1 Kings Bible Study | Chapter 11 | Mike Prah
Jul 14, 2021 | by Mike Prah
SOLOMON'S DISOBEDIENCE & THE CONSEQUENCES
Introduction
King Solomon's fervent love for God is now diluted and replaced by his love for his pagan wives. God's former approval is now replaced by His disapproval. The former promise to shower Solomon with blessings as long as he remained faithful is now replaced by the announcement of judgment to come. This curse plagued Israel through the years and ultimately led to the destruction of Jerusalem, the temple, and the people's exile. In later years, Nehemiah, warming the exiles of the danger of intermarriage with pagan wives, used Solomon as an example in Nehemiah 13:26
"Was it not because of marriages like these that Solomon king of Israel sinned? Among the many nations there was no king like him. He was loved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel, but even he was led into sin by foreign women." Nehemiah 13:26 (NIV)
A. SOLOMON'S DISOBEDIENCE: THE CAUSES (11:1-8)
1. Polygamy (11:1-3)
Disobeying God's commands against multiple wives and intermarrying with the Canaanites, Solomon has 700 wives and 300 concubines (Deut. 17:17)
“He must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray” Deuteronomy 17:17 (NIV)
2. Paganism (11:3-8)
Solomon’s pagan wives turned his heart away from God, and he worshipped other gods after other gods just as God has said would happen (Deut 7:3-4)
“Do not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, for they will turn your children away from following me to serve other gods, and the Lord’s anger will burn against you and will quickly destroy you.” Deuteronomy 7:3-4 (NIV)
B. SOLOMON'S DISOBEDIENCE: THE CONSEQUENCES (11:9-40)
1. Future Civil War (11:9-13; 28-40)
(i). The Lord is angry and promises to tear the kingdom away from Solomon and give it one of his servants (11:9-13)
(ii). God’s mercy. Even in judgment, God extends His mercy to Solomon. For David’s sake, the Lord reserves this punishment until after Solomon dies, and even then, his son reigns over one tribe, forfeiting ten other tribes to Jeroboam, one of Solomon’s officials (11:28-40).
3. Foreign Enemies (11:14-25)
The Lord also allows foreign enemies to trouble King Solomon’s reign
(i). Haddad (11:14-22). During Solomon’s reign, he returns from Egypt and becomes a threat to Solomon.
(ii). Rezon (11:23-25). Like Haddad, Rezon fled from David and became a bitter enemy to Israel. During Solomon’s reign, Rezon rules in Damascus and becomes a bitter enemy for Solomon.
4. Solomon’s Death (11:41-43)
After reigning for 40 years, Solomon dies and is succeeded by his Rehoboam.
1. The Enslaving Power of Sin
1. One of the numerous personal consequences of sin for the committer is its enslaving power.
Sin becomes a habit or even an addiction. One sin leads to another. It is “a parasite, an uninvited guest that keeps tapping his host for sustenance. In fact, sin digs in, and, like a tick, burrows deeper when we try to remove it.” What some people consider freedom from the restrictions of obedience to God’s will is actually the enslavement from sin.
2. Sin produces insensitivity and causes the sinner to reject God’s warnings and condemnations.
We become unaffected by the promptings of the Word and the Holy Spirit and as we continue to sin, even dreadful sins can be committed without shame. Paul spoke of those whose minds are darkened (Rom 1:21) and “whose conscience have been seared” (1 Tim 4:2) because of rejecting the truth.
3. Sin causes self-centeredness.
The essence of self-centeredness is “a turning in upon oneself.” According to James, selfishness breeds “every kind of evil.” (Jas 3:16). Erickson notes, “We call attention to ourselves, and our good qualities and accomplishment, and minimize our shortcomings. We seek special favors and opportunities in life, wanting a little extra edge that no one else has. We display certain special alertness to our own wants and needs while we ignore those of others.”
4. Sin causes a denial of that very sinfulness.
At the core of sin is the “persistent refusal to tolerate a sense of sin, to take responsibility for one’s sin, to live with the sorrowful knowledge of it and pursue the painful way of repentance.” Paul noted that the thinking of the unredeemed has become “senseless,” and “claiming to be wise; they became fools.” (Rom 1:21-22).
5. Finally, sin produces restlessness.
This is a greedy character, where, like a restless, tossing sea, nothing really satisfies the wicked outside of the peaceful rest Christ gives.
Overcoming Sin
1. Depending on the Word of God
God’s word is “profitable for training in righteousness” (2 Tim 3:16-17; cf. Ps 119:9-16),
2. Relying on the indwelling ministry of the Holy Spirit
(Rom 8:9; 1 John 2:20; 4:4; Eph 1:13, 4:30, 5:18; Gal 5:16),
3. Perpetual prayer before Almighty God
1 Kings 11:1-40 (New International Version)
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, 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 toward Israel.
Jeroboam Rebels Against Solomon
26 Also, Jeroboam son of Nebat rebelled against the king. He was one of Solomon’s officials, an Ephraimite from Zeredah, and his mother was a widow named Zeruah.
27 Here is the account of how he rebelled against the king: Solomon had built the terraces[a] and had filled in the gap in the wall of the city of David his father. 28 Now Jeroboam was a man of standing, and when Solomon saw how well the young man did his work, he put him in charge of the whole labor force of the tribes of Joseph.
29 About that time Jeroboam was going out of Jerusalem, and Ahijah the prophet of Shiloh met him on the way, wearing a new cloak. The two of them were alone out in the country, 30 and Ahijah took hold of the new cloak he was wearing and tore it into twelve pieces. 31 Then he said to Jeroboam, “Take ten pieces for yourself, for this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘See, I am going to tear the kingdom out of Solomon’s hand and give you ten tribes. 32 But for the sake of my servant David and the city of Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, he will have one tribe. 33 I will do this because they have[b] forsaken me and worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Molek the god of the Ammonites, and have not walked in obedience to me, nor done what is right in my eyes, nor kept my decrees and laws as David, Solomon’s father, did.
34 “‘But I will not take the whole kingdom out of Solomon’s hand; I have made him ruler all the days of his life for the sake of David my servant, whom I chose and who obeyed my commands and decrees. 35 I will take the kingdom from his son’s hands and give you ten tribes. 36 I will give one tribe to his son so that David my servant may always have a lamp before me in Jerusalem, the city where I chose to put my Name. 37 However, as for you, I will take you, and you will rule over all that your heart desires; you will be king over Israel. 38 If you do whatever I command you and walk in obedience to me and do what is right in my eyes by obeying my decrees and commands, as David my servant did, I will be with you. I will build you a dynasty as enduring as the one I built for David and will give Israel to you. 39 I will humble David’s descendants because of this, but not forever.’”
40 Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam, but Jeroboam fled to Egypt, to Shishak the king, and stayed there until Solomon’s death.
Solomon’s Death
41 As for the other events of Solomon’s reign—all he did and the wisdom he displayed—are they not written in the book of the annals of Solomon? 42 Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years. 43 Then he rested with his ancestors and was buried in the city of David his father. And Rehoboam his son succeeded him as king.