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You can turn in your Bibles to 
1 Kings chapter 11. 1 Kings chapter 11, several of 
you will have already heard this message. I doubt it'll be exactly 
the same as Wednesday night, but I thought the emphasis in 
this particular passage and some of the cautions that flow out 
of this particular passage were something that a wider audience 
could possibly benefit from. So 1 Kings 11, I'll read verses 
1 to 13. 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. Then 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. Well, let us pray. Father, 
we thank You for this, Your Word, and God, it is a terrifying passage 
on many levels. I pray that You would fill us 
with the Spirit and terrify our hearts at the prospect of the 
thought of ever departing or turning away from the living 
and the true God. Give us grace to exercise faithfulness 
by Your power, by the Holy Spirit, in a manner that is consistent 
with those who have believed the gospel of Jesus Christ our 
Lord. Again, forgive us for our sins 
and forgive us for every act of lawlessness and cause us to 
see that even in a man like Solomon, such things do not lead persons 
to a good end. We would ask that you would help 
us now by the power of the Holy Spirit, and we pray through Jesus 
Christ our Lord. Amen. Well, up to this particular 
point in 1 Kings, it had been a golden era of sorts under Solomon's 
reign. Chapters 1 and 2 of 1 Kings highlight 
the rise of Solomon, and then the reign of Solomon is given 
to us in chapters 3 to 11. In chapters 3 to 10, very specifically, 
that golden age is very clearly described. God comes to Solomon 
in chapter 3 and says, ask whatever it is that you want. And Solomon 
asks for wisdom. And God is pleased with that 
request, and God gives him wisdom. And then God gives him wealth, 
and riches, and blessing, and benefit. And then we see that 
wisdom displayed in Solomon's conduct as a civil leader. He 
is first presented with a particularly difficult case involving two 
prostitutes. And Solomon, in his wisdom, is 
able to navigate through that situation and render a positive 
verdict. We see Solomon's wisdom further 
on display in chapter 4. By the time we get to chapter 
5, we see the preparation for the temple. Remember that David 
was a man after God's own heart, but because of David's bloodshed, 
that meant that David would not build the house of the Lord. 
Now, some interpret that as David's impurity or his uncleanness. 
No, he was too busy shedding blood. He was too busy fighting 
battles. He was too busy securing and 
stabilizing Israel. to engage in a massive building 
project in terms of the temple. It wasn't because of ritual impurity 
or uncleanness, it was because he was too busy killing Ammonites 
and Hivites and Hittites and all the other ites so that Israel 
would be stabilized and secure and that there would be a season 
or a reign of peace under Solomon who would build the temple. So 
chapter 5 records for us the preparation involved in building 
the temple. Chapter 6 and 7 highlight the 
actual construction of the temple. It reads similarly to what we 
read there in Ezekiel 41. It's a description of the building. It's a description of the construction. 
It's a description of every jot and tittle that went into producing 
this wonderful testimony to the presence of God among His people. And then after the temple is 
constructed in chapter 8, Solomon He dedicates the temple. He prays. 
He calls upon the Lord God to forgive when they sin. He calls 
upon the Lord God to bless. They sacrifice to the Lord. It's 
a celebratory event. The people of Israel return to 
their homes with glad hearts. They return to their homes with 
great joy because they had been in the presence of the God of 
heaven and earth. And then in chapter 9, we see this second 
appearance. God comes to Solomon, and again, 
encourages Solomon, but as well warns Solomon. And he says to 
Solomon that if you break my covenant, then this temple will 
be destroyed. And then in chapter 10, it's 
just a beautiful sort of typological display of the Gentiles coming 
to Israel's king. This certainly tells us or points 
forward to Solomon's greater son, even the Lord Jesus Christ, 
but the Queen of Sheba comes. to visit Solomon, and she is 
just mightily impressed with both his wisdom and his wealth. She comes, I suspect, with some 
sort of three-by-five cards with all of her hard riddles written 
down, and she's ready to try and perplex Solomon. But he handily 
answers everything that she presents to him and demonstrates this 
God-given wisdom. And she sees it and ascribes 
glory to the God of Israel. And then in chapter 10 as well, 
the latter part of the chapter, it summarizes for us Solomon's 
great wealth. But there is a bit of a foreshadowing, 
or at least an inkling of concern there in chapter 10, because 
Solomon is multiplying wealth. It's not wrong to be wealthy. 
It's not wrong to receive God's blessing. But in 1 Kings 10, 
there is a lot of wealth. There is a lot of gold. There 
is a lot of trade. There is a lot of things going 
on. So Solomon accumulates wealth. He's also accumulating horses. 
Now, horses were used in battle, horses were used obviously in 
warfare, so we might classify them as weapons. So he's accumulating 
wealth, he's accumulating weapons, and if we are reading this whole 
narrative under the light of Deuteronomy 7 and 17, then we 
almost expect, and I perhaps set everybody up for this when 
we are going through our Bible studies on Wednesday, that he 
would multiply women, because these three things were prohibited 
from the King of Israel. Not that you couldn't have wealth, 
not that you couldn't have a wife, and not that you couldn't have 
weaponry. But you can't have so much that you trust in them 
rather than in the living and true God. So that's sort of the 
backdrop. This chapter breaks down into 
four sections. We're just going to look at the 
first section that I read. But essentially, we have the 
idolatry of Solomon in verses 1 to 13, the rebellions against 
Solomon in verses 14 to 28, the prophecy concerning the kingdom 
in verses 29 to 40, and then the death of Solomon in verses 
41 to 43. But I want to look tonight at 
the idolatry of Solomon, verses 1 to 8, and then the divine response 
to Solomon in verses 9 to 13, and then draw out some practical 
lessons. Three things we ought to appreciate with reference, 
not appreciate like we positively affirm it, but with reference 
to this first eight verses. There is a problem, a precedent, 
and a practice. Note the problem in verse 1. 
