Troublesome Topic: Why Were the Writings of Solomon Held in High Regard after His Death?

It is obvious that the Jews, and Jesus himself, held Solomon, or at least Solomon’s writings, in high regard. This was because all the writings we have from him were penned before his apostacy.

Solomon’s apostacy did not change the value of what he had written before he turned from God. Thus his proverbs, the Song of Solomon, and Ecclesiastes have been preserved for us and still offer much benefit to us today, as they have down through the years. People are able to see the value in what he wrote even though, later in life, the person who wrote them gave in to temptations and walked away from it all.

If Solomon had not turned from God, or if he had repented and turned back to God, we would probably have a large collection of his songs just like we do for his father David.

Solomon’s life was a mixed bag, containing some good and some bad, just like the rest of us. Hopefully, the difference is that we will end well, whereas he did not. The fact that he was given wisdom did not change the fact that he had to choose how to use that wisdom. For most of his life he chose to use it relatively well, but at the end he made bad choices. 

We can learn from negative examples just like we can from positive examples. We can learn things we should do from Solomon’s writings, and we can learn what not to do from how he ended his life.

Even though some aspects of Solomon’s life are very different from ours, there are many ways in which we are much like Solomon. What legacy will we leave behind when we are gone?

The next lesson is: Lessons from the Life of Solomon