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1 Kings 11, I'll read the first 
13 verses. But King Solomon loved many foreign 
women as well as the daughter of Pharaoh. Women of the Moabites, 
Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites from the nations 
of whom the Lord had said to the children of Israel, you shall 
not intermarry with them, nor they with you. Surely they will 
turn away your hearts after their gods. Solomon clung to these 
in love, and he had 700 wives, princesses, and 300 concubines, 
and his wives turned away his heart. For it was so, when Solomon 
was old, that his wives turned his heart after other gods, and 
his heart was not loyal to the Lord his God, as was the heart 
of his father David. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth, 
the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom, the abomination 
of the Ammonites. Solomon did evil in the sight 
of the Lord, and did not fully follow the Lord, as did his father 
David. And Solomon built a high place 
for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, on the hill that is 
east of Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the people 
of Ammon. And he did likewise for all his foreign wives who 
burned incense and sacrificed to their gods. So the Lord became 
angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned from the Lord 
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 had commanded. Therefore 
the Lord said to Solomon, because you have done this and have not 
kept my covenant and my statutes which I have commanded you, I 
will surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to 
your servant. Nevertheless, I will not do it in your days for the 
sake of your father David. I will tear it out of the hand 
of your son. However, I will not tear away the whole kingdom. 
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. Amen. So 
certainly a difficult passage of Scripture in terms of our 
understanding of Solomon. We have seen nothing but good 
in terms of chapters 3 to 10, glowing in a positive report 
of the reign of Solomon up to this point. It was indeed the 
Golden Age. I do want to give you just sort 
of an outline of the whole chapter. We're just going to take up this 
section this week, God willing the rest of it next week, But 
basically, the chapter breaks down into four sections. The 
first is the idolatry of Solomon here in verses 1 to 13. Secondly, 
the rebellions against Solomon in verses 14 to 28. Thirdly, 
the prophecy concerning the kingdom in verses 29 to 40. And then 
the death of Solomon in verses 41 to 43. So we'll look at the 
idolatry of Solomon first and then the divine response to Solomon 
there in verses 9 to 13. But in the first place, note 
the problem. It says in verse 1, but King 
Solomon loved many foreign women. as well as the daughter of Pharaoh. 
If you turn back for just a moment to chapter 3, after Solomon is 
installed as king, we read in 1 Kings 3 at verse 3, and Solomon 
loved the Lord. walking in the statutes of his 
father David, except that he sacrificed and burned incense 
at the high places." So in 3.3, Solomon loved the Lord. And here 
in 11.1, Solomon loved many foreign women. Now, the connection with verse 
10, chapter 10 rather, ought to be obvious. Chapter 10 is 
nothing but a positive presentation of Solomon. It gives us much 
information concerning his wisdom, concerning his wealth, concerning 
his notoriety with reference to the nations. Paul House says, 
after the glowing report in chapter 10, verses 14 to 29, these verses 
in chapter 11, 1 to 13, are the literary equivalent of a blow 
to the face. And I think that that is obvious 
in the reading of the passage. And then as well, the concern 
of the text specifically, he loved many foreign women. Verse 2, it says, he clung to 
these in love. Now, no doubt, a lot of these 
marriages that kings made in these days were politically motivated. John Gill says, some think he 
did this with political views to get intelligence of the state 
of those countries or to abate and extinguish their enmity. 
But it rather seems to be the fruit of lust or pride. Ralph Davis similarly says, many 
of these marriages were political, meant to cement alliances concluded 
with other nations or groups. I see no reason to dispute this, 
but the text says more. The text is not interested in 
Solomon's politics, but in his affections. Solomon clung to 
these women in love, it says. So we see that this is indeed 
a great problem. He loved many foreign women. Now certainly scripture up to 
this point has commanded the king of Israel not to do this 
very thing. Verse 2 or verse 1 goes on to 
indicate the particular origin of these women. Women of the 
Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites. Now, 
you'll know those names because they've constantly been enemies 
of the children of Israel. Certainly, it is not a good thing 
to take their women as your wife. But then notice there is a precedent 
cited in verse 2. It says, from the nations of 
whom the Lord had said to the children of Israel, you shall 
not intermarry with them, nor they with you. Surely they will 
turn away your hearts after their gods. Solomon clung to these 
in love. So go back to Deuteronomy chapter 
7. Deuteronomy chapter 7. This is in the background of 
verse 2 there. Deuteronomy 7, we're given the 
commandment or the instructions to the nation of Israel respecting 
holy war. In other words, Israel was to 
go into the land of Canaan. They were not supposed to enter 
into any alliances whatsoever with the Canaanites, but they 
were supposed to dispossess the land of the Canaanites. Notice 
in verse 1, when the Lord your God brings you into the land 
which you go to possess and has cast out many nations before 
you, the Hittites, Now, verse 1 tells us specifically that 
some of Solomon's women were Hittites. So, Hittites, Girgashites, 
the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, and the Hivites, 
and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than you. 
And when the Lord your God delivers them over to you, you shall conquer 
them and utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with 
them, nor show mercy to them, nor shall you make marriages 
with them. You shall not give your daughter 
to their son, nor take their daughter for your son. for they 
will turn your sons away from following me to serve other gods. So the anger of the Lord will 
be aroused against you and destroy you suddenly. So you see, you're 
not supposed to enter into that most close covenantal relationship 
of marriage, because what may begin as toleration, which is 
probably how it began with Solomon, he simply tolerated his foreign 
wives' commitment to their gods, but then Solomon entered in and 
worshipped right alongside of them. So you are not to engage 
in political alliances, social alliances, very specifically 
in terms of marriage, and certainly not in religious alliances. Notice 
in verse 5, but thus you shall deal with them. You shall destroy 
their altars and break down their sacred pillars and cut down their 
wooden images. and burn their carved images 
with fire." Now the particular emphasis of the prohibition or 
the particular lesson that we ought to learn is that God knows 
our hearts. He knows our hearts better than we know our hearts. 
