1 Kings 3:1-3

Introduction

I’m Going to Give You a Series of Half Sentences…

And I Want You to Tell Me if They Sound Good or Bad

Is the Direction These Sentences are Going a Good Direction or a Bad Direction?

“I Love God, But…”

BAD

“I Love God, However…”

BAD

“I Love God, Except…”

BAD

“I Love God, Nevertheless…”

BAD

When it Comes to Loving God…

There should Be No Exceptions, Right?

But We All have to Deal with Exceptions

I Love God, But I Also Really Enjoy Money

I Love God, However I Also Really Enjoy My Possessions

I Love God, Except I Also Really Enjoy Extra-Marital Intimacy

I Love God, Nevertheless I Don’t Really Like Sacrificing My Time to Serve/Fellowship

I Love God, But I’ve Also Got Other Things that I Love

“I Love God, But…” is Never the Route to Faithfulness

It will Always Lead to Deeper Love, Dependence, and Involvement in Sin

We Need to Work to Be People Who Say, “I Love God. (Period!)”

“No Exceptions!”

“No But’s, However’s, Except’s, or Nevertheless’s”

“I Love God, and Therefore, I Make Him My Only Master”

1 Kings 3:1-3

Unfortunately, In Our Text, We’re Going to See King Solomon…

Make Some Exceptions to His Love for God

Though His Father David, Before His Death, Told Him to:

1 Kings 2:3 (NASB95)

3 “Keep the charge of the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, His commandments, His ordinances, and His testimonies, according to what is written in the Law of Moses, that you may succeed in all that you do and wherever you turn,

Solomon is Going to Make Some Exceptions to Those Instructions

1 Kings 3:1 (CSB)

1 Solomon made an alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt by marrying Pharaoh’s daughter. Solomon brought her to the city of David until he finished building his palace, the Lord’s temple, and the wall surrounding Jerusalem.

Why would God’s People Need/Want to Make an Alliance/Peace Treaty with Egypt?

Is that a Common Sense Political Move?

Absolutely!

Egypt, Throughout History, has Been Very Powerful

But is that a Move Based Upon Faith in God?

Absolutely Not!

Notice What the Law Says:

Deuteronomy 17:14–17 (NASB95)

14 “When you enter the land which the Lord your God gives you, and you possess it and live in it, and you say, ‘I will set a king over me like all the nations who are around me,’ 15 you shall surely set a king over you whom the Lord your God chooses, one from among your countrymen you shall set as king over yourselves; you may not put a foreigner over yourselves who is not your countryman.

16 “Moreover, he shall not multiply horses for himself, nor shall he cause the people to return to Egypt to multiply horses, since the Lord has said to you, ‘You shall never again return that way.’ 17 “He shall not multiply wives for himself, or else his heart will turn away; nor shall he greatly increase silver and gold for himself.

Solomon is Returning to Egypt to Create an Alliance with Them for Mutual Protection

And He will Go on to Form Many Alliances in this Same Way…

By Multiplying Wives for Himself

Not to Mention, They were All Foreign Women…

Whom God had Commanded Israel Not to Intermarry with

1 Kings 11:1–6 (NLT)

1 Now King Solomon loved many foreign women. Besides Pharaoh’s daughter, he married women from Moab, Ammon, Edom, Sidon, and from among the Hittites. 2 The Lord had clearly instructed the people of Israel, ‘You must not marry them, because they will turn your hearts to their gods.’ Yet Solomon insisted on loving them anyway. 3 He had 700 wives of royal birth and 300 concubines. And in fact, they did turn his heart away from the Lord.

4 In Solomon’s old age, they turned his heart to worship other gods instead of being completely faithful to the Lord his God, as his father, David, had been. 5 Solomon worshiped Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molech, the detestable god of the Ammonites. 6 In this way, Solomon did what was evil in the Lord’s sight; he refused to follow the Lord completely, as his father, David, had done.

Solomon wasn’t Completely Faithful to God

He wasn’t Following God Completely

These Exceptions that Solomon is Making and will Continue to Make…

Are Going to Lead Himself and His Nation…

Away From God and Toward a Dark and Depressing Future

But the Exceptions Don’t Stop There

1 Kings 3:2–3 (CSB)

2 However, the people were sacrificing on the high places, because until that time a temple for the Lord’s name had not been built. 3 Solomon loved the Lord by walking in the statutes of his father David, but he also sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.

“High Places” were the Places Where the Former Inhabitants of the Land…

Worshiped Their Pagan Gods

Since the Temple wasn’t Built Yet…

Was it Really Wrong to Worship God in These Areas

Well, if God had Said Nothing About it, Then Go for it

But, God Explicitly Said Something About it

Numbers 33:51–52 (CSB)

51 “Tell the Israelites: When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 52 you must drive out all the inhabitants of the land before you, destroy all their stone images and cast images, and demolish all their high places.

