Then the king made a huge throne, decorated with ivory and overlaid with pure gold. The throne had six steps, with a footstool of gold. There were armrests on both sides of the seat, and the figure of a lion stood on each side of the throne. There were also twelve other lions, one standing on each end of the six steps. No other throne in all the world could be compared with it!(2 Chronicles 9:17-19).

Solomon was the wealthiest king in the world. None could compare with the splendor of his throne. Yet, Jesus said, 

“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these" (Matthew 6:28-29). 

Jesus elevated the splendor of common flowers above the splendor of the wealthiest king in the world. Certainly, the point is not which one we might consider more splendorous in appearance but rather how each came to its splendor. The flower was splendorous without effort. Solomon put forth great effort into achieving his splendor. Also, the generation of splendorous flowers continues to this day, but Solomon's glory did not long endure. So which is more glorious, the one who by nature is splendorous or the one who toiled for it and could not sustain it? 

When we read in the next chapters about Solomon's son, Rehoboam, we learn that because he turned away from the Law of the LORD, he lost in a single battle the splendor Solomon had so long labored to achieve. One invasion from Egypt caused the greatest parts of Solomon's wealth to be swiftly taken by another. Solomon would himself write, 

Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle (Proverbs 23:5).

Again, at the end of his life, he would write an entire book devoted to the vanity of riches, power, pleasure, and worldly wisdom. His conclusion? 

Now all has been heard;
    here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments,
    for this is the duty of all mankind.
For God will bring every deed into judgment,
    including every hidden thing,
    whether it is good or evil (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14).

Solomon came to the understanding that all his toil and worry were in vain, as he could not take the material fruit of his efforts with him in death, and he could not guarantee that his posterity would sustain his wealth and splendor. The Lord Jesus, who waved off the splendor of Solomon with a simple analogy (my paraphrase: "a common flower would put Solomon to shame"), confirmed this proper perspective of life when He taught,

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well (Matthew 6:33).

We are focused on so many things, and we worry about things that are passing away. Solomon wasted his life in his pursuit of wealth, achievements, pleasure, power, and worldly wisdom. Yet, the things he did for the LORD is what remains, even the insight he gained from the vanity of his pursuits, namely, that all that matters is to "fear God and keep His commandments," which parallel Jesus's words, "Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness."

Dear friends, don't waste your life! Focus your attention both long-term and short-term on faith and obedience, fearing God and obeying His commandments, seeking His kingdom and His righteousness. This will keep your life from vanity and accrue for you eternal dividends.

because your God loved Israel establishing them forever (2 Chronicles 9:8).

Does forever mean forever? I posed the question without providing a definitive answer the other day. It does appear that in a number of passages, the Hebrew word olam, often translated "forever," can also be understood in different ways. I will just highlight these other ways:

Remember the days of old; consider the generations long past. Ask your father and he will tell you, your elders, and they will explain to you (Deuteronomy 32:7).

Joshua said to all the people, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Long ago your ancestors, including Terah the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the Euphrates River and worshiped other gods (Joshua 24:2).

Now David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites, the Girzites and the Amalekites. (From ancient times these peoples had lived in the land extending to Shur and Egypt.) (1 Samuel 27:8).

Will you keep to the old path that the wicked have trod? (Job 22:15).

For a long time I have kept silent, I have been quiet and held myself back. But now, like a woman in childbirth, I cry out, I gasp and pant (Isaiah 42:14).

In these passages olam is used of past time of indefinite duration but certainly not of eternal duration. Again here some examples of olam used of future time:

then his master must take him before the judges. He shall take him to the door or the doorpost and pierce his ear with an awl. Then he will be his servant for life (Exodus 21:6).

When her husband Elkanah went up with all his family to offer the annual sacrifice to the Lord and to fulfill his vow, Hannah did not go. She said to her husband, “After the boy is weaned, I will take him and present him before the Lord, and he will live there always” (1 Samuel 1:21-22).

I have indeed built a magnificent temple for you, a place for you to dwell forever (1 Kings 8:1).

In the tent of meeting, outside the curtain that shields the ark of the covenant law,Aaron and his sons are to keep the lamps burning before the Lordfrom evening till morning. This is to be a lasting ordinance among the Israelites for the generations to come (Exodus 27:21).

In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ 7 tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut offbefore the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever (Joshua 4:6-7).

Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own (2 Samuel 12:9).

Naaman’s leprosy will cling to you and to your descendants forever.” Then Gehazi went from Elisha’s presence and his skin was leprous—it had become as white as snow (2 Kings 5:27).

In all these instances the time is limited. The limitation may be a person's lifetime, as in the first two passages above. It may be limited to the duration of a monument, as in the example of the Temple, which was destroyed by Babylon, or the memorial stones at the Jordan, which may have been lost with the passage of time. The point is that in all these examples, olam carried the sense of a long, indefinite duration but not in the sense of time without end. 

Friends, why is this important? It reminds us that translations of the Bible can sometimes be misleading, and they are always interpretive. So then, in the Bible, "forever" does not always mean "forever" as we understand it as time without end; however, it seems to normally carry the sense of a long and indefinite duration. 

