This article is part of a series on Old Testament Christophanies. For important background information, see An Introduction to Old Testament Christophanies–with Justin Martyr.
The account of Solomon being gifted his great wisdom and understanding is recorded in 1 Kings 3 and in 2 Chronicles 1. Toward the beginning of his reign, we read that king Solomon loved the Lord. He walked in the statutes of his father David, except that he still offered sacrifices and burnt offerings on the high places (1 Kgs 3:3). While the tabernacle was on a high place in Gibeon at the time, the ark wasn’t. David had previously taken it to the tent he prepared in Jerusalem (2 Chr 1:3–4). Solomon travelled to Gibeon and made a thousand burnt offerings on the bronze altar in the tabernacle (1 Kgs 3:4; 2 Chr 1:3, 5–6).
That night the Lord visited him in a dream:
In Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream at night; and God said, “Ask what you wish Me to give you” (1 Kgs 3:5).
In the 2 Chronicles version, “God” appeared to Solomon (2 Chr 1:7). And instead of stating that the Lord appeared, the Targums state that the Lord “revealed Himself” to Solomon.[1] The Son of God appeared, revealing God to Solomon. The Lord had previously appeared to Jacob in a dream in Bethel (Gen 28:13). Jacob would later refer to his visitor as the God of his fathers, the God who had been his shepherd, and the Angel who had redeemed him from all evil (Gen 48:15–16). The same visitor now visited Solomon in a dream.
Solomon answered the Lord by proclaiming that He had shown David great lovingkindness by giving him a son to sit on the throne. Because he was a little child set over a nation of innumerable people, Solomon asked for wisdom and knowledge to judge them with. Solomon’s selfless answer so pleased the Lord that He gave the king a wise and discerning heart so that no one, before or after, would be like Solomon. The Lord also gave Solomon what he didn’t ask for: enough wealth and honor to make him greater than all the other kings of the earth (1 Kgs 3:6–13; 2 Chr 1:8–12). Finally, the Lord promised Solomon that if he walked in the ways of the Lord as David did, keeping the statutes and commandments, then Solomon would have a long life (1 Kgs 3:14).
After Solomon awoke from the dream, he returned to Jerusalem and stood before the ark of the covenant. Solomon made burnt and peace offerings there and he prepared a feast for all his servants (1 Kgs 3:15). Now that he began to offer sacrifices before the ark in Jerusalem, Solomon fully walked in the statutes of his father David. Although it wasn’t sinful for Solomon to have offered sacrifices in Gibeon at the time, the Lord desired that they be made where the temple would soon be built. The Son of God appeared to Solomon in order to turn him into the man he needed to become—the man who would continue to reign as king of Israel and oversee construction of the temple.
As an exalted king greater than other kings, Solomon was a type of the King of kings, Jesus Christ. By blessing and directing Solomon, the Son of God ensured that his own ancestor[2] pointed to His future rule.
The Merciful Son
The Lord’s second appearance to Solomon is found in 1 Kings 9 and in 2 Chronicles 7. Previous to this appearance, Solomon had finished construction of the temple and he had the ark of the covenant brought into it (1 Kgs 8:6; 2 Chr 5:7). He then gave a prayer of dedication that ended with a request for the Lord God to arise to His resting place (2 Chr 6:41). Immediately following the prayer, fire came down from heaven and consumed the offerings made there. The Shekinah glory so filled the temple that the priests couldn’t enter (2 Chr 7:1–2). Yahweh’s very presence was now in the temple. Then, Solomon and the people dedicated the temple by offering a sacrifice of 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep (1 Kgs 8:62–63; 2 Chr 7:5). The Lord first visited Solomon after he offered a thousand burnt offerings at Gibeon. And now, the Lord would visit Solomon again after an even larger sacrifice. Soon after the temple was dedicated, the Lord appeared to Solomon “as He had appeared to him at Gibeon” (1 Kgs 9:2). This suggests that the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream, as He had before.
The Lord appeared to let Solomon know that his prayer was heard:
Then the LORD appeared to Solomon at night and said to him, “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice” (2 Chr 7:12).
The Targum reads, “During the night the Memra [Word] of the Lord was revealed to Solomon and said to him: ‘Your prayer has been heard before me, and I have chosen this place that it may become for me a house for the sacrifice of offerings.’”[3] Even though it likely happened in a dream, Solomon couldn’t have seen God the Father, who no one has seen at any time (John 1:18; 1 Tim 6:16). Solomon beheld the Word, and the Word spoke to Solomon as only God could.
The Lord explained that if He brought judgment that there was a way for the people to find mercy: “and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land” (2 Chr 7:13–14). This well-known promise of mercy came from the Son of God!
The Lord continued speaking, explaining that He would pay special attention to the temple. He chose and consecrated that house so that His name would be there forever. He would always watch the temple because His heart was there. Solomon was promised that if he walked before the Lord as David did, then the Lord would establish his dynasty. However, if Solomon proved unfaithful, then the nation would be uprooted from the land and the Lord would cast the temple out of his sight (1 Kgs 9:3–7; 2 Chr 7:15–20). According to the Targum, the Lord would remove the temple far away from and “opposite my Word.”[4] Once set apart from the Son of God, the temple would be reduced to rubble. The ruins would become a testimony of God’s judgment (1 Kgs 9:7–9; 2 Chr 7:20–22). This came to pass when the Babylonian army destroyed the temple in 587 or 586 BC (2 Kgs 25:8–9; 2 Chr 36:19; Jer 52:12–13).
When Solomon was old, his numerous wives turned his heart after false gods and away from the Lord. His heart wasn’t wholly devoted to the LORD as David’s was (1 Kgs 11:4–8). In response to this we read, “Now the LORD was angry with Solomon because his heart was turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice” (1 Kgs 11:9). The two appearances being mentioned at this point highlights how critical they were in directing Solomon earlier in his life. But despite being blessed by a visit from the Son of God two times, Solomon still turned to other gods. Continuing in 1 Kings 11:11–13, the Lord said that He would tear away all but one tribe from Solomon.[5] Judah would remain for the sake of David and for Jerusalem, the city chosen by the Lord. Though his son fell into sin and disobedience, the Lord remembered His covenant promises to David (2 Sam 7:8–16; 1 Chr 17:11–14; 2 Chr 6:16). King Messiah would still come from the Davidic line—not because of Solomon’s faithfulness, but because of the Lord’s.
[1] Targum Jonathan to 1 Kings 3:5 and The Targum of Chronicles: 2 Chronicles 1:7.
[2] Solomon was Jesus’ legal ancestor through His stepfather Joseph (Matt 1:6–7).
[3] The Targum of Chronicles: 2 Chronicles 7:12, in The Aramaic Bible, vol. 19.
[4] Targum Jonathan to 1 Kings 9:7.
[5] Benjamin, a small tribe, had largely been absorbed into Judah.
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