#478 Division or Multiplication?

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.

4 For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the Lordhis God, as was the heart of David his father.

5 For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.

6 And Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and went not fully after the Lord, as did David his father.

7 Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon.

8 And likewise did he for all his strange wives, which burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods.

9 And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the Lord God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice,

10 And had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods: but he kept not that which the Lord commanded.

11 Wherefore the Lord said unto Solomon, Forasmuch as this is done of thee, and thou hast not kept my covenant and my statutes, which I have commanded thee, I will surely rend the kingdom from thee, and will give it to thy servant.

12 Notwithstanding in thy days I will not do it for David thy father's sake: but I will rend it out of the hand of thy son.

13 Howbeit I will not rend away all the kingdom; but will give one tribe to thy son for David my servant's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake which I have chosen.

14 And the Lord stirred up an adversary unto Solomon, Hadad the Edomite: he was of the king's seed in Edom.

15 For it came to pass, when David was in Edom, and Joab the captain of the host was gone up to bury the slain, after he had smitten every male in Edom;

16 (For six months did Joab remain there with all Israel, until he had cut off every male in Edom:)

17 That Hadad fled, he and certain Edomites of his father's servants with him, to go into Egypt; Hadad being yet a little child.

18 And they arose out of Midian, and came to Paran: and they took men with them out of Paran, and they came to Egypt, unto Pharaoh king of Egypt; which gave him an house, and appointed him victuals, and gave him land.

19 And Hadad found great favour in the sight of Pharaoh, so that he gave him to wife the sister of his own wife, the sister of Tahpenes the queen.

20 And the sister of Tahpenes bare him Genubath his son, whom Tahpenes weaned in Pharaoh's house: and Genubath was in Pharaoh's household among the sons of Pharaoh.

21 And when Hadad heard in Egypt that David slept with his fathers, and that Joab the captain of the host was dead, Hadad said to Pharaoh, Let me depart, that I may go to mine own country.

22 Then Pharaoh said unto him, But what hast thou lacked with me, that, behold, thou seekest to go to thine own country? And he answered, Nothing: howbeit let me go in any wise.

23 And God stirred him up another adversary, Rezon the son of Eliadah, which fled from his lord Hadadezer king of Zobah:

24 And he gathered men unto him, and became captain over a band, when David slew them of Zobah: and they went to Damascus, and dwelt therein, and reigned in Damascus.

25 And he was an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon, beside the mischief that Hadad did: and he abhorred Israel, and reigned over Syria.

26 And Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephrathite of Zereda, Solomon's servant, whose mother's name was Zeruah, a widow woman, even he lifted up his hand against the king.

27 And this was the cause that he lifted up his hand against the king: Solomon built Millo, and repaired the breaches of the city of David his father.

28 And the man Jeroboam was a mighty man of valour: and Solomon seeing the young man that he was industrious, he made him ruler over all the charge of the house of Joseph.

29 And it came to pass at that time when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, that the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him in the way; and he had clad himself with a new garment; and they two were alone in the field:

30 And Ahijah caught the new garment that was on him, and rent it in twelve pieces:

31 And he said to Jeroboam, Take thee ten pieces: for thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, Behold, I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give ten tribes to thee:

32 (But he shall have one tribe for my servant David's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel:)

33 Because that they have forsaken me, and have worshipped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the children of Ammon, and have not walked in my ways, to do that which is right in mine eyes, and to keep my statutes and my judgments, as did David his father.

34 Howbeit I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand: but I will make him prince all the days of his life for David my servant's sake, whom I chose, because he kept my commandments and my statutes:

35 But I will take the kingdom out of his son's hand, and will give it unto thee, even ten tribes.

36 And unto his son will I give one tribe, that David my servant may have a light alway before me in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen me to put my name there.

37 And I will take thee, and thou shalt reign according to all that thy soul desireth, and shalt be king over Israel.

38 And it shall be, if thou wilt hearken unto all that I command thee, and wilt walk in my ways, and do that is right in my sight, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did; that I will be with thee, and build thee a sure house, as I built for David, and will give Israel unto thee.