Now, keep in mind, I only highlighted the passages that are clearly limited. This is not to say that the numerous other passages that speak of God's forever covenant or our forever salvation is also limited. Context must ultimately guide us in discerning the meaning in any given passage. So then, the better grasp you have of the context, the better grasp you will have of the meaning.

Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem and built cities for defense in Judah. Thus he built Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa, Beth-zur, Soco, Adullam, Gath, Mareshah, Ziph, Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah, Zorah, Aijalon and Hebron, which are fortified cities in Judah and in Benjamin. He also strengthened the fortresses and put officers in them and stores of food, oil and wine. He put shields and spears in every city and strengthened them greatly. So he held Judah and Benjamin (2 Chronicles 11:5-12).

After God divided the monarchy and gave the southern kingdom of Judah to Rehoboam, Rehoboam began to consolidate his power base and fortify the cities around the capital city of Jerusalem.

I believe that the biblical writers had reason to give this detail of how Rehoboam strengthened his defenses. Similarly, the writers had reason to give such an extensive description of Solomon's efforts in amassing wealth and power. Notice that within one generation of Solomon all of his greatness was quickly lost. We read this about Rehoboam:

When the kingdom of Rehoboam was established and strong, he and all Israel with him forsook the law of the Lord (2 Chronicles 12:1).

When Rehoboam and all Israel forsook the law of God, God brought brought swift disaster upon them:

And it came about in King Rehoboam’s fifth year, because they had been unfaithful to the Lord, that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem 3 with 1,200 chariots and 60,000 horsemen. And the people who came with him from Egypt were without number: the Lubim, the Sukkiim and the Ethiopians. He captured the fortified cities of Judah and came as far as Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 12:2-4).

Notice how swiftly all Rehoboam's efforts to build strong defense cities came to naught. And if Rehoboam had not humbled himself, this may have been the end of his reign (cf. 2 Chronicles 12:5-7). Even so, God used Shishak, the Egyptian king, to teach His people a lesson. Shishak ended up raiding all the treasures amassed by Solomon in Jerusalem. These things that Solomon spent a lifetime amassing was now gone in a moment. Consider what Solomon wrote, perhaps in reflection on his own life:

Do not wear yourself out to get rich;
    do not trust your own cleverness.
Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone,
    for they will surely sprout wings
    and fly off to the sky like an eagle (Proverbs 23:4-5).

Solomon even wrote a whole book about the vanity of life. After exploring all the vanities that life had to offer, he came to this conclusion:

Now all has been heard;
    here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments,
    for this is the duty of all mankind.
For God will bring every deed into judgment,
    including every hidden thing,
    whether it is good or evil (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14).

He concludes that all that is important is to fear God and keep His commandments. Solomon's great gain and how it was all taken away within a generation, Rehoboam's great efforts at building up his military stronghold and how quickly it was dismantled -- these both give testament to the all importance of fearing God and keeping His commandments. 

Friends, what are we laboring for? Let us understand that if God is not our chief delight and if doing His will is not our chief end, we are simply spinning our wheels in this life. In what are we placing our confidence? Is it our income? Our savings? Is it our degrees or intellect? No, my friends, all of these things can be gone in a moment. They are unreliable, uncertain and temporary.

If, then, the LORD is our security, let us learn from Him, that is, His Word. Let us meditate on His revelation, so that we can know what is important and what is not. Let us discern from His eternal counsel where we should devote our attention, energy and resources for the greatest good. Friends, this is true and divine wisdom, whereby we are freed from the vanities of life. 

So King Shishak of Egypt came up and attacked Jerusalem. He ransacked the treasuries of the LORD’s Temple and the royal palace; he stole everything, including all the gold shields Solomon had made. (2 Chronicles 12:9 NLT)

Only a few chapters before we were amazed at the wonderful wisdom, wealth and power of Solomon. Yet, in just one generation, all that wisdom, wealth and power are almost all swept away in one felll swoop by Shishak of Egypt. And they would have been completely swept away except that Rehoboam humbled himself before the LORD and so God wittheld the full force of His wrath:

Because Rehoboam humbled himself, the LORD’s anger was turned away, and he did not destroy him completely. There were still some good things in the land of Judah. (2 Chronicles 12:12 NLT)

What are we to learn from this? Wisdom is nothing. Wealth is nothing. Power is nothing. Trusting and obeying the LORD is what matters. And apparently this is what Solomon also concluded in his magnum opus, the Book of Ecclesiastes:

Now all has been heard;here is the conclusion of the matter:Fear God and keep his commandments,for this is the duty of all mankind. For God will bring every deed into judgment,including every hidden thing,whether it is good or evil. (Ecclesiastes 12:13, 14 NIV)

This principle is reiterated in the New Testament:

Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing. Keeping God's commands is what counts. (1 Corinthians 7:19 NIV)

Jesus even tells a parable that highlights this principle:

And he told them this parable: "The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.' "Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry."' "But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?' "This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God." (Luke 12:16-21 NIV)

Jesus told this parable in response to a couple of brothers that were arguing about their inheritance (Luke 12:13-15). He told this parable to show them that life does not consist in an abundance of provisions but rather in trusting and obeying God. Right after this parable Jesus gives this follow-up instruction:

Then Jesus said to his disciples: "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well. (Luke 12:22, 29-31 NIV)

Once again Jesus reiterates seeking God and not material things, even those things that might be considered the necessities for life, namely, food, drink and clothing. The promise is that if you seek God's kingdom, earthly necessities will be provided for you as well. 

