Downfall

1 Kings 11:1-10

¹ Now King Solomon loved many foreign women, along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women,

² from the nations concerning which the Lord had said to the people of Israel, “You shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you, for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love.

³ He had 700 wives, who were princesses, and 300 concubines. And his wives turned away his heart.

⁴ For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father.

⁵ For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.

⁶ So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and did not wholly follow the Lord, as David his father had done.

⁷ Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Molech the abomination of the Ammonites, on the mountain east of Jerusalem.

⁸ And so he did for all his foreign wives, who made offerings and sacrificed to their gods.

⁹ And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice

¹⁰ and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods. But he did not keep what the Lord commanded.

This is such a difficult passage to read. I confess to some serious personal disappointment with Solomon. He has been granted absolutely everything a man could want – not need but want! God has been incredibly generous and gracious with him. The Temple is complete, the Palace is incredible and he has riches almost beyond counting. Now, he turns away from God and engages idolatry because of a weakness for beautiful, foreign women. It’s just so sad. God has actually personally spoken with Solomon twice in his life, and now he turns away.

Solomon wrote a great deal during his life and we have many of those writings in our Old Testament. Attributed to Solomon are Song of Songs (written as a passionate younger man), Proverbs (probably written throughout his life), and Ecclesiastes (written when he was old). In those writings, we find his emotional progression from an idealistic young man in love, to a wise adult, to a rather bitter old man who has been beaten down by life (or by 1,000 women yammering in his ear.) Solomon started strong, but he does not end well. This feels like a tragedy.

World renowned evangelist Billy Graham once said that he expected a life of faith would be easier as he got older; he expected the temptations to lessen. A few years ago he confessed to the disappointment that he was wrong. It doesn’t get any easier, it gets more difficult. Apparently, Solomon would agree with him. We need to take note lest we become complacent, which is so easy to do. Solomon was comfortable, to say the least. We would have to say the same in this culture. We are comfortable. Most of us don’t have to scrap for the next meal. We’ve learned how to trust in ourselves rather than God. The result is that the biggest enemy we face is our own complacency. So, I guess I shouldn’t be too harsh with Solomon, but I do confess that I’m saddened by his choices. So, we learn from Solomon's bad example and intentionally seek to stomp down our baser instincts which draw us away from God, allowing our love for him to grow hotter every day, rather than cold with complacency.