Lesson 3 - 1 Kings 11:1-13 - SOLOMON TURNS FROM GOD
INTRODUCTION: Two weeks ago, in 1 Kings 2:10-12 and 3:3-14, we studied an interchange between the LORD and the newly-elevated king Solomon in a dream where he asked God to give him an "understanding heart" (3:9) as the ruler of Israel, and God, pleased with Solomon's request, thereafter promised to bless him with wisdom, long life, and riches, but based the promise on one non-negotiable condition: "if you walk in My ways, keeping my statutes and commandments" (3:14). Last week, in 1 Kings 8:1, 6, 10-11, 22-30, 41-43, we covered the building, completion, and dedication of Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem. In the dedication, we heard Solomon deliver one of the most memorable prayers in Scripture in which he specifically asked, "that all the peoples of the earth may know Your name" (3:43), which pointed to the coming of his descendant Jesus and the New Covenant (3:43). The main point of the lesson was that Solomon recognized that the survival of Israel depended on two things: (1) obedience to the LORD God and His covenant and (2) its repentance when the people (including Solomon) sinned. Keep this in mind as get into today's lesson.
Today, in 1 Kings 11:1-13, we'll see how Solomon failed to follow his own advice: our text will reveal how he allowed his sin and depravity to take control of his life, how his spiritual blindness prevented him from repenting and seeking God's forgiveness, and finally how his unchecked sin sowed the seeds of destruction that would result in the division of David's kingdom shortly after he died-a very sad ending for the wisest man who ever lived.
Read 1 Kings 11:1-3 - KING SOLOMON LOVED MANY FOREIGN WOMEN
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 sons of Israel, "You shall not associate with them, nor shall they associate with you, for they will surely turn your heart away after their gods." Solomon held fast to these in love. 3 He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned his heart away.
v. 1: "Now King Solomon loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women," - Solomon got off to a bad start by marrying Pharaoh's daughter, a "foreign woman," in the first instance, because she was destined to become only one of many. The terms 'lusted after' could be substituted for the word "loved". Solomon's attraction to them was totally unrestrained: He lusted after all kinds of foreign women far and wide, including "Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women," many of which came from nations that were Israel's historic enemies.
v. 2a: "from the nations concerning which the LORD had said to the sons of Israel, You shall not associate with them, nor shall they associate with you, for they will surely turn your heart away after their gods." - This wasn't a gray area of Mosiac Law: Deut. 7:3-4 specifically provided that: You shall not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons, for they would turn away your sons from following me, to serve other gods.
v. 2b: "Solomon held fast to these in love." - Solomon allowed his sin to become an obsession. The expression that he "held fast to these in love," reflects that Solomon placed his love of sexual and sensual fulfillment over and above his commitment to obey God and repent of his sins. Solomon, because he was so wealthy and wise, like many sinners, allowed himself to believe that he was somehow an exception to the rules, and by believing this self-deception, ultimately became a fool.
v. 3a: "He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines", - In those days kings often married foreign women in order to cement treaties and alliances with their neighbors, but Solomon's obsession defied understanding. This figure-1,000 women-is not only shocking; it's also absurd: It's not humanly possible for one man to have the machismo to gratify or please that many women. We can only imagine that he kept many around just for show trophies. Besides their carnal function, large harems were also big status symbol among the pagan rulers of the ancient Near East. v. 3b: "and his wives turned his heart away" - As Solomon continued to add wives to his harem, the influence of these foreign women turned Solomon's "heart away" from God. This is much more than a casual distraction: Solomon had not only allowed his infatuation with these women to turn him away from his duties to God but had also allowed it to interfere with his ability to rule as Israel's king.
