1 Kings 11:9–12

"His wives turned away his heart" — the word is repeated in verse 4. It is a terrible thing when what belongs to the world lodges in the heart and takes control of it. It turns the affections away from their only object toward vile, shameful, guilty objects... It took time for this sowing to the flesh to bear its fruit. Who would have believed that the Solomon of the temple would become an idolater? He once knelt and spread out his hands toward God in the sight of the people.

At first this neglect of the word appeared to have no bad effect. He grew rich, as though it were only the fulfilment of God's promise. But it soon led to a departure more serious in its nature and its consequences... It ended in open disobedience of the clearest and most essential requirements of God's word. The path of sin is slippery, and it is always walked with quickening steps. The reason is that the first sin tends to weaken in the soul the authority and power of the one thing that can keep us from committing still greater sins. That one thing is the word of God, along with the sense of His presence, which gives the word all its practical power over us.

The Lord's anger burned against this famous king. He turned against God, even though the Lord had appeared to him twice and had given him a clear command not to follow other gods. It seems unthinkable that a believer would sink to such a level as Solomon did, but wealth and ease can be a terrible snare even to one who is born of God.

The greater the privilege and the higher the honour, the deeper the shame... It is written for our wisdom, for our learning, for our warning, that we should beware of slipping in the very thing which God singles out in us. ... Solomon rested in the fruits God had given him. He enjoyed what came from God, but turned aside from the living source.

We find Solomon importing war horses from Egypt and multiplying wives. He had seven hundred wives who were princesses and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned away his heart. This went against the prohibition in Deuteronomy 17:16: "Only he must not acquire many horses for himself or cause the people to return to Egypt in order to acquire many horses... And he shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away." Wisdom did not keep Solomon, and it will not keep any one of us. But clinging to the Lord will.

Grace known by us in Christ does not deliver us from this holy government of God. Instead, it gives us a higher place of favour than faith had ever known before. So we have greater responsibility, and we come more directly under the action of such divine principles... David used the sword to carry out his own sinful will, and the sword never left his house. Solomon mixed with foreigners, and his heart was led astray. Enemies then rose up from the very places he had drawn on to please himself.

As far as man is concerned, this is the end of the kingdom. But what a prospect for the future! ... The kingdom of the Divine Solomon will reappear like the sun shining in its strength. It will never again depend on the fallible obedience of man. It will rest on the unfailing responsibility of the King whom God will anoint on Zion, the mountain of His holiness.

Once more, and for the last time, Solomon heard the voice of his God. When He appeared to him in Gibeon, He said, "Ask what I shall give you." He was pleased with the young king's reply (1 Kings 3). In Jerusalem He spoke to him with encouragement and warning (1 Kings 9). Now He could only pass sentence on a servant who had been so unfaithful. The kingdom of Israel was now to be broken up. As a witness for God it had become worthless.

God had given warnings and clear instructions in the Law. He had also appeared to Solomon Himself twice, and had commanded him not to go after other gods. Wife after wife seems to have persuaded him to build a high place for her idol... Before long these high places defiled "the mountain east of Jerusalem," the Mount of Olives. They stayed there 350 years, until the reign of Josiah.

At first this neglect of the word seemed to do no harm. He grew rich, as though God were only keeping His promise. But it soon led to a more serious departure, both in itself and in what came of it... and at last to open disobedience of the clearest and most basic commands. The slippery path of sin is always walked with quicker and quicker steps. The first sin weakens in the soul the authority and power of the one thing that can keep us from still greater sins — the word of God.

One good clue lies in a proverb of his, where he tells us, "Whoever trusts in his own mind is a fool" (Prov. 28:26). God had given His people clear instructions that their kings were not to take many wives. Solomon... took 700 wives, princesses, and 300 concubines besides these! Perhaps he told himself that some of these marriages served the interests of the state. But God tells us plainly that "Solomon clung to these in love." Solomon's problem was a matter of the heart! He disobeyed, and his heart was turned away.

There is a little comfort for us here — almost the only comfort in all we are told of king Solomon — and it is this: God disciplined him. He did not merely let the fruit of his evil, the results of his folly, show up in his family. He disciplined Solomon himself, in his own lifetime. This is His way with His own people. In some cases it is almost the only hope you have that a person is a child of God: God does not let the evil pass, but deals with it now, in this world. Those God passes over in spite of evil are clearly waiting to be condemned with the world. But those who are guilty and are dealt with now are the objects of God's fatherly care.

When David sinned against the Lord, he repented deeply as soon as the Lord reproved him. God reproved Solomon too, but nothing suggests that he ever repented.

When Solomon turned from God, he left his first love. He gave the idols of the nations the place in his heart that belonged to God. There is always the danger, even in old age, that something will push out of our hearts the love we owe to God. That is why it is written, "Little children, keep yourselves from idols" (1 John 5:21).