Deuteronomy 12:1–6 (NLT)

1 “These are the decrees and regulations you must be careful to obey when you live in the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, is giving you. You must obey them as long as you live. 2 “When you drive out the nations that live there, you must destroy all the places where they worship their gods—high on the mountains, up on the hills, and under every green tree. 3 Break down their altars and smash their sacred pillars. Burn their Asherah poles and cut down their carved idols. Completely erase the names of their gods!

4 “Do not worship the Lord your God in the way these pagan peoples worship their gods. 5 Rather, you must seek the Lord your God at the place of worship he himself will choose from among all the tribes—the place where his name will be honored. 6 There you will bring your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, your sacred offerings, your offerings to fulfill a vow, your voluntary offerings, and your offerings of the firstborn animals of your herds and flocks.

Deuteronomy 12:13–14 (NIV)

13 Be careful not to sacrifice your burnt offerings anywhere you please. 14 Offer them only at the place the Lord will choose in one of your tribes, and there observe everything I command you.

The Israelites were Supposed to Completely Destroy These High Places

They were Supposed to Completely Erase Any Memory…

Of Other God’s Being Worshiped There

They weren’t Supposed to Make Sacrifices Just Anywhere They Pleased

But Here Solomon is…

Along with the Rest of Israel…

Making Sacrifices to God on the High Places…

That They Apparently Chose Not to Destroy

Application

As We Continue Through the Book of Kings…

We’ll See Exactly Where These Exceptions will Lead

They will Lead to Israel Practicing Syncretism…

(the Mixing Together of Multiple Religions)…

And Absolute Idolatry

Was Solomon Trying to Do All These Things?

Was He Trying to Place More Faith in Israel’s Alliances Than Israel’s God?

Was He Trying to Bring Syncretism and Idolatry to Israel?

No, of Course Not!

He Loved God!

But…

1 Kings 3:3 (CSB)

3 Solomon loved the Lord by walking in the statutes of his father David, but he also sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.

“Solomon Loved the Lord, But…”

That’s All it Takes

Our Churches are Full of People Who…

Place Their Faith and Hope of Salvation in Their Country and its Political Leaders

Our Churches are Full of People Who Won’t Hesitate…

To Publicly Declare Their Allegiance to Their Country

But They’ll Make Every Excuse in the World…

To Not Publicly Declare Their Allegiance to King Jesus

It’s a Shame How Much of an Idol Politics have Become in this Country

Don’t Tell Me You Don’t Worship this Country and it’s Politics…

When it’s All You Watch, Read, and Talk About

Don’t Tell Me You Don’t Worship this Country…

When Your Hopes and Fears are Determined By:

The Political News Media

The Next Election

The Alliances or Severing of Alliances that are Made with Other Nations

It’s Idolatry and it’s Nothing New

Egypt was Worshiped By its People

Babylon was Worshiped By its People

Rome was Worshiped By its People

And America, its Image, its Leaders, its Military Strength, and its Alliances…

Are Worshiped By its People

It’s Not Surprising

But it’s Terribly Discouraging When Citizens of Jesus’ Kingdom…

Are Worshiping it Too

Christians, We’ve Got to Stop Placing Our Faith/Trust in America

God is in Control

And Unless We Start Trusting, Hoping, and Fearing in Him…

Our Future is Going to Be Dark and Discouraging…

Just Like Israel’s

You Don’t have to Be Sacrificing to Other Gods on High Places…

To Be Committing Idolatry

All it Takes is an Exception Here or There

Love God, But Also Place Your Trust, Hopes, and Fears in:

Your Nation

Money/Possessions

Trusting in Money to Provide for and Protect You

Trusting in Money/Possessions to Bring You Joy and Peace

Without Money/Possessions There is No Hope, Only Fear

Relationships

Trusting in Another Human Being to Bring You Joy and Peace

Without Their Love/Affection There is No Hope, Only Fear

Yourself

Trusting in Your Own Ability to Provide for and Protect Yourself

Without Your Own Successful Efforts There is No Hope, Only Fear

These are All Very Common Forms of Idolatry that We All have to Fight Against

We’ve Got to Learn to Trust, Hope, and Fear in God

Not Our Money or Lack Thereof

Not Our Relationships or Lack Thereof

Not Our Own Abilities or Lack Thereof

Trust in God, with No Exceptions

He is Our Provider and Protector

He is Our Salvation From All that could Harm Us

And When We Place Our Trust in Him, He’ll Never Let Us Down