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
Introduction: Solomon's Fall
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
The Problem: Solomon's Foreign Loves
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
Deuteronomy's Prohibitions on Intermarriage
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.
Love and Clinging Redirected from God
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
The Idolatry of Solomon: Verses 3–8
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,
Idolatry and the First Two Commandments
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.
God's Anger and Solomon's Aggravated Sin
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.
The Division of the Kingdom Threatened
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,
Grace in the Nevertheless
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,
Lessons from Solomon's Fall
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,
Marry in the Lord
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,
Fidelity Through Obedience to God's Commands
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,
Guard Eyes and Heart
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
Age Does Not Secure Against Temptation
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 Alone Does Not Secure Faithfulness
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
Utter Dependence on the Holy Spirit
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.
Closing Prayer
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.