Solomon Turns His Back on God
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Lets Look Back...
Lets Look Back...
Solomon was the wisest man EVER! How did he get so wise. He ASKED for it.
12 I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be.
But in nearly the same breath he violated a core principle from God.
describe the fame of Solomon chapter 11 describes his shame!
1 Solomon made an alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt and married his daughter. He brought her to the City of David until he finished building his palace and the temple of the Lord, and the wall around Jerusalem.
He married Pharaoh's daughter
Duet 17.17
17 He must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray. He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold.
1 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 No Ammonite or Moabite or any of their descendants may enter the assembly of the Lord, not even in the tenth generation.
1Kings
So Solomon just did not care what God thought about his choices...
There were many “first’s and lasts” with Solomon… He was the first and the only ( at least as far as the record goes) to marry a Sidonian. These women were considered Canaanites. The Canaanites were to be “destroyed” completely… but were not!
He intermarried with whoever he wanted he direct contradiction to what scripture asked of him
God had a lot to be pleased with Solomon about…but he had much more that He was not pleased about
God had a lot to be pleased with Solomon about…but he had much more that He was not pleased about
Solomon increased his horses far beyond his needs
16 The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make the people return to Egypt to get more of them, for the Lord has told you, “You are not to go back that way again.”
Solomon accumulated much gold and silver
14 The weight of the gold that Solomon received yearly was 666 talents,
This is not 666 ounces, or pounds. This is actually 25 tons a year!
Interestingly enough there are only two or three places in scripture where ‘666’ is found
This verse and
18 This calls for wisdom. Let the person who has insight calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. That number is 666.
Rev
This leads some very well meaning people to draw Solomon and the “anti-christ” together. Meaning they are the same person. I think the link is weak, since 666 means something completely different in the Hebrew of the OT and in Greek or Aramaic of the NT.
17 He must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray. He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold.
Here are two instances where Solomon really thumbs his nose at God
“He must not take many wives...”
1 King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh’s daughter—Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites.
1Kings
“He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold.”
14 The weight of the gold that Solomon received yearly was 666 talents,
15 not including the revenues from merchants and traders and from all the Arabian kings and the governors of the territories.
1Kings 10
He made from this gold:
200 large shields
300 small shields
“A great throne covered with gold”
18 Then the king made a great throne covered with ivory and overlaid with fine gold.
All the King’s Goblets where made of gold
All the household articles were gold - (Nothing was made of silver)
And finally
23 King Solomon was greater in riches and wisdom than all the other kings of the earth.
24 The whole world sought audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom God had put in his heart.
1Kings 10.
Solomon could not get enough of himself…Just ask him.
David had the prophet Nathan to speak truth to him.
Israel had the prophets that did not let them get to big for their britches.
Solomon only had his enhanced since of self brought on by his own ego and his drive for money and wealth.
Instead of seeing all these gifts and all this wealth as a “gift from God.” I think Solomon had the idea that he somehow deserved this.
Now let’s turn if you will… to 1Kings11.
The paragraph in my bible is called Solomon’s Wives. That is what the scripture directly addresses. We are going to reference this plain reading of scripture along the way.
Instead of clinging to God…Solomon clung to his 700 wives and 300 concubines.
I’m sure about you …but I have enough trouble keeping up with 1 wife, little alone 700 and 300 “girlfriends” in addition.
1Kings 11.1
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.
1Kings
2 So his attendants said to him, “Let us look for a young virgin to serve the king and take care of him. She can lie beside him so that our lord the king may keep warm.”
1 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.
(RSV)
2from 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.
In the prevailing culture and economy of the 2nd Century before Christ…marriage equalled power and access with foreign governments. In God’s economy intermarriage turned men’s commitments, love for, devotion to Yahweh to “other gods.”
There is one of Solomon
Just as predicted as Solomon grew older
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.
