Solomon Asks God for Wisdom to Lead Well and God Grants It God appears to Solomon and offers to grant him a request. This isn’t a genie-in-a-bottle situation; it’s the all-powerful God showing his love and appreciation. Solomon makes a wise decision. He asks for wisdom and knowledge to lead the people well. Not Money […]
When Solomon dedicated the temple, the people praised God with much fanfare and then something strange happened. A cloud formed—inside the building. But there’s more. “The Glory of the Lord filled the temple.” It became so intense that the priests couldn’t even work; God’s presence was that strong. It was extreme. They became overwhelmed with […]
In the book of Ecclesiastes, King Solomon does a lot of whining. (Don’t get bogged down by his negativity, for he eventually provides some reliable insight in the book’s concluding verses.) Overall I find it easy to dismiss Solomon’s complaining, but one of his laments does make sense to me. He grumbles about leaving an […]
Three Sections to the Book of Proverbs The book of Proverbs in the Bible has 31 chapters. They are organized as follows: The 3 Sections So there are essentially three segments to Proverbs: In the next few weeks, we will look at the book of Proverbs in greater detail.
In the Song of Songs, the girl reveals something personal. She is self-conscious about the dark tones of her skin (from spending too much time in the sun, she says). She doesn’t want others to stare. Yet the friends in this story want to do just that. They admire her uniqueness and ask to gaze […]
The Song of Songs (sometimes called the Song of Solomon) is a part of the Bible that is not often read. Even so, three phrases jump out as being very familiar. The first is “rose of Sharon.” It is a beautiful and valued flower. However, according to some translators, this eloquent phrasing should more correctly be […]
After my prior post about the number one hit that used the Bible for lyrics, you may thing that it is the song of all songs. Not so. There is another. You may have heard the book in the Bible, Song of Songs. Song of Songs can be thought of as a “biblical erotica,” albeit […]
I am confounded by the book of Ecclesiastes. As mentioned in the post “…and Then You Die,” Ecclesiastes is a depressing read. It is pessimistic and its main point to put God first is easy to miss. Ecclesiastes abounds with negativity and hyperbole, yet it also contains some wise thoughts and astute observations. Separating the […]
Several years ago there was a popular, yet pessimistic saying: “Life’s a bitch; then you die.” Although that may be shocking or even offensive to some, I think King Solomon was the originator of this depressing thought. It permeates his writing in Ecclesiastes and it exudes from the text. In fact, an apt and concise […]