Solomon’s Glory or Christ’s Glory?

The Glory of Solomon and the Glory of Christ



Obedience to the Law brought prosperity to the Israelites, meditating on the Law night and day made them to be like “trees planted by the riverside”. And so it will be with us. There is a prosperity that comes as a result of obedience to the Law. There is an earthly reward for diligence, discipline, honesty and compassion.

But the rewards of obedience to the new covenant are far greater than those of obeying the old. The demands of the new covenant are greater and so are the rewards.

Obedience to the natural Law is accompanied by natural rewards; obedience to the higher spiritual Law that Christ preached will be accompanied by rewards of a higher nature.
Jesus in the New Testament comes to impart something of a far higher order than that which was given by Moses to the Israelites. His demands are also higher. Jesus’ disciples were often dumbfounded by the expectations placed upon them. Up to that time it would have been enough to love their homes and families, love their nation, work hard, be honest, and reap the rewards of their labour. Now this man was calling them to something heavenly, which was beyond their natural understanding. Something beyond their homes, their families, their nation and their culture. Something that included all the nations, something that was beyond time. The standard was raised from an earthly possibility to a heavenly impossibility. The reward was also raised from the earthly to the heavenly.

It was already barely possible for them to be obedient to Moses’ Law, now they were being called to behave like divine beings! Who could walk in that realm to which they were being called? Who could love their enemies but God alone? Who could forsake family friends and nation and store up riches in heaven? The rich young ruler delighted in all of the Laws of Moses, but to give away all his possessions…. How could this be expected of him? It was beyond the realm of the natural.

Jesus came to usher in the spiritual, a heavenly Kingdom. Today, as Christians, we have the option to merely recover the blessings we never had, because we were gentiles, who were far from the promises, the Law, and the Fathers. Every person who now becomes a Christian has the option to obey the natural law and benefit from the consequences. The consequence of turning from dishonesty to honesty, from laziness to diligence, from licentiousness to discipline, is a more prosperous life. Being now restored to the knowledge of the true God and his Law we can settle for the natural best, the blessings that were apportioned to the Israelites under the Old covenant. Obedience to the Law will bring to us all the blessings of Deuteronomy chapter 28. In the natural we can repossess earthly blessings that were promised to the Law abiding Israelite. But to transcend from the natural inheritance into a Spiritual inheritance we must follow in the way of Christ and not in the way of Solomon. King David received the full inheritance that was promised to the Israelites. His son Solomon epitomized the fullness of earthly blessing as promised by the Law. We see in the Christian nations of the world some of this natural blessing. We see a measure of it also in Islam when men obey what they know of God’s Law. But it is only a shadow of Gods final intention.

Israel was only for the Israelites and for a season. The Kingdom of Christ encompasses all nations, and is eternal. If we, like the Israelites, choose merely the natural we will find in the end that it is something to be enjoyed by a privileged few for a short time. This is the mistake Christians have made today. The earthly blessings of Christian nations are only enjoyed by a tiny elite, and can be lost quickly.

Israel had an earthly King. God’s kingdom has a heavenly King. Israel had earthly power, the heavenly Kingdom spiritual authority. The comparisons are endless.

Jesus, being the Son of David, could have entered into an earthly glory but he didn’t. This had already been accomplished by Solomon during his reign, and was found to fall short of Gods purposes. Solomon received everything that this world could offer him, and came to the conclusion that all of it is vanity. Solomon was delivered from all the natural enemies of mankind, but he was not delivered from himself.

Do we want to be delivered merely from our natural enemies i.e. sickness, financial need, persecution, disorder, ugliness etc.? Obedience to the Mosaic covenant lifted Israel to an earthly Glory under Solomon that was unprecedented and unsurpassed by any Kingdom since. Nonetheless, within one generation all of it collapsed in shame. Perpetual civil war and immorality characterized the entire dispensation of that earthly Kingdom. If we pursue, as the Israelites did, earthly glory, the results will be the same. Vanity…

Jesus was pressurized to receive a crown. His disciples argued over who was to be the prime minister of this earthly Kingdom that they sought after. They were mortified to discover that their King was taking a very different path to the one that they had hoped for. They tried to discourage him from this path and were rebuked.

