How can we know whether or not King Solomon went to heaven?
Did Solomon go to heaven? He started out a very faithful follower but ended an idol worshiper. How do we know?
1 Kings 11:1 - 43
ESV - 1 Now King Solomon loved many foreign women, along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women. 2 From the nations concerning which the Lord had said to the people of Israel, "You shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you, for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods." Solomon clung to these in love.
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Asked September 09 2019
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Angie Batia
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Tim Maas
Although we cannot (in my opinion) know definitely, I believe that Solomon was saved, despite his idolatry in his later years. My main reasons for this belief are, first, the fact that God told Solomon that He would not take the kingdom away during Solomon's lifetime, and also that He would leave two of the twelve tribes (Judah and Benjamin) to Solomon's son (even though God also said in 1 Kings 11:12-13 that this mercy was shown for David's sake), rather than punishing Solomon immediately, or taking the entire kingdom away from his descendants. Also, despite Solomon's shortcomings, he was still spoken of favorably by Jesus in reference to his glory (Matthew 6:29) and also his wisdom (Matthew 12:42) (even though Jesus made the comment about Solomon's glory in an inferior sense in comparison to the beauty of the lilies of the field, and about Solomon's wisdom in connection with proclaiming that He was even greater than Solomon). In addition, it seems to me that God would not have allowed Solomon's writings (Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon) to be included in the canon of Scripture if he had not ultimately been saved.
Aurel Gheorghe
The way I see it, this is a two-part question: a) Was Solomon saved? And b) if saved, did Solomon went to heaven? - I will try to answer both. a) I believe that there is abundant Bible evidence that Solomon is a saved person. Solomon, like the rest of us, is saved by grace through faith not because of what he did or did not do (Eph 2:8-9). Nowhere in the Bible we can read that the Lord forsook Solomon. Ecclesiastes, a book that Solomon wrote in his final days of his life, indicates a sincere repentant heart for chasing the wind most of his adult life (Eccl 1:14-17, 12:8-10). After a long and full life, Solomon’s conclusion is that most important is to fear God and keep His commandments – not exactly what a lost man would contemplate (Eccl 12:13-14). a) According with the Bible, Solomon is sleeping in the grave just like his father king David (1 Kings 11:43; 1 Kings 2:10). Acts 2:29 tells that David is still in his grave: “Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.” Although we know that David died as saved man, he is not in heaven yet: “For David did not ascend into the heavens…”(Acts 2:34). Conclusion - if Solomon is saved (as I believe he is), he is not in heaven right now, but "sleeping" in his grave, awaiting the resurrection of the saved (1 Thess 4:13-18; Rev 20:4-6)
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