It says, but King Solomon loved many foreign women, as well as 
the daughter of Pharaoh. Go back to chapter 3 for just 
a moment. Chapter 3, we see a contrast 
here that the author is highlighting with reference to Solomon's loyalty 
or Solomon's heart commitment. In 1 Kings chapter 3, when everything 
is going well, we are told in verse 3, The Lord, that is a positive 
statement concerning Solomon in 1 Kings chapter 3. But when 
we get to chapter 11 and we read, but King Solomon loved many foreign 
women, that cannot bode well. The connection with chapter 10 
as well is conspicuous. This glowing description of his 
wisdom, this glowing description of his wealth, and then we are 
hit in the face by this statement that he loved many foreign women. 
In fact, Paul House says after the glowing report in chapter 
10, these verses are the literary equivalent of a blow to the face. And the particular concern of 
the text is that he loved many foreign women. Notice in verse 
2 it says, he clung to these in love. Now, it was the case 
that these ancient kings would marry for political reasons. They would marry for political 
alliances. In order to have a good relationship 
with a neighboring nation, it was not unheard of for a king 
to take a wife from the other king's household. So probably 
some of that is going on, but when we see the numbers involved, 
we got to ask the question, Were there a thousand nations even 
in proximity to Solomon? Not all of these could have possibly 
been 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. Dale Ralph Davis 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. And then it describes for us 
the particular nations from whence these foreign women Hail, they 
were women that were Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, 
and Hittites. Now we're going to see two problems 
with this, but in the first place, or in the first sense, look at 
Deuteronomy chapter 17. Deuteronomy chapter 17, this 
is the passage I just referred to where the king was not to 
multiply wealth, weapons, or women. Deuteronomy chapter 17, 
specifically in 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 again, that golden 
era of chapters 1 to 10 are certainly presented in a most positive 
way, so that when we get to chapter 11, verse 1, as House says, it 
is the literary equivalent to a blow to the face. The origin 
of these particular women as well is troublesome. Notice in 
verse 2 for the precedent. We got the problem, verse 1. 
We see the precedent 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. Go back to Deuteronomy 7. to 
see the specific precedent for this particular command. Not 
only was the king forbidden or prohibited from multiplying women, 
Certainly every Israelite, including the king, was prohibited or forbidden 
from marrying with pagans. Deuteronomy 7 at 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 
and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and 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, but thus you shall 
deal with them. You shall destroy their altars, 
break down their sacred pillars, cut down their wooden images, 
and burn their carved images with fire." So you are to have 
no political, social, or obviously religious covenant or contract 
with these people. God knows our hearts, brethren. 
Do you ever read Scripture and say, I wonder why God commands 
us that way? Because He knows our hearts. 
He knows that we're prone to wander, and He knows that we 
are prone to leave the God that we love. So much of the book 
of Deuteronomy illustrates that very thing. God's not a killjoy, 
God's not a cosmic wrecker of anything good and fun, but he 
knows rather that the children of Israel, when they go into 
the land of Canaan, if they tolerate that false worship, it will not 
be long before they participate in that false worship. If they 
first just have no problem with it, it won't be long before they're 
bowing to Baal and singing his praises right alongside the Canaanites, 
and that's what subsequent history reveals. See, we have this idea 
that we're so holy and so pure that we can go into godless areas 
and positively affect them. Typically, that's not the case. 
Typically, when we associate with bad company, as we are prohibited 
from doing. It doesn't mean we ought not 
to be friends to sinners, does not mean we ought not to share 
the gospel with sinners, but we ought to be separate from 
sinners in the sense that Christ was. Receive them, be friends 
with them, but do not participate in that particular sin. We get 
this idea that, oh, I'll just go hang out with these sinners 
and my godliness will just rub off on them. It typically doesn't 
work that way, but rather the ungodliness rubs off on us. What 
does James tell us in James chapter 1? Pure and undefiled religion 
in the sight of God and the Father is this, to visit widows and 
orphans in their distress and to keep oneself unstained or 
unspotted from the world. You see, God knows the heart 
of man and he commands us accordingly. And what he tells us specifically 
here is that if you marry with these foreign women, it will 
not be long before they lead your heart astray. Remember, 
this is the most intimate of social construct. This is the 
most intimate place for a man and a woman to be. And if the 
man is not solid or the woman is not solid, they are going 
to be led astray. Hence the emphasis in the New 
Testament on the admonition for God's people to marry God's people. You are not to marry outside 
of the Lord. You are not to be unequally yoked. You are not to marry an idolater. You are not to marry somebody 
that has the propensity and the tendency and the wherewithal 
to turn you away from the living and true God. You must learn 
at least that principle from this particular passage. But 
the precedent in 1 Kings 11 verse 2 is specifically there in Deuteronomy 
chapter 7. And so what we find in this particular 
passage is that Solomon does precisely what the Lord had told 
him not to do. We ought to appreciate the particular 
verbs that are utilized as well. Solomon loved them. Solomon clung 
to them. Ought to be a concern for us 
as we appreciate the book of Deuteronomy. Ian Proven makes 
this observation. The use of both verbs is to be 
understood in terms of their appearance in Deuteronomy. He 
cites several places. What are we supposed to do with 
reference to God? After the Shema in Deuteronomy 
6, 4, 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. There are several instances in that section in 
the book of Deuteronomy, throughout the book of Deuteronomy, that 
we are to love God, not love foreign women. And specifically 
as well, those passages highlight that we're to cling to God. We are to hold fast to God. So it ought to cause concern 
when we see that Solomon is doing these very things. So the use 
of both verbs is 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. You don't see that in Solomon 
at this point, do you? If you appreciate what's happened up 
to this point, it's somewhat scary, saddening, heart brokenness 
here. You're like, no, Solomon, don't 
do that. You're not supposed to do that. 
