The Problem of Solomon (1 Kings 11)
1 Kings 11 (Read: 11:1-13)
This morning we come to the end of the reign of Solomon.
In fact the end of chapter 11 marks his death.
1 Kings 11:41-43 “Now the rest of the acts of Solomon and whatever he did, and his wisdom, are they not written in the book of the acts of Solomon? Thus the time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years. And Solomon slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of his father David, and his son Rehoboam reigned in his place.”
Only if those words would have been found at the end of chapter 10, Instead of at the end of chapter 11.
For Solomon had seemed to run the race so well.
• He started in purity…
• He sought out God…
• He built the temple…
• He prayed fervently and encouraged his people…
• He shined his light to the ends of the earth…
But that is not how Solomon is remembered.
When we started our study of Solomon over 2 months ago,
I told you that Solomon was “THE KING WHO GOT DISTRACTED”
Despite the warnings of God to finish well, Solomon did just the opposite
Some scholars over the years have debated
If Solomon even finished the race at all. (that he was lost)
Solomon had plenty of fruit to suggest genuine salvation.
Solomon didn’t lose his salvation, Solomon lost his effectiveness
Instead of finishing strong as a torch burning bright for God, Solomon limped to the finish with nothing but a smoldering wick.
He blew it, and he paid dearly for it.
THIS MORNING WE EXAMINE
How a life that seemingly has it all together
Can so quickly fall into disrepute,
And hopefully we will learn how to avoid the problem of Solomon.
3 main points, as we cover this entire chapter.
#1 REBELLION
1 Kings 11:1-8
No doubt, as we read those first 8 verses,
It left many thinking, “Could we even be talking about the same guy?”
Solomon was a rock…
Solomon had a heart for God…
Surely this could not be the same Solomon.
BUT I’M AFRAID IT IS.
You see, there is no one in this life that is immune from temptation.
There is no one in this life that is above falling into sin.
I don’t care how strong a Christian you think you are…
You are capable of falling into sin if you do not guard yourself against it.
Before we dive into this text,
Allow me to give you an illustration of that very fact.
TURN TO: 1 Corinthians 10:1-12
READ (1-4)
The people Paul refers to had walked with God.
This was not some ignorant people,
These were people who knew God, and should have known better.
They were the last people in the world that you expected to fall into sin.
READ (5)
But the point is that even these “BEST OF THE BEST”
Somehow succumbed to temptation and fell away from God.
READ (6-10)
They fell into Idolatry, Immorality, Ingratitude, Insurrection
READ (11-12)
Paul makes it clear, that if it happened to them, it can happen to you.
So you had better not be arrogant to think you are above it,
Or you become an easy target for Satan.
READ (13)
No one is above temptation…
No one is beyond falling into sin…
EVEN SOLOMON
In these first 8 verses,
I want to show you how it happened in his life.
It wasn’t overnight.
It started small, and eventually got out of control.
3 steps here that led this man of God into full blown idolatry.
1) PERSISTENTLY DEAF (1-2)
It is no secret to us that “Solomon loved many foreign women.”
We have heard that all our lives.
But as you just noticed, there was a problem with that.
God had given a command:
(2) “You shall not associate with them, nor shall they associate with you, for they will surely turn your heart away after their gods.”
That was a clear warning from God against a potent temptation.
Look, God knows that we are flesh.
Psalms 103:14 “For He Himself knows our frame; He is mindful that we are but dust.”
God wasn’t naïve.
He knew His people would be tempted to associate
With the foreign women of the promised land.
But God also knew that was dangerous.
Those women did not know God, or love God,
And it was a temptation that God’s people did not need.
So God was blatantly specific that His people should
Stay away from the foreigners who had no relationship with Him.
Exodus 34:12-16 “Watch yourself that you make no covenant with the inhabitants of the land into which you are going, or it will become a snare in your midst. “But rather, you are to tear down their altars and smash their sacred pillars and cut down their Asherim — for you shall not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God — otherwise you might make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land and they would play the harlot with their gods and sacrifice to their gods, and someone might invite you to eat of his sacrifice, and you might take some of his daughters for your sons, and his daughters might play the harlot with their gods and cause your sons also to play the harlot with their gods.”