We may think we can go into enemy territory and because of our 
holiness and our righteousness we may rub off on them. but it's 
generally the converse. It's generally the case that 
the enemy rubs off on us. We don't make them more holy, 
they make us more unholy. So God says, don't go in, don't 
have these alliances with them, because initially it may just 
be a friendship thing. The next thing you know, you'll 
be bowing down to Baal and singing praises to Molech before you 
know it. So Solomon is under the commandment 
here not to marry these pagan wives. But then further notice 
in Deuteronomy 17, a passage we have referred to on several 
occasions in our studies concerning Solomon, specifically the principles 
governing kings. We saw in chapter 10 that Solomon 
did in fact multiply wealth and weapons. So in some sense, when 
we get to chapter 11, it ought not to come as that big of a 
blow that he multiplies wives. But notice specifically in chapter 
17 at verse 14, when you come to the land which the Lord your 
God is giving you and possess it and dwell in it and say, I 
will set a king over me like all the nations that are around 
me, you shall surely set a king over you whom the Lord your God 
chooses. One from among your brethren you shall set as king 
over you. You may not set a foreigner over you who is not your brother. 
But he shall not multiply horses for himself, nor cause the people 
to return to Egypt to multiply horses. For the Lord has said 
to you, you shall not return that way again. Neither shall 
he multiply wives for himself, lest his heart turn away. nor 
shall he greatly multiply silver and gold for himself." So back 
to chapter 11, that opening statement is indeed menacing. That problem 
that is indicated in verse 1 in terms of his love for many women, 
and then the precedent that is given in verse 2 that does take 
us back to the principles of Deuteronomy 7 and 17, Solomon 
is not in a good place. He is not at the top of his game 
here. The Golden Age is most certainly 
concluded in chapter 11. Notice as well the particular 
verbs that are used by the author. It says, he loved many foreign 
women. And then in verse 2, he clung 
to these in love. Those who are familiar with the 
book of Deuteronomy will realize that love and clinging are terms 
that are utilized or supposed to be utilized or observed by 
God's people concerning God himself. Solomon is not to love these 
many foreign women and cling to them. Rather, he is to love 
the God of Israel and cling to him. Proven says the use of both 
verbs is to be understood in terms of their appearance in 
Deuteronomy. There are several places. Chapter 
6, verse 5, after the Shema. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our 
God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your 
God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Again, in 
chapter 10, verses 12 and 20. Chapter 11, verse 1. Chapter 
11, verse 22. Chapter 13, verse 4. And chapter 
30, verse 20. Most of them emphasize love. 
Others, however, emphasize the need for us to hold fast to God, 
to cling to Him. So Proven says that these terms 
are used, ought to be understood in terms of their appearance 
in Deuteronomy, where they speak of unswerving human loyalty to 
God. The Israelite was to love the 
Lord wholeheartedly, not many foreign women. So Solomon engages 
in a practice here that is strictly condemned by God, and it does 
highlight for us the wisdom of God. As I said, God knows our 
hearts, and it's best for us to listen to Him. If He tells 
us to stay away from a certain place, because if we go into 
that certain place, it will most likely lead us astray, then we 
really should take heed to that. We should pay attention to the 
divine commands that God has given. He doesn't give those 
commands because He's some meanie and He wants to keep us from 
having a good time. He gives those commands for our 
well-being. The law of God is perfect. It restores the soul. It's a 
good thing to hopefully hedge us in, to keep us in, to fence 
us in from going astray and going a-whoring from God. Now notice 
the specific practice involved with Solomon in terms of his 
idolatry in verses 3 to 8. The number of women is indicated 
in verse 3. He had 700 wives, princesses, 
and 300 concubines. Now the numbers in the Song of 
Solomon, specifically in chapter 6, verses 8 and 9, are a bit 
lower in terms of the specifics of wives and princesses, but 
then it tells us there were virgins without number. So when we combine 
those two, we can see that certainly he had what we have in this particular 
passage. I mentioned to the old folks 
today at the cascade, I don't know how he kept up. It's difficult 
enough with one wife, let alone having 700 wives, princesses, 
and 300 concubines. But I think it's given to us 
to highlight the degree to which he went astray. Now, brethren, 
this ought to terrify us. I hope this passage, in many 
respects, leads us tonight to a bit of a holy trembling, because 
Solomon was a wise man. Solomon was an upright man. Solomon was, and had been, a 
very faithful man. But when he goes into this tailspin, 
he goes very hard and very drastically. Notice the spiritual effect upon 
Solomon in verses 3 and 4. In the first place, the king's 
heart was turned away from the Lord. Notice in 3b. He had 700 
wives, princesses, and 300 concubines, and his wives turned away his 
heart. Go back to his prayer in chapter 
8. chapter 8, notice specifically in verse 58, that he may incline 
our hearts to himself to walk in all his ways and to keep his 
commandments and his statutes and his judgments which he commanded 
our fathers. You see what Solomon does. He's 
a faithful man in chapter 8. He's a man who understands the 
necessity of God's grace. He's a man who acknowledges that 
necessity in the lives of God's people, and he specifically cries 
out, he specifically prays that God may incline our hearts to 
Himself. I think it was John Owen who 
says, those who pray ought to live or ought to endeavor to 
live as they pray. In other words, we ought not 
to pray, do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from 
the evil one, get up off our knees and go into a place of 
temptation. We ought to endeavor to live 
as we pray. And Solomon prays well in chapter 
8, but when it comes to his own personal ethics and when it comes 
to his own personal conduct, we see that the king's heart 
was turned away from the Lord. With reference to that, I don't 
want to go too far afield here, but the Lord always knows the 
capacity of the human heart, and His law is given accordingly. 
