1 Kings 11

1 Kings 11

Life was great in the nation of Israel under Solomon’s reign. Through his humble attitude and obedience to God, he had helped Israel become a very wealthy nation. They had no financial worries, they had no political adversaries, and there was peace in the land. The Temple was built during his reign, and God had truly blessed Israel. However, Solomon was not a perfect man. Just like every other person that has ever lived (other than Jesus), Solomon struggled with sin. If you remember, David faltered during his time as king as well.


For Solomon, his struggle was with women. He accumulated 700 wives, not counting his 300 concubines! While the number of wives is definitely an issue that would have most certainly caused problems, an even greater issue was the fact that Solomon was breaking a very important commandment that God had given the people of Israel. God did not want His children taking wives from other nations, knowing that their influence would lead His children astray. By marrying people from other nations, they would be influenced by the gods and customs of those foreign lands. They would be pressured to turn away from God and turn to these false gods that their spouses worshipped. That fear became a reality in Solomon’s life. Since many of his wives were foreigners, he was influenced by their customs and practices. He began to worship these other gods, building altars to them. He turned his back on the one, true God, the God of Israel, and that led to some severe consequences.

Remember that God had continuously told Solomon that as long as he obeyed God’s commands, God would continue to bless him and give him peace in the land. However, if there ever came a day when he turned his back on God, judgment would come. As a result of Solomon’s disobedience, God promised him that the kingdom would be split. While He could not tear the entire kingdom away from Solomon and his sons (for He had promised David that it would always remain in his family), God did promise that it would be split. Solomon’s son would inherit the throne in Jerusalem as promised, but he would not rule over the entire country of Israel.

Opposition began to rise up all around Israel. Nations that David had thoroughly dealt with during his reign began to retaliate, still bitter that they had been defeated by David. Two of these were Edom and a man named Rezon. But there was also opposition from within Israel. God raised up Jeroboam as the one who would help in the division of Israel. He would be given 10 of the tribes of Israel and would reign as their king over what would be known as Israel. Solomon’s son would take what was left, which would include Judah with Jerusalem as its capital. Although this was judgment for Solomon’s actions, God promised Jeroboam that if he would obey God’s commands, then God would bless Jeroboam during his reign as king of Israel.

For Solomon’s reign to have begun so well, he did not finish the race. He stumbled in the end, turning from God, and bringing great judgment on his nation. It is hard to understand how someone who had personally met with God and done so many great things for God could have fallen so hard in the end. But instead of pointing fingers at Solomon, we must think about our own lives. Are we truly following God? Are we keeping His laws as He commanded us? It is easy to blame Solomon, but instead of focusing on him, we must consider where we stand. We should have a spiritual check-up, making sure that we are not faltering at the end of the race as Solomon sadly did.

Matt