.
● Ecc 2:8a . . I further amassed silver and gold and treasures of kings and
provinces;
Solomon's wealth was what's known as tangible assets as opposed to assets on
paper. The wealth off many of today's rich men is tied up in investments like
derivatives, stocks, bonds, and funds: but much of Solomon's wealth was in
precious metals-- actual metals that you could hold in your hand rather represented
by an on-paper, Wall Street trading account. Though many of today's rich men can
show you on-record that they own a certain number of ounces of gold, silver,
palladium, and/or platinum et al; where is it? Not in their own hands that's for sure;
no, it's in somebody else's hands. Not so Solomon.
"The Queen of Sheba presented the king with one hundred and twenty talents of
gold, and a large quantity of spices, and precious stones." (1Kgs 10:10)
"Moreover, Hiram's fleet, which carried gold from Ophir, brought in from Ophir a
huge quantity of almug wood and precious stones." (1Kgs 10:11)
"The weight of the gold which Solomon received every year was 666 talents of gold,
besides what came from tradesmen, from the traffic of the merchants, and from all
the kings of Arabia and the governors of the regions.
. . King Solomon made 200 shields of beaten gold-- 600 shekels of gold to each
shield --and 300 bucklers of beaten gold --three minas of gold to each buckler. The
king placed them in the Lebanon Forest House.
. .The king also made a large throne of ivory, and he overlaid it with refined gold.
Six steps led up to the throne, and the throne had a back with a rounded top, and
arms on either side of the seat. Two lions stood beside the arms, and twelve lions
stood on the six steps, six on either side. No such throne was ever made for any
other kingdom.
. . All King Solomon's drinking cups were of gold, and all the utensils of the
Lebanon Forest House were of pure gold: silver did not count for anything in
Solomon’s days. For the king had a Tarshish fleet on the sea, along with Hiram's
fleet. Once every three years, the Tarshish fleet came in, bearing gold and silver,
ivory, apes, and peacocks. King Solomon excelled all the kings on earth in wealth
and in wisdom." (1Kgs 10:14-23)
Solomon's personal fortune, in adjusted dollars, and counting his property, his
metals, and his livestock, must have easily exceeded Bill Gates' in that day. But
wealth and luxury just didn't satisfy Solomon. I think many of us commoners would
be happy not to work another day for the rest of our lives. Or would we? You just
never know. Riches don't seem to protect the rich from despondence, boredom,
depression, and feelings of failure and futility.
In 1997, Michael Hutchence, the lead singer of a really cool rock group called INXS,
had a pleasant dinner with his dad and then went back to his hotel room and
hanged himself with a leather belt. He was 37 years old. What the was that all
about?! Hutchence was young, healthy, wealthy, successful, popular, and doing well
on the music charts. At dinner with his dad, he had expressed concern about the
band's popularity and its future.
What is that saying? Hutchence's happiness was all bound up in music? So his
concern over the band's possible decline in popularity made him despondent
enough to end his life? It just doesn't make sense.
So what does it really take to make some people happy? Well, for Solomon, it
wasn't wealth and success; and, apparently for Hutchence, wealth and success
didn't do it for him either: nor did youth, fame, nor popularity because real peace is
psychological, and nowhere else. When you've got stuff in your head like bad
memories, regrets, inner conflicts, a poor self image, or low self esteem and
feelings of failure, inferiority, inadequacy, and futility; nothing on earth can remedy
that: not therapy, not pills, not dope, not anything-- nothing short of starting life all
over again can get that stuff out of your head.
● Ecc 2:8b . . and I got myself male and female singers,
Makes one wonder what kind of music a brilliant, sophisticated guy like Solomon
preferred. Rock? Jazz? Pop? Chorale? Rap? Country? Classical? Folk? Blue Grass?
Opera? Broadway? Ballads? Spiritual? Barber Shop? New Age? Techno? Fusion?
Since electricity had not yet been harnessed in his day, the music available was
somewhat primitive, and it was all live and all natural: nothing recorded, nothing
electronic, nothing mixed, and nothing amplified.
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