307. THE WARNING OF SOLOMON'S OLD AGE.
"When Solomon was old ... his heart was not perfect with Yahweh his God, as was the heart of David his father"
The arrival of the queen of Sheba to view the prosperity of Solomon's kingdom and hear his wisdom was perhaps the pinnacle of Solomon's reign He had already established peace on every side, built the magnificent Temple and installed the Ark in the Most Holy Place, and now a Gentile queen had come to see all that he had done. But it is a pity that Solomon did not later remember the queen's comments: "Blessed be the Lord thy God, which delighted in thee to set thee on the throne of Israel: because the Lord loved Israel for ever, therefore made he thee king to do judgment and justice" (1 Kgs. 10:9).
The queen of Sheba recognised that everything Solomon had was of God. In His great mercy He had exalted Solomon and the Kingdom above all the surrounding nations. If only Solomon had kept this fact in mind, the sad record of his decline would not be found in the Scriptures.
Our aim in this lesson is to take note of the things which led Solomon astray so that we may avoid them in our lives.
1 Kings 10:24-11:25
SOLOMON'S FAITH BEGINS TO WAVER (1 Kings 10:24-29).
The decline of Solomon from a man of faith was gradual, not sudden. Dignitaries of other nations, besides the queen of Sheba, sought to hear Solomon's wisdom and no doubt view the glories of his Kingdom. Each visitor brought lavish presents of rich metals, armour, spices and animals, which Solomon added to his already abundant possessions.
A sense of self-importance began to enter his life. The humble aspect he displayed at Gibeon when he spoke of himself as a child, began to erode away. His vision became clouded and no longer did he serve God with his whole heart. Other interests began to absorb his time.
A desire for fleshly glory had been aroused and he began to look for other avenues to fulfil these desires. The record tells us that Solomon gathered together chariots, horsemen and horses from Egypt. He was becoming like the kings of the nations about him, trusting in the arm of flesh. When Solomon looked to these, he was in effect turning his back on God, the real strength of Israel. Isaiah many years later issued a warning against putting trust in horses: "Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help; and stay on horses, and trust in chariots, because they are many; and in horsemen, because they are strong; but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the Lord" (Isa. 31:1 € see also Psalms 147:10-11; 33:16-19). God had given specific advice to kings of Israel.40
Through Moses He commanded that an earthly king of Israel was not to multiply to himself horses, nor riches, nor wives. Each would be instrumental in leading the king away from trust in God to trust in the flesh. Note carefully Deut. 17:16-17. Solomon failed in each respect.
There is no doubt of course that Solomon would have been aware of God's command in these matters, for each king was commanded to personally write out a copy of the law when he came to the throne (cp. Deut. 17:18). Despite this warning Solomon failed. If ever we have a clear example of the deceitfulness of sin, and how one can slowly drift out of the Truth, then we have it in the life of Solomon. He was a man of great wisdom, and perhaps he reasoned that he had the wisdom and strength of character to withstand any temptation arising from such possessions. Others may fail, but he would be able to withstand.
Such is the reasoning of the flesh. Once one step is taken in the wrong direction, further steps will be justified as being in order and expedient. So too we might be ensnared by our reasoning with very damaging results. Eve found in the garden of Eden that fleshly reasoning led to the sentence of death. Solomon likewise found out that when one is led by the dictates of the human will, the results are fatal. Temptation can be overcome with a "thus saith the Lord", but when it is not, the terrible consequences are recorded in Scripture as lessons for us all.
SOLOMON'S FALL (1 Kings 11:1-8).
Solomon's desire for riches and horses weakened his faith. He still, however, recognised Yahweh as the one and only true God. But he had sown to the flesh and his extraordinary wisdom was not sufficient to preserve him from falling into another grievous error. We read that "king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians and Hittites" (v.1).
Polygamy was accepted at the time of Solomon, and he deemed that many wives and concubines were in keeping with his honour. His choice of wives, however, could not have been worse. Everyone of them came from nations "concerning which the Lord said unto the children of Israel, 'Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods' " (v.2). But the record bluntly states, "Solomon clave unto these in love". Besides the wives listed in verse 1, Solomon had also 700 other wives and 300 concubines! In this, his judgment erred and he ignored the unmistakable warning of Scripture.
The inevitable soon happened, for we read "His wives turned away his heart, for it came to pass when Solomon was old that his wives turned away his heart after other gods; and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father" (vv.3, 4). What a tragic state the wise and privileged king of Israel had fallen into. Love of the world and pleasure-seeking had corrupted his heart and blinded his eyes The grace of God deserted him. The son of faithful David, instead of showing wisdom, stability and leadership, became at length an old and foolish king. Solomon seems to confess this, "Better is a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king who will no more be admonished (Eccles. 4:13).
Through the influence of his heathen wives, Solomon became an idolator and worshipped images of wood and stone in sight of the Temple which he had erected to the true God. He went after Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Zidonians. The rites of this worship included grossly immoral acts and licentious orgies. What degrading effects this would have had on the nation, quite apart from the King himself. Milcom, or Molech, the abomination of the Ammonites, was another god Solomon turned to. To this god children were sacrificed and drums were used to drown their cries as they burned. This abominable worship became a part of the way of life in Israel and was centred in the valley of Hinnom. It was not until the purges of righteous king Josiah many years later that these abominable religions were abolished (2 Kgs. 23:10).
GOD JUDGES SOLOMON FOR HIS FOLLY (1 Kings 11:9-25).
The commandments were clear and there was no excuse for Solomon's departure. Besides the clear direction from the Law of Moses, God had also appeared unto Solomon twice: €
1. At Gibeon he was promised blessings if he kept God's commands (3:13-14).
2. At Jerusalem, when the Temple was dedicated, he was warned of judgment if he and the nation followed after other gods (9:6-8).
