This could also be headlined as Solomon’s Legacy. It was Solomon that created, sanctioned, and participated with the evil, idolatrous, and demonic practices of the nations surrounding Israel. Thru his many foreign wives, he brought these abominable practices into the nation. In what ways did Solomon disobey God’s requirements of the kings He alone placed over His people?
1 Kings 10:14-22 Now the weight of gold which came in to Solomon in one year was 666 talents of gold,
besides that from the traders and the wares of the merchants and all the kings of the Arabs and the governors of the country.
King Solomon made 200 large shields of beaten gold, using 600 shekels of gold on each large shield.
He made 300 shields of beaten gold, using three minas of gold on each shield, and the king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon.
Moreover, the king made a great throne of ivory and overlaid it with refined gold. There were six steps to the throne and a round top to the throne at its rear, and arms on each side of the seat, and two lions standing beside the arms.
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.
All King Solomon's drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold. None was of silver; it was not considered valuable in the days of Solomon. For the king had at sea the ships of Tarshish with the ships of Hiram; once every three years the ships of Tarshish came bringing gold and silver, ivory and apes and peacocks.
While God had promised Solomon riches, what was Solomon to do with these riches? Was he to bring glory to himself? A gold covered ivory throne! Solomon spent 7 years building God’s Temple and 13 years building his palace.
10:26 Now Solomon gathered chariots and horsemen; and he had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen, and he stationed them in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem.
Didn’t God tell His kings not to acquire horses? Solomon even built cities just to house his horses and chariots. Was Solomon beginning to trust in his own wisdom?
1 Kings 11:1-2 Now King Solomon loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women,
from the nations concerning which the LORD had said to the sons of Israel, "You shall not associate with them, nor shall they associate with you, for they will surely turn your heart away after their gods." Solomon held fast to these in love.
The entire nation of Israel was commanded to not marry foreign wives, to not give their daughters to foreign men, or take foreign women to be wives to their sons. Everyone knew this, especially Solomon.
11:3 He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned his heart away.
11:4 For when Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away after other gods; and his heart was not wholly devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father had been.
How sad, he started out with all the right words, yet, ended with all the wrong deeds. If you would read thru the chapters on Solomon’s life, you will not find him seeking the Lord, praising the Lord, or meditating of the Word of the Lord as did David.
11:5 For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians and after Milcom the detestable idol of the Ammonites.
11:6 Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and did not follow the LORD fully, as David his father had done.
11:7 Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable idol of Moab, on the mountain which is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the detestable idol of the sons of Ammon.
11:8 Thus also he did for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.
God’s warnings are for our own good and God’s glory. Yet the wisest man on earth ignored all of them, or so it would seem. When God says that he did evil in the sight of the Lord, this is a serious charge.
Perhaps Solomon’s downfall was his great wisdom, which slowly and subtly replaced God’s Wisdom in God’s Word. We never read of him copying the Books of the Law by his own hand and reading from them every day.
This should be a sober lesson for all of us.