Deuteronomy 7:1-4 “When the LORD your God brings you into the land where you are entering to possess it, and clears away 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 stronger than you, and when the LORD your God delivers them before you and you defeat them, then you shall utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them and show no favor to them. “Furthermore, you shall not intermarry with them; you shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor shall you take their daughters for your sons. “For they will turn your sons away from following Me to serve other gods; then the anger of the LORD will be kindled against you and He will quickly destroy you.”
God gave a strong ordinance.
THE MARRIAGE BED IS NOT A MISSION FIELD
The command is clear, but:
(2) “Solomon held fast to these in love.”
HE PERSISTENTLY TURNED A DEAF EAR TO WHAT GOD HAD TO SAY.
He knew the command, he just didn’t like the command,
And so he ignored it.
It is dangerous to turn a deaf ear to God.
Not just in marriage, but in any command.
God’s commands are for your own good.
He gives them to protect you from sin.
And there are some things that God says to stay away from.
It is too strong a temptation.
But Solomon did not listen.
He was persistently deaf
That is how he started, but look at what eventually happened.
2) PARTIALLY DEVOTED (3-6)
This is what began to happen in Solomon’s life.
He loved these foreign women.
To be exact: “seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines”
Sin never says enough.
Sin demands more, and Solomon fell into it.
So much so that it hindered his walk with God.
In fact, 4 times it says it.
(3) “his wives turned his heart away.”
(4) “his wives turned his heart away after other gods;”
(4) “his heart was not wholly devoted to the LORD his God.”
(6) “Solomon…did not follow the LORD fully”
Because Solomon persisted in sin, his faithfulness to God dwindled.
AND SO WILL YOURS AND MINE
Solomon started with a persistently deaf ear,
And it escalated into a partial devotion towards God.
Look at how it ended
3) PATHETICALLY DEFIANT (7-8)
Now Solomon is doing for false gods,
What he previously did for the true God.
He is building places of worship.
(7) “Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh”
(7) “and for Molech”
(8) “Thus also he did for all his foreign wives”
It is easy to see that Solomon ended up in a bad way before God.
And people today say, “Preacher, I would never do that.”
There is no way I would ever even consider
building an altar to a false god.
If you had asked Solomon that same question 35 years ago,
He would have never considered it either.
Solomon didn’t start out building temples for foreign gods.
HOW DID HE START?
1 Kings 3:1-2 “Then Solomon formed a marriage alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and took Pharaoh’s daughter and brought her to the city of David until he had finished building his own house and the house of the LORD and the wall around Jerusalem. The people were still sacrificing on the high places, because there was no house built for the name of the LORD until those days.”
Remember talking about that a couple of months ago.
Solomon broke the command of God
To try and bring about better national security.
And the seed was planted.
By the end of his life he had 700 foreign wives
And had built altars for all of them.
Sin never starts big, but sin spreads worse than cancer.
When you dabble with what God forbids, it will eventually ensnare you.
This is why Paul said:
Romans 6:12-14 “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.”
In regard to the Church Paul said:
2 Corinthians 6:14-18 “Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, “I WILL DWELL IN THEM AND WALK AMONG THEM; AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE. “Therefore, COME OUT FROM THEIR MIDST AND BE SEPARATE,” says the Lord. “AND DO NOT TOUCH WHAT IS UNCLEAN; And I will welcome you. “And I will be a father to you, And you shall be sons and daughters to Me,” Says the Lord Almighty.”
You cannot mess around with what God forbids,
It will lead you into full blown defiance against God.
If it happened to Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived,
It can happen to you.
We must learn to take every command of God serious.
Ephesians 5:3-12 “But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints; and there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them; for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them; for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret.”
Even the smallest of sins can snare you up, they must all be avoided.
First, rebellion Now let’s look at God’s response.
#2 REBUKE
1 Kings 11:9-13
We certainly cannot overemphasize that statement in verse 9.
“Now the LORD was angry with Solomon because his heart was turned away from the LORD”
DID GOD NOT ALREADY WARN SOLOMON?
1 Kings 9:6-7 “But if you or your sons indeed turn away from following Me, and do not keep My commandments and My statutes which I have set before you, and go and serve other gods and worship them, then I will cut off Israel from the land which I have given them, and the house which I have consecrated for My name, I will cast out of My sight. So Israel will become a proverb and a byword among all peoples.”
• Despite God’s grace to appear to him twice…
• Despite God’s explicit warning…
(10) “he did not observe what the LORD had commanded.”
And so look at how God responds.
