Friday, November 13, 2015

I Kings 11: Solomon's Downfall

Everyone has their favorite imponderables about the Bible, questions such as "How could people live so long back in the times of the patriarchs?" or "What were Jesus' growing up years like?"  Mine is - "How could the story of Solomon end so tragically when he had been given so much wisdom and had so much going for him?"
Solomon, after all, is regarded as the wisest man who ever lived.  Yet the story of his life is not one of continual spiritual growth and achievement, but of growing decay and corruption.  He started off strong, seeking after the Lord and walking in the ways of his father David.  He asked for wisdom, and was given it by God, along with long life, riches, and victory over his enemies.  He built the Temple and led Israel into its Golden Age.  But it was not to last.

Solomon's downfall is specifically mentioned in I Kings 11 as having to do with his pagan wives, of which he had 700 and 300 concubines.  (I can imagine someone saying, "Well, there's your problem right there!")  Through their influence, he was led astray to worship false gods and idols, even creating sacred spaces for them as well.  "When Solomon was old, his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not true to the Lord his God, as was the heart of his father David" (vs. 4).

The result was that "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" (vs. 9).  It's heartbreaking to realize that Solomon, who had once enjoyed such a close and healthy relationship with God ended on a sour note of displeasing the Lord through his dalliance with other gods.  The man who wrote incredibly insightful wisdom literature such as Proverbs and Ecclesiastes was himself not wise enough to prevent his spiritual downfall.

As a consequence, God decreed that the kingdom would be taken out of Solomon's family.  Out of respect for David, God allowed that it would not happen during Solomon's lifetime.  Still, the united monarchy would persist only one generation beyond David.  And instead of twelve tribes, David's family would get to reign only over their own tribe of Judah and Benjamin.

God raised up three enemies to be a thorn in Solomon's side.  We read of Hadad the Edomite, a foe dating back from the time of David and Joab (vs. 14).  There was also Rezon who settled in Damascus and caused trouble for Solomon (vs. 23).  Finally, one of the bright young stars in Solomon's kingdom, Jeroboam, was given the message that, after Solomon's death, he would become king over ten tribes of Israel in place of the House of David. (vs. 31). 

In the end, Solomon's wisdom led him not to health and peace and prosperity, but to strife and division and a broken kingdom to pass on to his heir.  If this is the legacy of the world's wisest man in the days before Jesus, I can only say that I would prefer the wisdom of God in Christ to guide me more than anything else!

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