The Wisdom of King Solomon – Part 1

King Solomon happens to be one of the greatest characters in the scriptures and I have really been so inquisitive on his peculiarities compared to other Kings in the Bible. Due to my keen affinity in King Solomon’s wisdom and the veracity of how he became a candidate for the blessing of wisdom from God, I delve into a study and research on the same matter. During my meditation early one morning, the Holy Spirit ministered to me in the book of 1 Kings 3:3-5 “Solomon loved God and continued to live in the God-honoring ways of David his father, except that he also worshiped at the local shrines, offering sacrifices and burning incense. The king went to Gibeon, the most prestigious of the local shrines, to worship. He sacrificed a thousand Whole-Burnt-Offerings on that altar. That night, there in Gibeon, God appeared to Solomon in a dream: God said, “What can I give you? Ask.”(MessageTranslation). The message translation of Holy Bible does address my dilemma on this issue of the reason God gave Solomon a blank cheque of “what can I give you?”.

Following the above revelation in the book of 1 Kings chapter 3, I decided to further search for some human mental perspectives on the same topic. I then stumbled on a report written by Arthur Dobrin, D.S.W., Professor Emeritus, Hofstra University and Adjunct Professor of Management. In his report about giving and receiving, he recorded that gifts giving is an outward expression of a relationship and as with any relationship; “it can either be enhancing or diminishing”. The way in which the transaction is carried out is as important as the content of the gift itself. It therefore implies that the quality of Solomon’s burnt offerings unto God played a significant role in the offer of blessing God gave him.

However, King Solomon’s state of mind and the expression of his love to God were precedence to the blank cheque God gave to him. He had a deep and profound love for God Almighty, and that was displayed in verse 3 of the above passage. God had a feeling that King Solomon offered sacrifices regularly on local shrines to Him and his heart was in those offerings, not just a tradition or norm. He also honoured the Lord, like his father, David, making it a transition from the past generation to another. God acknowledges a profound honour straight from the heart, and rewards those that offer such. The burnt offering was not offered in a hurry, he could go and attend to other things in the palace, or attend to some important dignitaries that came to visit King Solomon. The king offered the “Whole-Burnt-Offerings”and after the whole process, he slept in Gibeon“…That night, there in Gibeon, God appeared to Solomon in a dream…” King Solomon was not too busy attending to some kind of statutory responsibilities as the King, but he loved God and honoured Him, offered God his presence and time by sleeping in Gibeon.

That was the climax of it all, and God, the giver of all things, appeared to him in the dream and presented a blank cheque to King Solomon… “What can I give you?” Even during this time and age, there is a need to understand what the heaven requires of you to be qualified for the blessings of God. There are steps to be taken to attract the presence of God. King Solomon sacrificed 1000 burnt offerings in Gibeon and slept there, during when he received from God, the most valuable gift needed by every man on earth to succeed and prosper in life. It was possible for him to just present the offerings and leave the shrine. Even as the King, it was possible to send a large number of servants to presents the burnt offerings unto God. King Solomon demonstrated that the sacrifice God requires is more than material sacrifices, but your heart and soul offerings. Then you could be qualified for the blank cheque of “What can I give you? Ask”.