I believe that Judas was never saved and thus he died as he lived, a lost man without faith in Christ. King Solomon, on the other hand, had genuine faith in God and trusted his soul to him (i.e. he was saved). Though it must be said that he wasted many years of his life seeking worldly pursuits and at the end of his life he was humbled and repented of his waywardness.

When Judas was chosen as one of Jesus’ 12 disciples we read, “Jesus answered them, ‘Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?’ He spoke of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for it was he who would betray Him, being one of the twelve” (John 6:70-71). We learn here that Jesus knew that Judas did not have faith in Him as his Lord and Savior and that one day he would, as led of Satan, betray Him. Judas never once called Jesus Lord and as we read the account of his life we learn that he was a thief that used every opportunity he had to steal money from the donations people gave to Jesus for His ministry. This is confirmed in John 12:4-6, “Then one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, who would betray Him, said, ‘Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?’ This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it.” In the next chapter we read these solemn words, “And supper being ended, the devil having already put it into the heart of Judas, Simon’s son, to betray Him…Now after the piece of bread, Satan entered him…Then Jesus said to him, ‘What you do, do quickly”…having received the bread, he then went out immediately. And it was night.” (John 13:2, 26-27, 30). Judas went out to carry out his plan to betray the Lord Jesus (see Matthew 26:14-16; 47-50) and afterwards he committed suicide (Matthew 27:1-4). Where did Judas go when he died? We have the answer in John 17:12 where Jesus prayed to the Father, “While I was with them (the 12 apostles) in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and NONE OF THEM IS LOST EXCEPT THE SON OF PERDITION, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.” Jesus speaks here of Judas being “lost” and calls him “the son of perdition,” which means he was “fit for destruction.” We had read that when Judas left Jesus “it was night” and here we learn that when he died he went out into “eternal night” (see Matthew 22:13; 2nd Peter 2:17 and Jude 13). The last mention of Judas is in Acts 1:25 where we read, “…from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might GO TO HIS OWN PLACE.” He, as the “son of perdition,” went to “his own place,” which is “hell” (the place of eternal destruction).

Solomon was a true believer who loved the Lord, as we see in 1st Kings 3:3, “And Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of his father David.” We do know though that Solomon failed at times, for we read in verse 1, “Now Solomon made a treaty with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and married Pharaoh’s daughter.” This eventually led to Solomon taking many heathen wives which resulted in many years of backsliding. He wrote the book Ecclesiastes as a commentary on those years where he tried to fill the void in his heart with everything “under the sun.” Solomon wrote that book AFTER he had repented and he wrote it to show the utter vanity of living a life by seeking to find purpose and satisfaction in earthly things. He ended the book on this note, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all. For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil” (12:13-14). Solomon also wrote the book of Proverbs and Song of Solomon (when he was living a life in communion with God). He was able to write “words of wisdom” as led by the Spirit of God. So, he had a mixed life with ups and downs, but he was truly a saved man. (332.5) (DO)