Read 1 Kings 11:4-8 - HIS WIVES TURNED HIS HEART AFTER OTHER GODS
4 For when Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away after other gods; and his heart was not wholly devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father had been. 5 For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians and after Milcom the detestable idol of the Ammonites. 6 Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and did not follow the LORD fully, as David his father had done. 7 Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable idol of Moab, on the mountain, which is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the detestable idol of the sons of Ammon. 8 Thus also he did for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.
v. 4: "For when Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away after other gods; and his heart was not wholly devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father had been". - David is consistently presented in Kings as the standard by which other kings would be judged (1 Kings 3:14; 9; 4; 14:8). This was not because David had not sinned (2 Sam. 11-12), for he did sin, and grievously, but because he repented of his sin (Ps. 32, 51), and did not continue to sin as a pattern of his life. Solomon, however, has not only sinned, but has allowed his wives to turn his heart from the One True God. He doesn't disbelieve in the LORD as such (how could he?), but has allowed himself to also believe in the false gods of his wives. This is known as syncretism-that there are many gods and it's acceptable to believe in and/or worship all of them. This idea still abounds in many cultures today.
v. 5: "For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians and after Milcom the detestable idol of the Ammonites." - Solomon is engaging in or at the very least condoning blatant idolatry of the most detestable kind: "Ashtoreth" was and obscene goddess of love and fertility that was worshipped in Sidon and Tyre; and "Milcom" was a barbaric Ammonite religion that practiced the sacrifice of children by fire.
v. 6: "Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and did not follow the LORD fully, as David his father had done." - Solomon's greatest shortcoming was not only the tolerance of idolatry but his personal participation in it. Solomon became an open idolater, worshipping images of wood and stone in sight of the Temple he had built in earlier years for YHWH, the One True God. The term "fully" in this verse tells us that Solomon never completely stopped worshipping the LORD God of Israel, but his willing participation in the idol worship of his wives turned him into a double-minded hypocrite in the greatest sense of that word. In his mind, he had essentially re-written to Law of Moses to make exceptions for himself.
v. 7: "Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable idol of Moab, on the mountain, which is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the detestable idol of the sons of Ammon". - We see Solomon falling deeper and deeper into spiritual apostasy and depravity; "Chemoch" a Moabite deity and "Molech," another Ammonite deity, both practiced rituals that involved offering human sacrifices. The "mountain" mentioned east of Jerusalem was probably the Mount of Olives. The use of the term "detestable" twice could either refer to these pagan gods in general or the practices that were being allowed on the "high place" mentioned. Solomon, as the leader of God's chosen people should never have permitted these "detestable" things to take place on Israelite soil. His obsession had obviously blinded him to reason. As we will learn, because result of failure as a spiritual example and his deficient leadership as king, his United Kingdom was already beginning to unravel.
v. 8: "Thus also he did for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods". - This was a tragic example of the lust of the flesh. Because of his lust, Solomon found himself at a place where, as king of Israel, he probably thought he would never be-on a mountain burning incense on the altars of depraved pagan gods. This is the power of lust, and it's not limited to lust for women, but also extends to things like money, power, and entertainment; and it shows that even the wisest man in the world is not immune from the deadly power of sin.
Read 1 Kings 11:9-13 - I WILL SURELY TEAR YOUR KINGDOM FROM YOU
9 Now the LORD was angry with Solomon because his heart was turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice, 10 and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods; but he did not observe what the LORD had commanded. 11 So the LORD said to Solomon, "Because you have done this, and you have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you, and will give it to your servant. 12 Nevertheless I will not do it in your days for the sake of your father David, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son. 13 However, I will not tear away all the kingdom, but I will give one tribe to your son for the sake of My servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem which I have chosen".
v. 9: "Now the LORD was angry with Solomon because his heart was turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice," - God appeared to Solomon early on in a dream (3:6-15), then again, after completion of the Temple, at Gibeon (9:2-9,) where the LORD warned Solomon again that "if you or your sons indeed turn away from Me...and serve other gods and worship them, then I will cut Israel off from the land which I have given them...and this house (i.e., the Temple) will become a heap of ruins." (3:6-8). Despite these clear warnings, Solomon, ensnared by sins fueled by his own lust, became a spiritual cripple and recklessly went after other Gods. This is sobering: If this kind of depravity can trick the wisest man in the world, it could happen to anyone.