(11) “So the LORD said to Solomon, “Because you have done this, and you have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you, and will give it to your servant.”
Solomon had sinned himself out of useful ministry.
Be careful with sin and temptation,
It can easily render you disqualified before God.
Remember what Paul said?
1 Corinthians 9:24-27 “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.”
Paul knew he had to watch himself closely,
Or else his ministry was in danger.
Jude said this:
Jude 22-23 “And have mercy on some, who are doubting; save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh.”
Notice how serious and also how dangerous sin is.
Anyone can be snared by it.
Listen to what Paul told the Galatians:
Galatians 6:1 “Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted.”
We have all seen fallen preachers…
We have all seen fallen saints…
Certainly some of those were not saved,
But for those that were, they allowed sin to render them
Absolutely ineffective for God’s service.
When we don’t keep away from sin, it eventually
Disqualifies us from service and we are no longer useful to God.
1 Timothy 1:18-20 “This command I entrust to you, Timothy, my son, in accordance with the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you fight the good fight, keeping faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith. Among these are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan, so that they will be taught not to blaspheme.”
2 Timothy 2:20-22 “Now in a large house there are not only gold and silver vessels, but also vessels of wood and of earthenware, and some to honor and some to dishonor. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work. Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.”
But Solomon missed that warning.
In fact, he ignored it.
And now, his ministry before God was about to be over.
What once was a world-wide ministry
Was about to be significantly reduced.
In fact, according to verses 12 & 13,
The only reason Solomon wasn’t completely removed
Was because God had such a love for David.
But if it weren’t for that, Solomon’s line would be history.
He dabbled in sin.
He fell to temptation.
He rendered himself useless to God.
Don’t dabble in sin.
The Rebellion, The Rebuke, and now let’s see how it unfolded.
#3 RETRIBUTION
1 Kings 11:14-43
Certainly we don’t have time to cover this all in detail,
But I do want you to see the high points.
I want you to notice that the God who formerly worked for Solomon
Was now working against him.
When Solomon’s ministry began, this is what the Bible said:
1 Kings 5:4 “But now the LORD my God has given me rest on every side; there is neither adversary nor misfortune.”
But because of Solomon’s sin, that is about to drastically change.
In fact, the Bible says that God raised up 3 adversaries to Solomon.
(14) “Then the LORD raised up an adversary to Solomon, Hadad the Edomite; he was of the royal line of Edom.”
• David and Joab kill the Edomites
• Servants escape with Hadad
• He flees to Egypt and is embraced by Pharaoh
• Actually becomes Pharaoh’s brother-in-law
But for some reason Hadad decided to return to his own country.
In fact look at verse 22
“Then Pharaoh said to him, “But what have you lacked with me, that behold, you are seeking to go to your own country?” And he answered, “Nothing; nevertheless you must surely let me go.”
Hadad had no reason for returning, other than the fact
That God had summoned him to be an adversary to Solomon.
There is a second one.
(23) “God also raised up another adversary to him, Rezon the son of Eliada, who had fled from his lord Hadadezer king of Zobah.”
And he and Hadad both did evil to Israel.
There is a third one, and it is the big one.
(26-40) give the account of the calling of Jeroboam.
We will study him later.
God ripped 10 tribes away from Solomon and gave them to Jeroboam.
All that Solomon had amassed in splendor and glory,
God took it away.
Solomon represents a life that began in glory and ended in shame.
By the end of his life, this wise King should have been
Able to counsel the world on how to live a blessed life.
Instead, he only wrote a book
Warning others not to make the same mistakes that he made.
We call the book Ecclesiastes.
Here are two warnings from Solomon.
Ecclesiastes 11:9 “Rejoice, young man, during your childhood, and let your heart be pleasant during the days of young manhood. And follow the impulses of your heart and the desires of your eyes. Yet know that God will bring you to judgment for all these things.”
Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 “The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.”
Sadly, that was now all that Solomon had to offer.
He could have left glory, he left only shame.
WHAT KIND OF A LEGACY DO YOU PLAN TO LEAVE TO YOUR CHILDREN?
• A legacy like David of faithfulness and reward?
• A legacy like Solomon of failure and regret?
This morning I ask you to determine to be wholly devoted to God
And to serve Him with a pure heart,
For the slightest deviation can snowball into a lifetime of regret.
1 Corinthians 10:11-13 “Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall. No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.”
