Wait, what?! That cannot be true!  Our pastor has been dating another woman who is not his wife?  But he is our pastor, how could he do that?  We look to him to solve our problems, give counsel, correct our path.  How could be so wise for everyone else but  fall for his own selfish desires while devasting his own family?  This scenario happens more often that we’d like to admit in God’s church.  I’ve witnessed our past pastor leave the ministry God called him to be and do to pursue freedom from marriage so he could build upon his growing wealth. He was savvy in business but weak in relationships with those who loved him most.  How could it happen?  Sometimes the pressure of the pedestal we as the congregants put on these once servants of God becomes so great they lose all focus of Who, what, and why they served.  Any job, any person, any distraction other than God and His church becomes their new attraction and focus which leads to a spiritual sickness that can lead to death of their relationship with God.  All becomes lost when sinners think, “I deserve it.”

How did the decline from wisdom to foolishness happen for Solomon?  Going back to Egypt may have been Solomon’s first step in turning away from the Lord. He secured a bride from Egypt, Pharaoh’s daughter, and he purchased horses and chariots there. Both of these actions revealed Solomon’s unbelief in God.  While building a Kingdom of wealth; he turned from God who had given him the greatest gift—wisdom beyond that was beyond all men.  God also gave Solomon all that needed but Solomon wanted more. Dissatisfaction with God gives birth to our discontent which leads to our sins.

1 Kings 11

Solomon’s Wives

King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh’s daughter—Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites. ² They were from nations about which the Lord had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.” Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love. ³ He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray. ⁴ As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been. ⁵He followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molek the detestable god of the Ammonites. ⁶ So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the Lord; he did not follow the Lord completely, as David his father had done.

⁷ On a hill east of Jerusalem, Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable god of Moab, and for Molek the detestable god of the Ammonites. ⁸ He did the same for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and offered sacrifices to their gods.

⁹ The Lord became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice. ¹⁰ Although he had forbidden Solomon to follow other gods, Solomon did not keep the Lord’s command. ¹¹ So the Lord said to Solomon, “Since this is your attitude and you have not kept my covenant and my decrees, which I commanded you, I will most certainly tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your subordinates. ¹² Nevertheless, for the sake of David your father, I will not do it during your lifetime. I will tear it out of the hand of your son. ¹³ Yet I will not tear the whole kingdom from him, but will give him one tribe for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen.”

Solomon’s Adversaries

¹⁴ Then the Lord raised up against Solomon an adversary, Hadad the Edomite, from the royal line of Edom. ¹⁵ Earlier when David was fighting with Edom, Joab the commander of the army, who had gone up to bury the dead, had struck down all the men in Edom. ¹⁶ Joab and all the Israelites stayed there for six months, until they had destroyed all the men in Edom. ¹⁷ But Hadad, still only a boy, fled to Egypt with some Edomite officials who had served his father. ¹⁸ They set out from Midian and went to Paran. Then taking people from Paran with them, they went to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt, who gave Hadad a house and land and provided him with food.

¹⁹ Pharaoh was so pleased with Hadad that he gave him a sister of his own wife, Queen Tahpenes, in marriage. ²⁰ The sister of Tahpenes bore him a son named Genubath, whom Tahpenes brought up in the royal palace. There Genubath lived with Pharaoh’s own children.

²¹ While he was in Egypt, Hadad heard that David rested with his ancestors and that Joab the commander of the army was also dead. Then Hadad said to Pharaoh, “Let me go, that I may return to my own country.”

²² “What have you lacked here that you want to go back to your own country?” Pharaoh asked.

“Nothing,” Hadad replied, “but do let me go!”

²³ And God raised up against Solomon another adversary, Rezon son of Eliada, who had fled from his master, Hadadezer king of Zobah. ²⁴ When David destroyed Zobah’s army, Rezon gathered a band of men around him and became their leader; they went to Damascus, where they settled and took control. ²⁵ Rezon was Israel’s adversary as long as Solomon lived, adding to the trouble caused by Hadad. So Rezon ruled in Aram and was hostile toward Israel.

Jeroboam Rebels Against Solomon

²⁶ Also, Jeroboam son of Nebat rebelled against the king. He was one of Solomon’s officials, an Ephraimite from Zeredah, and his mother was a widow named Zeruah.

