If we read the story of Solomon under the light of the spiritual life we will see that he had God-given wisdom which made him great, but his wisdom was absolutely in the physical realm, unlike the wisdom we see in Paul, which is Christ as our wisdom related to God’s eternal economy.
It is easy to read the first half of 1 Kings and be amazed at the accomplishments of Solomon, for he loved God from his youth, and God answered his prayer and gave him wisdom and understanding.
Therefore, he became wise and he knew so much, and there was such a great prosperity in all Israel; however, all this was in the physical realm, for Solomon did not have a real spiritual life before God, and his growth before God was very small.
We need to exercise our spirit when we come to the Word of God so that we may see not only the stories, the history, and the human wisdom expressed in the life of Solomon but even more, see what real wisdom is, and how Christ can be our wisdom from God.
May the Lord shine on us and in us to expose us and bring us under His light so that in His light we may see light.
We need to see Solomon’s failure under the light of the spiritual life. Solomon was a wise man, yes, but he was not a spiritual man.
He was a man full of capability and with so much wisdom, but he was not a man of life. He knew so much, he understood so much, and he spoke and did so much, but there was very little growth in the spiritual life in him.
Solomon enjoyed the God-given good land to the highest level because of his God-given gift.
However, he did not have a good measure of growth before God, he did not maintain his love for the Lord, and he had a small measure in the maturity of the spiritual life, so he had a great failure.
Because of his small measure in the maturity of the spiritual life, Solomon was cut off from the enjoyment of the good land in God’s economy because of the unbridled indulgence of his lust (1 Cor. 2:14-15; 3:1, 3).
How can such a wise person with an amazing God-given gift of wisdom fall so low and indulge in his lust, especially in sex, to such an extent?
His history is such a warning to us, for we may be given some gifts or capability by God, but if we don’t remain in the process of growing in life unto maturity, if we don’t cooperate with God’s dealings so that our natural man would be put to death, we may fail the same way as Solomon did.
In the church life, we care not just for wise men but even more, for spiritual men.
We want to be spiritual men, those who have a spiritual life before God and who grow in life unto maturity, accepting the Lord’s dealings, and living by the spirit to have real spiritual wisdom.
Solomon’s God-given Wisdom versus Paul’s Spiritual Wisdom
![And God gave Solomon wisdom and very much understanding and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the seashore. And Solomon's wisdom was greater than the wisdom of all the children of the east and all the wisdom of Egypt. For he became wiser than all men, [wiser] than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Calcol and Darda, the sons of Mahol. And his fame was among all the surrounding nations. And he spoke three thousand proverbs, and his songs numbered a thousand and five. And he discoursed about trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon to the hyssop that shoots forth out of the wall; he also discoursed about animals and about birds and about creeping things and about fish. And they came from all the peoples to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom. 1 Kings 4:29-34](https://i0.wp.com/www.agodman.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/And-God-gave-Solomon-wisdom-and-very-much-understanding-and-largeness-of-heart-even-as-the-sand-that-is-on-the-seashore-683x1024.webp?resize=450%2C675&ssl=1 "And God gave Solomon wisdom and very much understanding and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the seashore. And Solomon's wisdom was greater than the wisdom of all the children of the east and all the wisdom of Egypt. For he became wiser than all men, [wiser] than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Calcol and Darda, the sons of Mahol. And his fame was among all the surrounding nations. And he spoke three thousand proverbs, and his songs numbered a thousand and five. And he discoursed about trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon to the hyssop that shoots forth out of the wall; he also discoursed about animals and about birds and about creeping things and about fish. And they came from all the peoples to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom. 1 Kings 4:29-34")
Solomon’s God-given wisdom made him great in the world in his days; people came from far and wide to listen to him and hear his amazing discourses.
Solomon prayed to God and God asked him what does he want from Him; Solomon’s request was that he would have wisdom and an understanding heart to judge God’s people (1 Kings 3:5-9).
God gave him what he requested, and Solomon had a God-given wisdom which was so great and so amazing.
God gave him very much understanding and largeness of heart, even as the sand on the seashore (1 Kings 4:29-34).
In his wisdom, Solomon spoke three thousand proverbs and wrote one thousand and five songs (1 Kings 4:32).
He also discoursed about trees, animals, birds, creeping things, and fish (v. 33).
He truly had an amazing gift of wisdom and understanding from God.
However, his wisdom was absolutely in the physical realm, without any spiritual element.
This is different from Paul’s spiritual wisdom; the wisdom of Paul is seen in his fourteen epistles in the New Testament.
Paul’s wisdom was a spiritual wisdom concerning Christ and the church.
He wrote concerning Christ making His home in our hearts (Eph. 3:17), having our being according to the spirit (Rom. 8:4), and the divine Spirit and the human spirit being one (v. 16).
From the writings of Paul we can see that he saw God’s economy, which was unveiled to him in spirit; he saw what was hidden in the heart of God from the beginning, and he spoke concerning it.
He also wrote concerning Christ becoming the Spirit, and this Spirit is the all-inclusive Spirit, the compound Spirit, the life-giving Spirit, the indwelling Spirit, the anointing Spirit, the revealing Spirit, and the consummated Spirit – the Spirit of Jesus Christ – as the consummation of the processed Triune God.
