“But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites: Of the nations concerning which the Lord said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: Solomon clave unto these in love.” 1 Kings 11:1-2
Solomon was wise, but as he collected wealth, property and wives he began to sin, even with the wisdom he prayed for and God granted, he still sinned. We all sin, but Solomon’s sins became grievous, and they weren’t sins in the moment, but un-repented habitual sins. Through these sins he turned his back on God. The Kingdom of Israel also suffered and began to unravel before he died. He was succeeded by his son Rehoboam in Judah, but Rehoboam lost the Northern Kingdom of Israel to Jeroboam. Jeroboam was not King Solomon’s son, but was a high ranking officer in King Solomon’s Army. To spite God’s grace and blessings, King Solomon failed and died leaving a foolish son that allowed Israel to become divided into two kingdoms.
So, what were the sins of Solomon?
First, he married women that were not Hebrew, in direct violation of God’s Law, as provided by Moses in Leviticus and Deuteronomy. Today, marring outside of your ethnic group is not usually a problem, but at that time it was not permitted. Even today, the Bible clearly states that you should not be “unequally yoked”, in other words Christians should marry only Christians, and for the same reason God forbade mixing with non-believers in the Old Testament. A non-believing spouse can, and usually does, turn you away from your faith, and that’s exactly what happened to Solomon.
Second, with Solomon’s faith compromised, he started building “high places” or worship centers for the false gods of the Egyptians, Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians and the Hittites. This obviously infuriated God, but he allowed it for King David’s sake. David loved the Lord, and his son started off the same way, but then turned his back on God. So, for David’s sake God allowed Solomon to commit these sins, but with bunches of consequences that eventually ended in the separation of Israel into two weaker and more vulnerable nations.
Third, he focused his mind on the accumulation of stuff. Sounds a lot like Americans, Canadians, Brits, Germans and the list goes on. We were richly blessed when we were following the Lord. We were provided all we needed and more – when we cherished the Bible and followed its precepts. Look at us now – rich but failing, blessed but quickly losing those blessings. Solomon was the richest King on Earth, but by the time he died Israel had already started failing and his son lost most of the riches of his Kingdom Judah in battle with Egypt just 5 years after he took the throne. The King of Egypt sent his army into Judah and ransacked the Temple and the Kings house and took everything of value. I pray that doesn’t happen to America or the rest of the world’s Democratic nations. “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.” Psalm 33:12
Get in the Word, study and pray!