If someone so great and so blessed as Solomon cannot heed the lessons of the overwhelming importance of faithfulness and obedience, how much more you and I? We too need to consider our heart and our ways carefully. Solomon’s divided heart led to a divided kingdom. What will it lead to for you and I?

One of the indications that the Bible is not the product of the mere words of men, but a divinely inspired set of 66 books is the fact that there is no whitewashing of people – especially those God has chosen to use for his purposes. They are not the stuff of hagiography, but are presented realistically – warts and all.

Whether it is Moses or Elijah or David or Peter, we find them described not as perfect super saints, but as those who are very human, complete with plenty of faults and weaknesses and sins. And sometimes we read about mighty men of God who are held up as great heroes and examples, but then we find they have toppled off their pedestals and have gone down to the depths.

Saul would be one obvious example of this. He started off great but ended up disastrously. One saying that we still use today is found concerning his passing. In 2 Samuel 27:1-16 we read about David learning of Saul’s death. And in verses 17-27 we find David’s song of lament for Saul and Jonathan. Three times this very familiar phrase is found:

“Your glory, O Israel, is slain on your high places!
How the mighty have fallen!” (v. 19)

“How the mighty have fallen
in the midst of the battle!” (v. 25)

“How the mighty have fallen,
and the weapons of war perished!”  (v. 27)

But we have even more staggering stories of great falls. Biblical characters can be lauded and extolled in one chapter, but in the next we read of their massive downfall. There are many tragic contrasts like this found in Scripture, but one amazing example of this is found in 1 Kings 10 and 11.

The mountain top experience of chapter 10 is followed by complete devastation in chapter 11. I refer of course to King Solomon. The full biblical account of the life of Solomon is found in 1 Kings 1-11, along with 2 Chronicles 1-9. Here I want to look at just 1 Kings 10-11.

As mentioned, in chapter ten we are in such elevated territory, with mind-blowing praise of Solomon and his achievements. In verses 1-12 we read about how the Queen of Sheba visited him and was just blown away by him. The rest of the chapter speaks of his great wealth.

As we read in verses 23-25: “Thus King Solomon excelled all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom. And the whole earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put into his mind. Every one of them brought his present, articles of silver and gold, garments, myrrh, spices, horses, and mules, so much year by year.”

Wow, what a king! But in the very next chapter we find that it all goes pear-shaped. In 11:1-8 we read how his many foreign wives turned him away from God, and caused him to worship false gods. The remaining verses speak of God’s anger, and how he raised up adversaries against Solomon. Verses 9-12 say this:

And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods. But he did not keep what the Lord commanded. Therefore the Lord said to 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 and will give it to your servant. Yet for the sake of David your father I will not do it in your days, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son.

Lessons for Today

I take it that none of my readers are great kings or powerful leaders. Nor are they likely to have numerous wives. But still, the obvious lessons we want to stress here are these: we must take great care in our walk with God. We dare not be presumptuous or cavalier about how we live our lives. We must remain obedient, and not allow our hearts to turn away from the living God.

Let me offer a bit of commentary here on all this. Philip Graham Ryken asks this pertinent question:

One of the saddest tragedies in the Bible is the story of King Solomon. Solomon was one of the greatest kings the world has ever seen. Yet at the end of his life he made one of the most foolish choices that anyone has ever made, with disastrous consequences for himself and his kingdom. Oh, Solomon! Where did you go so wrong, and how can we learn to avoid making the same mistakes that you made?

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