heart was not right with God; his worship became merely formal; his soul,
left empty by the dying out of true religious fervour, sought to be filled
with any religious excitement which offered itself. Now for the first time a
worship was publicly set up amongst the people of the Lord which was
not simply irregular or forbidden, like that of Gideon (Judges 8:27), or the
Danites (Judges 18:30, 31), but was downright idolatrous.” (1 Kings 11:7;
2 Kings 23:13.)
This brought upon him the divine displeasure. His enemies prevailed
against him (1 Kings 11:14-22, 23-25, 26-40), and one judgment after
another fell upon the land. And now the end of all came, and he died, after
a reign of forty years, and was buried in the city of David, and “with him
was buried the short-lived glory and unity of Israel.” “He leaves behind
him but one weak and worthless son, to dismember his kingdom and
disgrace his name.”
“The kingdom of Solomon,” says Rawlinson, “is one of the most striking
facts in the Biblical history. A petty nation, which for hundreds of years
has with difficulty maintained a separate existence in the midst of warlike
tribes, each of which has in turn exercised dominion over it and oppressed
it, is suddenly raised by the genius of a soldier-monarch to glory and
greatness. An empire is established which extends from the Euphrates to
the borders of Egypt, a distance of 450 miles; and this empire, rapidly
constructed, enters almost immediately on a period of peace which lasts
for half a century. Wealth, grandeur, architectural magnificence, artistic
excellence, commercial enterprise, a position of dignity among the great
nations of the earth, are enjoyed during this space, at the end of which
there is a sudden collapse. The ruling nation is split in twain, the
subject-races fall off, the pre-eminence lately gained being wholly lost, the
scene of struggle, strife, oppression, recovery, inglorious submission, and
desperate effort, re-commences.”, Historical Illustrations.
- SOLOMON, SONG OF called also, after the Vulgate, the “Canticles.” It
is the “song of songs” (1:1), as being the finest and most precious of its
kind; the noblest song, “das Hohelied,” as Luther calls it. The Solomonic
authorship of this book has been called in question, but evidences, both
internal and external, fairly establish the traditional view that it is the
product of Solomon’s pen. It is an allegorical poem setting forth the
mutual love of Christ and the Church, under the emblem of the bridegroom
and the bride. (Compare Matthew 9:15; John 3:29; Ephesians 5:23, 27, 29;