"Then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their
iniquity with stripes."--_Psalm 89:32._
IT is very sad to say that as Solomon grew old he left off being good.
He married a great many wives, and brought them from the heathen
nations round; and he did not teach them to worship the true God, but
let them worship each in her own way.
[Illustration: IDOLATRY OF SOLOMON.--1 Kings 11:4.]
So, out in his gardens, one lady had her idol to the moon, and another
had hers to the dreadful idol Milcom, and so on; and though Solomon
knew so much better, even he was persuaded to come and pay honor to
these idols, just to please these women--he, the son of David, whom God
had blessed so much.
And what the king did the people were sure to do. So God spake to
Solomon, and told him that since he had fallen away from the right
way, he must be punished, and that ten out of the twelve tribes would
be taken away and not belong to his kingdom.
[Illustration: REVOLT OF THE TRIBES.--1 Kings 12:16, 17.]
It was not to happen in his own time, but in his son's time, but it
must have been very sad to him to know that his beautiful kingdom and
great power were to be so lessened, and that his son Rehoboam was a
very foolish young man, who would spoil everything. But he was not to
lose all, only part, for the sake of the holy King David, to whom God
had promised that his throne should last for ever.