Read 1 Kings 11:1-8I just recently posted a devotional on a really neat passage (1 Kings 8), in which Solomon prays a beautiful and passionate prayer to the Lord at the dedication of the Temple. I hate to be debbie downer, but it's only fair to tell Solomon's entire story. Solomon started off well, but he unfortunately ended lousy. Most people know the stories of Solomon asking God for wisdom, judging his people wisely, building the Temple, and writing Song of Songs and Ecclesiastes. However, what many don't know, is that the king who was at one time the wisest man in the world ultimately ended up falling away from God completely. Let's study what happened to Solomon and try to learn something from his mistakes.
As you probably know, when God chose the Israelites to be His people, He gave them many laws and commandments to follow. The purpose of these laws was to set them apart from the other nations as a pure and holy nation belonging to Him alone. One of the commands He gave to His people was that they could not intermarry with foreigners. This may sound harsh to some people. What if you fall in love with someone from a foreign country? Why would God want to separate people that love each other? Here's the thing. God is all-knowing. He knows us better than we know ourselves, and He alone knows the future. His laws are a protection for us, because He knows what harmful consequences will come from disobeying Him. The Lord knew that joining together in marriage to a pagan would not end well, and it certainly didn't for Solomon.
Despite the fact that Solomon was fully aware of the laws, he chose to marry a foreigner...and not just one foreigner. Solomon took a head-spinning total of 700 wives and 300 concubines. That's 1,000 women in his harem! So we see that Solomon didn't just take one foreign wife, but he took 1,000 wives/concubines. Marriage was designed by God in the garden of Eden between 1 woman and 1 man. Anything other than this is a perversion of God's original plan, and it will end with serious consequences. In this case, the very worst that could happen to Solomon did. Because he neglected God's command not to intermarry with foreigners and took 1,000 women into his palace, he was led astray. The man who had once been so close to God actually turned to idol worship. He left the God who had blessed Him beyond comprehension with all of the wisdom and riches in the world, and he began to make sacrifices to the idols his foreign wives worshipped.
What a depressing ending to such a promising individual! Though this is a sad story, it offers us an important lesson. First of all, no one is immune from temptation to sin, so we must guard against it diligently. We see in 1 Kings 10:23 that, "King Solomon became greater than all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom." However, though Solomon had everything going for him, he still gave into sin's temptation. He neglected God's commands and warnings, surely thinking that nothing bad would come of it. He was so wrong. His arrogance is apparent in the way he flagrantly disregarded God's law and got for himself 1,000 wives. This is so over-the-top and ridiculous, and it clearly shows his pride. Perhaps he thought that because he was king, he could make his own rules. The statement, "pride comes before the fall" is so true. Those who arrogantly do whatever they want and think there will be no consequences are very foolish.
Are you puffed up with pride like Solomon? Do you live by your own rules, disobeying God's law and foolishly thinking nothing will come of it? Remember that "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble" (James 4:6). Take the story of Solomon's downfall as a sober warning. Take God's law seriously and follow Him wholeheartedly, because those who don't will surely fall.