What kind of wisdom is this! We may highly regard Solomon especially when we read the book of Proverbs, for his God-given gift of wisdom is quite spectacular, and the human wisdom conveyed in the proverbs is impressive.
However, due to the fact that Solomon did not have a proper spiritual life before God and did not grow unto maturity before God, he failed miserably, to the extent that he lost the enjoyment of the good land, and his descendants even lost most of the good land. Oh, Lord Jesus!
Solomon’s God-given wisdom made him great in the world in his days, but his wisdom was absolutely in the physical realm, without any spiritual element.
Solomon’s wisdom was just a shadow of the real wisdom that was to come, and it was altogether from the wisdom of Paul (1 Cor. 1:24, 30).
May we seek wisdom, the true wisdom, the spiritual wisdom, the wisdom that is Christ Himself; this is the wisdom that Paul possessed and shared.
May we seek not only the wisdom that is in the physical realm and is a gift given by God or the wisdom in the psychological realm but truly the wisdom in the spiritual realm, the spiritual wisdom.
Paul’s wisdom was a spiritual wisdom concerning Christ making His home in our hearts (Eph. 3:17), our walking and having our being according to the spirit (Rom. 8:4), and the two spirits—the divine Spirit and the human spirit—mingled together as one spirit (v. 16; 1 Cor. 6:17). This is real wisdom.
The book of Proverbs may enlighten us concerning some of the principles of the human life, but the spiritual wisdom expressed in Paul’s writings speaks concerning our inner experience of Christ for the building up of the church as the Body of Christ.
Lord Jesus, we want to seek and have true wisdom, the spiritual wisdom. We open to You, dear Lord. We treasure Christ as the wisdom of God. Grant us to have the spiritual wisdom concerning Christ making His home in our hearts for the building up of the church. May we be filled with the excellent knowledge of Christ for the church to be built up as the Body of Christ. Amen, Lord, we praise You for coming into us as the Spirit to be mingled with our spirit. Grant us to have spiritual wisdom, the wisdom which comes from God and which is Christ Himself! May we appreciate the spiritual wisdom much more than any God-given gift of human wisdom.
God is Real Wisdom and Christ has become our Wisdom, making us One with God to be God’s Masterpiece
The Bible is composed of the Old Testament and the New Testament. In the Old Testament, we see many types, figures, and shadows, and in the New Testament, we see the fulfilment of these types, figures, and shadows.
Solomon and his wisdom are just a shadow of Christ and the real spiritual wisdom which was to come.
We may highly regard Solomon with his God-given gift of wisdom, but the Lord Jesus said that John the Baptist is greater than anyone who went before him (Matt. 11:11).
However, we as believers in Christ are even higher than John the Baptist, for we are citizens of the kingdom of the heavens who are born of God.
We are children of God, and in God’s economy, we believers in Christ are greater than Solomon. Solomon was a wise man full of understanding, but he was just a man.
We were born into mankind, but we have been regenerated, transformed, and uplifted to be part of another kind, the God-man kind.
All genuine believers in Christ are part of the new creation; they are not just men – they are God-men. Hallelujah!
And the Spirit of reality is leading us into all the reality of what Christ is, what He has done, what He has accomplished, and what He has spoken (John 16:12-15).
Paul received spiritual wisdom from God, and the mysteries of God’s economy were disclosed to him (Eph. 3:3-5).
If we today want to receive and know the highest wisdom in the universe, we must come to the New Testament, in particular we must read and dive into the Epistles of Paul.
We must get into the intrinsic significance of the revelation of the Bible, and especially we must get into the depths of the crystallization of the truths in Paul’s Epistles.
In his writings, we see that the real wisdom is God, and God is embodied in Christ, who has become wisdom to us from God (1 Cor. 1:24, 30). Hallelujah!
Christ is our wisdom; He is wisdom to us from God to make us one with God and even to make us God in life and in nature but not in the Godhead.
This is true wisdom, for it is God in Christ as our spiritual wisdom.
When we exercise our spirit, for wisdom is in our spirit, over the writings of Paul, we will know and receive real wisdom.
![That by revelation the mystery was made known to me, as I have written previously in brief, By which, in reading [it,] you can perceive my understanding in the mystery of Christ, Which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in spirit. Eph. 3:3-5](https://i0.wp.com/www.agodman.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/That-by-revelation-the-mystery-was-made-known-to-me-as-I-have-written-previously-in-brief-1-683x1024.webp?resize=450%2C675&ssl=1 "That by revelation the mystery was made known to me, as I have written previously in brief, By which, in reading [it,] you can perceive my understanding in the mystery of Christ, Which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in spirit. Eph. 3:3-5")
What the depths of the divine revelation in God’s word tell us is that God wants not only to fellowship with us but also come into us, regenerate us, transform us, renew us, perfect us, reconstitute us, build us up, and glorify us so that we may be the same as God in life, nature, expression, and function, but not in the Godhead.
This is real spiritual wisdom.
