Eric Casagrande     /         Genelyn Novabos

 

 

King Solomon: A Foreshadow of Jesus Christ

  

My friends, I would like to share with you today, a revelation of  the Lord Jesus Christ in the Old Testament. More specifically, we will be taking a close examination at several types and foreshadowings of Jesus Christ, as exemplified in the life of King Solomon.

 

King David – Bathsheba – Solomon

One of the obvious similarities between the life of King Solomon, and that of Jesus Christ, is that the birth of Solomon depicts an act of great mercy from God to man – represented in this case by King David. It’s important to remember that Solomon wasn’t the first-born child between King David and Bathsheba. As a matter of fact, Solomon was born to Bathsheba after David’s sin of adultery and murder!

As we read in 2 Samuel 11-12, there was a great war at that time between Israel (led by Joab), and the people of Rabbah. Amongst the people of Israel was Uriah the Hittite, whose name means “The Lord is Light”.  So during one evening as King David was relaxing on the roof of the palace, he just happened to notice an attractive young woman nearby, taking a bath.  Her name was Bathsheba, and she was the wife of Uriah.

King David stood on the balcony watching her for several minutes, while feelings of lust developed in his heart. Finally, he dispatched a number of messengers to go and fetch her. When she arrived in the palace, David was clearly advised by his servants that this woman was the wife of one of his warriors.  Yet David chose to ignore this warning, and betrayed both the loyalty of Uriah, as well as the nation of Israel, by pleasuring himself with the young woman.

Bathsheba eventually discovered she was pregnant, and sent word of it to the King. Now my friends, this would have been very scandalous for King David had word of it become public knowledge! So he immediately came up with a plan, whereby Uriah would be brought home from battle, and encouraged to relax and take pleasure in his wife – with the intent being that when her pregnancy became public, it would be naturally assumed that Uriah had fathered the child, and King David would be off the hook.

But the concocted plan didn’t go very smoothly for King David.

Uriah was a man of great honor, and refused to enjoy pleasures with his wife during a time of war in which many of his fellow-men faced danger and hardship. So it forced David to come up with a secondary, even more sinister plan, whereby the King ordered his general to have Uriah sent to the heaviest area of the war, and allowed to be killed by the enemy.

In the end, Uriah was killed, and King David – who believed he was finally off the hook for his sin – took Bathsheba into the palace to become his wife. But not long afterwards, Nathan the prophet confronted David about his grievous indiscretion before God and the nation of Israel, and the child died within about one week of its birth.

Yet God was merciful to David, in spite of his terrible sin, as we see in the eventual birth of his son, Solomon. In fact it truly seems rather interesting that so much love and glory came out of a demonstration of grace. For my friend, the very existence and destiny of Solomon was associated with the grace of God! Please keep in mind that the penalty for adultery under the terms of the Mosaic Law, was death (Leviticus 20: 10) … usually by stoning.

 

“And the man that commiteth adultery with another’s

wife, even he that commiteth adultery with his

neighbor’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress

shall surely be put to death.“

 

The very fact that God spared the lives of David (2 Samuel 12: 13), as well as Bathsheba, was a big testimony of the grace by which Solomon came to be born! He was living evidence of God’s goodness and mercy, to all mankind.

This was a major foreshadowing of what happened through Jesus Christ, whose very existence and eternal destiny was also fully associated with the grace of God (John 1: 14, 16-17):

 

“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us,

(and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only

begotten of the Father), full of grace and truth.

 

And of his fulness have all we received

and grace for grace.

 

For the law was given by Moses, but grace

and truth came by Jesus Christ.“

 

Additionally, just as happened with King David and Bathsheba, we also were hopelessly trapped in sin, and deserved the death penalty. But God showed His great love and mercy towards us, by sparing our lives, and sending His only Son, Jesus Christ, to die in our place (Romans 5: 6-8)!

 

“For when we were yet without strength, in due

time Christ died for the ungodly.

 

For scarcely for a righteous man will one die:

Yet peradventure for a good man some

would even dare to die.

 

But God displayed His great love toward

us, in that, while we were yet sinners,

Christ died for us.“

 

So it would seem likely that Solomon knew at some point, that his birth was an expression of God’s grace and mercy. And you know, my friends, just as I’ve mentioned above, that is also a picture for us. The fact that we can become born-again, is a wonderful expression of God’s grace and mercy towards mankind, though we fully deserved to be condemned to death for our sins. Oh Hallelujah!

 

What’s In A Name?  

King David and Bathsheba named their child “Solomon”, which comes from the Hebrew word shalom – meaning “peace”. For while David’s rule was in fact associated with war and bloodshed (1 Chronicles 22: 8), yet Solomon’s kingdom was established in great peace (1Chronicles 22: 9).

 

“Behold, a son shall be born unto thee, who shall

be a man of rest; and I will give him rest from all

his enemies round about: for his name shall be

Solomon, and I will give peace and quietness

unto Israel in his days.”

 

Well my friends, by some “coincidence”, there is  a remarkably similar picture of the Lord Jesus Christ, found in the prophetic scriptures. For in Isaiah 9: 6-7, we see that it has this to say about Him, and His coming kingdom:

 

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is

given: and the government shall be upon

His shoulder: and His name shall be called

Wonderful Counsellor, The Mighty God,

The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

 

Of the increase of His government and peace

there shall be no end, upon the throne of David,

and upon His kingdom, to order it, and to

establish it with judgment and with justice

from henceforth even for ever. The zeal

of the LORD of hosts will perform this.“

 

Oh Hallelujah!  How can you all just sit there, reading this? The Middle East (and indeed the entire world), will never experience peace until the return of The Prince of Peace!

