WWUTT 454 Solomon Falls Away?

When Solomon was old, his heart turned away from the Lord and followed after the false gods of his pagan wives. But the scripture does seem to indicate that Solomon may have repented before he died, when we understand the text.

This is When We Understand the Text, a daily Bible commentary to help encourage your time in the Word. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday we feature New Testament Study, an Old Testament book on Thursday, and our Q &A on Friday.

Now here's your teacher, Pastor Gabe.

Solomon’s Early Drift Away from the Lord

Thank you, Becky. In our study of the book of 1 Kings, we are up to chapter 11 today, a real turning point in the story of the history of Israel and also in Solomon's reign as king. But none of the things that we read about here in chapter 11 should come as a surprise because these things have been hinted at in the previous 10 chapters leading up to this point.

1 Kings 11 is where we read about Solomon's heart turning away from the Lord. But all the way back in chapter 3, we read about Solomon marrying an Egyptian princess, the daughter of a pharaoh, a woman who worshipped false gods.

So instead of taking a woman from the Israelite women, Solomon's heart was united with a woman who did not believe in the God of Israel. In chapter 4, we read about Solomon owning many horses. And the writer of 1 Kings means for us to understand that Solomon was already moving away from the warnings that were given in the book of Deuteronomy about the king owning too many horses because then his heart would be after worldly possessions instead of after the Lord.

When Solomon sought God about building the temple of God, he went to one of the high places, indicating that the people of Israel were worshipping at the high places that God had previously commanded them to tear down.

Even though they were worshipping God from that point, God was not supposed to be worshipped in multiple places, but only one. And those high places had been built to false gods by the Canaanites. So instead of obediently demolishing those high places to the ground, they were still worshipping at those high places.

Even though it was to God, it was still in disobedience. So the fact that Solomon went to one of those high places as well showed that he was still not fully obedient to the Lord. Then when he was building the house of God, a beautiful temple that we read about in chapters six and seven, Solomon spent more resources and more time on his own home that was twice as large, more than twice as large than the temple that he had built to God.

So while the temple was supposed to be something that kings in neighboring cities and nations would look at and see how great the God of Israel was, instead they saw Solomon's house right next door, twice the size of the temple and saying, you know, Solomon's even greater than the God of Israel.

So Solomon was getting the credit rather than God. Even in chapters nine and 10, we had this continuous ominous tone that leads us here to chapter 11, where we will see that Solomon's divided interests finally break in half.

Unequal Yoking and the Danger of Ungodly Compromise

First Kings chapter 11, beginning in verse one, now King Solomon loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh, Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian and Hittite women from the nations concerning which the Lord had said to the people of Israel, you shall not enter into marriage with them.

Neither shall they with you for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods. You know, there's something in that for us to understand as well, because as Paul wrote to the Corinthians, he said, do not be yoked with unbelievers.

And so when it comes to choosing a spouse, we must pick somebody who is a Christian. You should not look at an individual who is unsaved and think, well, you know, they can always become a Christian because there's no way for you to know that.

We as Christians must be united with believers, not unbelievers. And I made some serious mistakes in my past before I met my wife, having dated girls who were unbelievers, and it compromised my morals, my integrity, giving truth to the statement that Paul makes in first Corinthians 15, do not be deceived.

Bad company ruins good morals. My heart was not after the Lord, but after these girls. And these relationships always ended in disaster. It never went well. So I am grateful that God pulled me out of that.

I survived it and he brought me a godly woman behind the doors of the church. That's where we met in church. What a better place to to meet somebody than in church. And so and it was it was Becky who knew that I was going to be a pastor before I did.

And so by the the encouragement of this godly woman, I have the ministry that I have today. And so we must not be united with those who are who are not Christians. Even our friendships and our associations, we must be careful about.

You can have friendships with people who are not Christians, but your personal investment in those people is not going to be the same kind of heart that you're going to give to your brothers and sisters in Christ with whom you fellowship regularly in church, in Bible study and that sort of thing is very similar to something we talked about yesterday in Second John and not opening up the church to those who are unbelievers to come in and teach and potentially lead people astray for by partnering with them.

You are also a partnership in their wicked works. And so the same thing goes with our friendships as well. We must be careful not to be yoked with unbelievers. And so this is this is one of Solomon's downfalls, pulling him away from a heart that was supposed to be after the Lord and instead he had this heart that was after his pagan wives compromised his character, though he was a great and wise man.

His greatness was not enough to keep his heart straight and true unto the Lord and away from the temptations of this world. And let this be a lesson to you that you do not have the strength by your own willpower to resist the devil's schemes.

It takes the power of Christ dwelling within you, Christ, who was tempted by Satan, and yet he did not sin. If Christ is dwelling within you, you have that same power to be able to resist the devil's snares.

And when you resist temptation, you are sharing in the sufferings of Christ, who himself was tempted. He is able to sympathize with us in our weaknesses. And we have this assurance that if Christ is dwelling within us, there is no temptation that comes our way that we are unable to resist.