You're the king in Israel. You are duty bound to Deuteronomy 
17. You are certainly under the mandate 
of holy war in Deuteronomy 7. I'm not suggesting holy war in 
Deuteronomy 7 is still active for us today. you know, go out 
and kill everybody that doesn't agree with you religiously. There's 
a big change in terms of the old and new covenant. But in 
this covenantal particular administration, Solomon was bound not to have 
sort of intercourse, and I don't mean that sexually, but relationship 
with these pagans. It is intriguing as we saw a 
couple of chapters back, Solomon had a labor force made up of 
pagans. But intriguingly, in that particular 
section, it tells us that the Pharaoh of Egypt was able to 
wipe out every Canaanite in a particular city. And it should produce in 
us the question as to why didn't Solomon? Maybe Solomon liked 
having cheap labor. Maybe Solomon enjoyed having 
this Canaanite labor force. But you see, Solomon can't make 
that determination. Deuteronomy 7 is absolutely crucial. You see, we are not to trump 
the law of God with things that benefit us. In other words, if 
something makes me feel good or whole, I've got duty and boundness 
before God to obey what He says, and we don't see that happening 
here with Solomon. Now, notice the practice of Solomon 
in verses 3 to 8, the number of women. Verse 3a, and he had 
700 wives, princesses, and 300 concubines. Note the spiritual 
effect upon Solomon before we look at his actual practice or 
the practical results. Notice the king's heart was turned 
away from the Lord. That precedes everything, right? I mean, when we get to specific 
acts in verses five to eight, it's not shocking and it's not 
surprising because his heart is already turned away. You see, 
somebody doesn't abandon the Christian faith and start worshiping 
at false at the feet of false gods just overnight. They've 
defected long before that. Apostasy settles into the heart. It precedes the actual acts of 
abandonment of God. And it is intriguing that the 
Old Testament was concerned with the heart, wasn't it? I think 
we a lot of times as Christians think that, you know, the Old 
Testament was just about externals. Show up in the right place, bring 
the right sacrifice, and do the right thing. That's not so. Solomon's 
heart turned away from the Lord. There was an internal commitment 
at one point that was no longer present. And we need to understand 
as well that this text highlights for us that principle laid down 
by our Lord Jesus that no one can serve two masters. You'll 
either love the one and hate the other, or hate the one and 
love the other. It is imperative that we as God's people maintain 
fidelity to God. So the king's heart was turned 
away from the Lord. Notice his prayer in chapter 
eight, specifically in verse 58. This underscores the grievousness 
of it even more so, because Solomon prayed well, but he didn't live 
well. In chapter eight, at verse 58, 
notice what he prays, 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. 
He is crying out on behalf of the people to God, in the presence 
of the people. Maybe exhortation, but it's certainly 
in the context of prayer. And he wants God to incline our 
hearts to follow God. And so when we get to this particular 
section, we see that he doesn't even live in light of his own 
prayer. Those who pray as they ought 
should endeavor to live as they pray. If you're going to take 
the Lord's prayer as a model prayer and actually pray, lead 
us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, don't leave from 
your knees and then go over to your computer and click on a 
porn site. You cannot live inconsistently. If you pray as you ought, endeavor 
to live as you pray. That's actually John Owen that 
I'm co-opting for this particular statement. Do not be hypocritical. God bless me, help me, keep me, 
and then you wander into the path of danger. That makes no 
sense, brethren. It is precisely what we find 
Solomon there praying before Yahweh. God, incline our hearts 
to keep Your way. We get to chapter 11 and he loves 
many foreign women. His heart clung to them in love. It's unfortunate that it has 
to happen to a man that was so filled with wisdom and knowledge, 
but perhaps it has to happen to a man like that to warn men 
and women like us. that we need to take heed and 
we need to watch and we need to pray. Verse 4a, the king went 
after other gods. Verse 4b, the king's heart was 
not loyal to the Lord his God. Again, look at chapter 8, verse 
61. Chapter 8, verse 61, he has the 
wherewithal to exhort the nation of Israel, let your heart therefore 
be loyal to the Lord our God to walk in his statutes and to 
keep his commandments as at this day. We get two or three chapters 
over and what do we find? Not only is he not praying this 
anymore, he is living absolutely contrary to what he has cried 
out. to the Lord in prayer. And then the king rejected the 
good example of his father David. Notice in verse 4 there. It says, as was the heart of 
his father David. I'm just going to answer this 
particular sort of question now, because persons read this and 
see David as a standard, and they say, wait a minute. You 
know, we were with you on Wednesday night, and we went through 1 
Samuel, and David wasn't perfect. Was he? No, he wasn't. That's the legitimate response. 
I realize we all lost an hour of sleep last night, but I think 
in many respects this passage speaks a multitude of helpful 
things to our heart. How do we see David as a standard? How can God hold David forth 
as a standard to the kings of Israel? Because in spite of his 
sin, in spite of his adultery, in spite of his murder, he never 
committed idolatry. He never defected from Yahweh. 
