Jesus and Solomon

Jesus and Solomon

1 Kings 4:29 – God gave Solomon wisdom and great discernment. His insights were as numerous as sand on the seashore. 30 – Solomon was wiser than any of the eastern leaders and wiser than anyone in Egypt. 31 – He was wiser than anyone of his day – wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, Heman, and wiser than Mahol’s sons Calcol and Darda. His reputation was known throughout the surrounding nations.

Verse 32 – Solomon wrote 3,000 proverbs and 1,005 songs. 33 – He described trees – everything from cedars that grow in Lebanon to hyssop that grows on a garden wall. He described animals, birds, reptiles, and fish. 34 – People came from everywhere to hear Solomon’s advice. Every king on the earth heard of his wisdom.

How did Solomon get so wise and discerning? The first two words of verse 29 say it all: God gave. If all the kings of earth heard of one man’s wisdom, what then about the One true God who was the source of that wisdom? The One true God who was the source of Solomon’s wisdom was Jesus Christ.

Jesus came to this earth generations after Solomon and had this to say to the people of His generation who were seeking a sign from Him. “This people living today are an evil generation. It craves a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah, because just as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so the Son of Man will be a sign to this generation. The queen of the south will stand up at the judgment and condemn the people living today, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon. But look, something greater than Solomon is here! – Luke 11:29-31

Solomon is not living today and we only have access to a small sampling of his wisdom recorded in the Scriptures. But we do have something greater than Solomon. We have a living Creator and Savior Jesus Christ who will give wisdom today to any who ask. James 1:5 says – Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives to everyone generously without a rebuke, and it will be given to him. 6 – But he must ask in faith, without any doubts, for the one who has doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.

Solomon was credited with writing 3,000 proverbs and 1,005 songs, an amazing accomplishment from a man gifted by Jesus. However, concerning, Jesus Himself, the Scriptures have this to say at the conclusion of John’s gospel recorded in John 21:24 and 25 – This is the disciple who is testifying to these things and has written them down. We know that his testimony is true. Of course, Jesus also did many other things, and I suppose that if every one of them were written down, the world couldn’t contain the books that would be written.

Why are we not speaking to Jesus more often in prayer since He is much greater than Solomon and He is alive?? Let us follow the counsel of James and ask Jesus for wisdom today and every day, believing that He will give it generously.