I’ve been reading through the Old Testament recently. I started in 1 Samuel, and my journey has taken me through 2 Samuel and now into 1 Kings. It’s been great fun reading the stories of Samuel, Saul, David, Solomon, and other prophets and kings.
In 1 Kings 3:5, we read about how God came to Solomon in a dream to ask him what he wanted from Him. Many Christians are familiar with this interaction between God and Solomon. The book “Our Eyes Are Before You” by Nathan Ward describes Solomon’s response as a prayer, which is also quite interesting.
But we may overlook what’s mentioned in 1 Kings 3:3-4. Here it says, “Now Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of his father, except he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places. The king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the great high place; Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar.”
There’s a couple of thoughts/questions for me and maybe for you to unpack.
- Solomon loves the LORD.
- So, how is it that Solomon is offering sacrifices to idol gods? When I hear “…the high places…” that’s where my mind travels to.
- I’ve also thought verse 4 provided additional information of these idol sacrifices Solomon made as well.
- “Usually, the high places were local places of worship, as opposed to worship at the Temple (or Tabernacle before it) and in the broader context of Kings, it is always wrong to worship there.”[1] However, consider the following passages:
- 1 Chronicles 16:39-40 ,“He left Zadok the priest and his relatives the priests before the tabernacle of the LORD in the high place which was at Gibeon, to offer burnt offerings to the LORD on the altar of burnt offering continually morning and evening, even according to all that is written in the law of the LORD, which He commanded Israel.”
- 1 Chronicles 21:29 it says, “For the tabernacle of the LORD, which Moses had made in the wilderness, and the altar of burnt offering were in the high place at Gibeon at that time.”
- 2 Chronicles 1:3-6 here is what is written: “Then Solomon and all the assembly with him went to the high place which was at Gibeon, for God’s tent of meeting was there, which Moses the servant of the Lord had made in the wilderness. However, David had brought up the ark of God from Kiriath-jearim to the place he had prepared for it, for he had pitched a tent for it in Jerusalem. Now the bronze altar, which Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, had made, was there before the tabernacle of the Lord, and Solomon and the assembly sought it out. Solomon went up there before the Lord to the bronze altar which was at the tent of meeting, and offered a thousand burnt offerings on it.
While 1 Kings 3:3-4 seems a bit vague and could leave some to wonder if the king was offering to idol gods, these passages provide supplemental details that help us to see that Solomon went to the Tabernacle to offer up the sacrifices. But here is where it gets more interesting.
In 1 Kings 11:7-8 it says, “Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable idol of Moab, on the mountain which is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the detestable idol of the sons of Ammon. Thus also he did for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.
By this time in Solomon’s life, the wisest man in the world had now become a fool. He was led astray by his foreign wives and turned to idolatry. He built a place to detestable idols. It could be that the inspired writer of 1 Kings was foreshadowing what was to come in Solomon’s life. Solomon went from loving God to loving His wives, 1 Kings 3:3, 11:1. He went from walking with God, to rejecting God’s laws. His life is a warning for us. Let us remain faithful to God in every part of our lives.
[1] Ward, Our Eyes are on you page 67