He knew what was in Solomon, and He knew what was in, well, 
He knows what's in all of us, so He gives those commandments 
for our well-being. Also, we need to appreciate that 
the Old Testament was not simply about externalism or formalism. I think a lot of Christians make 
that mistake. We sort of look at the Old Testament, 
we say, well, it's just about externals, it was just about 
forms, it was all about structure, it was being in the right place 
at the right time and telling the right line. That's not the 
case. It turned away his heart. That 
implies that his heart at one time was with Yahweh, that his 
heart was at one time in the place where it ought to have 
been. And then as well, this underscores the principle of 
Matthew 6, 24. No one can serve two masters. You're either going 
to love the one and hate the other, or love the other and 
hate the one. You cannot serve two masters. In Matthew 6, the 
idea is God and Mammon. Certainly here, it's God and 
these wives who are the gateway to their wicked deities. And then note, the king went 
after other gods in verse 4a. For it was so when Solomon was 
old that his wives turned his heart after other gods. I think Robert Alter is right. One may infer that he initially 
allowed them freedom of worship and then was drawn into their 
pagan ways. So you see, it begins with toleration. It begins with, you know, not 
denouncing it or decrying it or condemning it, but simply 
tolerating it at the beginning. But if we don't watch our hearts 
and we don't guard our minds, we're going to end up bowing 
to Baal, Molech, and Ashtoreth. We cannot do such things. Toleration, 
more often than not, is the first step to full-blown apostasy. Notice as well, the king's heart 
was not loyal to the Lord his God. In verse 4b, his heart was 
not loyal to the Lord his God. Again, contra his prayer. Notice 
in chapter 8 at verse 61. The prayer at the dedication 
of the temple. Chapter 8, verse 61, let your heart, this is an 
exhortation to the people of Israel, let your heart therefore 
be loyal to the Lord our God to walk in his statutes and keep 
his commandments as at this day. So here again, a man who does 
pray well and a man who exhorts well, but a man who nevertheless 
lives poorly. And I think there is a great 
lesson here for ministers of the gospel. Ought to pray, to 
be sure, but ought to live in light of that sort of prayer, 
and certainly the exhortations that you give to other persons. 
And then notice, the king rejected the good example of his father 
David. The end of verse four, as was 
the heart of his father David. So you see Solomon, by marrying 
these foreign women, had his heart led astray from God, not 
only to them, but ultimately to their gods. And what began 
as toleration ends as his worship alongside of them. Now, notice 
specifically the practical outworking of this idolatry in verses 5 
to 8. In the first place, he pursued 
the false gods Ashtoreth, Milcom. Now, Milcom and Molech are most 
likely the same god. So we have Ashtoreth, Milcom, 
or Molech, and Chemosh. So it's sort of a who's who of 
pagan deities, and they're all nasty, and they're all vile. 
Ashtoreth, of course, is the goddess of the Sidonians. Notice 
how God indicts these false gods. It says in verse 5, He went after 
Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom, 
the abomination of the Ammonites. That's what idols are. They're 
abominations. They're not to be dignified. 
They're not to be tolerated. They're not to be, you know, 
cozied up to. They're to be destroyed. Deuteronomy 
7, no social, no political, and certainly no religious alliances. 
The children of Israel in their march into Canaan were to tear 
down those pagan altars. They were to tear down any vestige 
whatsoever of false deity worship. They were not to engage in it 
whatsoever. Notice, the king did evil in 
the sight of the Lord and didn't fully follow the Lord like his 
father David. Verse 6, Solomon did evil in 
the sight of the Lord. He did not fully follow the Lord 
as did his father David. Now, those of us who have been 
here since our studies in Samuel will probably admit David wasn't 
perfect. I mean, come on, is David really 
the standard here? Yes, he most certainly is. Because 
David was a man after God's own heart. Even when David fell into 
gross sin, he never stopped being a man after God's own heart. 
The way we see David's fidelity is in his relationship with God. 
He never went astray in terms of worship. He never went astray 
in terms of false gods. He never went astray in terms 
of allegiance to some other deity. He always maintained faithfulness 
to Yahweh. And that's why David is the standard 
throughout 1st and 2nd Kings. The standard is not perfection, 
because no man is perfect. The standard is faithfulness, 
fidelity, loyalty to the Lord, a heart that has not gone astray 
or left its place under the shadow of God's wings. And then notice, 
the king built high places for the false gods to facilitate 
and as well to participate in their pagan worship. Notice, 
in verse 7, Solomon built a high place for Timash, the abomination 
of Moab, on the hill that is east of Jerusalem. That's the 
Mount of Olives, by the way, and for Molech, the abomination 
of the people of Ammon. And he did likewise for all his 
foreign wives who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods. 
Now, this really ought to make a stop in, you know, just hang 
our heads in shame as we sympathize with our companion Solomon here. I mean, what has been detailed 
in chapters 5 to 8? the building of the temple, the 
building of a house for the Lord God Most High. It wasn't going 
to be David because David was a man of war and he had blood 
on his hands. That doesn't mean that David 
was unethical or he was impure or that he wasn't capable, but 
David was too busy fighting battles and securing and stabilizing 
Israel to undergo a building project in terms of the temple. 
So God promised that it would be the son of David that would 
build a house for his name. And so Solomon is raised up and 
in many, many details has been given to us in chapters 5 to 
8, Solomon builds the house for the living and the true God. 