He never abandoned the Lord his God. You see, I'm not suggesting 
that it's okay to commit murder and it's okay to commit adultery 
as long as you go to church. That's not the implication you 
ought to draw out from this. But we ought to appreciate the 
priority in the Decalogue, or the Ten Commandments. They're 
not just haphazardly thrown together. The first and the second are 
foundational. If a man rejects the true and 
the living God, he's going to have problems with the rest of 
the entirety of God's law. And as well, if a man rejects 
the true and the living God, it doesn't matter if he maintains 
some semblance of formal or external compliance with those particulars, 
because he's under the wrath and fury and judgment of God 
Most High. So you see in this particular 
instance, he rejected the good example of his father David. 
David never ever strayed from God. Gil says it this way, who 
David, though guilty of many sins, never inclined to idolatry. His heart was always right in 
that point and sincere in his worship. You see, brethren, God 
calls David a man after his own heart, and we ought not to be 
embarrassed by that. You know, someone might say, 
well, how can you call that man a hero of the Christian faith or of 
true religion when he committed murder and he committed adultery? 
You know what he never committed? Idolatry. You know who he never 
defected from? God. You know that when he was 
found out for his sin, he owned it, he confessed it. I have sinned 
against Yahweh. He doesn't try to, you know, 
make excuses. He doesn't try to reason rationalize 
his conduct, you know, that simple statement in 2 Samuel 11 and 
12, I have sinned against the Lord. Some people say, well, 
he got off pretty easy. I mean, if that's just all you 
have to do to get over this whole murder adultery thing, that just 
doesn't seem right. It's absolutely right. I have 
sinned against the Lord. He doesn't say, you don't know 
what it's like to be the king. You don't know what it's like to 
go up on your roof and see a beautiful woman bathing. You don't know 
what it's like to be under the pressures that I'm under. He 
doesn't rationalize. He doesn't try to defend. He 
sides with God, and he owns himself as a sinner before God. That 
is true confession. That is true repentance. Solomon 
doesn't express that here in this particular instance. So 
we have the spiritual effect in verses 3 and 4, but note the 
practical results in verses 5 to 8. The king pursued the false 
gods Ashtoreth, Milcom and Chemosh. Now Milcom and Molech may be 
the same god. Milcom and Molech may be the 
same god. Notice God's report concerning 
these idols, concerning these false gods. Verse 5, for Solomon 
went after Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom, 
the abomination of the Ammonites. He doesn't even dignify it by 
saying, idle. He doesn't even dignify it by saying, little 
g, God. It's an abomination. Anything 
that is not God that you worship is an abomination. Anything you 
give your heart to that is not God is an abomination. So Solomon 
goes after Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom, 
the abomination of the Ammonites. Robert Alter, I think, is right. 
One may infer that he initially allowed them freedom of worship 
and then was drawn into their pagan ways. It probably didn't 
just happen that Solomon jumped fully into the worship of these 
gods, but he tolerated it. He just let it go initially. Just a little bit of bad practice. 
Well, it's not a little bit of bad practice, it was a lot of 
bad practice, but Solomon let it go. But it wasn't long before 
Solomon is now bowing with his four wives at the feet of these 
particular gods, Ashtoreth, Milcom slash Moloch, you know, his claim 
to fame was child sacrifice. You want to get rid of your babies 
under Moloch? Just throw them into the fire. 
See, abortion is nothing new under the sun. Infanticide is 
nothing new under the sun. These pagans worship this God 
in this manner, and the King of Israel is facilitating it. We've got to watch our hearts, 
brethren, and we've got to pray, because if this happened to Solomon, 
I'm not suggesting it could happen to any of us, but we need to 
take heed lest we fall. Notice, the king did evil in 
the sight of the Lord and didn't fully follow the Lord, again, 
like his father David. And the king, ultimately, who 
had built a house for Yahweh, isn't that what I just specified? 
Chapter 5 is preparation, chapter 6 and 7 is construction, chapter 
7, I'm sorry, chapter 8 is dedication. He just built a house for the 
living and true God. This took years, brethren. It was a major undertaking, and 
this man who built a house for Yahweh, who also fulfills the 
mandate of Deuteronomy 12, which called for a centralized place 
for worship. See, God wanted centralized worship 
because he knew that if your heart goes a-hankering after 
what the heart wants, it's going to bow before some Canaanite 
deity. So God says there's safety in 
centralized sanctuaries. come to Jerusalem in order to 
worship the living and the true God. So Solomon achieves all 
this under God, and then it says in verse 8, and he did likewise 
for all his foreign wives who burned incense and sacrificed 
to their gods. Paul House again makes this observation. Other than their link to his 
wives, Solomon's choice of gods makes no sense. In the ancient 
world, polytheists tended to worship the gods of the nation. 
Polytheist means somebody who worships a bunch of gods. We're 
not polytheists, we're monotheists. We worship one god, mono. Poly means many. So Howe says, 
polytheists 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. You get that, right? your particular 
nation, and a conquering nation comes in, you would ascribe power, 
glory, and dominion to their god. So why not worship him? 
He's the victor. That was the prevailing mindset 
in the ancient Near Eastern world. And so House muses upon this, 
and he says, other than the links to his wives, there is absolutely 
no reason whatsoever that Solomon should bow to these conquered 
nations' deities. He says, 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. This is the emphasis 
that we ought to glean from this section, verses one to eight. 
Now let's move on to the divine response to Solomon in verses 
nine to 13. This breaks down into two sections. 
