“Everyone then who hears these words of Mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.

And everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.” (Matthew 7:24-27)

I have often asked audiences to tell me the difference between the wise man and the foolish man. Very few people answer my query correctly. Many will say the wise man built his house on Christ, and that is incorrect. The answer is in the first eleven words of Matthew 7:24, “Everyone then who hears these words of Mine and does them.” The wise man was obedient, the foolish man was not. Perhaps they both attended the same church and listened to the same teaching week by week. Maybe they were both a part of a small group who was committed to reading the Bible every day. We do not know the circumstances, only that the wise man obeyed the words of Jesus and the foolish man did not. Simple obedience led to a house built on the rock, which endured the rain, the floods, and the winds.

Now lets examine the life of Solomon to see how he fared in obeying the words of God as revealed in Deuteronomy.

King Solomon

King Solomon had great wisdom. “King Solomon excelled all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom. And the whole earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put into his mind.” (1 Kings 10:23-24) As King I assume he must have read Deuteronomy 17, where God gives specific instructions to Israel about how to choose a king and how the king should conduct himself.

To the People of Israel

“When you come to the land that Jehovah your God is giving you, and you possess it and dwell in it and then say, ‘I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are around me,’ you may indeed set a king over you whom Jehovah your God will choose. One from among your brothers you shall set as king over you. You may not put a foreigner over you, who is not your brother.” (Verses 14-15) As in much of Deuteronomy, this is direct and forthright. Let God choose your king, a brother from among your tribes. He shall not be a foreigner.

What the King Shall Avoid

In verses 16-17, God teaches what the king should not do: “He must not acquire many horses for himself or cause the people to return to Egypt in order to acquire many horses, since Jehovah has said to you, ‘You shall never return that way again.’ And he shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away, nor shall he acquire for himself excessive silver and gold.” This is also very clear: don’t accumulate a bunch of horses, don’t buy them from Egypt, do not marry many women so they don’t turn your heart away, and don’t acquire massive wealth.

What the King Shall Pursue

Then in verses 18-20, the king is given a specific directive of what to do: “When he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law, approved by the Levitical priests. And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear Jehovah his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them, that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, either to the right hand or to the left, so that he may continue long in his kingdom, he and his children, in Israel.”

For Your Edification

Notice the phrase “a copy of this law.” In Hebrew, this is mishneh hatorah. Mishneh means “copy,” and torah means “law.” In the Septuagint (a Greek rendering of the Old Testament), it is deutero-nomion, deutero meaning “copy” and nomion meaning “law.” You can probably discern that this phrase is why the 5th book of the Bible, the one most quoted by Jesus, is entitled Deuteronomy. It means a copy, or essence, of the law.

Summation

When God chooses a king from the tribes of Israel, he is not to get horses from Egypt, many wives, nor excessive amounts of silver and gold; instead, he is to obtain the scroll of Deuteronomy from the Levites, write a copy for himself, and then read from it every day of his life. If the king does this, God promises five results of his obedience:

1. He will develop reverence for God: “Learn to fear Jehovah.”
2. He will be obedient “by keeping all the words of this law…and doing them.”
3. He will be humble: “His heart may not be lifted up above his brothers.”
4. He will be balanced: “He may not turn aside…either to the right hand or to the left.”
5. His family will live long and prosper: “He may continue long in his kingdom, he and his children.”

Was Solomon Truly Wise?

In reading the next several books of the Bible and following the lives of Saul, David, and Solomon, I believe only David took these words to heart, for David loved God and His Law. Sadly Solomon, who was the son of David and the wisest king in Israel’s history, did not follow these exhortations given in Deuteronomy 17. Consider the life of Solomon as described in 1 Kings and 2 Chronicles.

Solomon disobeyed each of these directives. You can read the full text in 1 Kings 10 and 11. I have chosen a few verses to show how the wisest man on the planet did not obey the clear and specific warnings in Scripture and suffered, as did his family, and his kingdom.

“The horses which Solomon had were brought out of Egypt.” (1 Kings 10:28)

“He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart. For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods; and his heart was not perfect with Jehovah his God, as was the heart of David his father.” (1 Kings 11:3-4)

“The weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred threescore and six talents of gold.” (1 Kings 10:14)

“King Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth in riches.” (1 Kings 10:23)

The account of the life of Solomon, how he fell, how his kingdom was divided, and how his own heart turned away from God is one of the saddest stories I know. I hope that I learn from this account of Solomon’s life and do not repeat it. If the wisest man could overlook three simple commands and have his heart turn away from God, then so can I. It is for this reason, and many others, that I continue to read the Bible every day and apply what God reveals to me as I do. I want to be a true wise man. A humble obedient servant of Jesus.

Podcast 500 includes more discussion on the life of Solomon and is very similar to this missive. It was posted on June 16.

Podcasts

489 Deuteronomy 4-16, Hear O Israel
490 Deuteronomy 17-28, Read Every Day
491 Deuteronomy 29-Joshua 8, Circumcise Your Heart
492 Joshua 9-22, The Sun Stands Still
493 Joshua 23-Judges 10, Not One Word has Failed
494 Judges 11-Ruth 4, Where You Go, I Will Go
495 1 Samuel 1-14, Speak Lord
496 1 Samuel 15-27, Trust and Obey
497 1 Samuel 28-2 Samuel 10, The Demise of Saul, the Ascendancy of David
498 2 Samuel 11-22, David as King
499 2 Samuel 23-1 Kings 8, Solomon’s Ascension
500 1 Kings 9-22, Solomon to Elijah

As we continue our journey through the Old Testament follow along with us. The “OT Schedule” found on the Building Faith Families website at Bible Resources. We are reading and discussing approximately 400 verses each week. Together we are doing this!!

Upcoming Speaking Events

June 25, 2026 Online Event, where I will be presenting at Noon.
August 8, 2026 Ohio, Special Needs Conference

Looking Up,
Steve