²⁷ Here is the account of how he rebelled against the king: Solomon had built the terraces and had filled in the gap in the wall of the city of David his father. ²⁸ Now Jeroboam was a man of standing, and when Solomon saw how well the young man did his work, he put him in charge of the whole labor force of the tribes of Joseph.

²⁹ About that time Jeroboam was going out of Jerusalem, and Ahijah the prophet of Shiloh met him on the way, wearing a new cloak. The two of them were alone out in the country, ³⁰ and Ahijah took hold of the new cloak he was wearing and tore it into twelve pieces. ³¹ Then he said to Jeroboam, “Take ten pieces for yourself, for this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘See, I am going to tear the kingdom out of Solomon’s hand and give you ten tribes. ³² But for the sake of my servant David and the city of Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, he will have one tribe. ³³ I will do this because they have forsaken me and worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Molek the god of the Ammonites, and have not walked in obedience to me, nor done what is right in my eyes, nor kept my decrees and laws as David, Solomon’s father, did.

³⁴ “‘But I will not take the whole kingdom out of Solomon’s hand; I have made him ruler all the days of his life for the sake of David my servant, whom I chose and who obeyed my commands and decrees. ³⁵ I will take the kingdom from his son’s hands and give you ten tribes. ³⁶ I will give one tribe to his son so that David my servant may always have a lamp before me in Jerusalem, the city where I chose to put my Name. ³⁷ However, as for you, I will take you, and you will rule over all that your heart desires; you will be king over Israel. ³⁸ If you do whatever I command you and walk in obedience to me and do what is right in my eyes by obeying my decrees and commands, as David my servant did, I will be with you. I will build you a dynasty as enduring as the one I built for David and will give Israel to you. ³⁹ I will humble David’s descendants because of this, but not forever.’”

⁴⁰ Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam, but Jeroboam fled to Egypt, to Shishak the king, and stayed there until Solomon’s death.

Solomon’s Death

⁴¹ As for the other events of Solomon’s reign—all he did and the wisdom he displayed—are they not written in the book of the annals of Solomon? ⁴² Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years. ⁴³ Then he rested with his ancestors and was buried in the city of David his father. And Rehoboam his son succeeded him as king.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Solomon’s love for spiritual values was replaced by a love for physical pleasures and material wealth, and gradually his heart turned from the Lord. Unfortunately, this decline can lead to being condemned with the world and losing everything. 

God disciplines those He loves.  From Adam to Solomon and later to the church in Corinth that began after Jesus’ died and rose again, God disciplines those who are distracted by evil.  Paul, servant of Jesus, church builder, relays the words of God’s Holy Spirit to the people of the Corinthian church attenders who were making Holy Communion a mockery of Christ that included wild partying.  They had forgotten the command of Jesus “do this in remembrance of Me” as sacred worship, taught at The Last Supper with His disciples.  Here is part of the letter of admonishment;

“Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup. For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves. That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. But if we were more discerning with regard to ourselves, we would not come under such judgment. Nevertheless, when we are judged in this way by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be finally condemned with the world.” –Paul, 1 Corinthians 11:28-32

This also happened to Lot (Genesis 13) and it can happen to believers today!  “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God!” Romans 3:23.  But it is not God’s desire that anyone perish—so God provides the discipline we need to correct our path in our humble walk with God. Listen to Him!

Look at life this way—

God tells us to love the Lord with all our heart (Deuteronomy 6:5) and receive His Word into our hearts (Proverbs 7:1–3). God wants us to do His will from our hearts (Ephesians 6:6). If a person’s heart is wrong toward God, that person’s entire life will be wrong, no matter how successful he or she may appear to others.  God knows our hearts.  It is unwise and useless to hide what is in our hearts.  Confess and allow His correction.

Our sin affects everyone around us—

Solomon had sinned greatly by introducing idolatry into the land, a sin that would eventually destroy the nation and lead the people into captivity.

Our sins forgiven is the Message of Truth!

Like King Saul, Solomon was handed great opportunities but didn’t make the most of them. He knew a great deal about animals, plants, bringing wealth to the nation, and constructing buildings, but he was defective in sharing the knowledge of the Lord with the Gentiles who came to his throne room.

May our allegiance always be sincere and loyal to Jesus Christ, the one “greater than Solomon,” who died for us, who lives for us, and one day will come for us.

And may we boldly share the Good News of redemption with every opportunity God gives us!

In Jesus Name, for His glory and our good, Amen!