The Meaning of the Number Three in Scripture—Part 16

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit

Introduction and Review

This is the sixteenth part of a series that examines the number three and how it categorizes themes in Scripture. The previous lesson studied the life of King David and how his life events are associated with this number. (Links to all articles in this series are listed at the end of this installment.)

This lesson will explore the lives of King Solomon and Rehoboam and how the number three highlights certain elements associated with them.

Solomon was established on the Throne of David.

King Solomon

First Kings opens with David's death and the tumultuous transition of the throne to Solomon, who was known for his God-given wisdom.

Adonijah, David's fourth son, born to Him at Hebron, presumptuously made himself king, assuming that he was next in line to the throne. However, King David had promised Solomon, his fourth son, born to him in Jerusalem, the position, but David never enforced it. As Adonijah celebrates his self-exalted position, Nathan, the prophet [mentioned 9 (3 x 3) times], encourages Bathsheba, Solomon's mother, to make an emergency appeal to the king regarding the matter. David calls up three people to rectify the situation.

"Call to me

Zadok the priest,
Nathan the prophet, and
Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada."

So they came before the king.

— 1 Kings 1:32

David instructs these three on how to secure Solomon's throne. These instructions include three mentions of a mule. Meridith Hodges notes the following in her article, Mules and Donkeys in the Bible.

Solomon's riding on David's mule in the company of David's advisors gave a clear message: he was the successor David had chosen.

Each mention of the she-mule Solomon being anointed king is riddled throughout with that language of arising, fitting with the themes of the number three.

"Take with you the servants of your lord, and have Solomon my son ride on my own mule,
and take him down to Gihon.
There let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him king over Israel; and blow the horn, and say, Long live King Solomon!'

— 1 Kings 1: 33-34

So Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the Cherethites, and the Pelethites went down and had Solomon ride on King David’s mule, and took him to Gihon. Then Zadok the priest took a horn of oil from the tabernacle and anointed Solomon. And they blew the horn, and all the people said, Long live King Solomon!” And all the people went up after him; and the people played the flutes and rejoiced with great joy, so that the earth seemed to split with their sound.
— 1 Kings 1:38-40

Then Jonathan answered and said to Adonijah, “No! Our lord King David has made Solomon king. The king has sent with him Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the Cherethites, and the Pelethites; and they have made him ride on the king’s mule. So Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet have anointed him king at Gihon; and they have gone up from there rejoicing, so that the city is in an uproar. This is the noise that you have heard.
— 1 Kings 1: 43-45

In 1 Kings 2, Solomon's establishment on the throne is expressed three times in terms of Arising. Solomon rehearses this next portion after his mother suggests he give his father's concubine to Adonijah, who had already tried to take the throne.

Now therefore, as the Lord lives, who has confirmed me and set me on the throne of David my father, and who has established (caused to arise) a house
— 1 Kings 2:24

The remaining two occur after a few more executions of remnant traitors to the kingdom.

But King Solomon shall be blessed, and the throne of David shall be established (risen) before the Lord forever.” So the king commanded Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, and he went out and struck him down, and he died. Thus, the kingdom was established (risen) in the hand of Solomon.
— 1 Kings 2:45-46

As discussed in an earlier section, the Hebrew word translated as "established" in these verses is the same word that means "raise up."

And God gave Solomon

wisdom
and understanding exceeding much,
and largeness of heart,

even as the sand that is on the seashore. Thus Solomon's wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the men of the East and all the wisdom of Egypt ... He spoke three thousand proverbs, and his songs were one thousand and five. (3 x 335).

— 1 Kings 4:30-32

Back to "wisdom" that always comes from above.

... the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.
— James 3:17

In this portion, the "threes" tell us that Solomon's wisdom was from above, as mentioned several times, and that God gave him this wisdom. The above-mentioned has been declared twice before. In chapter three, the first one is just after a wise judgment about two harlots who had babies, and one had died, when a "middle of the night" swap took place.

And it came to pass the third day after that I was delivered, that this woman was delivered also: and we were together; there was no stranger with us in the house, save we two in the house. And this woman's child died in the night, because she overlaid it. And she arose at midnight, and took my son from beside me, while thine handmaid slept, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom. And when I rose in the morning to give my child suck, behold, it was dead: but when I had considered it in the morning, behold, it was not my son, which I did bear.
— 1 Kings 3:18-21

An argument about what happened and whose child died ensued, and Solomon offered to cut the child in two. One is content to do this, but the other is willing to let the child go to protect it. Solomon then gives the baby to the mother, who truly cares for the son. When everyone heard this, they concluded the following.