God is working from eternity to eternity to gain a masterpiece, the church as the Body of Christ; He is making all His believers the same as God in life and nature so that they become part of God’s masterpiece, His poem!
This masterpiece, the one new man that fulfils God’s original purpose in creating man (Gen. 1:24), will display His infinite wisdom and divine design (1 Cor. 1:24, 30; Eph. 2:10; 3:9-11).
May the eyes of our hearts be enlightened so that we may see Christ and the economy of God.
May we be enlightened in our spirit to see and know the spiritual wisdom which is Christ as our wisdom.
And may we cooperate with Christ as the wisdom of God to us in our daily experience so that we may advance in the process of His wonderful organic salvation until we become the same as He is in every possible way. Wow, what wisdom!
What an infinite and divine design! One day we will all see the unveiling of the masterpiece God has been working throughout the generations.
This masterpiece will bring glory to God and will shame His enemy. Hallelujah!
Hallelujah, it is of God that we are in Christ Jesus! Praise the Lord, Christ became wisdom to us from God, both righteousness and sanctification and redemption. Amen, Lord, we turn our hearts to You; remove any veil so that we may see Christ and the wonderful economy of God. Enlighten the eyes of our hearts so that we may see, know, and be filled with Christ and remain in the process of God’s wonderful organic salvation! Praise the Lord, our God not only regenerated us but He is also renewing us, transforming us, perfecting us, and building us up to make us part of His masterpiece! Wow, Lord, we want to cooperate with You for the building up of the church as the Body of Christ, the one new man, the bride of Christ, and the corporate warrior consummating in the New Jerusalem! Hallelujah, one day God will unveil His masterpiece, His poem, and His infinite wisdom and divine design will be manifested to the whole universe! Praise the Lord!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by brother Minoru Chen in the message, and portions from, Life-study of 1&2 Kings, pp. 18-25 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-study of 1 and 2 Kings (2022 summer training), week 5, entitled, Natural Ability versus the Resurrected Ability of the Maturity of Life for the Building up of the Church as the Organic Body of Christ.
- Hymns on this topic:
– O God, in Christ all focused is / Thy wisdom with Thy grace; / As wisdom Thou mad’st Him to us, / In Him Thy way we trace. / What Thou has planned is all in Him, / Thy way of grace is He; / In Him, Thy Wisdom, we have all, / That glory be to Thee. (Hymns #24, stanzas 1 and 2)
– All is in Christ; / God’s dear Son is Lord of all. / Jesus Christ is life’s perfection, / Perfect love and perfect light. / Son of God, the true reflection / Of the Father’s radiance bright. / All the treasures of God’s riches, / All the secrets of His wisdom, / All in Christ are hid away. / Let His name be praised today! (Hymns #515, stanza 1)
– We, once dead in our offences, / Walking in the worldly course, / Lusts of flesh and mind fulfilling, / Satan and his hosts their source, / God with Christ has resurrected, / Seated in the heavenlies; / We, His masterpiece, created / In Christ Jesus, Him to please. (Hymns #823, stanza 3)
About aGodMan
The disciples could not have fully understood the Lord’s word concerning John the Baptist. Later He told them that the Spirit of reality would come and disclose all things to them (John 16:12-15). The mysteries of God’s economy were disclosed mainly to Paul (Eph. 3:3-5)… Today, if we would know the highest wisdom in the universe, we must come to Paul’s Epistles. We must get into the intrinsic significance of the revelation of the Bible, especially the crystallization of the truths in Paul’s Epistles. The real wisdom is God, and God is embodied in Christ, who has become our wisdom to be in us (1 Cor. 1:24, 30), making us one with God and making us God in life and in nature. What a wisdom this is! (Life-study of 1 & 2 Kings, pp. 24-25, by Witness Lee)
Christ became wisdom to us from God as three vital things in God’s salvation:
It is of God that we participate in such a complete and perfect salvation, which makes our entire being — spirit, soul, and body — organically one with Christ and makes Christ everything to us. This is altogether of God, not of ourselves, that we may boast and glory in Him, not in ourselves.
1 Cor. 1:30, footnote 2, Recovery Version Bible
We have the apostle Paul. If we would know the highest wisdom in the universe we need to come to his epistles.
The real wisdom is God who is embodied in Christ who has been wrought and constituted into Paul’s being as his everything!!
So Paul’s wisdom is not merely a matter of gift but a matter of life.
In such a wisdom Paul became the same as God in life, nature, expression, and function.
What an encouragement!!!
We should reject Solomon’s worldly wisdom and pursue Paul’s spiritual wisdom.
We need God’s wisdom in our spirit and God’s understanding in our mind.
Therefore, we should not overly appreciate Solomon’s glory.
What Solomon had and did was ultimately “vanity of vanities.”
The mysteries of God’s economy were disclosed mainly to Paul.
To him were given the highest mysteries in the universe.
Like Paul, we should treasure Christ, the real wisdom of God, and this wisdom is now in us.
How wise is our God! He is wisdom itself, and this wisdom is Christ; Christ is the wisdom from God to us. Amen!
We want to pursue and know this wisdom, which is Christ Himself for our experience and enjoyment for the building up of the Body of Christ!