'For 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. 5. For Solomon went
after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the
abomination of the Ammonites. 6. And Solomon did evil in the sight of
the Lord, and went not fully after the Lord, as did David his father.
7. Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh, the abomination of
Moab, in the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the
abomination of the children of Ammon. 8. And likewise did he for all
his strange wives, which burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods.
9. And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned
from the Lord God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice, 10. And
had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after
other gods: but he kept not that which the Lord commanded. 11.
Wherefore the Lord said unto Solomon, Forasmuch as this is done of
thee, and thou hast not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have
commanded thee, I will surely rend the kingdom from thee, and will give
it to thy servant. 12. Notwithstanding in thy days I will not do it for
David thy father's sake: but I will rend it out of the hand of thy son.
13. Howbeit I will not rend away all the kingdom; but will give one
tribe to thy son for David My servant's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake
which I have chosen.'--1 KINGS xi. 4-13.
Scripture never blinks the defects of its heroes. Its portraits do not
smooth out wrinkles, but, with absolute fidelity, give all faults. That
pitiless truthfulness is no small proof of its inspiration. If these
historical books were simply fragments of national records, owning no
higher source than patriotism, they would never have blurted out the
errors and sins of David and Solomon as they do. Where else are there
national histories of which the very central idea is the laying bare of
national sins and chastisements? or where else are there legends of the
people's heroes which tell their sins without apology or reticence? The
difference in tone augurs a different origin. The Old Testament
histories are not written to tell Israel's glories, or even, we may
say, to recount its history, but to tell God's dealings with Israel,--a
very different theme, and one which finds its material equally in the
glories and in the miseries, which respectively follow its obedience
and disobedience. So Solomon's fall is told in the same frank way as
his wisdom and wealth; for what is of importance is not Solomon so much
as God's dealings with Solomon, when his heart was turned away. We are
told that the narrative of Solomon's reign is an ideal picture. Strange
idealising which leaves the ideal king wallowing in a sty of sensuality
and an apostate from Jehovah!
Here we are simply told of the two things,--his sin, and the divine
judgment which it drew after it.
I. Verses 4-8 tell the black story of Solomon's apostasy. What was its
extent? Did he himself take part in idolatrous worship, or simply, with
the foolish fondness of an old sensualist, let these foreign women have
their shrines? The darker supposition seems correct. The expression
that he 'went after other gods' is commonly used to mean actual
idolatry; and his wives could scarcely have been said to have 'turned
away his heart,' if all that he did was to wink at, or even to
facilitate, their worship. But, on the other hand, he does not seem to
have abandoned Jehovah's worship. The charge against him is that 'his
heart was not perfect,' or wholly devoted to the Lord, or, as verse 6
puts it, that he 'went not fully' after the Lord. His was a case of
halting between two opinions, or rather, of trying to hold both at
once. He wanted to be a worshipper of Jehovah and of these idols also.
Was his apostasy final? Yes, so far as we can gather from the
narrative. Not only is there no statement of his repentance, but the
silence with which he receives the divine announcement of retribution
is suspicious; and the prophecy of Ahijah to Jeroboam, which obviously
comes later in time than the threatenings of the text, treats the
idolatry as still existing (verse 33). Further, we learn from 2 Kings
xxiii.13 that the shrines which he built stood till Josiah's time. If
Solomon had ever abandoned his idolatry, he would not have left them
standing. So we seem to have in him a case of a fall which knew no
recovery, an eclipse which did not pass. The Book of Ecclesiastes, if
of his composition, would somewhat lighten the darkness of such an end;
but his authorship of it is now all but universally given up.
So there, on Olivet's southern ridge, right opposite the Temple, stood
the three altars, and there the king worshipped; and, if he did, he
would have a crowd of imitators. The lessons of such a fall are many.
First, it teaches the destructive effect of yielding to sensual
indulgence. Solomon's unbridled and monstrous polygamy sapped his
manhood and his principle, darkened his clear spirit, blinded his keen
eye, and turned a youth of noble aspiration and a manhood of noble
accomplishment into an old age without dignity, reverence, or calm. All
his wisdom was worth little if it could not keep him master of himself.
A young man who lets his passions run away with him is less to be
condemned than an old sensualist. God means that reason should govern
impulses and desires, and that conscience should govern all and be
governed by His will. The vessel is sure to be wrecked when the
officers are sent below and the mutineers get hold of the helm.
Second, it warns us that till the very end of life a fall is possible.
This ship went down when the voyage was nearly over. In sight of port
it struck, and that not for want of beacons. What pathetic warning lies
in that phrase, 'when Solomon was old'! After so many years of high
aims, so many temptations overcome, with such habits of wisdom and
kingly nobility, after such prayers and visions, he fell; and, if _he_
fell, who can be sure of standing? No length of life spent in holy
thoughts and service secures us against the possibility of disastrous
fall. Only one thing does,--'Hold Thou me up, and I shall be safe!'
John Bunyan saw a door opening down to hell hard by the gates of the
Celestial City. When a man that has been had in reputation for wisdom
and honour shames the record of his life by a great splash of mud on
the white page, near its end, he seldom returns. An old apostate is
usually finally an apostate.
