Was Solomon Saved?

[Bible Highlighter]

I received a little different message from Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. Wisdom. God asked Solomon what he wanted. He said he wanted wisdom to rule his people. In order to gain wisdom, he had to go through ALL life's experiences in all areas to the fullest. At the end if his journey, he realized everything under the sun is vanity of vanities and chasing after the wind WITHOUT GOD. We learn that many paths are futile and the only one is to follow Him. That was some bucket list though.

Yes, I see that as the message of Solomon's life, as well.

 

[Ronald]

I know hell is not eternal (it is eternal, but we don't get sent there eternally unless we refuse to repent of our sin eternally, I believe), and you know hell isn't eternal. Try telling that to someone else.

??? It is or it isnt - It can't be both.

 

[dreadnought]

??? It is or it isnt - It can't be both.

The common belief is that once you go to hell, you are there forever. Common beliefs don’t always hold true. Maybe this will help explain the reality:

[17] "Yet your people say, `The way of the Lord is not just'; when it is their own way that is not just.
[18] When the righteous turns from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, he shall die for it.
[19] And when the wicked turns from his wickedness, and does what is lawful and right, he shall live by it.
[20] Yet you say, `The way of the Lord is not just.' O house of Israel, I will judge each of you according to his ways." Ezekiel 33:17-20 RSV

 

[Bible Highlighter]

The common belief is that once you go to hell, you are there forever. Common beliefs don’t always hold true. Maybe this will help explain the reality:

[17] "Yet your people say, `The way of the Lord is not just'; when it is their own way that is not just.
[18] When the righteous turns from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, he shall die for it.
[19] And when the wicked turns from his wickedness, and does what is lawful and right, he shall live by it.
[20] Yet you say, `The way of the Lord is not just.' O house of Israel, I will judge each of you according to his ways." Ezekiel 33:17-20 RSV

Can you make a real world example or parable so to defend eternal torture in painful fire as fair and good justice?

My guess is that would be a... “no.”

 

[dreadnought]

Can you make a real world example or parable so to defend eternal torture in painful fire as fair and good justice?

My guess is that would be a... “no.”

I believe the only way a person would suffer forever is if they, throughout all eternity, refused to repent of their sin.

 

[Danoded]

Didn't he die worshipping other gods because of his wives? This makes me feel that he wasn't saved, even though throughout most of his life he was good in the sight of the Lord.

Just what I inferred.

 

[Ronald]

The common belief is that once you go to hell, you are there forever. Common beliefs don’t always hold true. Maybe this will help explain the reality:

[17] "Yet your people say, `The way of the Lord is not just'; when it is their own way that is not just.
[18] When the righteous turns from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, he shall die for it.
[19] And when the wicked turns from his wickedness, and does what is lawful and right, he shall live by it.
[20] Yet you say, `The way of the Lord is not just.' O house of Israel, I will judge each of you according to his ways." Ezekiel 33:17-20 RSV

These verses say nothing about whether Hell is temporal or never ending. It's OK, don't strain yourself, I just think the jury is not out yet on this one.

 

[Danoded]

These verses say nothing about whether Hell is temporal or never ending. It's OK, don't strain yourself, I just think the jury is not out yet on this one.

Revelation 20:10 - And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet [are], and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

Let us not be unwise.

 

[dreadnought]

These verses say nothing about whether Hell is temporal or never ending. It's OK, don't strain yourself, I just think the jury is not out yet on this one.

It does say that once you repent, you live, symbolism for "you cease to suffer."

 

[Ronald]

I believe the only way a person would suffer forever is if they, throughout all eternity, refused to repent of their sin.

This view seems like its similar to Purgatory. Apparently you have another chance? Tell me, who wouldn't repent immediately after getting cast into Hades, or certainly approaching the Lake of Fire?
Repentance is for the living. Once you are dead, you state is fixed, there's no changing your mind. Repentance is a willful act of turning to God in humility in this life. He draws us, calls us and we respond or not. Once you pass away, its too late. Nothing in scripture, the Protestant Bible that is _ of 66 books_ gives us that option. Heck many people would just live as they wanted and then die ... "OK, Ok, I believe, get me out of here!"