First, the anger of the Lord in verses 9 and 10, and then 
secondly, the word of the Lord in verses 11 to 13. Note the 
statement, so the Lord became angry with Solomon. This is a 
just expression of God's holiness and justice at the breach of 
His law. We expect this, don't we? I hope 
we do. What does God promise in the 
second commandment? That if you violate my commandment 
at this particular point, you are going to suffer under my 
wrath. This is the legitimate expression 
of a holy God who expresses Himself as jealous, not in some petty 
way that the way, you know, some insecure husband or wife might 
express jealousy, but God's jealousy highlights His singularity, highlights 
His incomparability, highlights the fact that He will truck no 
competitors, or he will have participation with no competitors. 
If he saves a man, a woman, a boy or girl, he demands that man, 
woman, boy or girl give him allegiance. And that's legit, and it's right. 
And so when Solomon here does a whoring from God, and he bows 
before Ashtreth, he sings the praises of Milcom, and he does 
the blasphemous worship of Chemosh, it is right that the Lord became 
angry with Solomon. Again, the reason, because his 
heart had turned from the Lord God of Israel. He violated the 
first and second commandments. The aggravation, notice in verse 
9, it says, who had appeared to him twice. I think this exacerbates 
Solomon's sin. Just like that instance, go back 
for just a moment to 2 Samuel chapter 11. 2 Samuel chapter 
11, because there's a few instances in 1 Kings 11 where exacerbation 
or aggravation of the sin is evident. Note specifically, I'm 
sorry, chapter 12. After David is found out, after 
Nathan responds to David, you are the man, notice in verse 
7, thus says the Lord God of Israel, I anointed you king over 
Israel, I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave you 
your master's house and your master's wives into your keeping 
and gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if that had been 
too little, I also would have given you much more. Why have 
you despised the commandment of the Lord to do evil in His 
sight?" Doesn't that statement just make his sin that much worse? You know, you take a man who 
goes out and commits adultery against his wife, and you find 
out his wife is benevolent, generous, kind, loving, gracious, faithful. I mean, it's never right to commit 
adultery, but with the backdrop of a woman like that, boy, this 
guy's just terrible. He's just a monster. Again, any 
time adultery is committed, it's a breach of the covenant. It's 
just monstrous and wicked. But when you find out that a 
particular man or a woman that was the victim in this assault 
says things like this, if that had been too little, I also would 
have given you much more. Well, I think that's how 1 Kings 
11 verse 9 functions. So the Lord became angry with 
Solomon because his heart had turned from the Lord God of Israel, 
who had appeared to him twice. This God appeared to him twice. You see, Solomon, you have reaped 
a benefit that not everybody has. You've enjoyed great experience 
and yet you have plunged headlong into idolatry via these foreign 
wives. Notice the rejection of Solomon 
to his God. He did not keep what the Lord 
had commanded. So, then we come to the Word 
of the Lord in verses 11 to 13. I'll do this quickly. If you're 
interested in this sort of thing, Wednesday night, 7.30, we continue 
to go through these books of the Bible, 1 Kings 11, God willing, 
this Wednesday night, beginning in verse 14. But note, God promises 
judgment. There will be a division of the 
kingdom in verse 11. 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. Now if you had 
studied with us 1 Samuel, this kind of reminds one of 1 Samuel 
13. Saul there engages in a particular 
first and second commandment violation. Saul is told to wait for Samuel. 
Instead of waiting for Samuel, he undertakes to offer up sacrifice. 
So Samuel essentially says, look, the kingdom is being taken away 
from you. You get to Samuel chapter 15. Saul is told, very simply, 
go in and kill all the Amalekites. That's what you're supposed to 
do. That's your job, Saul. Go in and utterly destroy all 
of the Amalekites. Saul goes to battle, comes back 
from the battle, and says to Samuel, I did it! I did it! Samuel 
says, if you did it, why am I hearing the bleeding of these sheep and 
the lowing of these oxen? Because they were supposed to 
die as well. Now, I know we get offended. No, you shouldn't kill 
poor little animals. Holy war, brethren. God says 
destroy them, because if you don't, you're going to worship 
with them. That's the point. So Samuel at that point rips 
a piece of Saul's garment and tells Saul that God is giving 
the kingdom to a neighbor that is better than him. That's precisely 
what's happening here. You see, Solomon's sin is the 
precursor to the collapse of Israel. Not the collapse so that 
it's no longer, but in chapter 12 and following, it's all downhill 
from there. What happens in chapter 12 is 
the division of the kingdom. See, Israel is one kingdom made 
up of 12 tribes. You've got 10 in the north and 
you've got 2 in the south. And so what is happening here 
under God's threat, or God's promise rather, it's not going 
to happen in Solomon's day, it's going to happen to Solomon's 
son, his son Rehoboam. And what God is going to do using 
Jeroboam, a man from the north, is going to bring that rupture 
to the kingdom. Such now that you have ten northern 
tribes and two southern tribes. Now, when you look at this particular 
passage and it says in verse 12, I will give one tribe to 
your son for the sake of my servant David. Those quick at math will 
say if there's 12 tribes and they're given one tribe, that's 
only 11 tribes. Well, Judah is presupposed or 
Judah is assumed. This one tribe is probably Benjamin. 
It's Judah and Benjamin that make up the southern kingdom. 
