1 Kings 11

Solomon’s Many Wives

111 Now King Solomon loved many foreign women. Besides Pharaoh's daughter, he married women from Moab, Ammon, Edom, Sidon, and from among the Hittites. 2The LORD had clearly instructed the people of Israel, “You must not marty them, because they will turn your hearts to their gods.’ Yet Solomon insisted on loving them anyway.?He had 700 wives of royal birth and 300 concubines. And in fact, they did turn his heart away from the LORD. 4In Solomon's old age, they turned his heart to worship other gods instead of being completely faithful to the LORD his God, as his father, David, had been. 5Solomon worshiped Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molech,* the detestable god of the Ammonites. In this way, Solomon did what was evil in the LORD’s sight; he refused to follow the LORD completely, as his father, David, had done. 70n the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem,* he even built a pagan shrine for Chemosh, the detestable god of Moab, and another for Molech, the detestable god of the Ammonites. 8Solomon built such shrines for all his foreign wives to use for burning incense and sacrificing to their gods. 9The LORD was very angry with Solomon, for his heart had turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice. 10He had warned Solomon specifically about worshiping other gods, but Solomon did not listen to the LORD’s command. 11So now the LORD said to him, “Since you have not kept my covenant and have disobeyed my decrees, I will surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your servants. 12But for the sake of your father, David, I will not do this while you are still alive. I will take the kingdom away from your son. 13And even so, I will not take away the entire kingdom; I will let him be king of one tribe, for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, my chosen city.”

Solomon's Adversaries

14‘4Then the LORD raised up Hadad the Edomite,a member of Edom’s royal family, to be Solomon’s adversary. ‘Years before, David had defeated Edom. Joab, his army commander, had stayed to bury some of the Israelite soldiers who had died in battle. While there, they killed every male in Edom.

16Joab and the army of Israel had stayed there for six months, killingthem.41:5 Hebrew Milcom, a variant spelling of Molech; also in 11:33. 11:7 Hebrew On the mountain east of Jerusalem.of the Ammonites and was called “detestable” because its worshiprites included child sacrifice. Chemosh was the Moabites’ nationalgod. The Israelites were warned against worshiping all other godsin general and Molech in particular (Exodus 20:1-6; Leviticus18:21; 20:1-5).41:9,

18Solomon didn’t turn away from God all at once or inabrief moment. His spiritual coldness started with a minor depar-ture from God’s laws (3:1). Over the years, that little sin grew untilit resulted in Solomon’s downfall. A little sin can be the first stepin turning away from God. It is not the sins we don’t know aboutbut the sins we excuse that cause us the greatest trouble. Wemust never let any sin go unchallenged. In your life, is an unchat-lenged sin spreading like a deadly cancer? Don’t excuse it. Con-fess this sin to God and ask him for strength to resist temptation.41:11-13 Solomon’s powertul and glorious kingdom could havebeen blessed for all time; instead, it was approaching its end.Solomon had God's promises, guidance, and answers to prayer,yet he allowed sin to remain all around him. Eventually it corruptedhim so much that he was no longer interested in God. Psaim127-1, written by Solomon, says, “Unless the LORD builds a house,the work of the builders is wasted.” Solomon had begun by layingthe foundation with God, but he did not follow through in his lateryears. As a result, he lost everything. It is not enough to get off toa right start in building our marriage, career, or church on God’sprinciples; we must remain faithful to God to the end (Mark43:13). God must be in control of our lives from start to finish.41:14-22 Edom was the kingdom southeast of the Dead Sea.David had added this nation to his empire (2 Samuel 8:13, 14). Itwas of strategic importance because it controlled the route to theRed Sea. Edom’s revolt was disturbing the peace of Solomon'skingdom.

17But Hadad and a few of his father’s royal officials escaped and headed for Egypt. (Hadad was just a boy at the time.) ‘8They set out from Midian and went to Paran, where others joined them. Then they traveled to Egypt and went to Pharaoh, who gave them a home, food, and some land. 19Pharaoh grew very fond of Hadad, and he gave him his wife’s sister in marriage—the sister of Queen Tahpenes. 20She bore him a son named Genubath. Tahpenes raised him* in Pharaoh's palace among Pharaoh’s own sons. 21When the news reached Hadad in Egypt that David and his commander Joab were both dead, he said to Pharaoh, “Let me return to my own country.” 22“ Why?” Pharaoh asked him. “What doyou lack here that makes you want to go home?” “Nothing,” he replied. “But even so, please let me return home.” 23God also raised up Rezon son of Eliada as Solomon’s adversary. Rezon had fled from his master, King Hadadezer of Zobah, 24and had become the leader of a gang of rebels. After David conquered Hadadezer, Rezon and his men fled to Damascus, where he became king. 25Rezon was Israel's bitter adversary for the rest of Solomon’s reign, and he made trouble, just as Hadad did. Rezon hated Israel intensely and continued to reign in Aram.

Jeroboam Rebels against Solomon

2626Another rebel leader was Jeroboam son of Nebat, one of Solomon’s own officials. He came from the town of Zeredah in Ephraim, and his mother was Zeruah, a widow. 27This is the story behind his rebellion. Solomon was rebuilding the supporting terraces* and repairing the walls of the city of his father, David. 28Jeroboam was a very capable young man, and when Solomon saw how industrious he was, he put him in charge of the labor force from the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, the descendants of Joseph. 29One day as Jeroboam was leaving Jerusalem, the prophet Ahijah from Shiloh met him along the way. Ahijah was wearing a new cloak. The two of them were alone in a field, 30and Ahijah took hold of the new cloak he was wearing and tore it into twelve pieces. 31Then he said to Jeroboam, “Take ten of these pieces, for this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Tam about to tear the kingdom from the hand of Solomon, and I will give ten of the tribes to you! 32But I will leave him one tribe for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel. °5For Solomon has* abandoned me and worshiped Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians; Chemosh, the god of Moab; and Molech, the god of the Ammonites. He has not followed my ways and done what is pleasing in my sight. He has not obeyed my decrees and regulations as David his father did. 34“‘But I will not take the entire kingdom from Solomon at this time. For the sake of my servant David, the one whom I chose and who obeyed my commands and decrees, I will keep Solomon as leader for the rest of his life. 35But I will take the kingdom away from his son and give ten of the tribes to you. 3¢His son will have one tribe so that the descendants of David my servant will continue to reign, shining like a lamp in Jerusalem, the city I have chosen to be the place for my name. 37And I will place you on the throne of Israel, and you will rule over all that your heart desires. 38If you listen to what I tell you and follow my ways and do whatever I consider to be right, and if you obey my decrees and commands, as my servant David did, then I will always be with you. I will establish an enduring dynasty for you as I did for David, and I will give Israel to you. 39Because of Solomon's sin I will punish the descendants of David—though not forever.’” 40Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam, but he fled to King Shishak of Egypt and stayed there until Solomon died.

Summary of Solomon’s Reign

4141The rest of the events in Solomons reign, including all his deeds and his wisdom, are recorded in The Book of the Acts of Solomon. 42Solomon ruled in Jerusalem over all Israel for forty years. 43When he died, he was buried in the City of David, named for his father. Then his son Rehoboam became the next king.

B. THE DIVIDED KINGDOM (12:1—22:53)

After Solomon's death, the northern tribes revolt, forming two separate nations. Each nation experiences disastrous consequences from having evil kings. Elijah appears on the scene, confronting these kings for their sin. God deals with sin in powerful ways. Although judgment may appear to be slow, God will judge evil harshly.