I am going to talk about wisdom, the purpose
of wisdom. In 2 Chronicles chapter 1, at the
beginning of Solomon's reign, we see that he
goes to the tabernacle that David had built and
sacrifices to the Lord. The Lord is pleased with
this and visits Solomon that night. God tells
Solomon to ask what I shall give you. In verse
9, Solomon responds, For you have made me king
over a people like the dust of the earth in multitude.
Give me now wisdom and knowledge, then I may
go out and come in before this people. For who
can judge this, thy people, that is so great?
And God said to Solomon, Because this was in
thine heart, and thou hast not asked riches,
wealth, or honor. nor the life of your enemies,
neither yet have asked long life, but has asked
wisdom and knowledge for yourself, that you may
judge my people over whom I have made thee king.
Wisdom and knowledge is granted unto thee, and
I will give thee riches and wealth and honor,
such as none of the kings have had that have
been before thee. Neither shall there any after
thee have the like. Then Solomon determined to
build a house for the Lord. Solomon took all
his wisdom and he built a thing that was physical.
He continued to make physical structures. He
built palaces and fortresses, fortresses he didn't
need, and more temples and accumulated wealth,
and failed to build spiritual structures. He
wasn't building eternal structures. He built
palaces and temples for his wives and their gods.
And all of this caused a heavy burden upon the
people. We know this because when he died, his
son Rehoboam was advised to lift the burden on
the people. When his wisdom was not used to benefit
the Kingdom of Israel, it became a heavy burden
on the people. His wisdom didn't lighten their
load. Though we see they weren't upset, the Queen
of Sheba noted that his servants were all happy
and the people were happy, but it couldn't be
sustained. His father built no physical building.
David only built an eternal structure, the Tabernacle
of David. It seems to me they both contributed
significantly to the scriptures, but somehow
Solomon missed something in his relationship
with God. The Apostles believed the rebuilding
of the temple of David was fulfilled and confirmed
by the Gentiles receiving the gospel. Solomon
is not referred to by the Apostles as a patriarch
of faith. The only reference we have by the early
church is Stephen saying, Solomon built God a
house, but he doesn't dwell in houses. Proverbs
4 -7 says, wisdom is the principal thing, therefore
get wisdom, and with all thy getting get understanding.
Proverbs 16 -16, how much better is it to get
wisdom than gold, and to get understanding rather
to be chosen than silver? Wisdom is tied to obedience.
We can know what to do, which is different than
doing what we know to do. 1 Samuel 15 -22 says,
And Samuel said, Hath the Lord his great delight
in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying
the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better
than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fad of
rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft,
and stubbornness as the iniquity in idolatry.
Because thou has rejected the word of the Lord,
he has also rejected thee from being king. This
was written to Saul, the first king of Israel,
but it applies in this situation. Solomon was
misguided in spite of his wisdom because he didn't
obey. I feel like we've asked for wisdom, but
we haven't always sought it and we haven't always
made wise choices with the wisdom we have. We
have to build eternal structures eternal buildings
Few of David's children or grandchildren are
recorded as following the Lord But David had
built a tabernacle an eternal structure David's
life so pleased the Lord and that still has consequences
for future generations in spite of his immediate
children and grandchildren. He has blessed hundreds
and thousands of people over the years after
his death. Solomon was a shiny spot in history
that we look back on and smile, but there's no
lasting beam of light. He made a name for himself.
His intentions were good, his beginning was right,
but he didn't obey wisdom. Who more eloquently
than he has talked about the downfall of infidelity?
He paints a clear picture of the consequences
of sin, death, and destruction, but he didn't
obey wisdom. We see his depression and the end
of man's philosophy in Ecclesiastes. He says,
vanity, vanity, all is vanity, and it's true.
Vanity, all is moth, moth, and rust. Vanity is
emptiness. It's unsatisfactory. It's hopeless
when you don't obey wisdom. Ecclesiastes 1 .1
says, the words of the preacher, the son of David,
king in Jerusalem. Vanity of vanities, saith
the preacher, vanity of vanities, all is vanity.
What profit hath a man of all his labor, which
he taketh under the sun? One generation passeth
away, and another generation cometh, but the
earth abideth forever. The sun also ariseth,
and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place
where he arose. The wind goeth toward the south,
and turneth about unto the north. It whirleth
about continually, and the wind returneth again
according to his circuits. All the rivers run
into the sea. Yet the sea is not full, unto the
place from whence the rivers come, thither they
return again. All things are full of labor, men
cannot utter it, the eye is not satisfied with
seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. The
thing that hath been done it is that which shall
be, and that which is done is that which shall
be done, and there is no new thing under the
sun. Is there anything whereof it may be said,
See, This is new. It hath been already of old
time, which was before us. There is no remembrance
of former things. Neither shall there be any
remembrance of things that are come to those
that shall come after." The words of the preacher.
