SCRIPTURE: 1 KINGS 11
SOLOMON’S WIVES (vs. 1-13)
Besides Pharaoh’s daughter, Solomon married many wives – Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites. He had 700 wives of royal birth and
300 concubines and his wives led him astray. He followed Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians and Molech, the detestable god of the Ammonites.
Solomon built a high place for Chemosh, the detestable god of Moab and for Molech, the detestable god of the Ammonites on a hill east of Jerusalem. He did the same for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and offered sacrifices to their gods.
The Lord was angry. He was going to tear down the kingdom in the hands of his son.
SOLOMON’S ADVERSARIES (vs. 14-25)
God raised up two adversaries against Solomon – Hadad, an Edomite and Regon, who was a rebel while David was the king of Israel.
JEROBOAM REBELS AGAINST SOLOMON (vs. 26-40)
Jeroboam was one of Solomon’s officials who rebelled against him. He was in charge of the whole labor force of the house of Joseph. Ahijah, the prophet of Shiloh met Jeroboam while going out of Jerusalem. Alijah took hold of his new cloak he was wearing and tore it into 12 pieces. He told Jeroboam to take 10 pieces representing the 10 tribes that he will rule. He will be king over Israel. God promised to be with him if he does His commands, keeps His statues and walks in His ways. Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam but Jeroboam fled to Egypt and stayed there until Solomon’s death.
SOLOMON’S DEATH (vs. 41-43)
Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel 40 years. He rested with his fathers and was buried in the city of David. And Rehoboam, his son succeeded him as king.
THOUGHTS:
Solomon had wisdom for everybody but he did not apply it to himself. He knew God’s Word but he did not do it. He knew God forbid him to intermarry with foreigners but he disobeyed the warnings because he had weak spots to lustful desires. So God had to chasten him. Hadad, Rezon and Jeroboam all created problems for him and Israel’s peace began to fall apart.
Solomon handled great pressure in running the government but he could not handle pressure from his wives who wanted him to worship their gods. First, he resisted. Then he tolerate it. Finally, he became involved in idolatrous worship. God forbids us to marry those who do not share our commitment to him because in our desire to please our loved ones, we will follow what they want us to do.
Solomon did not turn away from God all at once. It started with minor departure from God’s laws and advanced into spiritual coldness that resulted in Solomon’s downfall. Beware of a little sin. It is the first step towards our greatest troubles. Do not let sin to unchallenged. Otherwise, it will spread like a deadly cancer. Confess your sin to God and ask strength from him to resist temptation.
PAGAN GODS THAT SOLOMON WORSHIPED:
- Astoreth – goddess that symbolized reproductive power
- Molech – god of the Ammonites which was detestable because it involved child sacrifice.
- Chemosh – the detestable god of Moab