“Blessed be the LORD thy God, which delighted in thee to set thee on his throne, [to be] king for the LORD thy God: because thy God loved Israel, to establish them for ever, therefore made he thee king over them, to do judgment and justice.” (2Ch 9:8 AV)
Solomon would later be the cause of Israel’s eventual downfall. It was because he married strange wives who stole his heart away to serve the gods of their nations and the high places he built to replace the Temple that led to Israel accepting the gods of this world more and more. It was Solomon who started the ball rolling toward apostacy. Yet, he was the best God could do. The words above are spoken by the queen of Sheba. She visited Solomon to see for herself the great wisdom God and granted. She went away completely amazed at the blessing of God. The Bible tells us she was so beside herself from all that she witnessed, she lost all strength. Her words above confirm God’s heart toward Israel and that Solomon what the manifestation of that love. One might wonder if God knows everything, then why did he put on the throne someone who would eventually lead Israel astray? The obvious answer is two-fold. Solomon and Israel still had choices to make. God put forth the best possible situation for them to succeed, but the will of God’s people still played a part. God will not force His will on those whom He loves. They must still choose to trust and follow. The second answer is a follow-up to the previous thought. God gives the best situation possible for us to be blessed. But the slate is blank. What will we do with it? How will we use the situation God has given?
The Spirit also stressed that the possibility was endless. Note that Solomon was put on the throne so that Israel would be established forever. Did you catch that? That suggests that if Solomon would have married right, he would not have been drawn away with pagan gods introduced by his many strange wives. What is amazing to me is a few verses later, we learn that Solomon built his pagan wife a house outside the walls of Jerusalem because she was not of Israel. He removed a strange wife from the city wherein the Temple existed because she was pagan. Wouldn’t you think that a man as wise as he was would not have married her in the first place? And, if she was removed because she was an idolater, wouldn’t you think he would reject her gods? For a man who had all the wisdom in the world, he did some very stupid things.
What we have to remember is the trajectory of Israel was not God’s fault. Because He loved them, and still does, He will give them the best situation possible wherein they might get right, stay right, and live right with God. Sometimes that means hardship. Sometimes that might me prosperity. Whatever the case, God desires all those whom He loves to have the best life possible. As we do so with our own children, He does with us. That doesn’t mean unicorns and rainbows 24/7. It is naïve to things God hates us simply because we have an unpleasant experience. Sometimes those unpleasant experiences are blessings in disguise. The queen of Sheba was not wrong. She was more right than she might have realized. The only one in that conversation who did not realize the profound nature of her comments was Solomon. God does not hate us. He loves us. Therefore, our lives are the best situation God can give so that we might have the blessings appropriate for us. It is our choice what we do with it.
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