But God tells Solomon, as a result of this, there is going to be 
chastisement. there is going to fall upon you 
the sword of the Lord. There is going to be this difficulty 
in the kingdom of Israel. Now this is developed later in 
the chapter when Jeroboam makes his arrival on the scene and 
a prophet by the name of Ahijah instructs him very particularly 
concerning this division of the kingdom. You see this actually 
effectually take place in chapter 12. So that's what's happening 
here in verses 11 to 13. God is promising him. that a divided heart will lead 
to a divided kingdom. That's proven. Solomon's divided 
heart will lead to a divided kingdom. So that's what we have 
in terms of exposition. Let us seek to draw out a few 
lessons. In the first place, we see, I 
hope, the sinfulness of Solomon. And we see, I hope, the necessity 
for us to take heed to this and watch our ways, because if a 
man like this is able to fall like this, then we ought to take 
heed to the apostles' warning in 1 Corinthians 10 and take 
heed lest we fall. Notice, that sin is aggravated 
or exacerbated or highlighted, perhaps, in three particular 
ways. First, the sin of Solomon was 
aggravated by his knowledge of the law. That verse too is invoked 
as a precedent, and that the king was to know the law indicates 
that Solomon knew this. He knew the demands of holy war 
in Deuteronomy 7. He knew the demands placed upon 
him as the king of Israel. That he broke that law is absolutely 
vile. We talked about this on Wednesday 
night. We need to just be honest, brethren, 
when we sin against God. It's not because we weren't hugged 
enough as a child, or it's not because we don't have enough 
money, or it's not because nobody likes us, or because I've been 
dealt a difficult hand. It's because we've broken God's 
law. God's given us His law and we 
choose to transgress it. Let's just keep it in those simple 
categories instead of trying to define it away. Solomon knew 
the law and he rejected it. And today, Christians have to 
be reminded that the law is still applicable. I mean, that's our 
battle. Not only to A, try and keep people 
from breaking the law, but B, trying to convince them that 
they're actually under the law. But they say, oh, Romans 6.14 
says we're not under the law, we're under grace. Brethren, 
in Romans 6.14, Paul does not mean it's okay to commit adultery. 
It's okay to murder. It's okay to break the Sabbath. 
It's okay to be insubordinate to your governing authorities 
or to your parents. It's okay to steal, because after 
all, we're not under law, we're under grace. That is not what 
Romans 6.14 means whatsoever. We are under the law, not as 
a covenant of works, not as a means by which we try and gain acceptance 
to God, but as those conquered by sovereign grace, in those 
justified freely by that grace, we are duty-bound to pursue obedience 
in terms of God's law. Doesn't our Master say in John 
14, 15, if you love me, you'll do what? Go out and break my 
commandments? Go out and question my commandments? 
Go out and dispute on Facebook the validity of the commandments 
for today?" No, he says, if you love me, you'll keep my commandments. 
You see, the sin of Solomon is aggravated or exacerbated or 
highlighted in his knowledge of the law. Secondly, it's exacerbated 
by his good example and his father David. He didn't ever see David bow 
before Moloch. He didn't ever see David throwing 
kids into the fire of Moloch. He didn't ever follow David into 
a Chemosh worship service. He never saw David bowing before 
Ashtoreth, calling upon her. for blessing or for prosperity, 
Solomon had a good example in terms of his father. And I suspect 
or I trust that most of you young people have good examples, not 
perfect, listen to what I'm saying, not perfect, but good examples, 
non-idolaters. Now that doesn't lower the bar 
by any stretch of the imagination, but to maintain fidelity to God 
in a world hostile toward God with remaining corruption in 
one's heart against God, Great accomplishment by the grace of 
God. So you young people, you need to follow the good examples 
that you have been given. And then thirdly, that sin is 
exacerbated, aggravated, highlighted by his experience of God's grace. 
The Lord appeared to him twice. You see, when you read through 
the narrative, or as we've been studying the narrative, that 
first one makes sense, right? I mean, 1 Kings 3, newly appointed 
king, God comes to Solomon and says, ask what you want. What 
is it that you'd like? What a gracious God. Don't you 
ever meet people that say, oh, the Old Testament God, he's just 
wrath and fury and judgment and anger and this, that, and the 
other. No, he's not. Asking Solomon, what do you want? What would you like, Solomon? 
You've just ascended the throne. What is it that you want? Solomon 
says, wisdom. Great. You're going to get wisdom. 
But I'm not going to just give you wisdom. I'm going to give 
you wealth, too, Solomon. That's not a God that is typical 
of those who say, oh, he's just this harsh, severe When we see 
in verse 9, the Lord became angry with Solomon, that's legitimate. 
That's a righteous response to the rebellion of Solomon at that 
particular point. So the sinfulness of Solomon 
is definitely highlighted in this particular passage. As well, 
I think, we see in this passage the faithfulness of God, the 
faithfulness of God. There is a conditional element 
in the Davidic covenant. A conditional element in the 
Davidic covenants, simply put this, if his son commits iniquity, 
I will chastise him with the blows of men. God does that. 
God does that here in the division of the kingdom. This is an ascription 
of God's faithfulness. You see, we as God's people say, 
oh, He's faithful when He blesses. He's faithful when He curses 
too. See, if God promises, I'm gonna judge you and curse you 
if you violate my law and commandments, and he does that, we ought to 
praise him for his faithfulness. We don't just praise him for 
the faithfulness that is positive. We don't like that faithfulness 
when it's, you know, negative. It's faithfulness, and that is 
precisely what we see in this particular passage. There is 
an unconditional element in the Davidic Covenant as well, and 
God is faithful in carrying out His promise concerning His Son. 
