The Fall of King Solomon

Solomon and the Queen of Sheba

When the Queen of Sheba visited Solomon, she wanted to find out for herself if the reports of his greatness and wisdom were true. As she discovered, they certainly were.

Then she said to the king, ‘It was a true report which I heard in my own land about your words and your wisdom. Nevertheless I did not believe the reports, until I came and my eyes had seen it. And behold, the half was not told me. You exceed in wisdom and prosperity the report which I heard. How blessed are your men, how blessed are these your servants who stand before you continually and hear your wisdom. Blessed be the Lord your God who delighted in you to set you on the throne of Israel; because the Lord loved Israel forever, therefore He made you king, to do justice and righteousness” (1 Kings 10:6-9).

It is interesting that she recognizes a fundamental principle that applies to all civil governments. They are in place to “do justice and righteousness.” Solomon recognized this as well.

The king gives stability to the land by justice, but a man who takes bribes overthrows it” (Proverbs 29:4).

Loyalty and truth preserve the king, and he upholds his throne by righteousness” (Proverbs 20:28).

Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people” (Proverbs 14:34).

Unfortunately, Solomon fell from this. Rather than recognizing his humble place before God, he turned from God. How did this happen?

Now King Solomon loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, from the nations concerning which the Lord had said to the sons of Israel, ‘You shall not associate with them, nor shall they associate with you, for they will surely turn your heart away after their gods.’ Solomon held fast to these in love. He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned his heart away. For when Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away after other gods; and his heart was not wholly devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been” (1 Kings 11:1-4).

This unfaithfulness to God did not only affect Solomon’s spiritual well-being, but it caused God to take the kingdom from him and his descendants.

So the Lord said to Solomon, ‘Because you have done this, and you have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you, and will give it to your servant” (1 Kings 11:11).

Solomon’s wives were an evil influence on him, turning his heart away from God. His example reminds us of the importance of avoiding evil companions. This warning is repeated in the New Testament.

Do not be deceived: ‘Bad company corrupts good morals’” (1 Corinthians 15:33).

Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness?” (2 Corinthians 6:14).

The man God chose to “tear the kingdom from” Solomon was Jeroboam. He was the king’s servant, a valiant warrior, industrious, and had been appointed by Solomon to oversee the forced laborers (1 Kings 11:26, 28). Ahijah the prophet made it clear to Jeroboam that God was giving part of the kingdom to him because of Solomon’s sin (1 Kings 11:29-37). God even issued a promise to Jeroboam like he had previously made to Solomon (1 Kings 9:4-5).

Then it will be, that if you listen to all that I command you and walk in My ways, and do what is right in My sight by observing My statutes and My commandments, as My servant David did, then I will be with you and build you an enduring house as I built for David, and I will give Israel to you” (1 Kings 11:38).

As could be expected, Solomon was not happy about Jeroboam taking part of the kingdom, even though it has been specifically revealed to him that this would happen and why it would happen (1 Kings 11:11). He responded like Saul had done to his father David, treating the man that God had appointed as an enemy of the state.

Solomon sought therefore to put Jeroboam to death; but Jeroboam arose and fled to Egypt to Shishak king of Egypt, and he was in Egypt until the death of Solomon” (1 Kings 11:40).

When Solomon remembered God, he and the kingdom enjoyed peace and prosperity. When he turned from God, trouble came.

The example of Solomon shows us that being faithful to God for a time means nothing if we do not continue in faithfulness. As the Hebrew writer admonished: “Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience” (Hebrews 4:11; cf. 1 Corinthians 9:27; Revelation 2:10). Let us not allow the influence of ungodly people turn us away from serving the Lord to being an enemy of God.


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Comments

  1. Adorn Thango says

    This means that faithfulness is useless if you cannot maintain it. God can promise you everything because of you obedience but when you decide to fall all those promises will fall away. This is nice because it help us know that what ever it is we have it come frm God and the only way to maintain it is by God and God’s words only in the Bible. There is a great lesson here as we see Solomon succeded in all things all was well until the Queen of Sheeba came along, then the kingdom of God was put in jeopady.
    Something I like about God here is that it is not defficult for Him to find the candidate. It don’t matter whether how big you’re called by people where they are praising your position as a powerful man of God but you disobedient my cause your fall in a way that your servant will take over.
    God doesn’t look things the way we look. Just imargin the human thinking says the successor will be the heir, but God thinking says the heir is anyone who obey this teachings

    I LOVE THE LORD AMEN.

  2. Adorn bab Thango says

    Im really learning in this chapter here that don’t get used to a position you have been given through grace. Pride lead to a Downfall. Pride is centred around position, it don’t matter whether that position been given to you by God but pride have no distinction.

    Submission lead to Obedient.
    Amen

  3. Adorn, good points. We must continue in humble, faithful obedience to God in order to be saved. If we do this, we WILL be saved. God’s promises to His faithful are always true.