This is the final chapter of the life of Solomon…the wisest man ever, he was the son of David, a man after God’s own heart, then a son of Samuel the last of the righteous Kings.
Is this a legacy that we would want to pass down to our sons and daughters? I hope NOT!
Solomon “clung to” “claved to” was bonded to these wives…700 of them.
Solomon’s ego, drive, desire for wealth, power, influence drove him away from Yahweh, away from God.
We, men and women in today’s culture are not immune to this behavior.
I hope that we don’t think we can manage 700 spouses and 300 “side things.”
We have ego’s. — I’m not sure who we think is in charge of our lives. Really??? Who do we draw near to when it gets tough… My guess our first inclination is to draw near to OURSELVES!!! “I can do this...” “I’ve got this...” “I don’t need help...”
We have drive — I think I can, I think I can, I think I can. I feel like Thomas the train engine. I have enough money, time, talent and certainly enough in my retirement and 401K to beat anything this world can throw at me.
We have drive — I think I can, I think I can, I think I can. I feel like Thomas the train engine. I have enough money, time, talent and certainly enough in my retirement and 401K to beat anything this world can throw at me.
Desire for wealth — If I accumulate this much money, land, wheat, water, mint, corn, grapes, apples, and hops or I make enough sales with enough customers, at this profit margin I’ve got it made, If I can teach, practice for 15 more years, I’ve got it made! If I can payoff the house and the land, I’ve got it made.
Desire for power, influence — “I mange a staff of 23 and have an $18 million dollar budget…I’ve got it made, I can muscle anything through the process, it will add to my influence and power.” There is NOTHING that I cannot do if I put my mind to it.” If I close this deal, make this million, get this promotion it will give me the power that I deserve.
With all of this under my belt…Who needs God?
I’ve got this life under control… Who needs God?
I’ve made it…Who needs God?
That’s what Solomon said and did… He is what God said to Solomon
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.
1
All is fine and good...
UNTIL THE UNTHINKABLE, UNFATHOMABLE, OUT OF CONTROL, FROM LEFT FIELD THING HAPPENS!
All of that everything means NOTHING when something like this happens… I’ll let you fill in those blanks for your particular situation.
We do not have the power, the strength, the ego, the drive, the wealth, the wisdom to overcome this world and the ruler of this world... satan!!!
I want to finish with a short study of beginning in verse 3
3 The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”
satan is tempting a hungry, thirsty, tired Jesus. He is tempting him with the same temptations that I have fought and fought to keep under control in my life and I suspect you have also fought these battles in your own life like I have fought them in my life
Satan says
“ Tell the stone to become bread” — I can make something out of nothing, I can out produce anyone, out sell everyone, I can do it
The Lord says
4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’”
The answer to our problem is not effort it is that there is something more important than the bread.
Luke 4
Luke 4
5 The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world.
6 And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to.
5 Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”
5 The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world.
5 The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world.
6 And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to.
7 If you worship me, it will all be yours.”
If you want power and influence…this is the prescription for you. All of Kingdoms…I can give it to you. The most influence of anyone…is yours. If you want it done, it’s done…just say the word. Oh, and by the way, here is what I expect in return
7 If you worship me, it will all be yours.”
satan says this is a deal… i bring something and you bring something. Its a negotiation... I get what I want and you what you want. Sounds good right???
Be careful to throw your allegiance around…everything else in temporary until the end comes and then nothing will matter except you and God.
9 The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here.
9 The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here.
10 For it is written: “ ‘He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully;
satan is crafty here he uses scripture...
11 For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways;
Right scripture…wrong application. The “he” here is God. The promise is from the sovereign one to those who live in His shelter in the shadow of the mighty King. satan does not do that.
Our application…the only REAL protection that we have, the only REAL guidance we have, the only REAL deal we have, the only REAL power, influence, guarantees we have and we can make are found in this
8 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’”
Then doctor Luke ends with this ominous warning for us, for the world
13 When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.
He, satan is coming back…are we ready?