Turn to 1 Kings 10 and 11 and you find King Solomon breaking down at every point. He collects many horses. He sends the people back to Egypt. He takes many wives for himself, and piles up silver and gold in great amounts. And though much is told us of Solomon's riches, wisdom and splendour, we are never told that he read the law of the Lord.

His heart was turned away from the Lord first, so when he grew old he gave in to the pull of idols. Our hearts are not empty spaces. If we push the Lord out of our hearts, they will soon take hold of some false substitute. These wives had many substitutes, and they could persuade Solomon that they were attractive.

Once more, and for the last time, Solomon heard the voice of his God. When He appeared to him at Gibeon, He said, "Ask what I shall give you," and He was pleased with the young king's reply (1 Kings 3). In Jerusalem He spoke to him in words of encouragement and warning (1 Kings 9). Now He could only pass sentence on His shamefully unfaithful servant... The kingdom of Israel should now be broken up. As a witness for God it had become worthless.

When the Lord rebuked David for his sin, David repented deeply. God rebuked Solomon too, but nothing shows that he repented.

The Lord was angry with him, and no wonder: He would tear the kingdom from him and give it to his servant (1 Kings 11:11). This came to pass, not in Solomon's reign, for God had respect to his father, David. It came in the reign of his very foolish son Rehoboam. The kingdom was split: ten tribes went with Jeroboam, Solomon's servant, and Judah and Benjamin stayed with Rehoboam. It was a big price to pay for his folly and sin.

He has become like Saul. Saul tried to kill David because God had given him the kingdom. In the same way Solomon tried to kill his servant Jeroboam, because God had given him ten tribes. In both cases it was rebellion against the decree of God.

Yet the Lord would not do this while Solomon was alive, because He respected Solomon's father David. Solomon's son would suffer the shame of a broken kingdom (v.12). Even so, God would leave one tribe to that son — again for David's sake, not for Solomon's sake... This mercy was also for Jerusalem's sake. God's choice of that city stood, despite the failure and disobedience of all Israel.

Ten of the tribes of Israel were torn from Rehoboam. In 1 Kings 11:11 we are told it was for the sin of Solomon. But verse 33 of the same chapter says it was for the idolatry of the people. And in chapter 12 we find the triggering cause was the harsh way Rehoboam met the people... The fact is that the sin of any one of the three named was enough by itself to bring all the harm that was done. So the responsibility is left at the door of each. Let me say again, though, that this judgment is only about God's government in this life. It does not always reach into eternity.

As far as man is concerned, this is the end of the kingdom. But what a prospect for the future! ...the kingdom of the Divine Solomon will reappear like the sun shining in its strength. It will never again depend on the fallible obedience of man. It will rest on the King whom God will anoint on Zion, the mountain of His holiness, and He never fails in what He has taken up.

God spoke to Solomon again, but now in judgment. He had warned Solomon what would come of turning away from following Him and keeping His commandments. If he served and worshipped idols instead, the result would be ruin. He must now act in faithfulness to His word. In Galatians 6:7 we read, "Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap." Solomon's wisdom, wealth and power could not turn aside God's just judgment. The kingdom would be torn from him and given to his servant.

God acted in judgment as He must always do when the believer knowingly breaks Scripture. God delayed carrying out that judgment, not for Solomon's sake, but for his father David's.

Yet the Lord would not do this while Solomon was living, because the Lord respected Solomon's father David. But Solomon's son would suffer the humiliation of a broken kingdom (v.12). God would still leave one tribe to that son — again for the sake of David, not for Solomon's sake. Judah was that tribe, though Benjamin, very small and weak, was included with Judah.

In the government of God, children have to suffer for the sins of their parents, and nations for the sins of their rulers. People may complain about this and call it injustice. But the fact remains. If a man wastes his inheritance and abuses his body, his children will suffer for it in poverty and weakness. But this does not extend beyond the present life, and the sorrows here on earth are short-lived. No one will undergo the judgment of hell for the sins of others, but only for those he has committed himself.

God always acts in faithfulness to His word and in keeping with His character. So here God holds back from carrying out His judgment during Solomon's lifetime. He does this in line with His word to David, whom He calls "My servant," and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city He had chosen. God also softens its severity. He would not take away the entire kingdom. He would give Solomon's son one tribe, and so keep a lamp for David always in Jerusalem.

Now Solomon faced another promise of God. This time God had promised Jeroboam that part of the kingdom would be his. God had assured him, "Yet for the sake of David your father I will not do it in your days." Solomon would not rest in that. Like Herod in a later day, he took the law into his own hands and tried to kill Jeroboam. But of course nothing could frustrate God's promises. Jeroboam fled into Egypt and stayed there until Solomon died.

The obvious and immediate cause of the division was the foolishness of the king. He rejected the advice of the elders. But the underlying cause was Solomon's idolatry... The kingdom was never reunited, and will not be until the Lord comes.