... the wisdom of God was in him.
— 1 Kings 3:28

Its third occurrence is when Solomon agrees with Hiram to ship supplies for building the temple and other structures.

... the Lord gave Solomon wisdom, as he promised him, and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon; and the two made a league together. And King Solomon raised a levy out of all Israel; and the levy was thirty thousand men ... three thousand three hundred from the chiefs of Solomon's deputies, who supervised the people who labored in the work. And the king commanded them to quarry. (1)

large stones, (2)
costly stones, and (3)
hewn stones,

... to lay the foundation of the temple.

— 1 Kings 5:12

The building began in the 480th (3 x 160) year after the children of Israel came out of Egypt. Its height was thirty cubits, the same height as the ark. Upon completion, God gave three requirements and three promises.

Then the word of the Lord came to Solomon, saying: “Concerning this temple which you are building, if you

walk in My statutes,
Execute My judgments,
keep all My commandments, and walk in them,

then

I will perform My word with you, which I spoke to your father, David. And
I will dwell among the children of Israel,
and will not forsake My people Israel."

— 1 Kings 6:11-13

Some further details are given, and gold is frequently mentioned. In fact, it is named eleven times in chapter six. Three of those mentions are in one verse describing the inner sanctuary.

So Solomon overlaid the inside of the temple with pure gold. He stretched gold chains across the front of the inner sanctuary and overlaid it with gold.
— 1 Kings 6:21

Another three are discussed concerning the inner sanctuary and stones.

And he built the inner court with three rows of hewn stone and a row of cedar beams.
— 1 Kings 6:36

In Psalm 122, David writes about the prayer and purpose of, and for, the temple in Jerusalem, which is mentioned three times, along with the word shalom, which is also mentioned three times.

I was glad when they said to me,
"Let us go into the house of the Lord.”
Our feet have been standing
Within your gates, O Jerusalem!

Jerusalem is built
As a city that is compact together,
Where the tribes go up,
The tribes of the Lord,
To the Testimony of Israel,
To give thanks to the name of the Lord.
For thrones are set there for judgment,
The thrones of the house of David.

Pray for the peace (shalom) of Jerusalem:
"May they prosper who love you.
Peace (shalom) be within your walls,
Prosperity within your palaces."
For the sake of my brethren and companions,
I will now say, “Peace (shalom) be within you."
Because of the house of the Lord our God,
I will seek your good.

— Psalm 122

King Solomon praying at the dedication of the Temple by James Tissot
Brooklyn Museum

Solomon's Prayer

The building of a house for God was crowned with a prayer that included fifteen (3 x 5) references to prayer in 2 Chronicles chapter six. Three of which are in verse nineteen.

... regard the prayer of Your servant and his supplication, O Lord my God, and listen to the cry and the prayer which Your servant is praying before You.
— 2 Chronicles 6:19

Chapter six was also heavy with the theme of heaven, with 18 (3 x 6) mentions, and, again, a threefold use of the word "heaven" in one verse.

But will God indeed dwell with men on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this temple which I have built!
— 2 Chronicles 6:18

The triple heavenly theme is repeated in another verse quoted in chapter two of 2 Chronicles, which signals a chiasm (a literary sandwich).

But who is able to build Him a temple, since heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain Him? Who am I then, that I should build Him a temple, except to burn sacrifice before Him?
— 2 Chronicles 2:6

These two verses would be the two outer slices of bread for our sandwich. Between these two, there are three other references to heaven; let's view the next two occurrences as two slices of cheese, and then we will view the central verse as the meat in the middle. The first slice of cheese is the following.

Hiram also said:
Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who made heaven and earth, for He has given King David a wise son, endowed with prudence and understanding, who will build a temple for the Lord and a royal house for himself!
— 2 Chronicles 2:12

The second slice of cheese is the following.

... and he said: “Lord God of Israel, there is no God in heaven or on earth like You, who keep Your covenant and mercy with Your servants who walk before You with all their hearts.
— 2 Chronicles 6:14

Using both verses, we can see God's eternal plan for a wise Son, given by the King of Kings, endowed with prudence and understanding, who will build a house through a covenant of mercy. In the ancient Near East, the son was responsible for building the home or family. God's only Son came to build a house and a family through a covenant.

