1 Kings 11:1

The contrast between the opening words of chapters 10 and 11 of the first book of Kings is very solemn. 1 Kings 10 tells us of the visit of the Queen of Sheba... She recognised the hand of God in it all and put it down to His love for His people Israel. "But" — terrible words — 1 Kings 11 tells us of Solomon's host of unholy women, drawn from Moab, Ammon, Edom... This man had prayed with such humility to the LORD at the dedication of the Temple. He became a worshipper of Ashtaroth, Milcom and other detestable foreign gods... Jerusalem was the centre of spiritual light in 1 Kings 10. In chapter 11 it is a hotbed of the worst idolatry!

Solomon also disobeyed Deuteronomy 17:17 by making many marriages with foreign women (v. 1). But Deuteronomy was not the only law he broke, though it did specifically forbid a king to make such marriages. God warned all the children of Israel against intermarrying with these godless nations (Ex. 34:12-16).

The list begins with the Moabites, who had led Israel into the idolatry of Baal-Peor after gaining control of them through the lust of the flesh (Num. 25:1-5). All these nations on the borders of Canaan — Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians — hated God and His people. The Hittites, named last, should have been destroyed, and never were. Solomon was openly disobeying God. God had said to His people: "You shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you." There was a double prohibition. We are in danger of going to the world or of letting it come in to us. The second danger may be even greater than the first... Little by little the world works its way into our homes and into our lives. Often, by the time we open our eyes to the danger, it is already too late.

What! The wisest king — the wisest king — brought to utter ruin in the very area where it least suited him! So it is with the sons of Adam. You will always find that you fail most in the very point where you most pride yourself. The moment your eye is off the Lord, you break down in the area where it seemed least likely.

Wisdom did not keep Solomon, nor will it keep any one of us, but cleaving to the Lord will.

Perhaps he told himself that some of these alliances served the good of the state. But God tells us clearly that "Solomon clung to these in love." Solomon's problem was a matter of the heart! He disobeyed and his heart was turned away.

He never had such a serious fall as David. He never committed so great a sin as his father. But look closely at how this famous man lived, and you will see a slow drift back to the world... His reign began with peace, glory and the knowledge of God, and it ends among idols and foreign women. What a difference between the beginning and the end! And how did this decline begin? Note this: it did not happen all at once. It happened little by little.

But some young person says, "I feel sure my influence will help my partner to be a Christian." Is that so? Does it work that way? What happened to Solomon? Did he win over his Egyptian wife?... He went from bad to worse. His wives influenced him rather than his influencing them.