Third, may we not venture to see a warning here against marriages in
which there is not unity in the deepest things, and a common faith?
'When you run in double harness, take a good look at the other horse.'
If a young Christian man or woman enters on such a union with one who
is not a Christian, it is a great deal more probable that, in the end,
there will be two unbelievers than that there will be two Christians.
We have nothing to do with pronouncing on Solomon's final condition,
But he stands on the page of this history, a sad, enigmatical figure, a
warning to all young people to take heed that the attrition of the
world does not rub off the bloom of early religion, or make them
cynically ashamed of the unselfishness of their early desires. There is
no sadder sight than an old man whose youthful enthusiasm for goodness
and belief in the super-excellency of wisdom have withered, leaving him
a hard worldling or a gross sensualist. Better the early days, when he
was obscure and poor, and believed in wisdom and in the God of wisdom,
than the late ones, when worldly success has spoiled him!
II. Verses 9-13 give the divine retribution announced. The immediate
connection of sin and punishment is the teaching intended by this close
juxtaposition of these two halves of our narrative. However long the
chastisement may be in bursting, the divine resolve to send it is
instantaneously consequent on the crime. The chain that binds departure
from God with loss of blessing may be of many or few links, but it is
riveted on when the evil is done. How gravely, as with the voice of an
indictment drawn in heaven, the aggravations of Solomon's crime are set
out, in that he had sinned against 'the Lord' who had appeared to him
twice (once in his youthful vision, and once after the completion of
the Temple), 'and had commanded him concerning' the very sin that he
had done. Sin is made more heinous by the abundance of God's favours
and the plainness of His commands. If we would remember God's
appearances to us and for us, and meditate on His revealed will, we
should be more impregnable to the assaults of temptation.
We do not learn _how_ the Lord said this to Solomon. Possibly it was by
the same prophet who afterwards announced to Jeroboam his destiny; but,
however announced, it seems to have been received in sullen silence,
and to have wrought no softening nor change. Like all God's
threatenings, it was spoken that it might not be inflicted. Solomon was
threatened before the prophet spoke to Jeroboam; and if Solomon had
repented, Jeroboam would never have been spoken to. But he is too far
gone to be stopped, though he has God's own word for it that he is
ruining his kingdom by his sin. We have as clear declarations of worse
results from ours; but they do not stop some of us. How strange it is
that men will put out their hands to grasp their sins, even though they
have to stretch across the smoke of the pit for them!
Note how forbearance delays and diminishes retribution. The separation
of the kingdom is deferred, and one tribe is left to the Davidic house;
probably Judah is meant, and Benjamin is omitted as being small.
Observe, too, how we have a double instance of the law of God's
providence which visits the father's deeds on the children. The
consequences of David's goodness fall on Solomon, and the consequences
of Solomon's evil fall on Rehoboam. Stated in the language of the
secular historian, that is to say that the consequences of great
national virtues or crimes are seldom reaped by the generation that
sowed the seed and did the deed, but take time to mature and work
themselves out. Stated in the language of Scripture, it is, 'The
fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on
edge.' The separation of the kingdom was not brought about by miracle,
but came in the natural course of things. A people ground down by heavy
taxation and forced labour, to keep up the luxury of a court containing
all that disgusting crowd of wives and concubines, was ripe for revolt,
and when the sceptre fell into the hands of a headstrong fool, and
there was a capable leader on the other side, discontent soon became
rebellion, and rebellion soon became triumphant. It all flowed as
naturally as possible from the same fountain as the idolatry of which
it was the punishment; and so it teaches once more the great truth that
'the world's history is the world's judgment,' and that the so-called
'natural consequences' of our deeds are, even here and now, God's
retribution for our deeds.
What a lesson as to God's great patience is here! What a solemn glimpse
into man's power to counterwork God's purpose! So soon after its
establishment did the house of David prove unworthy, and the experiment
fail. Yet that long-suffering purpose is not turned aside, but
persistently and patiently goes on its way, altering its methods, but
keeping its end unaltered, bending even sin to minister to its design,
pitying and warning the sinner ere it strikes the blow that the sinner
has made needful.
Behind the figure of Solomon we see another. The wisest of men fell
shamefully, captured by coarse lust, and apparently steeled against all
remonstrances from Heaven. 'A greater than Solomon is here.' The faults
of the human kings of Israel prophesy of the true King, who is to be
the substance of which they were but faint shadows, and whose manhood
was stained by no flaw, nor His kingdom ever rent from His pure hands.
Solomon was wise, but Christ is 'Wisdom.' Solomon built a Temple, but
also altars to false gods overtopping it across the valley; and his
Temple was burned with fire. But Christ is the true Temple as well as
Priest and Sacrifice. Solomon was by name 'the peaceful,' and his land
had outward rest, darkened at the last by war and rebellion. But Christ
is the Prince of Peace, and of His dominion there shall be no end.
Solomon is the great example of the sad truth that the loftiest and
wisest share in the universal sinfulness. Christ is the one flawless
Man, who makes those who take Him for their King wise and peaceful,
prosperous, and in due time sinless, like Himself.