Paul talks about that in with the Corinthians. So submit your mind fully unto the Lord and your body as a living sacrifice as we're instructed to do in Romans 12 one. And it is by the power of Christ.

If you ask him for the strength to endure, you will be able to resist temptation. But Solomon's heart was too much after the things of this world. And and having clung to these women in love, as it says there at the end of verse two, he turned away from God.

And verse three, he had seven hundred wives who were princesses and three hundred concubines and his wives turned away his heart. For when Solomon was old, his wives turned away his heart after other gods.

And his heart was not wholly true to the Lord, his God, as was the heart of David, his father. For Solomon went after Astereth, the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom, the abomination of the Ammonites.

And the significance of the names of these two gods, Astereth was the was a goddess of the heavens, of the stars and the moon and the sun. And Milcom was a god of the underworld. So the significance here is that whether it was a false god of the heavens or a false god of the underworld, whether high or low, Solomon chased after those false gods.

Verse six, so Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and did not wholly follow the Lord as David, his father, had done. Then Solomon built a high place for Chamash, the abomination of Moab, and for Molech, the abomination of the Ammonites on the mountain east of Jerusalem.

And so he did for all his foreign wives who made offerings and sacrificed to their gods. That's a lot of that's a lot of temples to false gods when you're talking about 700 wives and he was building temples to their false gods for them.

You know, sometimes the name of the gods that we have mentioned here is not necessarily what the pagans called their god. It's rather the name that the Israelites gave to that god. So, for example, Molech was not actually the name of of the god that was followed by the pagans.

Some have said that Baal and Molech were the same god, but rather Molech is an amalgam of two different Hebrew words that amounts to translating as the the king of shameful sacrifice. So that's what Molech means is he was the king of shameful sacrifice.

And indeed, he was for the pagans sacrificed their first born children to Molech. And so in our culture today, we often equate the sin of abortion, the violent, murderous destruction of children that is going on in our world today in the United States of America and around the globe.

We often equate that to the sacrifices that were made to Molech for these women who have abortions and the men who impregnated them and encouraged them to have abortion, sacrifice their children in order to advance themselves in their careers or because they can't afford it so they can keep a little money for themselves.

Any number of reasons that men and women have for getting abortions, it's very, very similar to the reasons why people sacrifice their first born to Molech, whether it was to gain prosperity or that they would be blessed in their offspring later on.

There were a number of reasons that they sacrificed their children to this false god, the darkening of their hearts that led them to do so. And Solomon's heart was so dark that he built a high place to Molech, though we don't have any account of him sacrificing children there.

That wouldn't come until several kings later. There would be kings in Israel who would do that. Solomon was not one of them, but nonetheless, he paved the way for the sins to get even graver and deeper in the nation of Israel.

God’s Judgment on Solomon and the Divided Kingdom

Verse nine, and the Lord was angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods.

But he did not keep what the Lord commanded. Therefore, the Lord said to Solomon, since this has been your practice and you have not kept my covenant and my statutes that I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you and will give it to your servant.

Yet for the sake of David, your father, I will not do it in your days, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son. However, I will not tear away all the kingdom, but I will give one tribe to your son for the sake of David, my servant, and for the sake of Jerusalem that I have chosen.

And the Lord raised up an adversary against Solomon, Hadad the Edomite. He was of the royal house in Edom. And you'll remember the Edomites were the descendants of Esau. For when David was in Edom and Joab, the commander of the army, went up to bury the slain, he struck down every male in Edom for Joab and all Israel remained there six months until he had cut off every male in Edom.

But Hadad fled to Egypt together with certain Edomites of his father's servants, Hadad still being a little child. They set out from Midian and came to Paran and took men with them from Paran and came to Egypt to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who gave him a house and assigned him an allowance of food and gave him land.

And Hadad found great favor in the sight of Pharaoh so that he gave him in marriage the sister of his own wife, the sister of Topanis, the queen. And the sister of Topanis bore him Ganaboth, his son, whom Topanis weaned in Pharaoh's house.

And Ganaboth was in Pharaoh's house among the sons of Pharaoh. But when Hadad heard in Egypt that David slept with his fathers and that Joab, the commander of the army, was dead, Hadad said to Pharaoh, let me depart that I may go into my own country.

But Pharaoh said to him, what have you lacked with me that you are now seeking to go to your own country? And he said to him, only let me depart. And of course, we know Hadad had revenge on his mind was what he was thinking about.

God also raised up as an adversary to him Rezan, the son of Eliad, who had fled from his master, Hadadezer, the king of Zobah. And he gathered men about him and became leader of a marauding band after the killing by David.

And they went to Damascus and lived there and made him king in Damascus. He was an adversary of Israel all the days of Solomon doing harm as Hadad did. And he loathed Israel and reigned over Syria. Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, an Ephraimite of Zerada, a servant of Solomon whose mother's name was Zerua, a widow, also lifted up his hand against the king.