And this self-same Solomon is now building altars and high 
places to these abominations of the pagans. He did likewise 
for all his foreign wives who burned incense and sacrificed 
to their gods. As we end tonight and as we continue 
now, you ought to see what God thinks of idolatry. Not to say 
that God is okay with adultery and He's okay with murder and 
therefore David was fine. God abominates sin to be sure. These six things, Yahweh hates, 
Yahshua hates, seven are an abomination to Him. You can read the list 
in Proverbs chapter 6. But there is something peculiar 
about idolatry. It is the foundation of the Ten 
Commandments. If you get the first two wrong, 
everything else collapses. And when you see that everything 
else has collapsed, you can rest assured that something's wrong 
with Numbers 1 and 2. And so when Solomon engages in 
idolatry, it gives evidence of the fact that he is indeed in 
a wicked place. And House makes this observation. I think it's brilliant. It says, 
other than they're linked to his wives, Solomon's choice of 
gods makes no sense. And I'm not thinking House says 
there are gods out there that make sense. He's just highlighting 
the futility of Solomon's actions here. Other than their link to 
his wives, Solomon's choice of gods makes no sense. In the ancient 
world, polytheists, those are persons who worship the plurality 
of gods, tended to worship the gods of the nations who had conquered 
their armies, or at least the gods of countries, more powerful 
than their own. So you kind of see the logic 
there. If you're a Hivite and the Hittites come over and they, 
you know, conquer you, then you're going to now worship their gods. 
It just seems to make sense, right? They would forcibly impose 
a new religious way upon you, and you would have probably agreed 
because their god just beat up your god, so we're going to serve 
the victor god. It makes sense at some, you know, 
weird level there. He goes on to say, ironically, 
Solomon worships the gods of the people he has conquered and 
already controls. What could he possibly gain from 
such activity? The whole episode makes no sense, 
just as idolatry itself makes no sense. I think that's a very 
accurate description of what's happening in this particular 
passage, because as you glance through 5 to 8, and you see Solomon 
engaged in this sort of thing, after he has had such vital communion 
with the living and the true God, it does make you say, what 
are you doing? Are you crazy? Have you lost 
it? Is something short-circuited in your head? Well, you see, 
the gateway was these many foreign women that he loved, these many 
foreign women that he clung to. This was the pathway that led 
him to bowing before Chemosh, Milcom, and Ashtoreth. Now, notice in the second place 
the divine response to Solomon. Verses 9 and 10 indicate the 
anger of the Lord. It says, so the Lord became angry 
with Solomon. We get that, don't we? This is 
a proper expression of God's justice. of God's holiness with 
reference to the breach of His law. The Lord Most High does 
not take it lightly when His children rebel right before Him. He gives us commands. He gives 
us His Spirit to comply with those commands. When we reject 
those commands and we rebel against Him, it is just legitimate and 
right for the Lord to become angry with Solomon, just like 
we as parents. You probably have said, well, 
I never disciplined my children in anger. I probably would disagree 
with you. I'm sure you had big smiles on 
your face and singing zippity-doo-dah when you were spanking their 
rear ends. I used to like to qualify it 
as a righteous anger. But there is an anger on the 
part of the parents when the rebel child throws the commands 
back into the father's face. This makes sense. We expect this 
from a God who is holy. We expect this from a God who 
is righteous and a God who is just. So the Lord became angry 
with Solomon. Note the reason. Because his 
heart had turned from the Lord God of Israel. You see, this 
is absolutely crucial in our religion. The Lord God saves 
us in order that we may serve Him. The Lord God does not call 
us to be sort of, you know, Him plus these other gods. I bet 
if you would have walked up to Solomon and said, what do you 
think of Yahweh and what do you think of that temple standing 
there? I doubt he would have said, well, I've abandoned it 
all. I hate Yahweh. I wish I hadn't have built that 
temple. I really doubt he would have said that. He probably would 
have said, oh yeah, Yahweh is the God of Israel, and his temple 
is glorious, and it's a wonderful structure. But I also like Milcom. I also like Ashtoreth. I really 
like what these other gods have to offer. You see, brethren, 
God calls us to loyalty. God calls us to fidelity. Notice 
the aggravation of his sin at the end of verse 9. It says, 
who had appeared to him twice. I think this aggravates the sin 
or exacerbates it or makes it look even more vile because you 
see what Solomon is sinning against? Solomon is sinning against great 
privilege. It's sort of like that scene 
when David is found out after he has committed adultery and 
murder. And then the Lord God comes to David and he says, I 
gave you everything. I gave you your, you know, I 
gave you wives. I gave you money. I gave you, 
you know, whatever you wanted. And if that wasn't enough, I 
would have given you more. That just highlights the wickedness 
of David in that particular instance. Because he's not sinning against 
some despot or tyrant that doesn't want him to have fun. God the 
Lord says, I would have given you anything that would have 
satisfied your soul, but certainly I'm not going to give in to you 
sinning in terms of adultery and murder. Well, notice who 
had appeared to him twice. Solomon enjoyed great benefit 
and privilege from the living and the true God. In chapter 
3 in Gibeon, God comes to Solomon and asks him, what do you want 
from me? And Solomon's great reply is 
wisdom. And God says, because you've 
asked wisdom, I'm going to give you wisdom, plus I'm going to 
give you wealth. And then in chapter 9, after the dedication 
of the temple, the Lord God comes a second time to Solomon. And 
there he encourages Solomon and as well he warns Solomon that 
if they indeed depart from the way of the Lord, then he will 
bring judgment to bear upon them. But this aggravates or exacerbates 
the reality of his sin. And then notice the rejection 
revealed by God, verse 10, and had commanded him concerning 
this thing that he should not go after other gods, I'm sorry, 
the rejection of God by Solomon, that he should not go after other 
gods, but he did not keep what the Lord had commanded. You see, 
in the final analysis, it's pretty basic. You know, if psychologists 
came to this particular chapter and they wondered what was going 
on in the inner psyche of Solomon, that's just to miss the point. 