But not many of us truly believe this. Why? Read the challenge Jesus gives in the following verses:

"Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Luke 12:32-34 NIV)

Jesus calls His disciples to sell their possessions and give to the poor. This instruction is now not just for the rich young ruler. It is for every disciple of Christ. Is this not a call to live in complete dependence upon the LORD? When you have an "abundance of possessions," living in dependence is hard, if not impossible, to do. Yet, to the one you are totally dependent, that is the one you will wholeheartedly serve, whether it is to your possessions or to the LORD. That is why Jesus said that a person cannot serve both God and mammon (i.e. money/wealth/things). We must be like a young child to their parents or a slave to their master. This is why Jesus said unless you become like a child, you cannot enter the kingdom of God, for when we are not completely dependent upon God, and when we cannot wholeheartedly serve Him, can we really say that we truly believe in God and God's promises to us? What is more, if we cannot trust Him to supply earthly necessities, what makes us think that we truly believe in His eternal promises?

Friends, let us not be like the rich fool who wasted his days building greater and greater earthly security for himself, only to suddenly lose it all. We don't need to go far to see examples of such fools in our day, for new hollywood and corporate obituaries come into my notification box weekly. Yet, are we not our own examples, for are we not rich ourselves and busy with securing ourselves in this life rather than living for God? 

I'm becoming more and more convinced that at least for some of us the only way that we can escape this all-consuming preoccupation with ourselves and our earthly lives is to give it up, sell it out, and take that leap of faith into the arms of the promises of God.

What holds me back? I don't want to be like those foolish snake handlers, who took up poisonous snakes, thinking that they would live because of the word in Mark 16:18, and instead they died:

Some of the leaders in these churches have been bitten numerous times, as indicated by their distorted extremities. Hensley himself, the founder of modern snake handling in the Appalachian Mountains, died from fatal snakebite in 1955. In 1998, snake-handling evangelist John Wayne "Punkin" Brown died after being bitten by a timber rattler at the Rock House Holiness Church in rural northeastern Alabama. Members of his family contend that his death was probably due to a heart attack. However, his wife had died three years previously after being bitten while in Kentucky. Another snake handler died in 2006 at a church in Kentucky (Wikipedia article under "snake handling").

I don't know why these particular snake-handlers died, although it seems foolish to test the Lord in this way. There is no precedent in the New Testament for such verifications of faith, as these church leaders try to do in their practice of snake-handling. Also, I have understood the Mark 16:18 passage to uniquely address the disciples in the early-church witness of the Gospel, which is also in keeping with other Scriptures, and not to every believer:

How shall we escape if we ignore so great a salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will. (Hebrews 2:3, 4 NIV)

Thus, I want to be clear in my understanding of what God requires of us. If the rich man was a fool for storing up treasures for himself, I would be an even bigger fool for doing something as radical as giving up everything I have to the poor when that is not what God desires from me. We ought not to be radical just to be radical. I noticed recently at Mardel's Christian Bookstore that three of the top ten Christian books dealt with this theme of radically living for Christ. Francis Chan's book Crazy Love is the #1 bestseller. This already makes me pause, because rarely is God's truth in vogue. Now, this does not negate the fundamental message of what Chan or others like him write about, for I too have been writing of these things even without knowing anything about these men; however, as those of you that are in dicipleship groups with me know, I am seeking biblical clarity. Let us think and pray before we leap. However, I believe my heart is ready for anything. Is yours?

When the queen of Sheba heard of Solomon’s fame, she came to Jerusalem to test him with hard questions. Arriving with a very great caravan—with camels carrying spices, large quantities of gold, and precious stones—she came to Solomon and talked with him about all she had on her mind. ² Solomon answered all her questions; nothing was too hard for him to explain to her. ³ When the queen of Sheba saw the wisdom of Solomon, as well as the palace he had built, ⁴ the food on his table, the seating of his officials, the attending servants in their robes, the cupbearers in their robes and the burnt offerings he made at^a]">[a] the temple of the LORD, she was overwhelmed.

 I believe that what the queen of Sheba felt is going to be ours when our faith becomes sight in the Day of the Lord. We will be overwhelmed by the magnificent presence of the Lord. If what solomon built with the earthly materials was overwhelming, how much more glorious heavenly appearance of God's glory would be. I remember what apostle Paul said in Romans 8:18,

 "I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us."

 It is even beyond our conception of glory. It is something our finite mind cannot comprehend. Let us turn our eyes from this world and fix them on Jesus to finish the race that we are on!