Solomon’s apathy towards God turns to defiance as he feeds his lust for women. 1 Kings 11:1-3 [1] But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites; [2] Of the nations concerning which the Lord said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: Solomon clave unto these in love. [3] And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart.
There are two main problems here. The first is going against God’s plan for marriage as David did in having multiple wives (Genesis 2:23-24). Second is the fact these women were specifically forbidden by God to the Israelites.
Solomon has been coerced by his own fleshly lusts as he loves these women more than he loves God. In fact he is in so deep that he blasphemes God and serves the false gods of these pagan women. He is more concerned with pleasing these women than Almighty God. Because of this blatant disregard of the Lord’s commands, we will now get a front row seat as the fall of Israel begins.
Lust is one of the most
powerful adversaries we face. It can blind us to truth, drive us to do things we could never imagine and even make us justify sin for the sake of pleasure.
As we look at the life of Solomon we can shake our heads in disbelief, but haven’t we all been influenced at some time by lust? Don’t most of us carry regrets from a time when we allowed lust to be our guide?
We are no different than Solomon, only that his failure has been recorded for all of time. What if our stories of lust were laid out in front of the world? You see, we all have the same vulnerability, it’s how we address it that makes the difference.
We can either embrace our lusts and live with the destructive consequences or we can do what the Bible says in Galatians 5:16 “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.”
The good news is that we get to choose the path we take.
Let’s keep our eyes and hearts on the things of God so that we can enjoy the abundant life He has for us. Serve Him, not self and have a wonderful day!
1 Kings 11