That He left Judah intact highlights the beauty of that element in 
the Davidic Covenant, because it points us forward to the Lord 
Jesus Christ. Now, thirdly and finally, I suggest 
there are several practical warnings in the section that we ought 
to take heed to. In the first place, and we've 
covered this, but I think it bears repetition, the believer 
must marry in the Lord. The believer must be a one-woman 
man or a one-man woman. You must marry in the Lord. Now, 
I don't think that's the main lesson that pops out in 1 Kings 
11. You know, the flow of the narrative, 
the situation facing Israel, the life of Solomon. I don't 
know that the first lesson the author wants us to take away 
is to marry in the Lord. But I certainly think that's 
implicit. Because you see, that most intimate 
union has the potential to lead you astray. And if you don't 
marry wisely, if you don't marry properly, if you don't marry 
in the Lord, as a believer in the Lord, you are walking down 
a very dangerous path. And when I mention we must be 
one woman-man and one man-woman, that's straight out of the Apostle 
Paul in 1 Timothy 3, verse 2. It says that the elder must be 
the husband of one wife. Now, when you see these requirements 
for elders and deacons, that doesn't mean the rest of the 
church can, you know, do whatever it is they want. Those particular 
virtues held out to us in 1 Timothy 3 in terms of qualification for 
elders and deacons is what every man in the church ought to be. It's just simply highlighting 
that if a man's going to be considered for eldership of the deacon, 
he must be these things. He can't have any wiggle room 
in these things, but every man ought to be a one-woman man. 
And by that he means sexual fidelity. 1 Timothy chapter 5, specifically 
in verse 9, as Paul discusses the requirements for a widow 
to be put on the widow's list. You see, sometimes you see it 
suggested that persons who are on welfare, and I don't want 
to get into some big long debate, should, you know, have a urinalysis 
or do something, you know, do some sort of job or whatever 
for that check. And everybody freaks out, you can't do that. 
Well, in order to be on Paul's widow list, you had to meet several 
criteria. I mean, he didn't just say, oh, 
your husband passed away, here's money. No, in fact, look there, 
see what the Word of God says in terms of just handing out 
money. No, there's certain requirements and there's certain things that 
need to be in place. 1 Timothy 5.9, do not let a widow 
under 60 years old be taken into the number, and not unless she 
has been the wife of one man, a one-man woman. Same thing that 
you see in 1 Timothy 3, verse 2, a one-woman man, here she's 
a one-man woman. That means sexual fidelity. Not 
less, she has been the wife of one man, well-reported for good 
works, if she has brought up children, if she has lodged strangers, 
if she has washed the saints' feet, if she has relieved the 
afflicted, if she has diligently followed every good work. It's 
an amazing list, isn't it, to get on the widow's list in terms 
of participation in the church's funds. But all that to say, brethren, 
we need to marry well and we need to be faithful in that marriage. Secondly, the believer must maintain 
fidelity to the Lord by obeying his commandments. I know that's 
just revolutionary, right? That's just so amazing. Well, 
why? Do what God says? Yeah! live 
in an antinomian age, and by that I'm not talking about doctrinal 
antinomianism, though there is that, but practical antinomianism. We in the Reformed faith, those 
who understand the threefold division of the law, those who 
understand what the normative use of the law is, that realize 
what Romans 6.14 does not mean. We have that law, we need to 
obey it. We need to pursue those things 
that God says we ought to pursue. We need to be about obedience 
to the Lord Most High. A third thing that I think we 
ought to learn from this passage is the believer must guard the 
eyes and the heart and political motivations. If Solomon was politically 
motivated to multiply these wives, at some time, I don't know if 
it happened around 300 or 400 or 800 or 900, at some point, 
political alliances probably wasn't the chief concern. Would you grant that? It was 
desire. It was what he wanted. And I suggest, as God's people, 
we must guard the eyes and the heart. This is absolutely imperative 
if we are going to be those who are one woman, men, and one man, 
woman, or one man, women. That was it. It's absolutely 
crucial that we guard the eyes and we guard the heart. In the 
fourth place, the believer ought to be mindful of Solomon's age 
when he fell. If you've got your scriptures 
open to 1 Kings 11, notice at verse four. For it was so when 
Solomon was old. It's a terrifying text, isn't 
it? We think that blue hair equals 
safety. Blue hair equals holy. Blue hair is what old people 
sometimes have. Isaac's looking confused. In 
my day, when you referred to a blue haired person, that meant 
somebody that was old. Gray hair, hoary head, we just 
sang it in Psalm 80. But notice that emphasis. Solomon's 
not a young man here. Solomon's not a middle-aged man 
here. Solomon's an old man. See, we 
think as we get older, it's gonna be easier. Not if Solomon's our 
example. The apostle Paul tells Timothy 
in 2 Timothy 2, flee also, youthful lusts. Now, as young men, we 
all affirm that and say, yeah, we got to pay attention to that. 
We got to take heed to that. But you know, when I'm 60 or 
I'm 70 or I'm 80, that's not going to be a problem for me. 
It was for Solomon. You see, the tendency might be 
with the elderly folk amongst us to be struggling more than 
we know. Do we pray for the older folks 
that they are kept by the power of God? And we have that blessed 
promise. I'm not saying age necessarily 
equates to apostasy, but older people have as many struggles 
and maybe more than young people. You know, we are like that, aren't 
we? You don't know what it's like to be 21. I've got all these 
hormones and I'm just raging with lust and you don't know. This man was old and he had a 
thousand wives. Maybe we don't understand what 
some of the older folk are going through. Now we have God's sure 
word to us that we just sang. In down to old age, all my people 
shall prove my sovereign, eternal, unchangeable love. And when hoary 
hairs shall their temples adorn, like lambs they shall still in 
my bosom be born." It's a blessed reality that God will not leave 
us and God will not forsake us, but banish the thought that the 
older you get, the easier it's going to become. That's not necessarily 
the case. We learn from Solomon, brethren, 
that it's a fight constantly, perpetually, continually. Oh, pray for these older people 
that, you know, they just continue to have joy and happiness. Pray 
that they would be fighting sin. Pray that they would be seeking 
to deal faithfully with sin. Pray that they would resist temptation. Pray that they would finish well 
and not like what Solomon does in this particular instance. 