It is a principle of Scripture that to whom much is given, much is expected. It was therefore proper that one so privileged should suffer a terrible judgment: "Wherefore the LORD said unto Solomon, forasmuch as this is done of thee, and thou has not kept my covenant and my statutes, which I have commanded thee, I will surely rend the kingdom from thee, and will give it to thy servant" (11:11).
This was indeed a terrible punishment and Solomon no doubt would have recalled a similar punishment passed upon Saul for his foolishness (1 Sam. 13:13-14). However, because of the righteousness of David, God decreed that the judgment would not take place in Solomon's days, but in the days of his son Rehoboam. Moreover, not all the kingdom would be rent from Rehoboam, but two tribes would remain to continue the royal line with Jerusalem as the capital city. God's mercy would not depart from the seed of David as it was taken from Saul (2 Sam. 7:15). There were outstanding kings among David's descendants (e.g. Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah, Josiah), and they helped to preserve the Truth, while apostasy characterised all the kings of the northern ten tribes.
Though the greater judgment was deferred, God did raise up an adversary to the king, namely Hadad, the Edomite. Hadad had fled from an attack made on the Edomites by Joab into Egypt and there remained while David was king. However, upon hearing that David and Joab were dead, he returned to his country with the objective of persuading Edom to revolt against Solomon.
Josephus records that Hadad failed to persuade his nation to revolt, and that instead he went to Syria and there joined with Rezon in raiding Israel and causing great annoyance. Rezon is mentioned in vv.23-25 as another adversary stirred up by God to harass Solomon. Rezon ruled Syria from Damascus and from there raided Israel, for he abhorred it.
The greatest judgment lay yet in the future. Jeroboam, one of! Solomon's servants would rise up and incite ten of the tribes to revolt. The days of grandeur, unity, peace and prosperity were at an end and would be no more until Christ should come, and then God would give the throne to him (Ezek. 21:27; 37:22-25).
LESSONS FOR US:
€ No sadder spectacle can be imagined than the apostasy of Solomon. It began with what appeared harmless € the gradual accumulation of riches. In this there is a warning for us who live in an age of unprecedented affluence. Today young people particularly have possessions and money never dreamt of by their parents. Young people beware! If Solomon, the king of great wisdom, could not withstand the temptations of the pleasures of his age, can we afford to indulge in them? "He that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall" (1. Cor. 10:12).
€ Just as God warned Solomon, so Jesus Christ has left a clear warning of the dangers of our age. Our days are likened to the days of Noah when the people scorned Noah and God and were preoccupied with ease and pleasure (Matt. 24:36-41). The Lord said that the day of his return would come on a world unprepared; "And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life and so that day come upon you unawares" (Lk. 21:34-36). "Surfeiting" is an old-fashioned word for riotous feasting, whilst "drunkenness" needs no explanation. The world is full of such behaviour, and it is sad to say that some young people have been caught up in these activities in their desire to taste of the world.
€ Besides the influence of the ungodly behaviour of the world, we can also be affected by the cares of this life. Respect for God and His Word is out of fashion in today's world where men think they are self-sufficient. They do not realise their need of the Creator. Such an attitude can easily rub off on us if we are not awake to our responsibilities in life. Material affluence can blind our eyes to spiritual dependence on God. Our time and energy can so easily be spent in acquiring this world's goods, idolising that which we have and becoming anxious over what we have not, or what we are to acquire next, or what we may lose. In such a frame of mind the awareness of our great privileges as Christadelphian young people can be lost.
€ Most tragic of all is the case of a young person who seeks outside the Truth for a partner in life. Abraham was very definite that Isaac should not take a Canaanite woman for his wife, nor was he to return to Chaldea to seek one (Gen. 24:3-6). Isaac and Rebekah were grieved by Esau's choice of Hittite women and directed Jacob to find a wife from among his own relatives (Gen. 26:34-35; 27:46; 28:1-2). The same standard applies today and, as Solomon found, much unhappiness eventually comes the way of those who would flout this divine command (Deut. 7:3-4; 2 Cor. 6:4; Prov. 7:24-27).
REFERENCE LIBRARY:
"The Story of the Bible" Vol. 4, No. - 10 (H.P. Mansfield)
PARAGRAPH QUESTIONS:
1. What did the Law of Moses say about horses, riches and wives in regard to kings? How did these things cause Solomon to fail?
2. How did Solomon's wives cause him to err from God? What lessons do we learn from this?
3. What punishment did God bring upon Solomon for departing from the way of truth?
4. What caused Solomon to depart from God's ways?
ESSAY QUESTIONS:
1. Describe the circumstances that brought about Solomon's departure from the ways of God.
2. What lessons can we learn from the folly of Solomon?
3. In what ways are the temptations we face in our days like those to which Solomon succumbed? What must we do to overcome these temptations?
Section 2
THE KINGDOM DECLINES
Following the reign of Solomon, Israel fell into a sad decline, the seeds of which had been sown by Solomon himself. First the nation was divided by civil dissension, and then the breach was widened as Jeroboam in the north instituted his own form of religion to keep his people away from Jerusalem in the south. Apostasy inevitably set in both in north and south and the worship of Yahweh became neglected. Though in the south there were occasionally kings who introduced grand reforms, both parts of the nation were firmly set on a course which could only end in the punishment of exile.
Yet in the midst of this state of affairs, a faithful witness was maintained as the voices of the prophets were raised in protest against the prevailing sin and in proclamation of Yahweh's ultimate purpose. Some heeded this message and, in spite of the wickedness of the times, remained steadfast in their faith. They provide a wonderful example for us in these wicked closing days of the Gentiles.