Solomon was given a command and he disobeyed. I don't know why 
we think it's different for us. Well, you know, there's just 
so many variables in my life. No, you've been given the word 
and you're not supposed to disobey. Well, you don't understand my 
circumstance." No, you've been given the Word and you're supposed 
to obey. We want to relativize everything, don't we? We want 
to compartmentalize everything. We want to try and justify our 
actions or our dealings instead of just saying, yes, I have sinned 
against the Lord. That's what David did when Nathan 
comes to reprove him. I mean, it took a while for David, 
You know, it wasn't, you know, overnight he felt bad and he 
went to the Lord and he said, I've sinned against the Lord. 
It took the prophet Nathan to come and to tell him the story 
about the man who had the ewe lamb and the other man who took 
the ewe lamb and barbecued it because he wanted to feed his 
friends and that sort of a thing. So finally, David comes to his 
senses and that's what he says, I've sinned against the Lord. 
He doesn't say, well, you know the pressures of being a king? 
You know what it's like to go up on my roof and see a beautiful 
woman? You know what it's like to be... No, he doesn't do that. 
He says, I have sinned against the Lord. I think at times people 
run over that passage and say, well, that's all David had to 
do was say, I have sinned against the Lord. It wasn't a formula. 
It was the revelation of a few truths. God's holy and I'm not. 
And I own that. And I'm not going to try to explain 
it away. And I'm not going to try to compartmentalize. And 
I'm not going to try to say, well, I was having a particularly 
bad day. So I thought a little bit of adultery and then some 
murder to cover it would have helped salve my soul. You see, that's what we do. We 
don't see it as a breach of God's commandments. I think at times, 
Christians can be functional antinomians, even reformed Christians 
who have a proper understanding of the third use of the law. 
The third use of the law is the normative use, wherein As God's 
people, indwelt by His Holy Spirit, the law serves as our rule of 
life. It tells us what we're supposed 
to do. You're not supposed to have other gods, you're not supposed 
to blaspheme the god you have, you're not supposed to break 
his Sabbath day, you're not supposed to be insubordinate to lawful 
authority, you're not supposed to murder, adultery, commit adultery, 
you're not supposed to steal, you're not supposed to lie, and 
you're not supposed to covet. And then we do that, we say, 
but you don't understand. No, it's a breach of the commandments. 
We need to appreciate that and understand that because that's 
how God underscores the situation when it comes to dealing with 
Solomon. He had commanded him concerning 
this thing that he should not go after other gods, but he did 
not keep what the Lord had commanded. Simple, isn't it? Easy peasy. What's Solomon's problem? He 
rejected God's law and it landed him into a great deal of turmoil. Now, notice the Lord's words. We see the anger of the Lord, 
now the word of the Lord. Verses 11 to 13. In the first 
place, he highlights the division of the kingdom. Proven makes 
this beautiful observation, a divided heart will lead to a divided 
kingdom. A divided heart will lead to 
a divided kingdom. Remember that Israel is consolidated 
at this point. You have 12 tribes in Israel. 
You have 10 northern tribes, you have two southern tribes. 
Now, at this particular point, under David, there was consolidation. 
Under Solomon, there was consolidation. There was unity. It was a unified 
kingdom. That's going to end when we get 
to chapter 12. Here's the basis or the foundation 
for that rupture in a kingdom. Now, we're talking about a pretty 
significant situation here. We're not talking about, Solomon, 
I'm going to make sure that on Thursday you have a particularly 
bad day. Notice verse 11, therefore the Lord said to Solomon, because 
you have done this and have not kept my covenant, my statutes, 
which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom away 
from you and give it to your servant. Again, he reiterates 
the violation of God's command. And then as well, I think we 
ought to appreciate the faithfulness of God's promised judgment. See, 
I don't think we often reflect on that. We see God's faithfulness 
in the good. We ought to see it in the bad 
as well. When God says in chapter 3 and in chapter 9, if you violate 
my law, I will punish you. When God punishes, instead of 
whining and grumbling and complaining and saying, wow, isn't God mean 
and vicious, we ought to praise God for his faithfulness. That's 
as much an expression of his faithfulness as when he blesses 
those who do well. You see, the curses are an expression 
of God's faithfulness. Because God has said, if you 
do this, then you will reap this. So you see, God is being true 
to his word. And we ought, as Christians, 
always to appreciate that. But notice, I will surely tear 
the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant. Now, 
this is all going to be amplified later on in the chapter when 
we consider the prophecy concerning the kingdom. When Jeroboam the 
son of Nebat comes on the scene, Ahijah the Shilonite is going 
to come and is going to detail or describe in detail this tearing 
away of the kingdom. But right now, God is just telling 
Solomon firsthand what's going to happen. If you have gone through 
the studies in 1 Samuel, this ought to sound familiar. You 
can go back to 1 Samuel chapter 13. 1 Samuel chapter 13. This whole idea of tearing the 
kingdom away. Even so, later, Ahijah will use 
a garment and tear it into 12 pieces and give 10 of them to 
Jeroboam, the son of Nebat. Well, the same thing is done 
here in 1 Samuel. But in the first place, 1 Samuel 
chapter 13 at verse 13, Samuel said to Saul, you have done foolishly. You have not kept the commandment 
of the Lord your God, which he commanded you. See a pattern? 
See a routine and intriguingly in this context, Saul's violation 
was worship. You see, God is, I mean, I'm 
not here to, you know, say there's a hierarchy. God really hates 
it when you do that, but He does really seem to hate violations 
of the first and second word. This is what ought to terrify 
us in the church today, because there's a lot of violations of 
the first and second word going on. When it comes to unprescribed 
worship, when we actually think we can worship God according 
to our desires, We ought to be terrified. The regulative principle 
of worship protects the people of God from offering up strange 
fire to Yahweh and seeing fire come down from Yahweh and consuming 
us. Again, you've probably heard 
me say it many times. God's not looking for innovation 
or creativity in worship. He is looking for obedience. 
