Bibl 105 Essay 2

Solomon obeyed God and kept the covenant. When Solomon asked for wisdom, God blessed him with wisdom in addition to riches and fame. Solomon built a temple to God signifying God’s presence. He was prosperous and successful and so was the nation of Israel. He was famous and known for his wisdom. However, with all his riches and success, he forgot who gave him these blessings. God blessed him with success and riches, yet ultimately these successes and riches led him astray from God. He married foreign wives to have peace with other nations. “Instead of securing the kingdom, Solomon's numerous diplomatic marriages paved the way, following his death, to its division and decline” (Green, 156). These foreign wives came to Israel and introduced their foreign gods and foreign culture. In addition to idols, Israel’s riches made them subject to materialism. In their materialistic pleasure and worship of idols, they forgot about God and eventually rejected Him. Because of these influences, the United Monarchy of Israel was divided after Solomon’s

Samuel said “how can I go, and what if Saul hears about it? He will kill me.” God said to take a cow and say “I had come to take a sacrifice for the Lord.” God said to invite Jesse and anoint the one He indicates. At Bethlehem, Samuel consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice. When Samuel arrived he saw Eliab and he thought that he was to be the anointed one. However, the Lord said to not consider Eliab’s height or appearance because he as been rejected. God said that he looks at the heart and not the outward appearance as people do. Jesse had seven of his sons pass by Samuel and he said that the Lord has not chosen any of them. The last son was the youngest one who was taking care of the sheep. His name was David and the Lord said to Samuel that he was the one. Samuel poured the container of olive oil on David to appoint him in front of his brothers. From that day on, the Lord’s Spirit entered David with power. The Spirit of the Lord had gone out of Saul and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him. A servant noticed, and asked if they could look for someone to play the harp for Saul so the evil spirit would leave him

He shows he is weak and not ready to lead. (1 Samuel 9:21). Saul even hides when he is supposed to show himself to the Israelites as the chosen King (1 Samuel 11: 22). Although Saul knows that he cannot lead, he has no choice, he has to follow the Lord’s order. At last, God realizes that Saul was indeed not a leader-type person and chooses another person. God must have known that people are not forced to be leaders, but they themselves should be aware of the ability to be leaders.

The surrounding nations had an influence on the people of Israel and this was not pleasing to God. They wanted a king. They wanted to be like other nations and have a leaded. A king they could see.

First, foreseeing the day that Israel would have a king, expressed in Deuteronomy are instructions for such a time. At this point it should be noted that the idea of Israel having a king, began in the mind of God. Contrary to what some believe about the idea of kinship and God’s supposed disdain for it, Howard mentions the fact that “God has spoken of kings to Abraham from the beginning (Gen. 17:6, 16; 35:11)”; furthermore, he noted that the problem with anointing a king was intention of the people to be like the nations

Throughout the Old Testament, there are many examples of great kings that can be found. However, two of the greatest and most blessed Kings were King David and his son, King Solomon. Here, we will compare the lives and reigns of both kings by reviewing their faith, their triumphs, and their downfalls.

The bible says, “7 That night God appeared to Solomon and said to him, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you...12 therefore wisdom and knowledge will be given you. And I will also give you wealth, possessions and honor, such as no king who was before you ever had and none after you will have” (Bible 2 Chronicles 1:7-12). God allowed Solomon to have whatever he wanted and he choose knowledge. This knowledge allowed him to become the richest

Solomon may have introduced foreign trade and increased the nation income, but he increased an oppressive policy and grew heavy of the people. Many of the issues that Solomon had were economic such as, building projects, military fortifications, ship construction, and foreign trade which needed men. Different foreigners were used for labor as well as Israelites as military service. Solomon’s pride and selfishness contributed to his issues. He added tax to supply for his “wasteful court.” He wanted to be a king that was admired by all the other kings. Samuel prophecy concerning kingship and was fulfilled in Solomon. Now this wasn’t necessarily a good thing, He put burdensome taxes on the people, he took over the basic sources of wealth and more. The people of the northern tribes wanted to

In 1 Samuel 9:2 It states: “Kish had a son named Saul, as handsome a young man as could be found anywhere in Israel, and he was a head taller than anyone else.” Saul by all accounts was a charismatic and liked man, and the people of Israel seemed to be smitten by him. Saul was chosen to be the first king of Israel, being anointed by Samuel (1 Samuel 10:1) and his kingship was established after the Israelites victory at Jabesh-Gilead. Saul though was a disobedient man, as Hindson and Yates wrote “The people seemed to focus on Saul’s outward appearance rather than heart.” Saul started to make foolish, disobedient, and strange decisions.

Sadly, Solomon's reign wasn't all great. He had over 700 romantic relationships with different women. Some of these women worshiped different gods, and Solomon turned his back on God. Many of these wives were from foreign countries, and Solomon was using them to get allies. This disappointed God and the people of Israel.

In 1 Samuel 28: 1-25 Yahweh guides Saul to his death because he has outright deceived and disobeyed God. This passage sets an example to obey Yahweh; otherwise he will inflict punishment

Saul was commanded to obliterate the Amalekites, yet he spared not only the best livestock, but even the king, Agag. Adding further insult to injury, upon being confronted by Samuel, Saul placed the blame on his soldiers rather than owning up to his own disobedience. Even after Samuel informed Saul that he would lose his kingdom, Saul continued to shift blame: “I was afraid of the men and so I gave in to them” (15:24). He also sought to redeem himself in the eyes of Israel by asking that Samuel “honor [him] before the elders of [his] people and before Israel” (15:3). After this incident, Saul and Samuel parted ways forever.

The nation of Israel was set apart as holy to the LORD. But they When the children of Israel demanded a king, they did so to be like the other nations. The first three kings were Saul, (outwardly tall, handsome and strong—a seemingly good choice for a king, but inwardly arrogant, proud and unrepentant—not God’s choice), David (a man after God’s own heart who repented of his sins and as such was God’s choice), and Solomon (the wisest man who ever lived, but because of covenant disobedience became the catalyst for the division and ultimate exile of Israel.

King Solomon was a very admirable king, as he not only led his people to prosperous times but did it in a right and just manner. King Solomon’s wisdom and discernment were certainly his primary characteristics, and he benefited largely from each of them. King Solomon’s decision to ask God for wisdom, as opposed to anything else in the world, changed his life forever, and transformed him into one of the most prominent biblical figures. If given an opportunity to have an hour long conversation with anyone or anything, I would not be able to pass up the opportunity to learn from the wisest man to ever

However, this would later prove to be the main argument against Jesus as the messiah by those Pharisees, as they questioned him and mocked him. While, King David lived a life of sin and lust, but remained faithful in his God Yahweh, yet Jesus lived a life of servitude and abstained from the sins of the flesh and his empire is unimaginable. God used Saul to establish the beginning example of what was to be a vast empire, but he needed an example of how not to lead so that future leaders were warned against it. Further, with King David and his sins ended up with Solomon and the temple, so it shows a