... having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.
— Ephesians 2:20
... we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
— 2 Corinthians 6:12

Notably, the two prior verses included elements from both heaven and earth, as we shall see. The central use of "heaven" between the three heavens verses and the meat of our sandwich is the following.

... for Solomon had made a bronze platform five cubits long, five cubits wide, and three cubits high, and had set it in the midst of the court; and he stood on it, knelt down on his knees before all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands toward heaven.
— 2 Chronicles 6:13

The length and width speak of a horizontal plane. Three cubits "high" refers to a vertical inclusion or intersection, symbolizing a spiritual transaction.

What Son do you recall humbling Himself (expressed as kneeling in this verse) by coming to the horizontal plane of the natural physical realm, on a platform of judgment symbolized by the brass, and by spreading his hands? Paul reveals this intersection of planes in his letter to the Ephesians.

... to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord ... For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ ... that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length (horizontal) and depth and height (vertical)— to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
— Ephesians 3:10-19

The phrase "heaven and the heaven of heavens" is used three times in Scripture, two of which are mentioned above. The other is in I Kings, in a recitation of this same event, which I think so eloquently compiles what God is pointing to in it.

Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands toward heaven; and he said: “Lord God of Israel, there is no God in heaven above or on earth below like You, who keep Your covenant and mercy with Your servants who walk before You with all their hearts...
...“But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this temple which I have built!
— 1 Kings 8:22-27

The Hebrew Scriptures opened to Ecclesiastes chapter 3

Solomon the Preacher—Ecclesiastes 3

Although the book of Ecclesiastes deals with themes of things "under the sun" or "under heaven" and is more in keeping with the number four and the natural world, chapter three includes eternal things and a resurrection of which there are three.

He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.

— Ecclesiastes 3:11

The next verse discusses the unchangeableness of eternal things.

I know that whatever God does,
It shall be forever. Nothing can be added to it,
And nothing taken from it.
God does it, that men should fear before Him.

— Ecclesiastes 3:14

Next, there is a resurrection.

Who knows the spirit of the sons of men, which goes upward, and the spirit of the animal, which goes down to the earth?
— Ecclesiastes 3:21

Rehoboam unwisely swears to make things harder for the people.
Hans Holbein

Rehoboam—The Third Dynasty from David

There were only three kings of Israel as a united kingdom. David, Solomon, and Rehoboam. During Rehoboam's reign, the nation became divided into the Northern and Southern tribes.

Solomon had turned away from "the good way" in the latter years of his life, and God raised up three enemies against Israel. Hadad, Rezon, and Jeroboam.* Rehoboam did not wisely start his rule. Some objected to his father's oppressiveness and Solomon's reign and requested that Rehoboam ease their burden.

So he said to them, “Come back to me after three days.” And the people departed.
— 2 Chronicles 10:5

He sought the counsel of two groups: his peers and elders. He refused his elders' advice to consider the people's request valid and instead followed the guidance of his younger peers, ruling them with an even heavier hand than his father.

My little finger shall be thicker than my father's loins. For whereas my father put a heavy yoke upon you, I will put more to your yoke: my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.

— 2 Chronicles 10:10-11

This event prompted Jeroboam, who had fled to Egypt from Solomon over this very issue, to return and lead a revolt.

So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day, as the king had directed, saying, “Come back to me the third day.”
— 2 Chronicles 10;12

Recall the number three, a signal of something spiritual and a note of credibility to God's truth and Word, also announced in the text.

So the king did not listen to the people; for the turn of events was from God, that the Lord might fulfill His word ...

— 2 Chronicles 10:15

The theme continues in chapter eleven of II Chronicles, when the northern ten tribes (Judah and Benjamin) have defected from David's house and established their own worship system. Rehoboam tries to force his hand by sending Hedoram, who oversaw the revenue, to speak with them, but they stone him. Rehoboam then decides that war is in order, but a "spiritual" component is announced behind the scenes.

Thus says the Lord: “You shall not go up or fight against your brethren! Let every man return to his house, for this thing is from Me.”
— 2 Chronicles 11:2-4

As it concerns spiritual matters, three groups of true worshipers keep Jerusalem as the center of worship at this time. They are priests and Levites who stayed in Israel but stood with Rehoboam; those who moved to Judah; and those who came to worship three times a year.

