In The Word
Read: 1 Kings 10:14-11:43
Wealth, Splendor, and Wisdom
14 Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was 666 talents of gold, 15 besides that from the traders, and the wares of the merchants and all the kings of the Arabs and the governors of the country. 16 King Solomon made two hundred large shields of beaten gold, using six hundred shekels of gold on each large shield. 17 And he made three hundred small shields of beaten gold, using three minas of gold on each shield; and the king put them in the house of the timber of Lebanon. 18 Moreover, the king made a large throne of ivory and overlaid it with fine gold. 19 There were six steps to the throne and a round top to the throne at its back, and armrests on each side of the seat, and two lions standing beside the armrests. 20 Twelve lions were standing there on the six steps on the one side and on the other; nothing like it was made for any other kingdom. 21 Now all King Solomon’s drinking utensils were of gold, and all the utensils of the house of the timber of Lebanon were of pure gold. None was of silver; it was not considered as amounting to anything in the days of Solomon. 22 For the king had the ships of Tarshish at sea with Hiram’s ships; once every three years the ships of Tarshish would come carrying gold and silver, ivory, monkeys, and peacocks.
23 So King Solomon became greater than all the kings of the earth in wealth and wisdom. 24 And all the earth was seeking the attention of Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart. 25 And they were bringing, everyone, a gift: articles of silver and gold, garments, weapons, balsam oil, horses, and mules, so much year by year.
26 Now Solomon gathered chariots and horsemen; and he had 1,400 chariots and twelve thousand horsemen, and he stationed them in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem. 27 And the king made silver as common as stones in Jerusalem, and he made cedars as plentiful as sycamore trees that are in the lowland. 28 Also Solomon’s import of horses was from Egypt and Kue, and the king’s merchants acquired them from Kue for a price. 29 A chariot was imported from Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for 150; and by the same means they exported them to all the kings of the Hittites and to the kings of the Arameans.
Solomon Turns from God
11 Now King Solomon loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, 2 from the nations of which the Lord had said to the sons of Israel, “You shall not associate with them, nor shall they associate with you; they will certainly turn your heart away to follow their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love. 3 He had seven hundred wives, who were princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned his heart away. 4 For when Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away to follow other gods; and his heart was not wholly devoted to the Lordhis God, as the heart of his father David had been. 5 For Solomon became a follower of Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and of Milcom the abhorrent idol of the Ammonites. 6 So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and did not follow the Lord fully, as his father David had done. 7 Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh, the abhorrent idol of Moab, on the mountain that is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abhorrent idol of the sons of Ammon. 8 He also did the same for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.
9 Now 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, 10 and had commanded him regarding this thing, that he was not to follow other gods; but he did not comply with what the Lord had commanded. 11 So the Lord said to Solomon, “Since you have done this, and you have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, I will certainly tear the kingdom away from you, and will give it to your servant. 12 However, I will not do it in your days, only for the sake of your father David; but I will tear it away from the hand of your son.13 Yet I will not tear away all the kingdom, but I will give one tribe to your son for the sake of My servant David, and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen.”
God Raises Adversaries
14 Then the Lord raised up an adversary against Solomon, Hadad the Edomite; he was of the royal line in Edom. 15 For it came about, when David was in Edom and Joab the commander of the army had gone up to bury those killed in battle, and had struck and killed every male in Edom 16 (for Joab and all Israel stayed there for six months, until he had eliminated every male in Edom), 17 that Hadad fled to Egypt, he and certain Edomites of his father’s servants with him, while Hadad wasa young boy. 18 They set out from Midian and came to Paran; and they took men with them from Paran and came to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt, who gave him a house and assigned him food and gave him land. 19 Now Hadad found great favor in the sight of Pharaoh, so that he gave him in marriage the sister of his own wife, the sister of Tahpenes the queen. 20 And the sister of Tahpenes gave birth to his son Genubath, whom Tahpenes weaned in Pharaoh’s house; and Genubath was in Pharaoh’s house among the sons of Pharaoh. 21 But when Hadad heard in Egypt that David lay down with his fathers and that Joab the commander of the army was dead, Hadad said to Pharaoh, “Let me go, so that I may go to my own country.” 22 However, Pharaoh said to him, “But what have you lacked with me that you are here, requesting to go to your own country?” And he answered, “Nothing; nevertheless you must let me go.”
