(Back Story) Solomon has succeeded David as king. It says in chapter 3 of 1 Kings that
"Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statues of David his father, only he sacrificed and made offerings at the high places." The Lord comes to Solomon saying ""Ask what I shall give you." And Solomon said, "You have shown great and steadfast love to your servant David my father, because he walked before you in faithfulness, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart toward you. And you have kept for him this great and steadfast love and have given him a son to sit on his throne this day... Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?" It pleased the Lord that Solomon asked this."
Continue reading in the Bible to get full details.
All seems well with the reign of Solomon underway. Solomon is following the Lord like his father did there is peace in the land, a temple is being built, and there is solid trust in the God ordained wisdom that King Solomon has. Well, now our story turns to a darker side (pun intended, you'll see why), but first let me preface with this:
The title of this post is "warning," which the reason for that name will be given soon. While we look at the part of 1 Kings that I want to examine, I want it to be clear that there is a lot which can be extracted from this set of scripture, let alone all scripture. What I am choosing to focus on is not the most poignant point, it is what has placed a spark in my mind ultimately resulting in this post. With that said, let's continue.
We are now in 1 Kings 9, and the Lord says, starting in verse 4,
"And as for you, if you will walk before me, as David your father walked, with integrity of heart and uprightness, doing according to all that I have commanded you, and keeping my statues and my rules, then I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised David your father, saying ' You shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.' But if you turn aside from following me, you or your children and do not keep my commandments and my statues that I have set before you, but go and serve other gods and worship them, then I will cut off Israel form the land that I have given them, and the house that I have consecrated for my name I will cast out of my sight, and Israel will become a proverb and a byword among all peoples."
In these verses, I see a promise but also a warning. First, God promises to Solomon that by following the Lord and all that He has commanded, that his line shall always rule over Israel. Then, comes the warning that if Solomon chooses to turn aside from Lord, then Israel will be cut off.
If we turn to chapter 11, the heading reveals that 'Solomon turns from the Lord.' Essentially, thanks to "700 wives, princesses and 300 concubines," Solomon's heart is "turned away...after other Gods" (v. 4). The Lord becomes angry in verse 9 and says in verse 11 "Since this has been your practice and you have not kept my covenant and my statues that i have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you and will give it to your servant." The Lord's warning became truth.
God, with the infinite wisdom He has, knew what would happen to Solomon's heart. Yet, out of His loving nature, He warned Solomon to guard his heart. It makes me think of the own warnings I receive.
Driving home from a get together at a friend's house one night, this thought was instilled in me that I needed to go straight to bed; that if I found myself on my computer at the late hour that it was, that temptations would lead to a fall; without a doubt. Thankfully, on that particular night, the warning prevented sin and I praise God for that.
For me, warnings seem to come with a "still, small voice." As my mind wanders it suddenly becomes fixed on a thought that typically involves an action. Whether it is going straight to bed, restraining from a certain TV show, or even choosing the right activity to occupy my time I am always faced with a command. Then comes the moment when I am faced with the choice; i.e. having walked into my apartment at 11:30 PM do I "check facebook" or grab my Bible and head to bed? In the same way, somewhere between chapters 9 and 11 Solomon had a choice; will he continue to add more wives and recognize that he is not keeping the commandments, or recognize the law that he pledged to follow? Somehow, he lost the warning of God, his heart was pulled away from the Lord and the consequences the Lord warned of came to pass.
