we won’t recognize the incremental changes in the water temperature and before we know it, we’re cooked.
