Slices
Prepare
Think of a good marriage you know. What do you observe that makes the relationship work well? Pray for God’s blessing on marriages.
Bible passage
Solomon’s wives
11 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 He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray. 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. 5 He followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molek the detestable god of the Ammonites. 6 So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the Lord; he did not follow the Lord completely, as David his father had done.
7 On a hill east of Jerusalem, Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable god of Moab, and for Molek the detestable god of the Ammonites. 8 He did the same for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and offered sacrifices to their gods.
9 The Lord became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice. 10 Although he had forbidden Solomon to follow other gods, Solomon did not keep the Lord’s command. 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. 12 Nevertheless, for the sake of David your father, I will not do it during your lifetime. I will tear it out of the hand of your son. 13 Yet I will not tear the whole kingdom from him, but will give him one tribe for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen.’
Solomon’s adversaries
14 Then the Lord raised up against Solomon an adversary, Hadad the Edomite, from the royal line of Edom. 15 Earlier when David was fighting with Edom, Joab the commander of the army, who had gone up to bury the dead, had struck down all the men in Edom. 16 Joab and all the Israelites stayed there for six months, until they had destroyed all the men in Edom. 17 But Hadad, still only a boy, fled to Egypt with some Edomite officials who had served his father. 18 They set out from Midian and went to Paran. Then taking people from Paran with them, they went to Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt, who gave Hadad a house and land and provided him with food.
19 Pharaoh was so pleased with Hadad that he gave him a sister of his own wife, Queen Tahpenes, in marriage. 20 The sister of Tahpenes bore him a son named Genubath, whom Tahpenes brought up in the royal palace. There Genubath lived with Pharaoh’s own children.
21 While he was in Egypt, Hadad heard that David rested with his ancestors and that Joab the commander of the army was also dead. Then Hadad said to Pharaoh, ‘Let me go, so that I may return to my own country.’
22 ‘What have you lacked here that you want to go back to your own country?’ Pharaoh asked.
‘Nothing,’ Hadad replied, ‘but do let me go!’
23 And God raised up against Solomon another adversary, Rezon son of Eliada, who had fled from his master, Hadadezer king of Zobah. 24 When David destroyed Zobah’s army, Rezon gathered a band of men around him and became their leader; they went to Damascus, where they settled and took control. 25 Rezon was Israel’s adversary as long as Solomon lived, adding to the trouble caused by Hadad. So Rezon ruled in Aram and was hostile towards Israel.
Explore
The notes in the ‘Explore’ sections of this series in 1 Kings are written as the diary of a fictional courtier in King Solomon’s court (but look carefully at the Bible passages to check out his accounts!). As he observes, questions and comments on what he sees happening in Solomon’s life, he tries to discern God’s hand at work – and challenges us to do the same in our families, churches, communities and societies.
‘Another royal wedding today! Honestly, I can’t keep up with them all – there have been hundreds. Solomon says he loves each wife (especially when speaking to the ambassador of their home country – listening to him, you would think each one was his favourite!). I don’t know how he can keep up. I struggle to recognise them and remember their names.
‘Each wife comes with her own culture and religion. Solomon says that part of making them welcome, and ensuring peace with their home countries, means that we need to have places for them to worship their own despicable “gods” – and so the building work continues. I’ve noticed too that Solomon doesn’t just provide places for his wives to worship however they want; he even goes to the temples and offers sacrifices to these foreign deities. This is exactly what God warned us would happen if we married foreign women.
‘Already we are starting to feel repercussions of God’s displeasure towards our king. After more than a quarter of a century of peace, we now have rebel incursions attacking the country in the south and in the north-east. O Lord God, please protect us. Where will this end?’
Respond
How do you put into practice Paul’s warning in Colossians 4:5: ‘Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity’?
Deeper Bible study
Lord, as we come to your Word today, help us to fix our eyes on you and to hear you speaking to us.
In every generation, the key temptations remain the same – money, sex and power. In every culture and age, those tend to snare the Lord’s people more than anything else. Solomon, the golden boy of the story, is no different. He is carried away in his self-importance and takes his eyes off the Lord. Solomon has accumulated many wives and his heart follows the women; he follows the Lord with less and less fervour. Paul warns against marriages of believers to unbelievers.1 There are greater challenges in living for the Lord when your spouse doesn’t.
To please his wives, Solomon is tempted into idolatry. He may have built a great Temple for the Lord, but he also formed high places for the worship of foreign gods such as Ashtoreth, the consort of Baal, and Molek, who demanded detestable practices such as child sacrifice. Even those who receive revelation from the Lord are not immune, as we see from Solomon’s experiences (v 9). Succumbing to temptation always has consequences and here God’s verdict on Solomon’s actions is summed up in verses 11–13. In this review of Solomon, the author sees his unfaithfulness as the reason for the collapse of the kingdom. Solomon may have had unrivalled wisdom, but this didn’t protect him from making silly choices.
Previously, the reader was left to judge the outcome of the story. Here God’s judgement is clear. Though it is delayed out of deference to David (v 12), it begins here with the raising up of an adversary in Syria. We learn from Solomon’s sorry circumstances that the greatest mark of success in God’s kingdom is not wealth, status or power, but faithfulness and fidelity to God.
‘... Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’2
1 2 Cor 6:14 2 Matt 6:13
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: 1 Kings 16,17; Psalms 58,59
Pray for Scripture Union
May is the time of year when volunteers sign up to serve on the summer holiday and mission teams. Give thanks that so many people give of their time to share the good news with children and young people on our events and pray that all of our holidays and missions will have full teams this summer.