Saul was told to stand fast and wait for Samuel. Samuel was a 
little late, so what does Saul do? Well, I thought it would 
be good to worship. I thought it'd be good to sacrifice. You're 
not authorized to offer up the sacrifice, Saul. That is wicked 
transgression. Get it in your head. Commandments 
are commandments for a reason. They're not suggestions. They're 
not recommendations. They're not just thrown out there 
so that you can pick and choose. You need to obey God. That's 
the lesson that is underscored time and again in these Old Testament 
narratives. But back to verse 13. You have 
done foolishly, have not kept the commandment of the Lord your 
God, which he commanded you. For now the Lord would have established 
your kingdom over Israel forever. But now your kingdom shall not 
continue. The Lord has sought for himself 
a man after his own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to 
be a commander over his people, because you have not kept what 
the Lord commanded you." I always thought Jonathan was the big 
loser in all this, because Jonathan would have been a good king. 
Jonathan just displays himself as an excellent man in 1 Samuel, 
but because of his knuckleheaded father, the kingdom is taken 
from that family, and it's given over to David. And I speak as 
a man, I realize it's obviously God's plan, but you know, Jonathan 
was faithful through his life, and because he had a soul for 
a father, life wasn't good. Or wasn't as, I'm sure it was 
good for Jonathan, but he didn't get to realize his full potential, 
as we might say today. And notice in 1 Samuel 15. Specifically 
in verses 26 to 28, Samuel said to Saul, I will not return with 
you for you have rejected the word of the Lord. There's that 
common theme again. And the Lord has rejected you 
from being king over Israel. And as Samuel turned around to 
go away, Saul sees the edge of his robe and it tore. So Samuel 
said to him, the Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you 
today and has given it to a neighbor of yours who is better than you. Again, that'll come out when 
Ahijah speaks to Jeroboam, the son of Nebat. He will do a similar 
thing. It's enacted parable. There are times when the prophets 
engage in a particular action to underscore what they are speaking 
to the particular person. So back to 1 Kings 11, this is 
the threatened judgment. I will surely tear the kingdom 
away from you and give it to your servant." Now, as we would 
often expect, there's a nevertheless in verse 12. This always underscores 
God's grace. And I think this illustrates 
for us that there are conditional and unconditional elements in 
the Davidic covenant. I think that the Davidic covenant 
is the background to verses 12 and 13. But in verse 11, that 
statement that there will be judgment goes back to the 2 Samuel 
7. In verse 14. the son, who sits 
on the throne, commits iniquity, I will chastise him." And that's 
what's going to happen. But in verse 12, nevertheless, 
I will not do it in your days for the sake of your father David. 
I will tear it out of the hand of your son. Again, 1 Kings 12, 
Rehoboam. Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, launches 
this revolt against Rehoboam, the son of Solomon. That is the 
rift. That's the tear of the kingdom. And then he goes on, oh, when 
he says, for the sake of your father David, John Gill explains 
this well, not for the merits of David, but for the promises 
made to him. It has to do with the Davidic 
covenant. It has to do with that word revealed 
in 2 Samuel chapter 7. So nevertheless, I will not do 
it in your days for the sake of your servant, David. I will 
tear it out of the hand of your son. And then notice more grace. However, I will not tear away 
the whole kingdom. 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. Now, those of you who are good 
at math may realize that, you know, there's especially when 
we see a hija, the Shilani with Jeroboam. He speaks of this one 
tribe remaining and Jeroboam gets 10 tribes. That makes 11, 
doesn't it? My son, Josh, usually when he's 
here after there's any numbers involved like the 666 talents 
we looked at, he told me later what that meant in terms of tonnage. 
I just, my mind doesn't work that way. But the idea probably 
is that the two southern tribes are Judah and Benjamin. Most 
likely the idea is, is that the one tribe spoken is Benjamin 
and that Judah is assumed. Certainly Judah is going to remain 
intact, but the one tribe that will be granted to the southern 
kingdom along with Judah will be Benjamin. So that's kind of 
precursor to the math that we'll need. when we get to Jeroboam 
and Ahijah next week, the Lord willing. But so we see here, 
God's threatened judgment against Solomon. It will not occur in 
Solomon's days, but rather it will occur in Solomon's son's 
days. And it does indeed reflect both 
conditional and unconditional elements in the Davidic covenant. 
Well, in conclusion, I wanted to spend a little bit of time 
just drawing out a few lessons here. In the first place, the 
sinfulness of Solomon I think it's sufficiently obvious, isn't 
it? He did bad things. We might just 
summarize it that way. He did bad things. He violated 
the commandment of God Most High. But I think along the way, the 
author shows us how bad a thing he did. In the first place, the 
sin of Solomon was aggravated by his knowledge of the law in 
verse 2. When the author tells us, from 
the nations of whom the Lord had said to the children of Israel, 
you shall not intermarry with them, nor they with you, surely 
they will turn away your hearts after their gods. Yes, the author 
is certainly telling us, the reader, information that we need 
to know, but we need to understand that Solomon knew this. This 
exacerbates or aggravates his sinfulness because it was a principle 
or a commandment that he knew. Again, brethren, I'm suggesting 
that when we violate the law of God, we are justly liable 
to any chastisement, any punishment, any bad things that may come. 
Our way. We need to understand that we're 
duty-bound to hold to what the law of God says. Secondly, another 
thing that aggravates or exacerbates his sin is the example of his 
father David. So I think we hear this a lot 
in, you know, bringing up children today. Oh, there's no good examples 
out there. Well, we as parents ought to 
strive to be good examples in the first place, but Solomon 
had a good example. He couldn't say, but I didn't 
know. I didn't have the Christian life modeled in my home. Most 
certainly he did. He had a faithful man, a loyal 
man. He wasn't a perfect man. Knowing 
David the way we know him through the Psalms, when David sinned, 
he confessed it, he forsook it, and he found mercy with God. 