v. 10: "and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods; but he did not observe what the LORD had commanded." - What were Solomon's crimes? Significantly, Solomon had broken the First Commandment, "You shall have no other gods before Me," and the Second, "You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth", and the Third, "You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me". (Ex. 20:3-5). God had granted Solomon everything his heart could desire, and yet, he was not faithful to the One who gave it to him.
v. 11: "So the LORD said to Solomon, "Because you have done this, and you have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you, and will give it to your servant". - Because of Solomon's sin, specifically, breaking his covenant by turning away from the LORD to serve other Gods (v. 9), God promised to "tear the kingdom from" ...him..."and will give it to your servant". The "servant" will later be identified as Jeroboam, a person from the tribe of Ephraim whom Solomon had earlier appointed as superintendent over the king's labor forces. It would Jeroboam who, shortly after Solomon's death, would lead the revolt of the ten northern tribes of Israel against Solomon's son Rehoboam and become king of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, leaving Rehoboam as the king of Judah only (1 Kings 11:26-40; 12:1-20).
v. 12: "Nevertheless I will not do it in your days for the sake of your father David, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son." -While God will surely judge Solomon, He is also compassionate. For the sake of David and because of David's everlasting loyalty to the LORD and His covenant, He would delay the division of the kingdom until after Solomon's death. Scholars believe that God was so angry with Solomon at the time that He did not speak these worlds to him directly but through an unnamed prophet. Even so, it must have been quite a disappointment to learn that one of his 'servants' would inherit the kingdom rather than his son, Rehoboam.
v. 13: However, I will not tear away all the kingdom, but I will give one tribe to your son for the sake of My servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem which I have chosen". - The one tribe that remained loyal to the Davidic dynasty was Judah, and by this time the other southern tribe of Benjamin had essentially been absorbed into Judah (1 Kings 12:20). The LORD had chosen Jerusalem, the City of David, as the place where His name would dwell forever (1 Kings 9:3), and it would remain that way in order to fulfill his divine promise to David that his kingdom would endure forever (2 Sam. 7:16), which would ultimately be realized through the coming of Jesus Christ (Rev. 11:15).
APPLICATION-The Power and Consequences of Sin
1. No one is immune from the power of sin. Despite being wise, rich, and politically powerful, Solomon allowed himself to become completely trapped by the temptation to sin. It started with one woman, the daughter of Pharaoh and over time, developed into a full-blown, out-of-control obsession over foreign women (vv. 1-3). We need to see that this didn't happen all at once but was most likely a process that unfolded over the course of Solomon's entire life. And worst of all, he not only continued to sin by adding more and more wives and concubines to his collection, but more seriously, allowed himself to be spiritually corrupted by the detestable pagan religious practices of his women by supporting and participating in these practices with them (vv. 4-8). It caused Solomon to betray his covenant with the LORD God and deceive himself into thinking that he was somehow an exception to God's commandments (vv. 9-10). He thought he was getting away with his sin, but God was watching him closely, and He was mighty 'angry' (v. 9).
2. No one is immune from the penalty of sin. In the end, Solomon died at age 60, ten years less than that of his father David, so his life was somewhat foreshortened (1 Kings 11:42-43). The long-life God promised him earlier (1 Kings 2:14) was conditioned upon obedience. And because of his continued disobedience, God promised to "tear the kingdom" from him and give it to his "servant" (vv. 11-12). Solomon's only consolation was that out of respect for David and the promises made to him, God would preserve Judah and Jerusalem (v. 13). In doing this, God fulfilled his promise to David that his kingdom would endure forever (2 Sam. 7:16), which we now know will ultimately be realized by Second Coming of Jesus Christ in the End-Times (Rev. 11:15).
