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Solomon, a derailed testimony
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. 1 Kings 11:6
Solomon, as previously discussed, started his reign well. He loved our Lord, conducted himself in a godly manner and made sacrifices unto God (1 Ki 3:3). He was also humble and obedient (1 Ki 3:7-9) demonstrating what it means to live in the “Fear [of] the Lord” (Ps 111:10). This pleased our God (1 Ki 3:10) and he and the kingdom were blessed. Sadly, he abandoned this mindset towards the end of his life derailing his testimony and thus incurring God’s anger (1 Ki 11:9).
Despite this failure, I believe Solomon was the wisest human to have ever lived. He was also chosen by God to build him his house (1 Ch 22:9-10), even his father David was not given this honour (1 Ch 22:8). Further, his kingdom was uniquely blessed by God and is the closest picture we have to the future millennial reign of our Lord Jesus Christ (Mat 6:24). Even though he experienced all these blessings Solomon’s heart and mind were distracted. This distraction led him to break God’s commandments (1 Ki 11:1-2) which in turn led him to worship false gods, breaking another of God’s commandments (Exo 34:14).
If nothing else, Solomon’s story reminds us to:
Watch [y]ourselves, so that you may not lose what we have worked for, but may win a full reward. 2 John 1:8
Further, if there be any sin distracting us from God’s service “lay [it] aside” (Heb 12:1) and “confess” (1 Jo 1:9) it, knowing that “he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness”.
The Last Days of Solomon
Now King Solomon loved many foreign women, along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, 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. He had 700 wives, who were princesses, and 300 concubines. And his wives turned away his heart. 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. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. 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. 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. And so he did for all his foreign wives, who made offerings and sacrificed to their gods. 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 and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods. But he did not keep what the LORD commanded. Therefore the LORD said to Solomon, “Since this has been your practice and you have not kept my covenant and my statutes that I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you and will give it to your servant. Yet for the sake of David your father I will not do it in your days, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son. 1 Kings 11:1-12
