It
must have been spectacular. After centuries of nomadic life, slavery, and
more nomadic life, the children of Abraham were living in their own land.
Their king had built a lavish temple to the God who had sustained the
nation through every difficulty. With a long, eloquent
prayer, King Solomon sacrificed an abundant number of animals, cementing his
fervor and dedication to the LORD. There was truly a bright future
for the nation of Israel!
But
only a short time later, God was angry - angry enough to divide the people He
had provided for and led through years of hardship and wandering. Why?
What happened between the nearly-idyllic dedication of the temple to this
catastrophic ripping apart of God's chosen people?
Solomon
had it all going for him. He was the heir of a godly king of a country
blessed by God. He built an impressive temple for God and sacrificed
great numbers of animals, as the Israelites were supposed to do.
His father, King David, is often referred to as a "man after
God's own heart," but Solomon is not remembered that way. Instead we
read:
"Now
King Solomon loved many foreign women...from the nations concerning which the
Lord had said to the people of Israel, 'You shall not enter into marriage with
them, neither shall they with you, for surely they will turn away your heart
after their gods.”'Solomon clung to these in love. He had 700 wives, who
were princesses, and 300 concubines. And his wives turned away his
heart. For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after
other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, as was the
heart of David his father..." (1 Kings 11:1-5).
Did
you catch that? Solomon's "heart was not wholly true to the Lord his
God." As God had told Samuel when Solomon's father was crowned king,
"'Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature...For the
Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord
looks on the heart'" (1 Samuel 16:7). And Solomon's heart had a
problem.
Here
was a man who had it all. Or so it seemed. As we read the story of
Solomon, it's hard to imagine a man with so much potential or a story with so
much disappointment. Imagine having so much silver that it was considered
worthless (1 Kings 10:21) and welcoming visiting world leaders who simply came
to hear his wisdom (1 Kings 10:24).
But in the end, it didn't last. The kingdom who had welcomed their second
king with fanfare and pomp rejected their third, Solomon's son, Rehoboam.
The great nation of Israel was ripped in two, with two tribes remaining
loyal to Rehoboam and ten tribes seceding from the country. Eventually,
the ten northern tribes would be carried to captivity and disappear.
Israel would never again have that kind of wealth, that kind of international
recognition.
It was just as God told Solomon it would happen. Before Rehoboam even
came to the throne, while Solomon still reigned in Israel, the God of Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob warned Solomon: "'Since this has been your practice
and you have not kept my covenant and my statutes that I have commanded you, I
will surely tear the kingdom from you...I will tear it out of the hand of your
son'" (1 Kings 11:11-12).
The close relationship David enjoyed with his God did not transfer to his son.
Solomon was visited more than once by God, and he enjoyed blessings we
can't even fathom today. But his heart didn't follow God like his
father's had.
So
maybe Solomon never did have it all. How could earthly treasure ever
compare to walking with God? "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and
forfeits his soul?" (Matthew 16:26).
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