39 And I will for this afflict the seed of David, but not for ever.

40 Solomon sought therefore to kill Jeroboam. And Jeroboam arose, and fled into Egypt, unto Shishak king of Egypt, and was in Egypt until the death of Solomon.

41 And the rest of the acts of Solomon, and all that he did, and his wisdom, are they not written in the book of the acts of Solomon?

42 And the time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years.

43 And Solomon slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David his father: and Rehoboam his son reigned in his stead. 1 Kings 11 KJV

So, when I was a kid and I heard this story this is where it seemed the person reading would say Solomon went wrong. There was a law written to kings in Deuteronomy 17 that read like this:

When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you and have taken possession of it and settled in it, and you say, “Let us set a king over us like all the nations around us,” 15 be sure to appoint over you a king the Lord your God chooses. He must be from among your fellow Israelites. Do not place a foreigner over you, one who is not an Israelite. 16 The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make the people return to Egypt to get more of them, for the Lord has told you, “You are not to go back that way again.” 17 He must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray. He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold.

18 When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the Levitical priests. 19 It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees 20 and not consider himself better than his fellow Israelites and turn from the law to the right or to the left. Then he and his descendants will reign a long time over his kingdom in Israel. Deuteronomy 17:14 -20

So it was predicted in Moses time that the people would want a king like the nations, and David's time saw a glimpse of Messiah when a star would come out of Jacob, as predicted by the prophet Balaam, who didn't even want to serve God. Now Solomon's time has come and he has asked for wisdom, but in Ecclesiastes he laments its sorrows, and that he has in the end chased folly. The wisest among us has become a fool. When we read the story of Solomon though and we compare his life to that of the law that kings were to write for themselves a copy, to keep it with him and to read all the days of his life. 

1. He was of God's choosing - he could check that box. Those that will not be ruled by God will be ruled by tyrants in the end, but here God allows His own people, that He has chosen out of all the world, to His good pleasure, He allows them the lesson of having a king under the best of circumstances. First in Saul, who was the most stately among them, he really looked the part, then David who was passionate for God, who could be convicted of his sin and blessed as those who mourn. Now Solomon, who God loves, not for His merit, because that is fading with his material rise, falling into the shadows and shade of his own splendor. It pleased God that he asked for wisdom though. 

2. He must be an Israelite - check that box too, in fact, his dad was from the line of Judah. He was the first king to actually succeed his father's throne by God's choice, not unchallenged by the politically powerful, or those that would give preference to custom of the eldest, yet not as difficult an ascension as David faced. 

3.Not to acquire a lot of horses or go back to Egypt for them. I am doing a bit of side study on this so it will come up again, but one of the first things Solomon does is take a wife from Egypt, which is not one of the places warned against for this, and she may very well be a wife of conversion, but he does use this contract of marriage to such gains that are contrary to the laws of kings. He acquires not only horses from Egypt for himself but becomes an arms dealer to the countries north of him. He returns the way God said not to go back, acquires horses and chariots for his kingdom and as the love of money is the root of all sorts of evil, he cannot resist a bargain either. He flips horses and chariots to the Syrians at a profit. What's wrong with that? God said not to.

4. He must not take many wives or his heart will be led astray. Is 700 a lot? Maybe, but apparently still not enough, besides them he had 300 concubines. What is the difference between a wife and a concubine at that point? I can't pretend at any kind of piety here. If I would have had his mojo when I was young, I would have had a different girl every day myself. Rock stars were my heroes for that very reason, "money for nothing and the chicks for free." Probably just me, but I thought that was as good a religion to subscribe to as any, better than any boring Christianity. One man, One woman, it just didn't sound that interesting and it wasn't what the world was advertising. More is better, successful people always have more, more money, more women, more gold, more horses. His father David broke this law and was called a man after God's own heart. It's a wonder that he was led away to worship fertility gods. David's lust led to coveting and the murder of Uriah. Solomon's has caused him to disobey the law of kings and God's words spoken directly to him, not to go after other gods. It is his idolatry, his pride and the demise of his kingdom. We always no more than God though, after all, Solomon was the wisest man who ever lived. Vanity of Vanities.

