1 Kings 11
1But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites:
2Of 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.
3And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart.
4For 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 LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father.
Reading in these verses we see how Solomon (the wisest human to ever live) disobeyed God by marrying foreign women (something that was forbidden to Israel, during the dispensation of the Law) in disobeying God, Solomon suffered the very consequences God had warned Israel of. Solomon's heart was turned away from God, and he was led into worshiping false gods.
There is a lesson we can take from this, and apply to our own lives. If one really stops and studies the Word of God, one can see that all the things God commands us not to do..are things that will bring us pain if we do them. For example, premarital sex: unplanned pregnancy, abortions, STD, AIDS, etc. etc. Not drinking alcohol: if one does drink alcohol they can become addicted, and lose their familes, their jobs, their friends, their very life, or take someone elses's life. To love God, and turn away from false gods. To disobey this, means to turn away from the one true God, the only one that can truly help us no matter what the need is, and it means to turn to a non-existent god that cannot help, and is worshiped with doctrines that often bring about more pain, than actual provision. Point being, God tells us these things, not to be mean to us, but to keep us from causing ourselves unnecessary pains.
Thus was the case with Solomon, he was told not to fornicate with foreign women, due to the fact that they would lead him into idolatry. Solomon chose to disobey God, and found God's warning to be true, that he was indeed led away into idolatry. How did it all start though? Solomon's focus, and environment. Most likely, these wives were given to Solomon, by their fathers, other kings which were making treaties with Solomon. Thus, we can conclude that Solomon was so focussed on gaining earthly wealth, and power, that he failed to take into account the command of God which he was disobeying by taking in these foreign wives (also worth noting is that God specifically commands monogomy. Deuteronomy 17:14-17/Matthew 19:4-9) Thus failure to focus on God, with a single-heart (Ephesians:6:5) acted as the seed to his sin.
If this wandering of the heart was the seed, then we know that his environment then became the fertilizer. By allowing his environment to becme contaminated with idolatry, it was only a matter of time before his very mind was too consumed by idolatry. The Bible makes it clear that Solomon was the wisest human to ever live (1 Kings 3:12) yet, by allowing sin into his environment, the same sin entered into him, thus he committed these sins against his God, whom he loved so dear.
Let us learn from Solomon's life that we must never let our heart stray from God, we must stay true to the Lord Jesus Christ, and we must obey Him, and we must ensure that not only our heart, but that which we allow to enter our heart, is pleasing to God. Solomon allowed idolatry to enter his heart, because he chose to associate with idolatry. We must choose what to associate with, and know, that whatsoever we choose, it shall enter into us, and change us, for the best, or the worst.
Rember always, I love you, Jesus loves you more, and is willing to Save this day, free of charge, all those that simply come to Him and ask.
No comments:
Post a Comment