And this was the reason why he lifted up his hand against the king. Solomon built the millow and closed up the breach of the city of David, his father. The man Jeroboam was very able. And when Solomon saw that the young man was industrious, he gave him charge over all the forced labor of the house of Joseph.

And at that time, when Jeroboam went out of Israel, the prophet Ahijah, the Shillonite, found him on the road. Now, Ahijah had dressed himself in a new garment and the two of them were alone in the open country.

Then Ahijah laid hold of the new garment that was on him and tore it into 12 pieces. And he said to Jeroboam, take for yourself 10 pieces. For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, behold, I am about to tear the kingdom from the hand of Solomon and will give you 10 tribes.

But he shall have one tribe for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city that I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel because they have forsaken me and have worshiped Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh, the god of Moab and Milcom, the god of the Ammonites.

And they have not walked in my ways, doing what is right in my sight and keeping my statutes and my rules as David, his father, did. Nevertheless, I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand, but I will make him ruler all the days of his life for the sake of David, my servant, whom I chose, who kept my commandments and my statutes.

But I will take the kingdom out of his son's hand and will give it to you 10 tribes. Yet to his son, I will give one tribe that David, my servant, may always have a lamp before me in Jerusalem, the city where I have chosen to put my name.

And I will take you and you shall reign over all that your soul desires and you shall be king over Israel. And if you will listen to all that I command you and will walk in my ways and do what is right in my eyes by keeping my statutes and my commandments as David, my servant, did, I will be with you and will build you a sure house as I built for David and I will give Israel to you and I will afflict the offspring of David because of this, but not forever.

Solomon sought therefore to kill Jeroboam, but Jeroboam arose and fled to Egypt to to Shishak, king of Egypt, and was in Egypt until the death of Solomon. Now, the rest of the acts of Solomon and all that he did and his wisdom, are they not written in the book of the acts of Solomon?

And the time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was 40 years. And Solomon slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David, his father, and Rehoboam, his son, reigned in his place and he would be the king over over Judah.

So you would have the kingdom that would be split into the northern kingdom, Israel and the southern kingdom, Judah. And we'll read more about that later on. So in wrapping up here, a question that often comes up concerning Solomon is this, did he go to heaven or hell when he died?

Did he go to be with the Lord or is he excluded from the kingdom of God? After all, he's not mentioned in Hebrews chapter 11 as a hero of the faith and doesn't really seem to be mentioned in the New Testament very in any kind of favorable way as an example of a man who was godly.

Now, Jesus does talk about him and as to how the lilies of the field are arrayed in greater splendor that even Solomon had. So that seems to be kind of a neutral reference. He doesn't mention him in favor or as somebody who was condemned.

Whatever happened to Solomon? Well, it's reasonable for us to assume that he was excluded from the kingdom of God. After all, his heart went after false gods. He chased after the gods of his pagan wives and did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, so much so that God snatched the kingdom away from him, but not him exactly.

For the sake of David, his father and instead broke the kingdom apart under the reign of Solomon's sons. But there is perhaps an argument that can be made for Solomon having been delivered into the kingdom of God as well, though it was not with with great acclaim.

His name was kind of ruined after the way that he ended his life worshiping false gods. But there's a possibility that Solomon did repent at the end of his days. And we have a suggestion of that in Ecclesiastes chapter 12.

It's pretty clear by the book of Ecclesiastes that Solomon wrote this later in life. The Proverbs were probably something that he came up with over the course of his kingship, especially during the during the richest days that he reigned over Israel.

Ecclesiastes was toward the end of his life, almost right at the end of his life. And we have indications of that in chapter 12 where Solomon writes, remember also your creator in the days of your youth before the evil days come and the years draw near, of which you will say, I have no pleasure in them before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return after the rain.

That's a metaphor for his mind becoming clouded because of his age. He's not as sharp as he used to be. Verse three, in the day when the keepers of the house tremble, that's his legs, his legs tremble, no longer able to support him.

And the strong men are bent, that's his back. When the grinders cease because they are few, that's his teeth. He's so old, his teeth are falling out and not not chewing his food as well as before. And those who look through the windows are dimmed.

That's his eyesight failing on him and the doors of the street are shut when the sound of the grinding is low and one rises up at the sound of a bird and all the daughters of song are brought low. That's his hearing that is failing him.

So so this indication that we have here in Ecclesiastes chapter 12 is Solomon writing this at the end of his life. So what are the final words that Solomon shares at the end of the book of Ecclesiastes?

Here's his last words. The end of the matter, all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment with every secret thing, whether good or evil.

Did Solomon die and go to be with the Lord and his father David in glory or was he condemned? God only knows. But the responsibility that is upon you is to fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.

God, we ask that you would keep us steadfast in this commandment. In the name of Christ, we pray.

Amen.

Gabriel Hughes is the pastor of First Southern Baptist Church in Junction City, Kansas. Find out more online at www .utt .com.