... from all their territories

The priests and the Levites who were in all Israel took their stand with him
The Levites left their common-lands and their possessions and came to Judah and Jerusalem, for Jeroboam and his sons had rejected them from serving as priests to the Lord...And after them, out of
all the tribes of Israel, such as set their hearts to seek the Lord God of Israel, came to Jerusalem, to sacrifice unto the Lord God of their fathers

— 2 Chronicles 11:13-14,16

Rehoboam instituted a religious reform for three years.

So they strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and made Rehoboam the son of Solomon strong, three years: for three years they walked in the way of David and Solomon
— 2 Chronicles 11:17

There are three mentions of Jerusalem as the proper place of worship, each connected with the three king seasons in united Israel's history. The first was a prophecy given to Solomon.

I will give one tribe so that My servant David will always have a lamp before Me in Jerusalem, the city I chose for Myself to put My name there.
— 1 Kings 11

The second occurrence is at the beginning of Rehoboam's reign.

Now Rehoboam, Solomon's son, reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was 41 years old when he became king; he reigned 17 years in Jerusalem, the city where Yahweh had chosen from all the tribes of Israel to put His name. Rehoboam's mother's name was Naamah, the Ammonite ...

... So Rehoboam rested with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the City of David. His mother's name was Naamah, an Ammonitess. Then Abijam, his son, reigned in his place.

— 1 Kings 14:21, 31

The third is at the end of Rehoboam's reign.

King Rehoboam established his royal power in Jerusalem. Rehoboam was 41 years old when he became king and reigned 17 years in Jerusalem, the city that the Lord had chosen from all the tribes of Israel to put His name. Rehoboam's mother was Naamah, the Ammonite .
— 2 Chronicles 12:13

Naamah, Rehoboam's mother, is mentioned three times.

During King Rehoboam's reign, the Northern tribes under Jeroboam's rule had erected golden calves and false worship systems. God sent a prophet to warn them that one day, a "son" named Josiah from the house of David would rise up and destroy their false altars and burn the bones of the false prophets on them, which occurred three hundred years later.

There is a foreshadowing of a "Son" of David, whom God would raise up to destroy every false form of worship.

Rehoboam's son reigned for three years.

In the eighteenth (3 x 6) year of Israel’s King Jeroboam, Abijah became king over Judah and reigned three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Micaiah, daughter of Uriel; she was from Gibeah.

— 2 Chronicles 13:1-2

He passionately confronted Jeroboam concerning his atrocities. His speech is astonishing as it concerns worship and the worthiness of God, His will, His ways, and His trustworthiness.

Then Abijah (My father is God) stood on Mount Zemaraim (remembrances), which is in the hill country of Ephraim (fruitful), and said, “Jeroboam and all Israel, hear me. Don’t you know that the Lord God of Israel gave the kingship over Israel to David and his descendants forever by a covenant of salt? But Jeroboam, son of Nebat, a servant of Solomon, son of David, rose up and rebelled against his lord. Then worthless and wicked men gathered around him to resist Rehoboam, son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was young, inexperienced, and unable to assert himself against them.

"And now you are saying you can assert yourselves against the Lord's kingdom, which is in the hand of one of David's sons. You are a vast number and have with you the golden calves that Jeroboam made for you as gods. Didn't you banish ...

the priests of Yahweh,
the descendants of Aaron
and the Levites (legitimacy of the priesthood in three)

And make your own priests like the people of other lands do? Whoever comes to ordain himself with a young bull and seven rams may become a priest of what are not gods.

"But as for us, Yahweh is our God. We have not abandoned Him; the priests ministering to the Lord are descendants of Aaron, and the Levites serve at their tasks.

They offer a burnt offering and fragrant incense to the Lord every morning and every evening, and
They set the rows of the bread of the Presence on the ceremonially clean table.
They light the lamps of the gold lampstand every evening.

We are carrying out the requirements of Yahweh our God, while you have abandoned Him. Look, God and His priests are with us at our head. The trumpets are ready to sound the charge against you. Israelites, don't fight against the Lord God of your ancestors, for you will not succeed." Abijah pursued Jeroboam and captured some cities from him: