The Chronicler omitted any reference to Solomon's apostasy that resulted in the division of the kingdom (cf. 1 Kings 11:9-11). By doing so, he was not trying to whitewash Solomon's record. The Book of Kings was available to the postexilic community as were other records of Solomon's reign to which he referred his readers (v. 29). He chose to present only those aspects of Solomon's career in which he provided a positive example of trust and obedience and consequent blessing. His purpose was to encourage his readers with a good example and to build hope for the future King, not to lament the past. The purpose of Chronicles thus emerges quite clearly. It was to preach a message for the present generation from the earlier historical records. It was not primarily to provide a parallel or supplementary historical record to what existed in Samuel and Kings.
Solomon modeled the ultimate Davidic temple builder. He was wise and prosperous. He built and dedicated the glorious temple, and he received the wealth of the Gentiles who sought his wisdom.21David's ultimate Son would do all of these things too. Solomon proved not to be the Son of David who would rule forever. Nevertheless his reign helped the Jews of the restoration period know what they needed to do and to what they could look forward.
"The Chronicler's aim in his portrayal of Solomon is to show how God governed the events of history to impart to the kingdom of Israel, at least once, a splendour which was fit to symbolize his own. . . . The Kings and Chronicles accounts, taken together, become another testimony--alongside the whole biblical picture of David--to the way in which God deigns to use great sinners in the work of his kingdom, so much so that the OT's latest picture of Solomon does not even remember his sins."22
"The study of typology is an approach to the Bible that can readily be abused. But nothing could be more biblical than to hold that the Davidic monarchy is a type of the rule of Christ."23