 

[Ronald]

Revelation 20:10 - And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet [are], and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

Let us not be unwise.

Its arguable that aionios, translated as ever, forever, everlasting and even eternal, is mistranslated. This word has variable meanings that also apply to temporal things that will pass away. Its temporal meanings are: ages, generations, lifetimes, epochs, etc. All former things will pass away. Eternity should only be used to describe God. His domain, or our salvation. Hades is the underworld, part if the earth as well as the Lake of Fire. They are not spiritual locations. The fire is real as in a molten lava volcano that forms a lake. He'll is more of an event and may happen at the time of Judgment Day.

 

[dreadnought]

This view seems like its similar to Purgatory. Apparently you have another chance? Tell me, who wouldn't repent immediately after getting cast into Hades, or certainly approaching the Lake of Fire?
Repentance is for the living. Once you are dead, you state is fixed, there's no changing your mind. Repentance is a willful act of turning to God in humility in this life. He draws us, calls us and we respond or not. Once you pass away, its too late. Nothing in scripture, the Protestant Bible that is _ of 66 books_ gives us that option. Heck many people would just live as they wanted and then die ... "OK, Ok, I believe, get me out of here!"

I believe you become submerged in the lake of fire as soon as you sin, and you can live that way throughout your life, and for eternity, as long as you choose sin. When you repent of your sin, the lake "evaporates."

 

[George64]

Was Solomon Saved?

Yes, I believe Solomon was saved for several key reasons.

#1. Solomon wrote books in our Bible. We do not have a book of Judas or a book of Balaam.

#2. We know Solomon wrote Ecclesiastes and the conclusion of those writings was warning the young youth who goes after lustful desires will face God's judgment (Ecclesiastes 11:9) The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil. (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14). This I believe is Solomon writing about himself.

#3. Solomon is called beloved of his God in Nehemiah 13:26.

#4. Jesus Christ never mentions Solomon in an unfavorable light but in a positive way. This is important because Jesus Christ nor any other prophet or disciple ever mentioned somebody that was damned in a favorable sense. In fact, I believe there are important spiritual points that are made by understanding why Jesus spoke about Solomon in a positive way (More on this to come).

#5. 2 Samuel chapter 7 tells us God would take away his mercy from Saul but he would not take away it away from Solomon. For God says that He will be a father to Solomon and he will be like his son, if he commits iniquity he will be chastened by the Lord with a rod of iron. This is an important fact to understand because the New Testament says, "For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth" (Hebrews 12:6). Anyways, here is the passage in 2nd Samuel.

2 Samuel 7:12-16
12 "And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.

13 He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever.

14 I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men:

15 But my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee.

16 And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever."

Anyways, this is why I believe Solomon will be at the first resurrection and not the second.

I hope this helps.

And may God bless you.

Side Note:

Oh, and Saul will be at the 2nd resurrection, which is the resurrection of the damned. Saul had committed suicide and could not have repented of such a sin. So he obviously is in Torments (awaiting destruction in the Lake of Fire) and he did not go to Abraham's bosom (i.e. Paradise).

Got into Heaven by divine right. But saved? How could he resurrection of Christ never happened until over a 1000 years later?

 

[aiki]

Here's an interesting thing to think on concerning Solomon: At the end of his life, he was involved in the sacrifice of children to pagan idols.

1 Kings 11:1-9
1 But King Solomon loved many foreign women, as well as the daughter of Pharaoh: women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites--
2 from the nations of whom the Lord had said to the children of Israel, "You shall not intermarry with them, nor they with you. Surely they will turn away your hearts after their gods." Solomon clung to these in love.
3 And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart.
4 For it was so, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned his heart after other gods; and his heart was not loyal to the Lord his God, as was the heart of his father David.
5 For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.
6 Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and did not fully follow the Lord, as did his father David.
7 Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, on the hill that is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the abomination of the people of Ammon.
8 And he did likewise for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.
9 So the Lord became angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned from the Lord God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice,

 

[Bible Highlighter]

Here's an interesting thing to think on concerning Solomon: At the end of his life, he was involved in the sacrifice of children to pagan idols.

