Politician, King, Author, Wiseman, Song Writer, Scientist, Scholar, International Advisor

Solomon did what Samuel had warned Israel about if they received the king they had asked for.
(1 Samuel 8:10-22). King Solomon made a large central government in Jerusalem, staffed it and
then increased the taxes on the rest of the nation. The nation was divided into twelve districts
(map here of districts) which were roughly divided according to their tribal territory assigned by Joshua. Each district would provide the financing of the kingdom for a month each year. These
taxes and provisions would be collected by the district’s chief officer. The tribe of Judah was exempt from taking their turn which, obviously, was not going to be accepted easily by the northern tribes.

Solomon’s quest for wisdom was a traditional value in the ancient Near East. Egyptian writings
and sayings of wisdom from Amenemope a hundred years before Solomon are still available.
Even in the Akkadian Empire (Mesopotamia) of 2300 BC wisdom was sought and recorded.
Some of the wisdom from the Akkadian Empire comes to us in the recordings of the
Wisdom of Ahiqar which can be seen here and here.

The Bible in 1 Kings 4:30-31 mentions the wisdom of the East and the wisdom of Egypt and even mentions some of the individual wisemen – Ethan, Heman, Kalkol and Darda. These are men
whose sayings and thoughts have probably come down to us in some form or revision through
other writers from the ancient world. 1 Chronicles 2:6 lists these same men as being descendants
of Tamar and Judah. They were skilled not only in wisdom, but also in music (see Heman’s song
in Psalms 88 and Ethan’s song in Psalm 89) and in dance since the word mahol in 1 Kings 4:31 means “dancer.”

Solomon was greater and more famous than all of these men in Egypt, in the East and in all the recorded history. Solomon spoke 3,000 proverbs and wrote 1,005 songs. In the modern Western world this would mean Solomon was being quoted in self-help books and at business seminars,
he would be listened to on i-tunes with a continual musical presence in the nation’s top forty pop songs. But, more Solomon was also a scientist speaking about the smallest plants to the largest trees with insight into zoology, also. Solomon’s talents made him more than a mere national celebrity. Solomon’s fame spread into other countries so that even kings sent their diplomats and representatives to Solomon to seek his advice concerning political and international situations.  

Solomon was “the Man!”

“The coming decade of decision will be marked either by evangelical penetration of the world, or by the world’s penetration of the evangelical movement and an inner circle’s reactionary withdrawal into some modern
Dead Sea Caves.”
– Carl F. H. Henry

Regeneration – “re-” and “generate” are of Latin origin and mean “generated over again”, “born again”, or “born a second time” (John 3:7; Titus 3:5; 1 John 3:2; 1 John
3:1; 5:1; 2 Corinthians 5:17). God is the father of the new birth (John 1:12, 13).

The Holy Spirit is the active agent that causes the new birth (John 3:5-6). The Word of God is the means by which the Holy Spirit produces the new birth because a man cannot believe in something of which he is ignorant (1 Peter 1:23; Romans 10:17). Faith is the mechanism that accomplishes the new birth (Galatians 3:26; John 1:12). The resurrection of Jesus
Christ is the power of the new birth (1 Peter 1:3). The blood of the new covenant is the starting point of the new birth (1 Peter 1:18-19).