Solomon and Wisdom Literature (2025 Foundations Lecture 10)

Описание: This is the tenth video in the 2025 Renew and Burleigh Church of Christ Lecture Series: Foundations of Christianity. This lecture by M. Lithgow presents an examination of the life of Solomon and explores the wisdom literature.

Solomon, son of David, inherited the united kingdom of Israel at its political and cultural peak. The biblical accounts of his accession differ in emphasis: Kings portrays a tense, politically complex transition, while Chronicles presents it as divinely ordained and orderly, reflecting their distinct theological purposes

Upon becoming king, Solomon consolidated his rule and entered international alliances, notably with Egypt. His reign was marked by unprecedented wealth, peace, and extensive building projects, including the Jerusalem Temple, which functioned as a permanent, Eden-themed dwelling place of God among Israel

Central to Solomon's legacy was the wisdom God granted him. When invited to ask God for anything, Solomon requested a "listening heart"” - an inner openness to God that enabled moral discernment and just governance.

God responded by giving him unsurpassed wisdom, understood in Hebrew thought as skill in living rather than abstract knowledge.

This wisdom is most fully expressed in the Wisdom Literature: Proverbs, Song of Songs, and Ecclesiastes. Proverbs presents wisdom as covenant faithfulness to Yahweh, contrasting it with folly, which is idolatry. Its famous principle, "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom," establishes that moral and spiritual orientation precedes practical insight

Song of Songs celebrates faithful marital love as foundational to society and reflective of divine love.

Ecclesiastes offers a searching critique of "under-the-sun" wisdom, showing the limits of human striving apart from obedience to God.

Together, Solomon's reign and the Wisdom Literature teach that true wisdom flows from a right relationship with God and finds expression in faithful, discerning, and skillful living.