Furthermore, we see that when Solomon was brought before the prophet (Nathan), he was also given the name “Jedidiah” (2 Samuel 12: 25), which means – God’s Beloved.

Here again, we see the foreshadowing of when Jesus Christ came and appeared before the prophet – John the Baptist – in order to be baptized. For it says in Matthew 3: 16-17, that Christ was also referred to as “God’s Beloved”:

 

“And Jesus, when He was baptized, went up

straightway out of the water: and, lo, the

heavens were opened unto him, and He saw

the Spirit of God descending like a dove,

and lighting upon Him.

 

And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my

Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.“

 

My friends, the more we learn, the more breath-taking it becomes! David is an example of how we were at enmity with God – while Solomon shows that we are now at peace with God, through the person of Jesus Christ!

 

The Building of The Temple  

The Bible teaches us that King David experienced a deep yearning inside of his heart, which compelled him to build a great house by which to honor God and His name. Indeed God had blessed David tremendously, and he lived in a house made of cedar – while the ark of God dwelt inside a house of curtains (2 Samuel 7: 1-3).

As it turned out, however, God didn’t allow David to be the one who would build the house for Him to dwell inside. We see God’s reasoning behind it when reading 1 Chronicles 22: 7-8, where it says:

 

“And David said to Solomon, My son, as for me,

it was in my mind to build a house unto the

name of the Lord my God:

  

But the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

You have shed blood abundantly, and have

made great wars: you shall not build a house

unto my name, because you have shed much

blood upon the earth in my sight.“

 

David reveals in the subsequent verses (1 Chronicles 22: 9-10), that it would be Solomon, his son, that God had selected to build the Temple, because he would be a man of peace (see earlier – “Solomon” means “peace”).

So then, after the death of David his father, in the fourth year of his reign, Solomon began the construction of both his own dwelling place, as well as the Temple of God. In 1 Kings 6: 38, we read that Solomon spent seven years in building the Temple — which is somewhat interesting, because we later see in 1 Kings 7, that he took nearly twice as much time in the building of his own house!

The types and foreshadowing here, pointing to Christ, seems clear. For as Solomon constructed a Temple made from non-living stones (i.e. rock), it says in 1 Peter 2: 3-5, that Jesus Christ also built a Temple … however, this one was made out of living stones.

 

“If so be you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.

 

To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed

indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious.

 

You also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual

house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual

sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.“

 

Moreover, each one of those stones – that is to say, each one of us – is itself a miniature Temple. For as 1 Corinthians 6: 19-20 teaches, we have God’s Holy Spirit dwelling inside of us! Oh Hallelujah!

 

The King’s Greatness  

Now in my final example of how Solomon was a type and foreshadow of the Lord Jesus Christ, we shall take a look at his role as king. What kind of rule did Solomon experience? Well in 1 Kings 3: 10-13, we disover that, during his entire lifetime, Solomon did not have a rival among all of the kings of the earth! Absolutely no one matched up to him in any way, and this was God’s plan for him from the beginning.

 

“And the speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon

had asked this thing.

 

And God said unto him, Because you have asked

this thing, and have not asked for youself long life;

neither asked riches for yourself, nor asked for the

life of your enemies; but have asked for yourself

understanding to discern judgment;

 

Behold, I have done according to your words: Lo,

I have given you a wise and an understanding heart;

so that there was none like you before you, and

neither after you shall any arise life you.

 

And I have also given you that for which you have

not asked, both riches, and honor: so that there

shall not be any among the kings like unto

you all your days.“

 

Now of course it follows, according to Matthew 12: 42 and Luke 11: 31, that Jesus Christ is described as being someone who is greater than King Solomon. Further to this, in Revelation 19: 11-16, we are given a brief yet magnificent description, as to the greatness of His person and power:

 

“And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white

horse; and He that sat upon him was called

Faithful and True, and in righteousness

does He judge and make war.

 

His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on His

head were many crowns; and He had a name

written, that no man knew, but He Himself.

 

And He was clothed in a vesture dipped in blood:

and His name is called: The Word of God.

 

And the armies which were in heaven followed

Him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen,

white and clean.

 

And out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that

with it He should smite the nations: and he shall

rule them with a rod of iron: and he treads the

winepress of the fierceness of the

wrath of Almighty God.

 

And He has on His vesture and on His thigh

a name written: KING OF KINGS AND

LORD OF LORDS.“

 

Wow! What a truly incredible picture! We clearly see that our Lord Jesus Christ vastly exceeds the previously unmatched glory of King Solomon, by a level of magnitude above and beyond measurement! Oh Hallelujah!

Now of course there are many other examples of how King Solomon was a type and foreshadow of the Lord Jesus Christ. For instance, it was early on into his reign, that Solomon recognized both his insufficiency, as well as his need for God to give him the necessary guidance (1 Kings 3: 7-9). While similarly, we read that on many occasions the Lord Jesus Christ openly confessed to only speaking the words and performing the deeds that He heard and saw the Father speak and do (John 5: 19-20).

My friends, the entire Old Testament – from Genesis to Malachi – is just full of types and foreshadows, pointing to the Coming One – Jesus Christ! Oh Hallelujah! Take the time to study it, and be blessed.

 

 

 

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