Holiness – A Calling and Command

King Solomon is one of the most complex, paradoxical, but intriguing figures in the Bible.  This son of King David, born to him by his marriage to Bathsheba, whom David previously had committed adultery with, was chosen by God, through David, to succeed him as King of Israel (1 Kings 1:28-30).

Israel had been established by God as a nation, after He supernaturally rescued them from over 400 years of slavery in the most powerful nation in the world at the time, Egypt. Israel was called out of Egypt to be a holy nation, a nation set apart as a light to the other sinful nations of the earth to see and behold, to experience and enjoy, and to display and proclaim to all of the other nations of the earth, the greatness, the goodness and the glory of God and His grace; and now Solomon was chosen to faithfully lead them in fulfilling this glorious identity and destiny (Exodus 19:3-6) (Deuteronomy 7:6-14). 

According to Deuteronomy 17:14-20, the king of Israel was expected to be holy, wholly devoted to God’s purposes and guided by His holy word.  They were essentially to be God’s vice regents, reflecting His holy nature and character, faithfully observing His covenant and laws while ruling His people in line with His righteousness and justice for their good and God’s glory (Jeremiah 22:1-5) (Isaiah 43:7).

King David, despite his personal failures and family problems, had stayed faithful to God and thus had brought a level of peace and prosperity to the nation as well as honor, renown and respect for it among the surrounding nations that unfortunately no other king, including Solomon, would sustain (Acts 13:22).

Solomon would initially, like his father David, display a great love and devotion to God.  He was granted not only the great and glorious privilege and responsibility of leading God’s holy people, but of building the holy temple in Jerusalem, a glorious edifice representing God’s presence with and favor toward His holy people Israel. (1 Chronicles 28:9-10) (1 Kings 8:10-13) (Leviticus 20:26).

Early in Solomon’s reign God came to him in a dream, graciously offering to grant him whatever he most desired.  Solomon nobly asked for wisdom and understanding so that He could lead the people of God wisely and justly, which God granted him along with wealth and honor (1 Kings 3:3-13). This wisdom is reflected in Solomon’s writing of the book of Proverbs, which essentially is instructions for living in this fallen world in a manner that pleases, honors and glorifies God, and brings us our greatest good, and the book Song of Songs or Song of Solomon, which many theologians see as a poetic allegory, using romantic love in marriage between a man and women as a model of the intense, intimate love we are to have for Jesus Christ and that which He has for His church  (Ephesians 5:25-33).

Despite his God given wisdom, it appears that Solomon failed to utilize it in conducting his own personal life, despite being warned by God as to the consequences of such failure (1 Kings 9:4-7).   We are told that instead of using the wisdom to honor and glorify God and benefit the nation which God had graciously entrusted to him, he used it for his own glory and pleasure, betraying God’s grace by openly violating the first three commandments of God’s covenant law (Exodus 20:1- 7) and every aspect of Deuteronomy 17:14-20. In doing so he brought disastrous results to the nation and to his reign, which neither would ever recover from (1 Kings 11:1-14) (Jeremiah 13:8-11).

Now we have nothing in scripture that tells us clearly of Solomon’s ultimate repentance – his turning from his unholy life, as we do with King David (Psalm 51:1-19). Neither is he included in what is sometimes called “the faith hall of fame” found in Hebrews 11 where we also find King David noted (Hebrews 11:32-33).

However, we do have the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes, believed to be written by Solomon in his later years.  In the twelve chapters of the book, it appears that God has brought Solomon to his senses (2 Timothy 2:24-26), wherein Solomon laments that despite having a super abundance of everything that he/we believe are essential to our happiness – possessions, power, fame and pleasure, he hated life (Ecclesiastes 2:1-17).  He calls us to be content and enjoy with gratitude the good things that God graciously gives us to enjoy during our brief, vaporous life in a world of adversity, evil and injustice, keeping in mind that at the end of it we will have to give an account for how we lived it (Ecclesiastes 3:12-13) (Ecclesiastes 5:18-23) (Ecclesiastes 6:12) (Ecclesiastes 8:15) (Ecclesiastes 12:14).

In Ecclesiastes 12:13, Solomon gives us the bottom line, the consummation of all wisdom, when he writes, The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man (ESV).

I would humbly suggest that another way of stating this duty is found in the command given by God both to Israel and their kings, and to those of us who call ourselves Christians, which is to be holy as I am holy (Leviticus 19:2) (1 Peter 1:13-16).

We, like Israel, have been delivered from slavery. Not from bondage to a nation but from our suicidal bondage to sin and its eternal consequences, wherein we are now called/commanded to  live a holy life, with our hearts and minds set primarily on the things above rather than the things of earth (2 Timothy 1:9-10) (John 8:31-36) (Romans 6:17-19) (Galatians 5:1)  (Colossians 3:2-10).

True Christians now, as Israel was, are set apart from the world around us to live in intimacy with God as His beloved sons and daughters, displaying and witnessing to the world around us of His greatness, His goodness and the glory of His grace (2 Corinthians 6:17-18) (1 Peter 2:9-10). This glorious status is stated most clearly in Ephesians 1:3-9 where the Apostle Paul tells us that God predestined us for adoption, having chosen us before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love having blessed us with every spiritual blessing in our spiritual union with Jesus, and that He did so to the praise of his glorious grace.   In him (Jesus) we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our sins, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight.

In our spiritual union with Jesus, this passage in Ephesians 1 represents our present status and our present identity before our holy God.  As such, we, like Solomon, have been given by God the glorious opportunity to ask of Him what we most desire (Matthew 7:7-11) (John 16:24). Thus, I would conclude with this caution regarding our prayer life.  If our preeminent, most urgent, ongoing prayer is not for holiness, we may find at the end of our lives that we were asking amiss (James 4:3) (Hebrews 12:14).

To help in our prayer for holiness I have included this link to a wonderful, related song by Micah Stamply 

Grace and Peace ×