God had warned Solomon that he must keep God’s commands if
he was to receive the same promise as David received. As we have already seen, Solomon had begun to
let those commands slip as he became wealthy and famous. He spent nearly twice a much on hi sown house
as on the Temple, and his gold shields and ivory throne were purely for
flaunting his wealth, In addition he began to build his army, accumulating vast
numbers of chariots and calvary, in direct contradiction to God’s command, as
we see in Deuteronomy 17:14-16. “When thou art come unto the land which the
LORD thy God giveth thee, and shalt possess it, and shalt dwell therein, and
shalt say, I will set a king over me, like as all the nations that are about
me; Thou shalt in any wise set him king over thee, whom the LORD thy God shall
choose: one from among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee: thou mayest
not set a stranger over thee, which is not thy brother. But he shall not multiply horses to himself,
nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply
horses: forasmuch as the LORD hath said unto you, Ye shall henceforth return no
more that way.” Deuteronomy 17:17
added one more command for Israel’s kings.
“Neither shall he multiply wives
to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to
himself silver and gold.”
Solomon ignored this last command, as well, as I* Kings
11:1-2 tells us. “But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter
of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and
Hittites; Of the nations concerning
which the LORD said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them,
neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your heart
after their gods: Solomon clave unto these in love.”
Many of these wives were married in and attempt to forge
treaties with their home countries, in the belief that they
would not want to cause problems for their own children. Not only had God forbidden the kings to
extablish harems for themselves, but he had warned that marriage with certain
groups would encourage idolatry and rebellion against God, in Exodus 34:12-16. “Take
heed to thyself, lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land
whither thou goest, lest it be for a snare in the midst of thee: But ye shall
destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves: For thou
shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous
God: Lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they go a
whoring after their gods, and do sacrifice unto their gods, and one call thee, and
thou eat of his sacrifice; And thou take of their daughters unto thy sons, and
their daughters go a whoring after their gods, and make thy sons go a whoring
after their gods.” Not only die
Solomon make treaties with these groups, he married into them.
I Kings 11:3-8 tells us the results were exactly what God
had warned about. “And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred
concubines: and his wives turned away his heart. For it came to pass, when Solomon was old,
that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not
perfect with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess
of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. And Solomon did evil in the sight of the LORD,
and went not fully after the LORD, as did David his father. Then
did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the
hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the children
of Ammon. And likewise did he for all
his strange wives, which burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods.”
By worshipping their gods and building temples to them
Solomon not only got involved in idolatry but by example encouraged the rest of
Israel to do so. This was especially
frustrating to God because twice he had met Solomon personally, warning about
the danger of turning away, as I Kings 11:9-13 tells us. “And
the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the LORD God
of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice, And had commanded him concerning
this thing, that he should not go after other gods: but he kept not that which
the LORD commanded. Wherefore the LORD
said unto Solomon, Forasmuch as this is done of thee, and thou hast not kept my
covenant and my statutes, which I have commanded thee, I will surely rend the
kingdom from thee, and will give it to thy servant. Notwithstanding in thy days I will not do it
for David thy father's sake: but I will rend it out of the hand of thy son. Howbeit I will not rend away all the kingdom;
but will give one tribe to thy son for David my servant's sake, and for Jerusalem's
sake which I have chosen.”
Solomon’s disobedience would result in the nation of Israel
splitting, with Solomon’s retaining only one tribe and the capital and the rest
going to another king. Because David had
been faithful to God, God would not allow the split to happen until Solomon’s
death, for David’s sake, and because he had chosen Jerusal;em and the Temple
for his own city.
Unfortunately, many people and organizations today are like
Solomon. When they begin to experience
God’s blessings they forget about what God commanded in their efforts to
promote their ministry and enhance their reputation or income, and nany times,
we learn they have been given special warnings about their particular sin.
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