Why Is Solomon Such A Big Deal?

It seems so wrong that everyone under the sun suffers the same fate. Already twisted by evil, people choose their own mad course, for they have no hope. There is nothing ahead but death anyway. There is hope only for the living. As they say, “It’s better to be a live dog than a dead lion!” [Ecclesiastes 9.3-4]

This reference is one of many in Ecclesiastes that would indicate that Solomon really had no grasp of life (or reward) after death.

Without some idea that death is not final, it is easy to understand how Solomon could be so conflicted in all his wisdom and power. Frankly, I am surprised that Solomon would even acknowledge God at all if he really felt like this life is all there is to it!

It remains an irony to me that Solomon, in all his recorded spiritual shortsightedness regarding life and reward after death, was one who had experienced the manifest presence of God (back when the Temple was dedicated). How could one experience that cloud of God's presence and then declare that this life is the sum total of one's existence?

I continue to be amazed today that Solomon 'made the cut' of the Bible with his conflicted and sometimes very shortsighted writings in light of his recorded betrayal of God. Why is Solomon given so much print? Why is Solomon such a big deal?

Father, I know there is so much more that I do not know than what I do know. I am probably missing some important facts about Solomon, but I hardly see today how his recorded 'wisdom' is such a big deal when he repeatedly concludes that this life is the sum total of one's existence.