2019-06-17 Give Me A Break! 700 Wives?

/ His Light Shines

“The end of the matter, all has been heard.
Fear God and keep his commandments,
for this is the whole duty of man.”
Ecclesiastes 12:13

We’ve been talking a lot about home church lately, yet you probably still don’t know what it looks like. Well, let me share with you our meeting from yesterday. One of our objectives is to have topics that are relevant and memorable. We want to have a take-away message that we actually take away.

Our current bible plan has us deep into King Solomon. It’s a chronological plan, so we are hitting all the books of the bible concerning Solomon. I’m going to be honest with you, something has always bugged me about him. Let’s face it, he had 1,000 wives and concubines, cities established just to house his war horses, and gold piled up beyond measure. All of these things were prohibited by God. Furthermore…well, let’s let the bible tell the story.

1 Kings 11:3a-8 …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, for Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and did not wholly follow the Lord, as David his father had done. Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Molech the abomination of the Ammonites, on the mountain east of Jerusalem. And so he did for all his foreign wives, who make offerings and sacrificed to their gods.

Because of this, God tore the kingdom from his hands, just as he had promised all along. One generation from David, and everything was destroyed. The kingdom was divided in war. Israel was taken forever into captivity. Judah was taken, too, although it was eventually returned. Apart from a couple of good kings, everything was a disaster; and it all started with Solomon. The wisest man to ever walk the planet.

So, why do we read anything this guy has to offer?

That’s what we looked into at church yesterday. It turns out there are a lot of reasons why. First, it seems as if he wrote many of his proverbs and Ecclesiastes as an old man, after God had proclaimed judgment against him and he no longer enjoyed peace amongst the nations. It appears he had learned a great deal. While we don’t have a Psalm 51 to record his repentance, like his father, King David, we do have Ecclesiastes 12:13. We might look at this whole book as his letter of repentance.

Fair enough. That makes sense. But what about the wives and concubines. Come on, now, that’s ridiculous. After looking into the topic of polygamy, we don’t find God allowing it. Perhaps people felt it necessary as a way of providing for women in that culture, but monogamy was God’s intention for men and women all along. The fact that God allowed it certainly does not mean he desired or blessed it. In fact, it all ended up for Solomon just as God had told him. His wives would cause him to follow other gods.

So, if Solomon was so smart, why didn’t he follow his own advice? You got me. Ask that of the countless number of pastors who have had affairs with their secretary. Ask that to the countless Christians who become alcoholics or drug addicts. Ask that of yourself the next time you sin.

Will Solomon be in heaven? Given all that we learned yesterday, I’m pretty sure he will be. They didn’t have salvation like we do now that the Holy Spirit has been sent. But God did grant righteousness to those whom he chose, just as he does today. Was Solomon righteous, like his scoundrel father? Look, the apple didn’t fall far from the tree when it came to women, right? All things said, I think he will be. It makes it a lot easier to read his stuff, although Song of Songs is still hard to picture. I’m going to think of this woman as Solomon’s first wife.

Where did we find all this? Here, let me give you our Sunday schedule, and you can look it up yourself:

2019-06-17 Solomon

Why does Solomon matter?

There you have it. A lessoned we remembered.

Thank you, Father, for teaching us about Solomon. Amen.

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