It could also be said the words of the teacher.
And he finds emptiness because How can we really
profit from our labor? We work our whole life.
We finally are comfortable. We finally achieve
and then we die and we give it to somebody else.
We achieve things and nobody remembers. They
say, oh, look, I invented this. It's new, but
it isn't because somebody has invented it a long
time ago. There's really nothing new. People
are the same. We just don't remember. Verse 12
says, I the preacher or I the teacher was king
over Israel and Jerusalem, and I gave my heart
to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all
things that are done under heaven. This sore
travail hath God given to the sons of man to
exercise their with. I have seen all the works
that are done under the sun and behold all is
vanity and vexation of spirit. That which is
crooked cannot be made straight and that which
is wanting cannot be numbered. I communed with
mine own heart, saying, Lo, I am come to great
estate, and have gotten more wisdom than all
they that have been before me in Jerusalem. Yea,
my heart and great experience of wisdom and knowledge,
and I gave my heart to know wisdom and to know
madness and folly. I perceive that this also
is vexation of spirit. For in much wisdom is
much grief and he that increaseeth knowledge
increase this increase of sorrow So here he is.
He's done all the right things and he's not satisfied.
So then he's like, well, I guess I will try Foolishness,
I guess I'll try being crazy doing all the crazy
things people do but he got to the bottom there
and Yeah, all was vanity all was empty And we
see this is true. We see when people who have
achieved, they're wealthy, they're famous, they
have money, they have property, they have all
these things and they still have all the same
problems that we do. Their marriages fall apart,
they have alcohol, they have drugs, they have
depression, they commit suicide, their children
are a mess. There's no difference between us
and wealth and fame that is supposed to fix everything.
At the end of the book, in Ecclesiastes 12 -8,
he still says, Vanity of vanity saith the preacher,
all is vanity. And moreover, because the preacher
or teacher was wise, he still taught the people
knowledge, yea, he gave good heed and sought
out and set in order many proverbs. So, he still
thought, this is meaningless. But because he
was wise, he put it in a book and stored it for
the people. He wrote the book of Proverbs. The
preacher, in verse 10, the preacher sought to
find out acceptable words, and that which was
written was upright, even words of truth. The
words of the wise are as goads, as nails fastened
by the masters of assembly, which are given from
one shepherd. Here's the thing, wisdom is generally
not pleasant. Wisdom is the hard thing. Wisdom
is the thing that goes against immediate gratification.
It's like a goat. A goat is a stick with a little
pointy thing at the end, nail -like, that you
use to prod animals to go where you want them
to go, an ox or a goat or a sheep. And further,
by these, my son, be admonished of making many
books there is no end, and much study is a weariness
of the flesh. Let us hear the conclusion of the
whole matter. Fear God and keep His commandments.
This is the whole duty of man. For God shall
bring every work into judgment, with every secret
thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil."
So he wrote the truth. The whole purpose of life
is to be obedient. so that we can be judged by
God, but he doesn't talk about the next phase.
He doesn't talk about eternity. He thinks it
ends with the judgment, not really pursuing the
eternal. We see David, his father, grappling
with the hopelessness of life too. They both
dwell in the darker side of life, but his father
finds his hope in the Lord. He never ends with
the judgment, right? He's like, I want to dwell
in the house of the Lord forever. Who can ascend
to that holy place? And Solomon doesn't keep
the commandments of God. He pursues pleasure
and the emptiness of it all consumes him. He
didn't use his wisdom and access to the knowledge
of God to build eternal things. Solomon focuses
on the byproduct of wisdom, riches, wealth, and
honor, and he built physical structures. Because
he was wise, he wrote the book of Proverbs, but
he lacked the relationship with the Lord that
brought eternal meaning. To obey is better than
sacrifice, but sacrifice does please the Lord.
We shouldn't leave either undone. Sacrifice is
what drew the Lord to him, but his lack of obedience
or his practice of wisdom was his downfall. Wisdom
does not make us invincible or infallible, but
if we obey it, it can make us acceptable and
useful to God. If we are obedient in what we
know, we will be established. Seek wisdom, knowledge,
and understanding, and obey.