1 Kings 11:1-9
1 But King Solomon loved many foreign women, as well as the daughter of Pharaoh: women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites--
2 from the nations of whom the Lord had said to the children of Israel, "You shall not intermarry with them, nor they with you. Surely they will turn away your hearts after their gods." Solomon clung to these in love.
3 And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart.
4 For it was so, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned his heart after other gods; and his heart was not loyal to the Lord his God, as was the heart of his father David.
5 For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.
6 Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and did not fully follow the Lord, as did his father David.
7 Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, on the hill that is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the abomination of the people of Ammon.
8 And he did likewise for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.
9 So the Lord became angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned from the Lord God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice,

Nowhere does 1 Kings 11:1-9 say that Solomon did this evil all the way up until his grave with him not repenting of such evil. In verse 13 in 2 Samuel 7:12-16, we see that the "he" who built a house in the Lord's name is talking about Solomon. In verse 15, it says that the Lord' mercy shall not depart from him [Solomon] as the Lord took away from Saul.

2 Samuel 7:12-16
12 "And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.

13 He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever.

14 I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men:

15 But my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee.

16 And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever."

 

[Bible Highlighter]

Got into Heaven by divine right. But saved? How could he resurrection of Christ never happened until over a 1000 years later?

They were saved based on God's promise of the Messiah and His sacrifice and resurrection. God's Word cannot ever not come to pass in regards to His unconditional good promises.

Revelation 13:8 says that the Lamb was slain since the foundation of the world. This means it was a guaranteed thing. It was already done in God's eyes. There was no way that such a thing was not going to happen. God knew what Adam and Eve were going to do, and so He had it planned from the foundation of the world.

In the story of Lazarus and the Rich man: We learn that the Rich man desired his brothers to be warned of such a place like hell. Abraham told him that they have Moses and the prophets. Abraham said to the Rich man that Lazarus will receive good things (unlike the Rich man). This means that this story took place during the time of Moses, and that the dead did not just fall into unconsciousness when they physically died.

 

[aiki]

Nowhere does 1 Kings 11:1-9 say that Solomon did this evil all the way up until his grave with him not repenting of such evil. In verse 13 in 2 Samuel 7:12-16, we see that the "he" who built a house in the Lord's name is talking about Solomon. In verse 15, it says that the Lord' mercy shall not depart from him [Solomon] as the Lord took away from Saul.

2 Samuel 7:12-16
12 "And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.

13 He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever.

14 I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men:

15 But my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee.

I don't see anywhere in the passage from 2 Samuel 7 where it says anything about the moral character of Solomon himself. The passage recounts the promise of God to King David concerning his son but it doesn't say that God's promise to David was on account of the righteousness of Solomon. And that's, of course, because Solomon was a vile, murderous scumbag at the end of his life, as the passage from 1 Kings 11 explains.

 

[Bible Highlighter]

I don't see anywhere in the passage from 2 Samuel 7 where it says anything about the moral character of Solomon himself. The passage recounts the promise of God to King David concerning his son but it doesn't say that God's promise to David was on account of the righteousness of Solomon. And that's, of course, because Solomon was a vile, murderous scumbag at the end of his life, as the passage from 1 Kings 11 explains.

You are not reading it right. Who is 2 Samuel 7:13 referring to? This is the context of verse 15.

 

[Danoded]

I don't see anywhere in the passage from 2 Samuel 7 where it says anything about the moral character of Solomon himself. The passage recounts the promise of God to King David concerning his son but it doesn't say that God's promise to David was on account of the righteousness of Solomon. And that's, of course, because Solomon was a vile, murderous scumbag at the end of his life, as the passage from 1 Kings 11 explains.

Solomon didn't murder anyone, but he still wanted to kill Jeroboam because he would take away his kingdom, and yeah, Solomon died in deep sin, very far away from God, I don't see how he was saved.

 

[aiki]

Solomon didn't murder anyone, but he still wanted to kill Jeroboam because he would take away his kingdom, and yeah, Solomon died in deep sin, very far away from God, I don't see how he was saved.

Do you know what worship and sacrifice to the pagan idol Molech involved? It was to this evil idol that Solomon and his wives made sacrifices - human sacrifices. So, yes, Solomon was a murderer - likely many times over.