Jesus had something far deeper in mind, far more lasting, far more glorious, than another attempt at regaining the throne of Solomon and his earthly Glory. He has it in mind for us also, but so many of us are chasing earthly shadows instead of reality. If Jesus had wanted to he could have entered into, with his disciples, an earthly Glory that would make our Solomon’s Glory, the present “Christian World”, look like the third world in comparison. But Jesus chose a different path, that of a spiritual inheritance. Jesus himself set this precedent purposefully, so that through the ages he might have followers who would seek true riches rather than the riches of this world. Despite this pattern that he set for us, many choose foolishly to still follow after the Glory of Solomon.

The path that Jesus chose is the path that we must choose if we are to share in his heavenly glory. It is on this path only that the riches of his divine nature are accumulated. To be like Christ, is our inheritance, is our glory. Solomon sought for and achieved all that the world perceives as precious. Honour, riches and fame. Property, beauty and pleasure. Knowledge, eloquence and power. The way of Christ seeks riches in poverty and selflessness in humility. In losing our reputation we earn a name immortal in heaven. By being humiliated we become humble. By patiently enduring opposition we become patient. By having nothing we become grateful for our true riches. In giving our lives we receive true life. We learn how to love and hope for heaven.

God wants to impart his divine nature to us. That, and that only is his eternal riches. It is through the fire of earthly tribulations that this nature is perfected. We are called to follow Christ in his sufferings. We are called to deny self. The divine nature dwells within us Christians, but this nature is eclipsed by the presence of the greatest of God’s enemies, the self. In always granting self its desires it only becomes more and more dominant. The Christian whose self is unopposed may seem to be reigning like King Solomon by worldly considerations, but Paul the Apostle says, “I wish you really were a King, so that I may reign with you”

When Jesus came riding into Jerusalem on the colt of a donkey he was illustrating a divine principle that was lost to the cheering crowds. He could have entered Jerusalem on a white charger that would have suited a conquering King who was about to take up an earthly rule. On the contrary, the humble colt of a donkey signified his ruler ship over self. Self, which would have delighted in a white charger. Jesus, tempted in all things like we are, would also have been tempted to pursue the glory of Solomon. The self is just as impossible to rule over as the colt of a donkey, but Christ showed his mastery in riding it. This is a greater glory than riding any white or black charger, but hidden from the eyes of the crowd.

Our citizenship is in heaven from which we eagerly wait for a saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of his glory. (Philippians 3:20) The degree to which our characters have been changed into Christ’s likeness might not be evident to all now, but will be revealed on that day when we receive our heavenly likeness. The glory of Solomon will vanish with all that is natural, and we will be revealed as we really are. And we will shine with different degrees of glory. And to some he will say, “ I never knew you”

Let us not be like those who are “enemies of the Cross of Christ, whose god is their appetite and whose glory is their shame, who set their minds on earthly things.”(Philippians 3:18.) The “Cross of Christ” signifies a life of self-denial and a willingness to suffer for Christ’s sake. We should love the Cross of Christ and not be its enemies, and in this way we will store up glory in heaven. In that day when we lose our earthly glory, leaving it behind in this world, that glory will become shameful to us. How much effort have we put into achieving it? We will wish we could have just used it up to feed orphans and contribute to the expansion of God’s kingdom. How many barns are filled with goods and the Lord says, “You fool, you will die tonight and who will enjoy your inheritance?”

All that is of the natural glory, that is, the glory of Solomon, will fall off like a flower of the grass. All that we glory in, that is, not what we are, but what we have. Knowledge, possessions, wealth and beauty are all like the flower of grass, beautiful for a day but destined to dry out and fall off. Only that which we are will remain, and what we are is what we are in our natures, eternally, as the sons and daughters of God. The nature of Christ has become ours through the cross, and through the cross we become partakers in Christ’s glory. This is the divine nature of Christ which is Gods glory in us, and only what we share of this nature will remain, all else which looks so appealing in this world is destined to fall off like a dried flower.

Patience, kindness, humility,
Gentleness, longsuffering, and joy,
Faith, hope and love,

is all that is worth concerning ourselves with for these are the glory of Christ.

We would love to hear from you, Craig .