23 God also raised up another adversary against him, Rezon the son of Eliada, who had fled from his master Hadadezer, king of Zobah. 24 And he gathered men to himself and became leader of a marauding band, after David killed those of Zobah; and they went to Damascus and stayed there, and reigned in Damascus. 25 So he was an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon, along with the harm that Hadad inflicted; and he felt disgust for Israel and reigned over Aram.
26 Then Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephraimite of Zeredah, Solomon’s servant, whose mother’s name was Zeruah, a widow, also rebelled against the king. 27 Now this was the reason why he rebelled against the king: Solomon built the Millo, andclosed up the breach of the city of his father David. 28 Now the man Jeroboam was a valiant warrior, and when Solomon saw that the young man was industrious, he appointed him over all the forced labor of the house of Joseph. 29 And it came about at that time, when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, that the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him on the road. Now Ahijah had clothed himself with a new cloak; and both of them were alone in the field. 30 Then Ahijah took hold of the new cloak which was on him and tore it into twelve pieces. 31 And he said to Jeroboam, “Take for yourself ten pieces; for this is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘Behold, I am going to tear the kingdom away from the hand of Solomon and give you ten tribes 32 (but he shall have one tribe, for the sake of My servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel), 33 because they have abandoned Me, and have worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of Moab, and Milcom the god of the sons of Ammon; and they have not walked in My ways, doing what is right in My sight and keeping My statutes and My ordinances, as his father David did. 34 Nevertheless I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand, but I will make him ruler all the days of his life, for the sake of My servant David whom I chose, who kept My commandments and My statutes; 35 but I will take the kingdom from his son’s hand and give it to you; that is, ten tribes. 36 But to his son I will give one tribe, so that My servant David may always have a lamp before Me in Jerusalem, the city where I have chosen for Myself to put My name. 37 However I will take you, and you shall reign over all that you desire, and you shall be king over Israel. 38 Then it shall be, that if you listen to all that I command you and walk in My ways, and do what is right in My sight by keeping My statutes and My commandments, as My servant David did, then I will be with you and build you an enduring house as I built for David, and I will give Israel to you. 39 So I will oppress the descendants of David for this, but not always.’” 40 Solomon sought therefore to put Jeroboam to death; but Jeroboam set out and fled to Egypt to Shishak king of Egypt, and he was in Egypt until the death of Solomon.
The Death of Solomon
41 Now the rest of the acts of Solomon and whatever he did, and his wisdom, are they not written in the Book of the Acts of Solomon? 42 So the time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years. 43 Then Solomon lay down with his fathers and was buried in the city of his father David, and his son Rehoboam reigned in his place.
New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Walking In The Word
All the earth was seeking the presence of Solomon, in order to hear the wisdom which God had put in his heart (verse 24). Solomon was being used by God to be a witness to the world of the one true God. God in His love and to fulfill His promise, had blessed Solomon more than any other king on the whole earth. Yet, King Solomon had weaknesses: women, wealth, and horses. And his weakness was not just women, but foreign women from whom God had commanded for the people of Israel to stay away. Solomon made a conscious decision to disobey God’s commandments.
In Deuteronomy 17:16-17 (this passage was written by Solomon’s own hand, so a passage he had to have studied), God specifically says a king of Israel should not multiply horses or wealth for himself and should not marry many women. He did anyway. When he was older, it became a snare to him and he began to serve other gods. King Solomon became more worried about pleasing his foreign wives than he was about pleasing God. This would be his door to destruction.
How many times have we watched this scene repeat itself in our world today? We see God bless someone so much and use them in many ways. Still, people fail to realize that we all can fall. The blessings and favor of God is not a license to do what we want. No matter how blessed and favored we are, we still have to hold to God’s commandments. Many people begin to seek to please man over God, and the result is catastrophic. We are never above following God’s commandments, no matter who we are.