And as well, his sinfulness is exacerbated or aggravated by 
his experience of God's grace. Verses 9 and 10, or verse 9, 
who had appeared to him twice. It's intriguing, isn't it? That little bit of narrative 
from 5 to 10, we get all the vital elements involved in Solomon's 
privilege, so that when we come to chapter 11 and we see his 
fall, there's no excuse. He said, well, you know, I can 
kind of understand. Everything was going great for him, wasn't 
it? He didn't have any challenges or issues or trials or difficulties. 
There was nothing, you know, no pressing things upon his psyche. Secondly, the loyalty of David. John Gill, I think, explains 
it well, who, David, though guilty of many sins, never inclined 
to idolatry. His heart was always right in 
that point and sincere in his worship. A third thing we ought 
to appreciate in terms of this passage is the faithfulness of 
God. Yes, the faithfulness of God in terms of blessing His 
people when they obey, but again, the cursing of His people when 
they disobey. And this is consistent with what 
we find in 2 Samuel 7. You can turn there. In fact, 
2 Samuel 7 is fulfilled exactly in chapters 11 and 12 of 1 Kings. 
2 Samuel 7. Now, I suggest that 
there are conditional and unconditional elements in this particular covenant. Conditional means conditions. Do this, it will go well. Don't 
do this, it will go bad. Unconditional, there are certain 
aspects that are gonna be fulfilled because of God's grace. 2 Samuel 
7, 12, when your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, 
I will set up your seed after you who will come from your body. 
I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my 
name and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 
I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commits 
iniquity, which Solomon does, I will chasten him with the rod 
of men and with the blows of the sons of men. That's what 
we're seeing in chapters 11 and 12. But my mercy shall not depart 
from him, this unconditional aspect, as I took it from Saul, 
whom I removed from before you. And your house and your kingdom 
shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall 
be established forever. Now, of course, that points ultimately 
to the Lord Jesus Christ. But between David and the Lord 
Jesus Christ, there's a line of Davidic kings, and there are 
going to be those Davidic kings who do foolish things, and they're 
going to be chasing with the blows of men. They're going to 
go through these kinds of things, and this highlights for us the 
faithfulness of God. And then the passage, I think, 
affords to us many practical warnings in terms of our own 
Christian growth, our own Christian sanctification, lessons that 
we ought to learn in terms of Solomon. In the first place, 
the believer must marry in the Lord. The believer must marry 
in the Lord. Now, that doesn't jump out, say, 
as it does in 1 Corinthians 7, but I think it's implied. When 
we marry outside of the Lord, it won't be long before we're 
outside of the Lord, you see? If you marry poorly, you're going 
to end up poorly. We must marry in the Lord, and 
as men and women, we must be one women-men. and we must be 
one man woman." I think that was pronounced properly. 1 Timothy 
chapter 3 verse 2, an elder must be a one woman man. That's what 
it speaks to. There's a lot of, you know, question. 
What does it mean the husband of one wife? Does that mean if 
his wife dies he can never get married? Does it mean he has 
to be married in order to be an elder? Does it mean it He 
can't be a polygamist. It means he's a one-woman man. 
It means he's sexually faithful to the one woman that he's supposed 
to be sexually faithful to. In 1 Timothy 5, with reference 
to widows being put on the list to be supported by the church, 
you know what had to be true of the widow? A one-man woman. Same sort of thing. She needed 
to be sexually faithful to the man that she had been married 
to. That's the kind of people we're supposed to be. It ought 
not to be the case that we have 700 wives, princesses, and 300 
concubines. God made us to have one woman, 
one man for life, and we need to get that down, and we need 
to obey. Secondly, the believer must maintain 
fidelity to the Lord by obeying His commandments. You know, I 
know that sounds so basic and fundamental, but this is every 
misstep in our Christian lives. It's because we don't obey God's 
commandments. So maybe we need to repeat it 
more often. Maybe we need to look at John 
14, 15 more often, wherein Jesus says, if you love me, you will 
keep my commandments. You know that we have antinomianism 
in terms of doctrine or practice is just amazing because there's 
so much emphasis in the New Testament scriptures on the people of God 
obeying the law of God. Why this is so revolutionary 
today is simply beyond me. Thirdly, the believer must guard 
the eyes and the heart. Now, if, as Gill and Davis suggest, 
and all the commentators say, and probably it's certain, that 
Solomon was motivated politically, I mean, certainly when he married 
certain women from certain countries, there were political alliances 
forged that would benefit him, that would grease the wheels 
of the kingdom, cause everything to go well. But I mean, come 
on, how many political alliances can you have with 700 wives, 
princesses, and three? Were there 700 nations available 
for him to forge political alliances with? Somewhere along the line, 
it seems to be the case that he liked the company of women. 
I think we could all agree with that. because he certainly had 
a big enough company of women. So while our motivation may not 
be political in terms of leaving that one-woman man state or that 
one-man woman state, we need to guard our eyes and our hearts. Sexual fidelity is as important 
now as it was in 1 Kings 11. A fourth thing we ought to appreciate 
is that the believer ought to be mindful of something that 
is given to us in verse 4 that really ought to terrify us. Notice 
in verse 4, for it was so when Solomon was old. Don't we sort of think that older 
is holier or older is safer? It's not. 2 Timothy chapter 2, 
Paul tells Timothy, flee also youthful lusts. Solomon underscores 
for us that lust is not a sin confined to youth, but it affects 
old men too. I mean, that is a scary statement. For it was so when Solomon was 
old. You'd think experience, time, 
energy, effort, all those things would stabilize a human being 
so that they would in fact be safe from such temptation. Never let your guard down. Never think that everything is 
going to be okay. I remember years ago, I hadn't 
been here very long, maybe a year or two years, Don and Joanne 
had a friend named Peter Techrobe, and Peter was a retired Baptist 
pastor, and he had a friend in Chilliwack that was a retired 
Baptist pastor, and his name was Don Mills. Well, Peter would 
drive, I don't know why he'd come from Maple Ridge to Chilliwack 
to get his car serviced, but when he did, he'd meet with Don 
Mills and they'd have coffee. It was Don Mills, right? Don 
Hills, sorry. And they would meet for coffee. 
