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Solomon Turns From God - 1Kings 11:4-6
Solomon Turns From God - 1Kings 11:4-6
“4 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. 5 For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. 6 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” (1 Kings 11:4-6).
This is perhaps one of the saddest statements in the Bible. As so many people, Solomon starts of with so much potential. Even with God-given wisdom, Solomon makes some unwise choices! Choices have consequences.
God had warned and instructed kings such as Solomon on how they were to conduct themselves as a king over God’s people: “16 Only he must not acquire many horses for himself or cause the people to return to Egypt in order to acquire many horses, since the Lord has said to you, ‘You shall never return that way again.’ 17 And he shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away, nor shall he acquire for himself excessive silver and gold” (Deuteronomy 17:16-17).
In particular, God warned against three things: multiplying wealth (the danger being that such leads to TRUST in wealth and not in God), multiplying horses (the danger being that such leads to trust in worldly military power), and multiplying wives, and in particular wives of nations (the danger being that THEIR religious concepts would lead away from true devotion to the God of heaven).
Solomon chose to break all of these and, even with his great wisdom, he suffered the consequences. God-given wisdom did not remove personal choices and consequences!
We basically have the same warnings even though we are not kings like Solomon was.
The warning concerning worldly riches and their danger: Prov. 23:4-5; Prov. 11:28; Luke 12:15-21; 1Tim. 6:17;
The warning of trusting in MEN, earthly power and might: Psa. 20:7; 33:16-17; 44:6.
The warning of divided family love: 1Cor. 7:1-5; Eph. 5: 22-33.
We may not have the God-given wisdom of Solomon but let us learn from his errors and perhaps we will in the end prove to be wiser than Solomon!
Hugh DeLong