5. He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold. Well, he does, but he is the king after all and he is a shrewd business man, nothing personal. What's he supposed to do, its just too easy for him, people pay a lot of money just to hear his wisdom? He has the arms deal thrown in his lap, plus all these major projects that need to be paid for, one of which was Your temple God, remember that and just keep blessing me. Didn't I do all this in Your name? Oh yeah, if your a church doing this, a pastor being greedy, a king accumulating vast treasuries, that's different. Except verse 20 there where he tells the kings not to consider themselves better than their fellow Israelites, not to go to the right or to the left, straight and narrow, no excuses. You just get to live in a fish bowl, have a lot of power, wealth at your finger tips and beckon call, but God still expects you to walk in integrity, to not have other gods putting popularity or materialism before Him. I have been gross enough with not even a measurable fraction of the temptation that was in front of Solomon, wow, how depressing is that?

 

So now, he who has been blessed with so much wisdom, he who has been called beloved by God, and has known great riches, will now be made aware of God's displeasure. This dispensation knows so much of material blessings from God, and for so very little in return. They came to God in tears before, the people have often cried out when oppressed by other nations, yet would always find their way to embracing the dead pieces of wood and brass, carved into images of worship. The wives, that David and Solomon acquired from the nations that God declared of unequal yoke, were probably much more enticing than the boring and plain Israelite women. Now don't be confused, it is not that they were from other countries or cultures, but rather that they served other gods. It was that those cultures upheld the gods and goddesses that were first vanities of the mind and totems to sin. Yet, it begs the question of the second rule, that he must be an Israelite, was he whose heart was so easily led astray, an Israelite indeed? Did not Christ speak to such things as the cleaning of the outside of the cup and the inner circumcision of the heart? Now the kingdom will be split, it will go to his servant, Solomon will not fall prostrate before the Lord right away, he will not hate his sin right away. We can only hope from his other writings that he eventually did turn away from his pride, that such wisdom as he was given was finally given back to God, but for now his response is to desire the life of Jeroboam. Not much has changed from the days of Cain, and Solomon has become more like Saul than like David. It's all in vane. God forgive me for holding up such things, those idols of my youth, of wealth, of not respecting your image in my fellow human being, of ever saying, "its just business', or 'if I don't sell it to them they will buy it from someone else." Lord, it can't be for my merit that you would call me loved of Yourself, or chosen, but I must beg that You would for the sake of Your Son, in Whom I do rest my hope, please forgive me and bless me to have such works that You have prepared before hand. I would rather You correct me here, humble me here, draw me away from my pride that I not go to my grave shaking the fist of human standards and achievement. It is all vanity. I thank you even for my infirmities, for I am still alive and able to read Your word, to seek what I did not want to know before. Everything that I have ever thought of as evil against me, every person that has ever been against me, I thank you for all of it, and don't let me play the victim or the martyr, but let me know and always realize what others may intend for evil, You can turn to good. Thank you God, I praise You and lift Your name above all names, I am sorry that I am ever anxious over anything. You have blessed me with eternity through Your Son, and so everything else is more than I need. Your grace is sufficient for me. 

I repeat: Let no one take me for a fool. But if you do, then tolerate me just as you would a fool, so that I may do a little boasting. 17 In this self-confident boasting I am not talking as the Lord would, but as a fool. 18 Since many are boasting in the way the world does, I too will boast. 19 You gladly put up with fools since you are so wise! 20 In fact, you even put up with anyone who enslaves you or exploits you or takes advantage of you or puts on airs or slaps you in the face. 21 To my shame I admit that we were too weak for that!

Whatever anyone else dares to boast about—I am speaking as a fool—I also dare to boast about. 22 Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they Abraham’s descendants? So am I. 23 Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. 24 Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, 26 I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. 27 I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. 28 Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. 29 Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn?

30 If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. 31 The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is to be praised forever, knows that I am not lying. 32 In Damascus the governor under King Aretas had the city of the Damascenes guarded in order to arrest me. 33 But I was lowered in a basket from a window in the wall and slipped through his hands. 2 Corinthians 11: 16-33