And one time they invited me to go. I'm probably 30, 31. These 
guys were probably at least 70. They were both retired. And so 
I'm sitting there having coffee, just enjoying the fact that I'm 
sitting with these two older Baptist pastor brethren that 
were retired. And one of them brought up Gandhi. One of them said, I read where 
Gandhi could lie between two women all night and not do anything. One of these old dudes said, 
boy, he's a better man than I. I thought, wow, he didn't mean 
it that he would actually sin. He was talking about the reality 
that lust is never gone. I remember being a young man 
thinking, wow, I thought when I hit a particular age, there'd 
be no more struggle. When he was old, See, never, 
ever, ever let down your guard, brothers and sisters. Never, 
ever think that the devil's going to stop because you're in your 
golden years. Or never think that your remaining 
corruption is going to allow you the comfort of an unfettered 
walk right through the River Jordan into the land of Emmanuel. Fifth, the believer should realize 
that past experiences do not always secure present faithfulness. But you know, back then I had 
such great communion with God and now I'm plunged into adultery. Well, you can't think that past 
experience is going to provide current stability. He appeared 
to him twice. That was experiential religion. If ever I've seen it or heard 
of it. And yet Solomon goes astray. Six, the believers should realize 
that good examples do not always secure present faithfulness. David was a great example for 
Solomon, but that great example wasn't enough to keep Solomon 
in tow. Parents, you can seek to control 
the environment, you can seek to model Christianity, but if 
you are not praying for the salvation of your children and the power 
of God's Holy Spirit to overtake them, then it's in vain. You 
may set a great example of moralism, but if you're not praying down 
the Spirit of God upon their hearts to save them from their 
sins, you may raise them up to be moral, obedient automatons 
until they come to that place where they go and they marry 
700 wives. Seventh, the believer should 
realize that knowledge itself does not always secure present 
faithfulness. Solomon knew the law as the sitting 
king in Israel. Solomon taught the law to his 
children. Proverbs 5.8, remove your way 
far from her and do not go near the door of her house. That self-same 
Solomon who tells us all how to maintain sexual fidelity is 
the man who has a thousand women. So knowledge itself doesn't secure 
us in the time of temptation. The believer should realize, 
eighthly, that wisdom does not always secure present faithfulness. I mean, who is a wiser man? Well, 
obviously, Jesus. But in this time frame, Solomon. I mean, the Queen of Sheba came 
from Sheba 1,000 to 1,500 miles just to marvel at the wisdom 
of Solomon. So all of these things are wonderful. Be wise. Have good examples. Seek knowledge to be sure. But 
in the final analysis, the believer ought to realize his utter dependence 
is upon the Holy Spirit. That's what we need. Knowledge. 
and the spirit, wisdom and the spirit, good examples and the 
spirit. John Gill says, this shows, this 
is a comment on verse eight, that the best and wisest of men, 
when left to themselves, may do the worst and most foolish 
of all things, as nothing can be more so than the worship of 
such wretched deities. Left to themselves. You see, 
I'm all for as much knowledge and as much wisdom and as much 
example and as much experience as you can handle. But brethren, 
if you're not praying for the Holy Spirit to guard you, keep 
you, watch over you, we're going to fall. We're going to stumble. 
We're going to end up in this sort of a place. And then ultimately, 
the question everyone asks, was Solomon saved, right? Has that 
popped into anybody's head? Was Solomon saved? I don't know. Actually, I think he was. Second 
Timothy, in the final analysis, nevertheless, the solid foundation 
of God stands having this seal. The Lord knows those who are 
his. Actually, two men today helped solidify thoughts I had 
previously had in terms of this question. One of those men said 
this in his written commentary. The other man was on the phone. 
This one said, though nothing is said of Solomon's repentance, 
there is no doubt, but he was a good man, repented of his sins 
and was saved. as may be concluded from the 
commendations of him after his death." There are times in Chronicles 
where it's David and Solomon. So as David is held forth as 
a standard, Solomon is right there next to him. From the promise 
of God that he made, that his mercy should not depart from 
him, though he chastised him. from his being an inspired writer, 
who were all holy men, 2 Peter 1.20, and especially from his 
writing the book of Ecclesiastes after his fall, which contains 
a full acknowledgment of all his evils, a recantation of them, 
and repentance for them." So that's... I'm going to side with 
Gil on that one. Anyways, I think those are some 
lessons that we ought to take heed to with reference to Solomon. 
I don't want to say if it can happen to him, it can happen 
to us, but if it can happen to him, it can happen to us. So 
we need to be on guard, we need to watch, and we need to pray. 
So let's pray now. Father, we thank you for this, 
your Word, and it's a difficult section of Scripture to see a 
man, a wise man, a knowledgeable man, a man that so faithfully 
led the kingdom of Israel for so many years, fall into such 
sin. Help us to see what the breach 
of God's law looks like. Help us to see it not just on 
1 Kings 11, but in our own lives, in our own hearts. And give us 
grace to be obedient to you. Give us the Holy Spirit to preserve 
us, to protect us, to watch over us, and to guard us. We ask that 
you would go with us now. Please bless and strengthen us 
each and every day. Bless and strengthen each of 
our brothers and sisters here. And may we not dishonor you in 
our wicked conduct, but may we seek by your grace to bring glory 
to your name. And we ask through Jesus Christ 
our Lord. Amen.