While Solomon exalted the law of heaven, God was with him, and wisdom was given him to rule over Israel with impartiality and mercy. At first, as wealth and worldly honor came to him, he remained humble, and great was the extent of his influence. “Solomon reigned over all kingdoms from the river [Euphrates] unto the land of the Philistines, and unto the border of Egypt.”“He ... had peace on all sides round about him. And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, ... all the days of Solomon.”1 Kings 4:21, 24, 25.
(PK 51.1)
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But after a morning of great promise his life was darkened by apostasy. History records the melancholy fact that he who had been called Jedidiah,—“Beloved of the Lord” (2 Samuel 12:25, margin),—he who had been honored by God with tokens of divine favor so remarkable that his wisdom and uprightness gained for him world-wide fame, he who had led others to ascribe honor to the God of Israel, turned from the worship of Jehovah to bow before the idols of the heathen.
(PK 51.2)
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Solomon flattered himself that his wisdom and the power of his example would lead his wives from idolatry to the worship of the true God, and also that the alliances thus formed would draw the nations round about into close touch with Israel. Vain hope! Solomon’s mistake in regarding himself as strong enough to resist the influence of heathen associates was fatal. And fatal, too, the deception that led him to hope that notwithstanding a disregard of God’s law on his part, others might be led to revere and obey its sacred precepts.
(PK 54.1)
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The king’s alliances and commercial relations with heathen nations brought him renown, honor, and the riches of this world. He was enabled to bring gold from Ophir and silver from Tarshish in great abundance. “The king made silver and gold at Jerusalem as plenteous as stones, and cedar trees made he as the sycamore trees that are in the vale for abundance.”2 Chronicles 1:15. Wealth, with all its attendant temptations, came in Solomon’s day to an increasingly large number of people; but the fine gold of character was dimmed and marred.
(PK 54.2)
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