Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these.
Jesus’ statement from the Sermon on the Mount alludes to Israel’s Golden Age, a time of military might, ambitious building projects and international commerce; a period when pomp and circumstance impressed foreign diplomats, the royal navy traded as far away as the Indian Ocean and the fledgling nation of Israel became a force to be reckoned with.
But all these successes of Solomon came at a huge price. As the rich got richer, the poor grew poorer. As he appeased his 700 political wives and 300 concubines, he allowed their pagan worship practices to find a firm foothold in Jerusalem. As he built ships and temples and palaces, he enslaved conquered peoples and conscripted his own citizens. Civil war followed immediately after Solomon’s death and the Golden Age became a wistful memory.
Once again you will be reading from the tradition of the Kings, the Court historians and comparing their version of the history with the Chroniclers.
As You Read resource for Week 32