Young men ought to realize that lust is not confined to young 
men. It is present even in older men 
and women. It's not that only men lust. 
Fifth, we ought to appreciate that the believer should realize 
that past experiences do not always secure present faithfulness. It's a bit of a scary one, too. 
Past experience does not secure present faithfulness. The Lord 
appeared to him what? Twice. You would think that if 
the Lord had appeared to you twice, you're never going to 
have trouble again, right? You're going to just soar your 
way into heaven. It's going to be easy street 
because God has appeared to me twice. Past experience does not 
secure present faithfulness. You hear this at times. People 
say, oh, you know, I used to read my Bible and I used to pray 
and I used to attend church faithfully and regularly. Now I'm just struggling. Well, those past experiences 
don't secure present faithfulness. Maybe you ought to read your 
Bible and pray presently. Maybe you ought to attend church 
presently. Why would you try to live off a past experience 
for a present reality that you're gaining no victory over? Notice 
as well, these are just warnings that I think the text definitely 
suggests. Six, the believer should realize 
that good examples do not always secure present faithfulness. But I had David as my example, 
and yet I'm bowing before Chemosh. You see, I think this speaks 
to parents. We want to provide for our children good examples, 
and we should. Don't, you know, go home and 
smoke crack and eat Cheetos and tell your kids to go out and 
play in the traffic. Don't do that. Set good examples, but 
your good example doesn't save them. Your good example must 
be bathed in prayer for their salvation. It's moralism just 
to demonstrate to them how you ought to live and you must function 
accordingly and everything will be okay. No, you need to be born 
again. You need to listen to the preaching 
of the gospel. You need to believe that truth for yourself because 
past or good godly examples don't necessarily provide security. 
for present faithfulness as well. The believer should realize that 
knowledge itself does not always secure present faithfulness. 
This is all scary because we need to be and have good examples, 
experiences great that we've had in the Christian faith, and 
certainly knowledge. I'll just lump these two together, 
knowledge and wisdom. Solomon was a knowledgeable man. 
Solomon was a wise man. Solomon warned his sons against 
doing what he's doing. Proverbs 5a, do not go near the 
door of her house. I mean, that's the man who penned 
that and now is going near the door, the bed, of a thousand 
different women. And unfortunately, beyond their 
bed to their altars, and not even to their altars, he's going 
to manufacture them. He's going to build them himself 
so that he can participate with them. in their abominable practices. So you see, knowledge and wisdom 
itself does not secure present faithfulness. Now, don't conclude, 
I ought not to pursue wisdom, I ought not to pursue knowledge, 
I certainly ought not to pursue experience. No, just realize, 
just realize that what John Gill says concerning verse 8, He says, 
this shows 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. The believer, 
it's a final statement concerning warning, ought to realize his 
utter dependence upon the Holy Spirit. We need experience. We have them by the grace of 
God. We need example. We have them by the grace of 
God. We have knowledge. We have wisdom. But apart from 
the power of the Holy Spirit operative in our hearts and in 
our lives, we're going to contract these wicked marriages, we're 
going to pursue wicked idols, and we're going to sin against 
our God most grievously, most heinously, and most wretchedly. Well, those are some practical 
warnings from the section. I said on Wednesday night, there's 
a question everyone asks when they leave 1 Kings 11. Was Solomon 
saved? We dealt with that question on 
Wednesday night. I suggest there's a better question 
for us to ask tonight. What must I do to be saved and 
to be secure and to be stabilized and to be preserved by God most 
high? Look to Christ. It's no accident 
that we read Psalm 72 tonight. That is a song ascribed, a psalm 
ascribed to Solomon. He wrote it, but he wasn't writing 
about himself. Solomon functioned as a type. 
Solomon points us to the Lord Jesus. Christ is the subject 
of Psalm 72. Christ is the subject of the 
entirety of the Old Testament. We all acknowledge that he is, 
to be sure, in the New Testament, but we need to see Christ in 
the Old Testament as well. Solomon in his wisdom is typical 
of the Lord Jesus. Solomon in his wealth is typical 
of the Lord Jesus. Solomon visited by the Queen 
of Sheba is typical of the Lord Jesus. But a type is not the 
anti-type, you see? It wouldn't be a type if it was 
the anti-type. Solomon points us to that one 
who in Matthew 12 says to his contemporaries, there is a greater 
than Solomon here. And that is the means by which 
sinners are saved. That is the means by which we 
are secure and safe. Draw nigh unto Christ through 
faith. Let us pray. Father, we thank 
you for this, your word. We thank you that you have included 
things like these in the scriptures. God's 2 Samuel 11 and 12, 1 Kings 
chapter 11, is one at least indirect proof of the inspiration of scripture. 
Men would hide such things concerning their heroes, but you reveal 
it to us openly and freely. And you call us to reflect upon 
such things for our own life and for our own existence. Grant 
us grace to pursue things that are pleasing in your sight. Grant 
us grace, God, to press on by the power of the Holy Spirit 
and do preserve us for your glory and for your honor. And we pray 
these things through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.